Strymon Cloudburst, it was real after all

[dk_ace]

It’s well executed, and surprisingly small, but I’m just so over those sounds…

I’ve been spoiled by cool shimmers, multi delays, huge reverbs, etc for many years now. Like most people when they get that stuff, I overdid it at times. Now, it’s pretty rare that I use that stuff and I can cover these sounds well with Helix (admittedly it takes a few different blocks to hit all the sounds this one pedal does, but the two times a year I’ll use these sounds I don’t care).

I’m sure they’ll sell a load of them. But this would have had to come out 10 years or more ago to really interest me.

D

 

[laxu]

It’s well executed, and surprisingly small, but I’m just so over those sounds…

I’ve been spoiled by cool shimmers, multi delays, huge reverbs, etc for many years now. Like most people when they get that stuff, I overdid it at times. Now, it’s pretty rare that I use that stuff and I can cover these sounds well with Helix (admittedly it takes a few different blocks to hit all the sounds this one pedal does, but the two times a year I’ll use these sounds I don’t care).

I’m sure they’ll sell a load of them. But this would have had to come out 10 years or more ago to really interest me.

D

I think it's more like something you buy when you already own a more basic reverb like a Flint and want to add more ambient sounds to it.

That's how I use my Nightsky - most of the time it's "meat and potatoes" 'verb but sometimes it's fun to use those more ambient sounds and on that pedal they are just a preset away.

 

[dk_ace]

I think it's more like something you buy when you already own a more basic reverb like a Flint and want to add more ambient sounds to it.

That's how I use my Nightsky - most of the time it's "meat and potatoes" 'verb but sometimes it's fun to use those more ambient sounds and on that pedal they are just a preset away.

What I meant is that when I want ambient reverb sounds now, the cloudburst does the ambient reverb sounds that I am bored with. I still love ambient reverbs, just not this flavor of them anymore.

D

 

[Jarick]

The pedal looks neat but I don’t like the price creep. It seems like the $300 pedals are now $400, and now they are taking a single algorithm from those pedals and selling for $300.

The upside of the Strymon units is usually you get three modes which at least makes up for some of the cost. Or something like the Flynt you get three reverbs and three tremolos.

I think if they were $150-200 that would be huge. $300 I’m not interested.

 

[Whizzinby]

The pedal looks neat but I don’t like the price creep. It seems like the $300 pedals are now $400, and now they are taking a single algorithm from those pedals and selling for $300.

The upside of the Strymon units is usually you get three modes which at least makes up for some of the cost. Or something like the Flynt you get three reverbs and three tremolos.

I think if they were $150-200 that would be huge. $300 I’m not interested.

Realistically I think a $150-$200 Strymon pedal is a bit of a pipe dream, because they also have to consider pricing in their brand reputation, and I doubt they want to get into the “affordable” pedal game as a premium high-end pedal maker. (Which I think they managed to toe the line really well with the old V1 prices, not cheap but not bougie boutique pricing)

The V2’s price bumps make a lot more sense in light of the small form factor line and pricing, because realistically those V1’s were do a refresh at the existing pricing, much less with a price increase. It makes sense they wouldn’t want to step on the toes of an impending small form factor line though, because who would buy the deep-dive one-algo small line at essentially the same price? (It’s not like the OG pedals are THAT big in size imo)

I assume Strymon will sell a bunch of these, I couldnt be less interested in this one. I would have hoped a small line would either be quirky/experimental line of pedals or just shrunk versions of the OG’s.

 

[JT]

Realistically I think a $150-$200 Strymon pedal is a bit of a pipe dream, because they also have to consider pricing in their brand reputation, and I doubt they want to get into the “affordable” pedal game as a premium high-end pedal maker. (Which I think they managed to toe the line really well with the old V1 prices, not cheap but not bougie boutique pricing)

The V2’s price bumps make a lot more sense in light of the small form factor line and pricing, because realistically those V1’s were do a refresh at the existing pricing, much less with a price increase. It makes sense they wouldn’t want to step on the toes of an impending small form factor line though, because who would buy the deep-dive one-algo small line at essentially the same price? (It’s not like the OG pedals are THAT big in size imo)

I assume Strymon will sell a bunch of these, I couldnt be less interested in this one. I would have hoped a small line would either be quirky/experimental line of pedals or just shrunk versions of the OG’s.

