It's SO much better than I was expecting! Strymon Cloudburst | Secret Weapons Demo & Review
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- I have to be honest and say that I didn't expect much from the Cloudburst when the initial photos leaked. A tiny take on just Cloud with no diffusion control? How could this be anything worth getting excited about when I've already got a Bigsky? Then I played it. Is this the end all be all for reverb? Nah. But is this a new long term staple on my board, giving me both a crucial piece of the Bigsky and a wealth of new ambient soundscaping abilities? Absolutely.
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Signal Path:
Bondi Squish As
1981 DRV
Benson Boost
Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl
Bondi Sick As
Bondi Del Mar
Strymon Timeline
Strymon Cloudburst
Strymon Flint
Timecodes:
0:00 Intro Song
02:20 Review
10:52 Sound Samples
12:18 Decay
16:58 Mix
18:39 Tone
21:15 Predelay
23:59 Mod
27:58 Ensemble with Dry Guitar
29:20 Ensemble Full Wet
34:38 Ambient String Wonderment
Recorded in Universal Audio LUNA
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Picked up one of these bad boys today. Decided I wanted it after 30 seconds of demoing it at the guitar shop. Now’s the time for my post-purchase research 😂
Probably one of the best videos on the Cloudburst. Thanks for your thoroughness.
I was wanting the cloudburst to take place of the flint on my board, but after seeing them together i think It'd make for a nice additional piece to the board with the flint!! Great video!
Kudos! This is the BEST review and demo of the Cloudburst that I've seen so far (and I've watched a LOT of them!). I added the Cloudburst literally yesterday to my Helix rig (running through an effects loop) and used it for the first time in church this morning (Easter Sunday). All I can say is . . . Oh....My....Goodness. The Ensemble mode was a killer. I always wanted the "Cloud" sound, but couldn't justify the cost and size of the BigSky. Cloudburst fits the bill perfectly.
This is the best review on this pedal I have seen as yet. Thank you!
Dang. Cloudburst + Flint sounds like an absolutely killer combo!
Top tier. Such a great combo that takes up less space than the Bigsky
The CLOUDBURST has transformed my acoustic rig. It’s stunning on an acoustic.
Ooh! I’ve got to try it on my Godin Multiac Nylon!
I’d love to hear what combo you have on your acoustic board! ATM I have my Maton 808 TE going into a D’addario tuner, LR Baggs Session, and planning to add this - would you recommend anything else (eq maybe?) 🙏
Great demo and review of this AMAZING pedal!! Gettin’ one!!
Thanks for so such an awesome video, so well done, I just ordered mine!
Awesome demo. Thank you.
great demo Mark thank you
Yes, the forte effect with tone down, fantastic!!!
Excellent advice and video
Thank you for this very intricate demo! I might have to just spend a few more Space Bucks & just get one of these things…
Best video ever. I got this pedal for valentine’s gift from my babe. 😮Sitting in a corner, I didn’t use it much. Until now!!! After seeing this video. Great content!!!
That intro was beautiful!!!
to hear someone else who loves effects emphatically dislike shimmer makes me happy.
Octave down shimmer can be rad but the high pitched one just makes me feel like I'm playing U2 knockoffs in a mega-church
everyone dislikes shimmer b
@@middaymeds haha. as a primarily church musician, i find that true and funny.
Hah same! I tried but no
I never should have sold my Digitech Supernatural. That thing had a detuned shimmer that just sounded evil. Only shimmer effect I ever enjoyed.
Incredible pedal, incredible review. Not usually a fan of long, overly thorough demos, but this pedal deserves a long demo, and this was amazing! I'm sold. Thank You!!
who gives a f what you're normally a fan of
Whoa the fully wet ensemble stuff is really cool - I haven't tried that yet.
Thanks. Well done.
I like the quality of the high end........shimmer is not pitched noise .......small.....and sounds amazing!!!
