EXPERIMENTAL
NOIZE
SPIN CYCLE
REVIEW BY ERIC TISCHLER
STREET PRICE $349.00
Experimental Noize’s (EN)
Spin Cycle is the company’s
only product for musicians,
but it appears EN’s put
a great deal of thought
into its lone offering. At
first glance, the Spin Cycle
has a lot in common with
most other rotary speaker
simulators: It’s big, it has a
lot of knobs, it’s not cheap
and the overdrive emulation
is no good. However, it
stands out in one particular
area: the Spin Cycle really
adds heft to your tone,
and, to my ears, that’s what
makes the difference when
you’re working with a
digital emulation of two
rotating speakers.
Let’s start with the many
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GEAR REVIEW
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controls the Spin Cycle
offers. There are the
standard Speed controls
to determine the rate
of rotation in both Fast
and Slow settings (the
Slow setting isn’t kidding
around—it can crawl), and
a footswitch to toggle
between those settings. The
Acceleration control sets
the ramp time between the
two speed settings when
players transition from
one speed to another, and
there’s a Brake switch that
momentarily “freezes” the
effect while it’s held down.
The Distance control affects
the intensity of the effect.
Tube Emulation is intended
to replicate the drive of
Experimental Noize Spin Cycle
an amplifier (and there’s a
switch on the back of the
pedal to add 12 decibels
of gain, too). There’s also a
control to adjust the balance
between the Rotor (high
end) and Drum (low end).
Less common are controls
for the Drum:Rotor Ratio
and Cab Emulation. The
Drum:Rotor Ratio dials in
the degree to which the
rotation of both speakers
are offset from one another;
this control really helps sell
the authenticity of the Spin
Cycle’s effect by adding
depth. The Cab Emulation
is designed to capture the
reflections of the signal
within a rotary speaker’s
cabinet; in my experience, it