NUX Atlantic Delay + Reverb: Replaced my last holdout in rack gear.

[Zilthy]

Delay and Reverb were the last holdouts in rack gear (Well, for effects, I still have a rack mount power supply and reactive load/attenuator/IR loader in a 2U rack on my head)

Why did I switch from rack gear?  Mainly, because I just plain don't want to program anymore.   I don't use a ton of effects, so a few stomp boxes are fine.  That switch was easy for the most part, overdrive, phaser and flanger (which I rarely use, but nice to have) and a gate at the end of the chain and I'm good.  But, delay and reverb, that was tougher.   I've gotten used to delay and reverb in parallel even though I can live with delay -> reverb, but to my ear, it's so much cleaner in parallel.  And that's harder to accomplish on a pedalboard.

On guitar, I could live without reverb, but playing electric violin more, I really like some reverb on the violin.

I ended up stumbling across the NUX Atlantic Delay and Reverb, and that ticked all of the checkboxes I wanted, and even one I did not expect!  There are some good reviews and demos on that pedal out there, but here are some of the things that I really like about it that are glossed/passed over on most of the demos:

Routing:  You can choose:  Delay -> Reverb.   Reverb -> Delay.   Parallel.   Awesome, and easy to setup.

Cabeling:  Like most delays, it has an input, and 2 outputs for stereo.  However, I run mono, and one really killer feature is that if I use a send return cable: A single Y cable with 2 1/4" mono in the effects send and return on my amp and a single 1/4" TRS in to the input of the pedal.   Sweet!  One less cable to manage.  :D.  I like that a lot.

Switchable level from instrument (-10db) to line level (+4db).  Anyone who's tried to use a pedal in an amp effects loop that expects line level knows the trauma that can involve.  :O

Now, for the other features that are covered elsewhere:

3 Different delays:  Tape, analog, digital.   Labelled as 60s, 70s and 80s.  They all sound really good.  The 80s has just a hint of modulation on it, but it's pleasing and not overbearing.  And they are really well balanced, even with higher regenerations and mix levels of 50% and a bit higher, they don't get in the way of the dry signal.  They are really easy to mix in.   And they are also all tap tempo capable.   Very nice.

3 Different reverbs:  Spring, Plate and Hall.  Like the delays, they all blend in nicely without being overbearing.  I am actually coming to like a bit of the reverb even on my crunchy rhythms, which I have never used before!  And the reverb on/off button doubles as a hold button for the spring and hall, and shimmer for the plate.   I have not used that much, but I might play with it a bit and might even experiment with some ambient stuff.

What I like most about it, is that is is really easy to use and it just sounds good. No, you cannot get deep in to it.   For delay you have:  Mix, Feedback and Time (and can tap the tempo) and for the reverb you have Mix and time so no advanced parameters like ducking, EQ, pre-delay but the built in parameters are very well chosen.

I don't see it being enough for someone who wants to do crazy ambient stuff, or if you want things like Lukather style circular delays, but if you want a great sounding delay and reverb that fits in a mix, it is well worth a look at, and hard to beat for the price.

[Harley Hexxe]

   Hey Zilthy,

              If I'm not mistaken, I think you can get deeper into it by plugging a USB cable into it and connecting it into your laptop/PC.

              I have the same features on the Cerberus pedal I bought from them in the Delay/Reverb section of the pedal. That has the same choices for delays that you have there, and 3 choices for Reverb; Plate, Spring, and Hall Reverb. You can select any of these and change the routing like you can to there, on the fly from the mini toggle switches on top of the pedal, but you can get deeper into it in the computer editing.
              Since I built this to use with my old Fender Twins, I edited the spring reverb out and replaced that with a shimmer. ( I have the real deal there, why use a pedal? ).
         
              I completely agree, running the Delay and Reverb in parallel is cleaner, even when I'm running mono into the Vibrolux.

              When I get a decent camera to make videos, I'm going to post some demos of the pedal boards completed. I don't think I'm ready to go Youtube for those, but I'll try to create them in a format that can be viewed here.

              You may also want to look into the Solid Studio. That is a very surprisingly good pedal for direct recording, and a LOT cheaper than the Strymon Iridium.

              Enjoy!

Harley 8)

[Zilthy]

Hi Harley

The studio is definitely in my sights if I ever need a power amp emulator and IR loader in a pedal, but for now I have that kind of thing covered with my St. Rock React:IR

[Zilthy]

Oh, and for doing videos, any reasonably modern cell phone should do a good job. Good lighting is more important there, and for audio I use my DAW and mics, and then match them together when editing the video.  If you don't have video editing software, look at Davinci Resolve, it's great and there is a free version.

[Harley Hexxe]

Hey Zilthy,

          Thanks for that tip, I'll look into that one.

Harley 8)