$100/knob

 

[Whizzinby]

$100/knob

 

[JT]

 

[laxu]

Realistically I think a $150-$200 Strymon pedal is a bit of a pipe dream, because they also have to consider pricing in their brand reputation, and I doubt they want to get into the “affordable” pedal game as a premium high-end pedal maker. (Which I think they managed to toe the line really well with the old V1 prices, not cheap but not bougie boutique pricing)

The V2’s price bumps make a lot more sense in light of the small form factor line and pricing, because realistically those V1’s were do a refresh at the existing pricing, much less with a price increase. It makes sense they wouldn’t want to step on the toes of an impending small form factor line though, because who would buy the deep-dive one-algo small line at essentially the same price? (It’s not like the OG pedals are THAT big in size imo)

I assume Strymon will sell a bunch of these, I couldnt be less interested in this one. I would have hoped a small line would either be quirky/experimental line of pedals or just shrunk versions of the OG’s.

Yeah it would have been cool if the V2 series had used this new form factor. The overall feature set of the Cloudburst is not that far off from the V2 pedals.

But with pedals built around a digital processor, the platform cost is mostly fixed and using a slightly cheaper chip doesn't make it a $150-200 pedal. I wouldn't be surprised if the new form factor's bill of materials and manufacturing is something like 80% of the V2 pedals.

The V1 pedals at least over here haven't gone down in price on the used market too much so I guess a good number of people don't care about e.g MIDI or the updated V2 features and the higher cost of the V2 range keeps the used V1s pricy too.

I have a Nightsky so I have little interest in the Cloudburst but very excited for future models. I hope they continue to offer something unique in them rather than recycling their existing effects.

 

[DrewJD82]

Discussing pricing, I think a lot of these boutique companies end up locking themselves into a certain price range. If Strymon or Eventide started putting out $100 pedals, they’d have everyone bitching that they’re now selling junk, pretty much what happened with TC Electronics. I know Behringer bought them out, but TC seems to catch a LOT more sh*t these days but I don’t really hear about QC issues with them, I dunno if it’s just that they started making cheaper pedals/Behringer association or they really did start making junk.

 

[JT]

Honestly; jesus riff tone does absolutely nothing for me. I DO like a good reverb but shimmer stuff sounds gross af to me generally.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Discussing pricing, I think a lot of these boutique companies end up locking themselves into a certain price range. If Strymon or Eventide started putting out $100 pedals, they’d have everyone bitching that they’re now selling junk, pretty much what happened with TC Electronics. I know Behringer bought them out, but TC seems to catch a LOT more sh*t these days but I don’t really hear about QC issues with them, I dunno if it’s just that they started making cheaper pedals/Behringer association or they really did start making junk.

Behringer

 

[Jarick]

I get they are premium but it's still odd pricing in my mind.

What are they competing against?

Here's a bunch of pedals that are cheaper but have lots of modes:
EHX Holy Grail - $143
TC Hall of Fame - $159
EHX Oceans 11 - $176
Boss RV-6 - $179
MXR M300 - $199
Walrus Slo - $199

Here's a bunch of pedals that are more expensive but have way more features:
Strymon Flint - $349
Strymon Blue Sky - $379
Walrus Mako R1 - $349
UAD Golden - $363
Boss RV-500 - $399
Source Ventris - $429
Strymon Nightsky - $429
Strymon Blue Sky - $479
Eventide Space - $499

 

[Gearzilla]

Honestly; jesus riff tone does absolutely nothing for me. I DO like a good reverb but shimmer stuff sounds gross af to me generally.

 

[JT]

 

[sleewell]

I get they are premium but it's still odd pricing in my mind.

What are they competing against?