Wonderful!❤
I appreciate that when Strymon drops a pedal, they release it for everyone at once. They don't just send them to the influencers and tease us or months.This truly is a great pedal, basically is the main sound that everyone had the Big Sky for.
hope my one wasn't dropped
What a great review. Thank you
So talented, your commend of the tones are matched by your technique. I expect mine in this week… are you going mono out to the flint?
It's a stunning reverb pedal with the added extra of a "String Machine" which may get a little over used. I sold a BigSky and got this... and love it.
You sold the BigSky because of the "string machine" or some other reason?
@@BR-kj3fp I have since sold the Cloudburst and gone back to the BigSky. I know! Love the footprint of the Cloudburst but it's very hard to beat the BigSky for all it's available features.
Mark, it took you long enough to put this one out. Better late than never 😮 I bought mine first day of release and love it! Even though I have the entire Strymon pedal collection, this one has it’s own special sauce.
Cloudburst is one of the coolest pedals in a long time. I'm attempting to communicate with Whales using it 🐳🐋
Sweet Josh Williams!
Hi Mark , really good to find your walk through on the pedal , for this demo are you running it in ambient mode ?
I just got mine and absolutely love it. I did find that the digital mode vs analog dry through works better for what I want it to do. Did you keep it in that default mode?
I love mine, fabulous pedal.
Minus the Ensemble part of this pedal, how do you feel the Cloud sounds compared to Cloud on the Big Sky when set to the well known big ambient reverb style that Cloud does? Have you compared them next to each other, set to the same approximate sound?
Slightly off-topic, but where can we get that a cool 1981 Inventions pint glass like that? (Product placement is everything!)
Absolutely wonderful! What controller or midi switch do you use to select presets???
mine is waiting at my local post office !!!! going to get it tomorrow
I researched all reverb pedals. Features, quality, performance, price, value, etc.
In the end... I bought the Neunaber Immerse Mk-II when they put it on-sale, which happens rarely.
Totally happy with it. It does everything I need it to do. Very high quality algorithms.
then go post on one of their pedal reviews.
@@johnmckanna1064 then go have a Bud Light.
Immerse mkii is incredible. At one point I owned three of them. I dig the illumine a ton (and am using it a lot these days) but I’m not gonna lie when I heard they were working up a midi reverb all I wanted was the immerse mkii with a screen and midi jack. It’s a rock solid choice.
@@markjohnstonofficial Illumine is great if you need to store presets. Like they say, studio quality reverbs in a pedal. Truth.
Mark, what guitar are you using, my man? What pick ups? Guitar sounds fantastic!
Hi, for ambient work, cinematic sound escape, blade runner type, which one do you prefer: cloudburst or mercury or "night" sky ? Thanks!
What patch cables do you use? I use lavacable but its breaking after 4 years. I’m wondering if different cables will create less noise as well(?)
@markjohnstonofficial where are those stereo cables from that you have plugged into the cloud burst?
What patch cables do you use on your pedalboard?
Great video. New to the channel. Liking it a whole lot. Question if you don't mind. I have a GFI Specular Tempus and was wondering if it would be better to add a reverb pedal or a delay pedal as a compliment to the GFI. Thank you for any suggestions. Have a wonderful day.
IMHO the delays on the ST are not all that special. The reverb algos are great though. That’s why I’d add an extra delay.
@@mrblablablabla I don't have much room on my pedal board, but I was looking at the Keeley Halo and the Matthews Effects Surgeon. Any thoughts on either of those? Any other suggestions in that same footprint? Thanks for your thoughts. I greatly appreciate it. Have a great day.
@@marcogman8905 those are great options. Perhaps also check out Walrus Mako D1, Alexander Rewind, Quadrant and Radical Delay DX, Digitech Obscura, EHX Canyon, TC Flashback 2, JET Eternity and the tiny Mooer D7.
@@mrblablablabla Awesome! After my last response I thought of the Walrus D1. I will look into the others. Thanks again for the help. Have a great day.
Sounds amazing! Might have to pick the Cloudburst up eventually, those string sounds are incredible. Mark, any chance of a Secret Weapons episode on the Eventide H90?
