on the Digital side, and the
only difference I heard in
the Modulation was slightly
greater amplitude on the
Digital side.
So, we already have a
flexible delay that sounds
fantastic. The Reverse effect
proved surprisingly ample
once I spent time dialing it
in. I had to adjust the setting
depending on whether I
was using a clean signal
or, say, a fuzz, but that’s
where the Andromeda’s
“Preset” function could
come in handy: It offers
32 banks with four presets
each, and they’re savable via
the front panel and can be
scrolled through by holding
down the Tap footswitch or
through MIDI.
The Andromeda allows
you to choose whether the
delayed signal continues
to fade out or comes to a
hard stop when disengaged
via a “Trails” control. You
also can determine if the
tempo is based on BPM
or milliseconds. However,
the coolest functionality is
the “Dynamic Expression”
section. I initially thought
that describing the
Andromeda as a “Dynamic
Delay” was a bit of a bluff;
most delay pedals respond
to playing dynamics to
some degree. However,
the Andromeda allows you
to determine how your
playing dynamics interact
with the effect. One bank of
controls allows you to link
the effect to how hard you
play “(“Hard”) or how gently
you play (“Soft”). The other
bank lets you select if the
aforementioned dynamics
affect the Mix, Modulation,
Saturation, or all three. The
“Threshold” knob then
controls the degree to which
they dynamics affect the
effects.
I found that assigning the
Saturation and Modulation
controls to the Dynamic
Threshold control didn’t
do much; both effects
were subtle enough that
the change in proportions
wasn’t particularly dramatic.
However, using this control
to boost the amount of
delay in my signal helped
me overcome that age-
old issue of how to avoid
swamping the delay or
clean signal during a busy
rhythm part. Setting the
Dynamic Threshold to Soft,
assigning it to Mix and
setting the threshold around
9:00 gave me a wonderfully
controllable delay that
allowed me to feature the
effect prominently while I
advanced the melody. It’s
a brilliant feature, and one
that I think will really set the
Andromeda apart for some
players.
WHAT WE LIKE
Gorgeous, tweakable
sounds and some very cool
features.
CONCERNS
The pedal is big, which in
and of itself isn’t a problem
(although it won’t fit on
my board—I checked), but
I came away feeling that
Seymour Duncan could’ve
scaled back some of the
features and maybe made
this pedal more board-
friendly without losing
much. It’s a minor complaint,
and I share it mostly for
Seymour and his team; if the
Andromeda will fit on your
board, I heartily recommend
checking it out.
ToneReport.com
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