The new Sustain mode uses picking dynamics to individually select notes that then have an added decay and hold to them, much like a piano sustain pedal. Much like how you can increase clean notes in the SY-300 by holding them, the SE+ can allow you to pick and choose the notes you add to your texture. This feature also allows you to increase the polyphony of mono synths or quasi-polyphonic products such as the SY-300. This is a terrific feature for shoe-gazers, synthesists, ambient musicians, really anybody who likes to build a wall of sound from a series of tones. But, instead of a looper's echo-like repetition of a series of notes, the SE+ samples are so short in time that you hear them as tonal textures, literally short individual samples. With the new Layer knob, the SE+ can now build up thick tonal creations in a manner similar to a looper. And, like earlier products, you can freeze a sound with the pedal and latch it until you hit the pedal again. It also can function as a straightforward FX pedal, bypassing the freeze function altogether. It can operate like earlier products, holding sounds as you trigger the switch on the pedal until you release it, this time with a selectable attack and release for the sounds. This is an important feature when combined with the Threshold knob to create piano-like sustain effects in certain settings. The Decay knob influences the length of the sustained sounds after freezing them. Gliss creates a blurry transition between notes, and the Dry/Effect knobs blend in your dry and effected signals. The Attack knob from the original Superego influences how quickly a note freezes, from a staccato instant attack to a long, delayed synth-like attack for pads. The pedal is mono I/O, and there is no MIDI control for it. You can also add both an expression pedal and a set of extension switches if you don't want the pedal itself on the floor. Physically, the SE+ has a good range of Ins/Outs, with the ability to insert it into a separate FX loop if you wish. Tiny samples are referred to by synthesists as "grains", and that's what this records. It bears a brief mention here that the SE+ is fully polyphonic because it is really just a kind of sound recorder/sampler. Instead of the four control knobs of the Superego (Speed/Attack, Gliss, Dry, Effect), EHX has increased this to seven knobs, adding Threshold, Layer and Decay controls. This time, they have added new features that greatly deepen the product's capabilities. So, here we have the Superego+ and EHX has raised the ante significantly. The follow-on Superego ultimately left me disappointed because I didn't feel like it brought that much new to the party. I liked the original EHX Freeze, but it is pretty basic. Good luck with your patent application, Plus Pedal.īut what I was willing to grant was that, outside of expensive specialized products such as the VG-99 and EHX HOGs, the potentials for freeze/sustain technologies had never been explored deeply in a guitar pedal. The people fawning over this product made me wonder: had none of them ever heard of the EHX Freeze or Superego (or the VG-99, EHX HOGs, etc.)? Freeze-type sustain technology based on samples ISN'T new. A few months ago at NAMM 2017 there were a number of reviews gushing about this upcoming product:
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