Here's a bunch of pedals that are cheaper but have lots of modes:
EHX Holy Grail - $143
TC Hall of Fame - $159
EHX Oceans 11 - $176
Boss RV-6 - $179
MXR M300 - $199
Walrus Slo - $199

Here's a bunch of pedals that are more expensive but have way more features:
Strymon Flint - $349
Strymon Blue Sky - $379
Walrus Mako R1 - $349
UAD Golden - $363
Boss RV-500 - $399
Source Ventris - $429
Strymon Nightsky - $429
Strymon Blue Sky - $479
Eventide Space - $499

i don't think they are competing against any of the top list at all and as a brand they never really were. in regards to the bottom list the people who buy those pedals have a good amount of disposable income and will just buy it anyways because its a new strymon pedal and they want to. they are going to sell a ton of these pedals.

 

[yeky83]

I get they are premium but it's still odd pricing in my mind.

What are they competing against?

Here's a bunch of pedals that are cheaper but have lots of modes:
EHX Holy Grail - $143
TC Hall of Fame - $159
EHX Oceans 11 - $176
Boss RV-6 - $179
MXR M300 - $199
Walrus Slo - $199

Here's a bunch of pedals that are more expensive but have way more features:
Strymon Flint - $349
Strymon Blue Sky - $379
Walrus Mako R1 - $349
UAD Golden - $363
Boss RV-500 - $399
Source Ventris - $429
Strymon Nightsky - $429
Strymon Blue Sky - $479
Eventide Space - $499

Interesting, I guess they are trying to shoot for a new price bracket. Eventide Blackhole comes to mind, which AFAIK isn't too successful.

But the top list stuff is either: mono, sounds yucky, no MIDI, etc.
And the bottom list stuff has way more features but are way bigger and cost more.

It makes sense to me, the same way the Neunaber Illumine makes sense to me. One great sounding easy to use algo to cover all bases in a small form factor.

 

[Jarick]

I suppose it makes sense for people who use reverb like a special effect kind of like a phaser or tremolo. I've always used reverb to add a little space and dimension, not as much for huge symphonic trails.

Will be interesting to see the comparisons against the Helix effects. It's seems really similar to some of the reverbs they spun up in the last year or two.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Interesting, I guess they are trying to shoot for a new price bracket. Eventide Blackhole comes to mind, which AFAIK isn't too successful.

But the top list stuff is either: mono, sounds yucky, no MIDI, etc.
And the bottom list stuff has way more features but are way bigger and cost more.

It makes sense to me, the same way the Neunaber Illumine makes sense to me. One great sounding easy to use algo to cover all bases in a small form factor.

I feel like the Eventide individual pedals are always going to be less successful -- they are the exact same algorithms as in the H9, just in standalone easier to use, format. It's always seemed like a pretty dumb approach to me. I mean, H9 has loads of presets and bluetooth editing.

At least Strymon tends to make their standalone pedals capable of doing stuff that can't usually be done by any other pedal they make (Volante and El Cap are the only ones that seem to have a fair amount of direct overlap. Maybe the Lex? I dunno...havne't looked too much into that one. In fact, I have no idea. I just know the El Cap is more/different than the tape delay in Timeline and assumed that's the case for the bucket brigade one too but honestly have no idea. And now my parenthetical is the longest part of my post...)

 

[dk_ace]

I suppose it makes sense for people who use reverb like a special effect kind of like a phaser or tremolo. I've always used reverb to add a little space and dimension, not as much for huge symphonic trails.

Will be interesting to see the comparisons against the Helix effects. It's seems really similar to some of the reverbs they spun up in the last year or two.

Dynamic hall with the vocal effect on it and/or the new shimmer verb will be able to pretty much nail it. I think this pedals point though is that it has those sounds in one small enclosure with really simple controls. The range on the controls and how they programmed them is pretty clever, those who have built these sounds “from scratch” can appreciate that. Will work well for Billy Joe Lunchbucket who just wants to turn it on and fiddle a few knobs.

Honestly; jesus riff tone does absolutely nothing for me. I DO like a good reverb but shimmer stuff sounds gross af to me generally.

That’s a more straightforward way of what I was trying to say earlier I think… I was interested in it back when it was a sound nearly nothing did. I overused it with my first axe-fx because it had been one of those sounds I only dreamed of having before and still almost nothing on the market could do it. Now, I think “gross” is the right word for me too.

D