Empress Effects Super Delay

The Empress Effects Super Delay is the ultimate delay pedal. I didn't know of Empress Effects until I had the pleasure of using this, and boy I'm glad that I know of them now. While not cheap, the Super Delay is up there with the best sounding delays I've heard. The pedal has 1/4" connections for input and output and also one for an external expression pedal if you'd like to use one. It's not rackable as it's a stomp box effect.

UTILIZATION

I would not say that the Empress Effects Super Delay is a simple pedal, but it's not hard to figure out. It has a lot of unique things going on with it, but once you play with it a little bit and hear what everything does, user should feel at home with it. The parameters that it gives you to work with include knobs for mix, delay time ratio, feedback, mode, and volume. The modes include normal, tap, reverse, autoset, tape, rhythm, loop, and misc, all of which can be controlled further with the A/B/C switch that does something different for each of the modes. There are also switches for modulation, filter, and an expression pedal if you care to use one. Obviously there is a lot to be accounted for here, and there's a sticker on it to show how each mode changes when the A/B/C switch is toggled. I've never seen the manual but it couldn't hurt to have it around while trying to learn the pedal inside and out.

SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality of the Empress Effects Super Delay is outstanding. It's probably the cleanest sounding delay pedal I've ever used and between all the different modes and parameters, you can have yourself endless hours of fun getting new sounds. While it's not simple to use right off that bat, I'm always of the school of thought that it's a good thing to have options just in case you do want to experiment. All of the modes are valid here. You can get pretty much any delay sound you can imagine, all in super clean fashion.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're looking for the ultimate delay pedal, the Empress Effects Super Delay is it. It has more modes and features than you'll know what to do with, providing you with virtually any delay sound you can think of. All of the sounds are clean as a whistle and it's the perfect pedal for experimentation. The price tag is hefty for a pedal, but if you are a professional using delay, this will just about cover you for life!