Honestly I would love to deep dive the h90. Need to get in touch w eventide and see if I can make that happen.
@@markjohnstonofficial I for one would love to see that, and I’d love to see the sounds you could come up with in the H90. I have one and it’s absolutely overwhelming how fleshed out and robust every effect is. I love your channel by the way, I found you from your Walrus R1 video and I’ve been binging ever since!
How can you swap from chords delay to swells? You need midi pedal so you make presets? Or strymon switch?
What are you using for that reversed Delay? That’s a crazy effect!
Strymon Timeline
This is by far the best pedal that I have on my board... for both electric and acoustic.
Bros I just got the lore and fable they sound so cool together
Sounds cool..I have the Lore since launch and it's pretty magical..I seen the Fable and was about to get it but the Mood 2 was announced so I preordered that instead..It's going to be amazing...
Strymon Cloudburst or Meris Mercury7 for someone interested in great spacey stereo reverb sounds first & other cool features second?
It might not be an issue considering the way you play but have you found it frustrating to not be able to get the mix set so the wet is louder than the dry guitar?
It’s so close to perfect for me, but I’m gutted that when doing swells the volume drops once the dry stops
It’s a bit of a pain to have to have a mini switch connected to invoke Freeze mode but other than that it’s a winner at the price point
Yep it should have been enough to just keep it pressed like so many other pedals these days… what a bummer from their side…
On the topic of shimmer reverbs, my absolute favourite of all time is the boss rv6. You'd think it's nothing special as it's boss, but my god the shimmer mode cannot be beat. It's simply because of how the tone control works. It can roll off the harsh high end even to the point that you barely notice it's a shimmer anymore.
If you Mark, or anyone reading this hasn't tried it yet, I beg you to. It will change your mind about shimmers. My personal favourite setting is with the tone at about 10 o clock since that's where you get only a slight bit of the shimmer sound poke through the really dense reverb and it's just so inspiring! And if you turn the tone all the way down you get basically no shimmer and just this super dense dark reverb!
Nice. Haven't tried the RV-6 but I actually liked the shimmer algos on the GFI specular tempus and Meris Mercury7 since they can roll off the high end on the octave like that too. Helps make it so much more subtle & tasteful.
I love that first guitar - the pink one. What is it?
Bunting Melody Queen T
What patch cables do you use and is the stereo cable on the cloudburst custom?
All my patch cables are Ernie Ball flat patches. They’re the absolute best patch cables on the market by a wide margin.
@@markjohnstonofficial thanks so much Mark! I’m a big fan of your videos… I learn SO much from them and love your explanations of how things work and feel like I gain a much better understanding of their potential 👍🏻
For any of those here that really enjoy reverb, how do you guys like Earthquaker Devices reverb pedals -like Aftermath and the Dispatch Master (or any other)? In particular, is their overall tone warmer/thicker or brighter with nice clean chime? Also, is their fidelity as good as Strymon or ChaseBliss' CXM reverb?
Well the thing with Earthquaker Devices reverbs is that they are mono.. can't compete with stereo in my opinion..
To be fair, Avalanche Run V2 is stereo reverb and it sounds phenomenal.
@@markjohnstonofficial Oh yes forgot about that pedal!!! Haven't got it but have the Astral Destiny (Which you will never get 😁)...
@@markjohnstonofficial Thanks Mark, that helps a lot. Being new to your channel (couple of weeks) I've already purchased the Black Hole Symmetry due to your shared info., and demo/playing of it. I'm now quite confident in choosing an Earthquaker Devices reverb.
@@patrickr6505 I, unfortunately, don't have a stereo rig yet -- though soon with the Kingsley Juggler preamp (among a few of their others)/Seymour Duncan stereo powerstage amp/tone king cabs. Please excuse my excited boasting, but a second question for you, if you don't mind. Have you had much luck in 'faking' stereo reverb by placing mono reverb pedals in front of a stereo delay, for example?
