Strymon BigSky Multidimensional Reverb Pedal Review (November 2024)
$479.00
Description
In this review post, we’re going to be discussing the Strymon BigSky Multidimensional Reverb Pedal, including an overview of its unique features.
Product Description
Plug into BigSky and instantly lift your sound into the stratosphere. The world below you fades into the distance, and you’re elevated into a glow of lush, glorious, radiant reverbs.
To create a reverb experience as natural, beautiful, and immersive as BigSky required tremendous feats of sound engineering and artistic imagination. Using the fundamentals of acoustical science as our beacon, we carefully studied and scientifically analyzed reverb technology from the past fifty years. We faithfully captured the essence of these classic sounds and forged ahead to dream up our vision of reverbs from the future.
We’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to craft BigSky to empower your creativity without getting in the way of it. We’ve hand-picked the most essential reverb controls and tailored their range and functionality so that sounds can be created effortlessly without extended tweaking.
BigSky gives you the option to instantly save and recall up to 300 of your own presets. Easily bank up or down through your presets using the front panel switches. Give each preset its own custom name to appear on the display. You can even select presets via an external MIDI controller.
“Project BigSky” started as a journey of diligent research. We studied, reviewed, and examined physical reverb units, algorithm architectures, academic papers, and programming techniques from the past five decades. Within BigSky, we utilized traditional reverb elements such as feedback-delay networks, all-pass-delay-filter loops, Schroeder reverb sections, multi-tapped delay-lines, as well as all-new reverb elements that we developed along the way. The goal was to find the best starting point for each reverb sound, and then elevate it into the 21st century.
Transparency. That is the foundation behind the analog circuitry in BigSky. Only the reverb algorithms color your sound and your analog signal remains untouched. Our True Bypass circuit accomplishes this with a mechanical relay to switch the input signal directly to the output, with absolutely no components connected. Our Analog Buffered Bypass circuit features a 1Meg input impedance, keeping the character of your guitar pickup unaltered. The output impedance is 100 Ohms and can drive hundreds of feet of cable without coloring the sound. Our noise specs are so low they’re about the same as the thermal noise of a guitar pickup.
Product Features
Sound Design
- Hand crafted, studio-class reverb algorithms deliver lush, gorgeous, and musically inspiring reverb experiences
- Twelve reverb machines to choose from: Room, Hall, Plate, Spring, Swell, Bloom, Cloud, Chorale, Shimmer, Magneto, Nonlinear, Reflections
- Seven front-panel tone shaping knobs: Decay, Pre-Delay, Mix, Tone, Mod, Param 1, Param 2 (Param knobs assignable per preset)
- Additional menu parameters allow for easy customization of reverb sounds
- 300 easily accessible and namable presets
- Press-and-hold Infinite Sustain and Freeze functions, saveable per preset
- Spillover and Reverb Persist modes, saveable per preset
- Selectable Speaker Cabinet emulation for direct-to-PA gigs or recording applications
Hardware
- Three rugged metal footswitches for preset selection and effect bypass
- LED display for preset info, reverb decay time, and extended parameter control
- Multi-color preset LEDs (green for active preset, amber for edited preset)
- Full MIDI implementation allows extended control for those with more complex rigs
- Sturdy and lightweight light blue anodized aluminum chassis, with laser-etched artwork
- Durable black anodized aluminum knobs
- Studio-grade audio input and output jacks
Ins & Outs
- Stereo input and output
- Expression pedal input with selectable control over any knob or combination of knobs, saveable per preset (also configurable as external tap input)
- MIDI input and output
- Included 9V center-negative power supply (300mA minimum required)
Audio Quality
- Analog dry path for a zero latency dry signal that is never converted to digital
- Premium analog front end and output section
- Ultra low noise, high performance 24-bit 96kHz A/D and D/A converters
- 115dB typical signal to noise at 50% wet mix (120db at 100% dry mix, 109dB at 100% wet mix)
- 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response
- +8dBu maximum input level easily handles instrument and line signals
Processor
- Super high performance DSP in a compact form factor
- 32-bit floating point processing
- 366MHz SIMD SHARC processor core, capable of 2.4 Gigaflops peak performance
More
- True Bypass (electromechanical relay switching)
- High quality, tranparent Analog Buffered Bypass mode
- +/- 3dB Boost/Cut, saveable per preset
- Optional Kill Dry mode mutes dry signal, for use in parallel effects loops
- Dimensions: 6.75″ (171mm) wide, 5.1″ (130mm) deep
- Designed and Built in the USA
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Solid build quality
- Extremely reliable
- Favorable customer ratings
- Worth the investment
- Fantastic audio output
Cons
- Quite pricey
Strymon BigSky Multidimensional Reverb Pedal Demo
Our Verdict
Despite its young age, the name Strymon is already well-known in pedal-obsessed circles. The Californian company has become synonymous with unparalleled attention to detail and tonal integrity thanks to sophisticated effects like the El Capistan, TimeLine, and Flint – and its newest creation, the BigSky reverb pedal, aims to be the pedal that is to reverb what the TimeLine is to feature-rich delay: a top player stompbox that does it all.
This kind of quality isn’t cheap, but reverbs don’t get much better than this – a truly exceptional stompbox in every way.
Where to Buy
The best place to buy this product has to be Amazon, due to their competitive pricing and fantastic customer service.
Pricing History
Price History for Strymon Big Sky Reverb
Statistics
| Current Price | $479.00 | November 20, 2024 |
| Highest Price | $479.00 | October 12, 2023 |
| Lowest Price | $475.00 | October 1, 2023 |
Last price changes
| $479.00 | October 12, 2023 |
| $475.00 | October 1, 2023 |
Buyers Guides This Product Is Featured In
Best Reverb Pedals
Additional information
| Item Weight | 1.97 pounds |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 9 x 5.6 x 3.7 inches |
| Item model number | BigSky |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | April 16, 2018 |
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