Reverb/Delays with Analog Dry Through

Started by Killthepopular, April 01, 2020, 07:47:28 AM

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Killthepopular

I'm GASing for a reverb pedal. I have 3 zoom MFX pedals with reverbs so I never saw any point in buying a reverb pedal. But now I discover that a lot of other reverb pedals have analog dry through (not a feature on the zoom pedals) which would make me more inclined to use a reverb pedal as I don't like the idea of converting my guitar signal needlessly. The big reverb lines (EHX holy grail, Boss RV, TC HOF, strymon sky) all apparently use analog dry through. The boss DD series are analog dry through too. Apparently the line 6 DL4 is not.

Anyway, I was thinking, this analog dry through is something people talk about like it's a special feature but it seems to me like the majority of delay and reverb pedals use analog dry through.

Specifically though I wanted to ask about the Marshall Reflector. I've looked at a bunch of pedals and for some reason I like the sound of this one the most. It might even be the dry part of the sound that I like in particular, like maybe it has a sweet-sounding preamp in the dry path. I was just wondering if anyone knows if it has analog dry through? I've seen a couple of guys complain that their Reflector broke and they got the dry signal coming through but no reverb effect. Presumably that suggests that it does have an analog dry path as it suggests that there are two entirely separate circuits dealing with the dry and wet signals.

So yeah, do you guys reckon it has analog through? Also I'm not 100% settled on the Marshall Reflector if anyone wants to persuade me to get a different pedal.

patrick398

I think most reverb/delays will just use a dual op amp for the dry, the first op amp to buffer the input and split it, one path going off to the reverb/delay and the other going to the second op amp where it is mixed with the output of the delay/reverb. Just look at how most PT2399 delays are set up or something like the rub-a-dub reverb. That's your basic topology, then you just plug in the reverb of your choice. I had a marshall reflector for a while, i liked it at first but eventually sold it as i thought it sounded a little cold. Not sure what chip it uses though

Killthepopular

#2
Quote from: patrick398 on April 05, 2020, 05:17:04 AM
I had a marshall reflector for a while, i liked it at first but eventually sold it as i thought it sounded a little cold.

When you say it sounded cold, do you mean the overall sound (including the dry signal) or just the wet signal?

What did you replace it with? Was it an analog reverb (i.e. spring) or another, less cold digital reverb?

patrick398

It was a long time ago, not even sure if i'd trust my own assessment. I only used one of the presets, the spring i think. It didn't do 100% wet either, i think that was a big reason i got rid. I've had a belton based reverb for a while now, more than happy with that