I think the next pedal I want is the time line I think it's called
Yeah but they advertise it as an ambient reverb. I know this is my second post on your pages questioning what's so ambient about it. And I'm sorry for being so critical. I also agree shimmer is over used and you can't make me like it. Some pedals do it better but it's still a shimmer. But hall and plate shouldn't even be a consideration unless you're doing low attack based sounds. It's about the decay. Foreground the reverb. The decay is everything. That sound is what changes everything. If it's just an infinite decay without a unique character it just does what every infinite decay does. The difference is how the pedal sounds with an infinite or long decay. I wanna hear the reverb not the guitar. The mod, MP and Forte, Ensemble Full Wet section of your review has parts that help a lot. Thank you for that. I love Strymon products but so many of these reviews don't show different types of washes you can get. No attack. If you want hall or plate sounds they're so many different pedals that excel at that. The Big Sky, you're right, is great for that. But ambient? I don't wanna be the ambient police but I'd love to see reviews that showcase just what the reverb sounds like, not the balance between arpeggios and trying to listen to the decay with a Chase Bliss pedal thrown in. Frustrating for someone who has used guitars to make ambient music since the early 90s. Not slow attack Explosions in the Sky music, but soundscape based ambient music. The wet control is what it's about for me, not a balance between my guitar and the reverb tail. I know you're trying to do reviews for a large range of musicians and I should be more understanding of that. So, sorry for the rant.
Pretty sure when you use the freeze feature with a mini switch you can’t use the rest of the pedal features. It’s either all freeze or not.
there’s two modes. Freeze and Infinity. Freeze you are correct what you play over the top won’t have the verb. Infinity mode it will have the verb on what you play over it
was going to get this but a minty nightsky came along for the same price!! :) i'm guessing a lot of church musicians will over use the cloudburst! like they do with shimmer and put some musicians off!! over time
Fantastic pedal.I have one and i love it with my TC_QUINTESSENCE HARMONIZER PEDALFrom Quebec Canada.
by the end of this, im convinced Mark needs a church organ.
Best pedal investment I've made in a long time. So versatile
Nice demonstration...Articulate and to the point
Has anyone tried this pedal pre-dirt?
I love it but $259 is steep. So I bought an M-VAVE Mini-universe for about 1/10th that price that sounds good.
@ 32.45 😍🤩
Oh my God, is it the next TOP MOST FAVORITE Mark's pedal, right?
Nope. Still Thermae. And, as addressed in the video, it’s lacking some features from the full featured Cloud algo I really would have liked to see included. but it’s still a very strong showing and ended up being much more compelling than I thought it would be.
Thank you for being anti-shimmer. It's good to know I'm not alone on this planet :)
Is this also a mono reverb in a stereo housing or is this their first true stereo reverb?
It’s the same reverb implementation as every other strymon reverb; a stereo reverb generated from a summed mono source in the wet channel with a stereo dry through. Same as the flint, big sky, and *almost* every other reverb from every other builder.
Why does strymon make so many reverb pedals
Because they're good at it
They're spaced out! Night Sky
Great question though ?
🤦♂️
Looks a bit like the sky blue
Sounds nothing like a Blue Sky
*Sky Blue
Hey great review but Blade runner rocks !!😂
But, do you like it😂?
Less important than if you think you’d like it. But also yes, Ireally like it and Ive been using it and the flint as a replacement for my BigSky since it came in
@@markjohnstonofficial Had it for 2 months, am infatuated! Great channel btw.
Dammit Mark I wanted to dislike the cloudburst so badly and then you go and do this to me.
They're asking to much 💲 for this. Not worth it.
Please stop saying raucUos. The U is after the O (raucous) and not pronounced.
No
@@markjohnstonofficial 😁. Seriously though, I really dig your channel.
So many contradictions in your review/complaining, just let everyone make their own decision about it & just show it’s capabilities. Sorry but it’s a tad annoying
You’re probably not gonna like it here
YEAH ☺️ FAKE Review 😮
no presets !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Presets via midi