Full Text Searchable PDF User Manual
User Manual
1
SPECULAR
V 2
R E V E R B
Chapter 1 - OVERVIEW
In this new design, we’ve stayed true to the concept of the original pedal but
pushed its potential to the limit, and at the same time addressed its weaknesses.
New features include presets capability and 3 new atmospheric reverb modes.
The overall reverb algorithms have also been redesigned and improved to allow
very long decay time, while mantaining excellent definition and clarity.
Specular Reverb V2 offers one
normal reverb
mode plus six
atmospheric re-
verb
modes. Each one of the six atmospheres has the same ‘basic
character
’ as
the normal reverb sound, while adding its own unique twists. This is the core con-
cept of the pedal :
one great sounding reverb and the ability to add unique atmos-
pheres to it
.
Table
of
Contents
1.
Overview
1 - 2
2.
Operation
3 - 5
3.
The
Algorithms
6 - 9
4.
Auto
Intensity
Sweep
10-11
Important - must read
2
The table below lists all available modes with their respective knob functions.
MODES
DECAY
DAMPING
INTENSITY
Normal
Decay
HF
Damping
‐
Modulated
Decay
HF
Damping
Intensity
Shimmer
Decay
HF
Damping
Intensity
Echo
Reverb
Level
Echo
Time
Echo
Regen
Tremble
Decay
Speed
Intensity
Voices
Decay
HF
Damping
Voice
Select
Infinity
Decay
Tone
Intensity
[
M
]
[
S
]
[
E
]
Secondary
Atmosphere
[
T
]
[
V
]
[
I
]
Primary
Atmosphere
Use this selector switch to choose between
Modulated, Shimmer and Echo
(when
you’re in primary set) or between
Tremble. Voices, and Infinity
(when you’re in
secondary set)
See chapter 2 for details.
Atmosphere
LED
Off
:
Normal
reverb
mode.
Green
:
Primary
atmosphere
set
(
Modulated,
Shimmer,
Echo
)
Red
:
Secondary
atmosphere
set
(
Tremble
,
Voices
,
Infinity
)
Chapter 2 - Operation
All features and operations of the pedal are accessible through the 2 footswitches.
Operation of the footswitches have been carefully designed to keep things as
simple and intuitive as possible.
Atmosphere
selector
switch
Atmosphere
LED
Engage
LED
[Preset
/
Bypass]
[Select
/
Atmosphere]
3
Switching between Normal Reverb and Atmospheric Reverbs (M.S.E / T.V.I)
1. Press both footswitches simultaneously.
Don’t worry about doing this while playing live, the state of atmosphere can be
stored in presets. Posistion of the Atmosphere selector switch determines which
mode gets activated (this information is also stored in presets).
4
Toggling the Atmosphere Set
Primary
set :
M
.
S
.
E
‐
Modulated, Shimmer, Echo
Secondary
set :
T
.
V
.
I
‐
Tremble, Voices, Infinity
Only one set can be activated at a given time.
To go back and forth between the two atmosphere sets do the following :
1. Press and hold both footswitches until the Atmosphere LED changes
its color and flashes 3x.
Saving a preset
1. Press [Select / Atmosphere] to select the desired preset location.
2. Press and hold [Preset / Bypass] until the Engage LED flashes.
Loading a preset
1. Press [Select / Atmosphere] to select the desired preset location.
2. Press [Preset / Bypass] to load the selected preset.
Presets are selected by going through each location in the ‘Up’ direction (1, 2, 3,
…), while going trough these steps the sound does not get updated until selection
is confirmed by pressing [Preset / Bypass].
Bypassing or Engaging the pedal
1. Press [Preset / Bypass].
continued
5
Each atmosphere set has its own preset space : so you have 4 available presets
when using the primary atmophere set, and another 4 presets when using the
secondary atmosphere set.
M . S . E
T . V . I
Preset 1
Preset 1
Preset 2
Preset 2
Preset 3
Preset 3
Preset 4
Preset 4
For example, you can have preset arrangement like this :
M . S . E
T . V . I
Normal Reverb
Tremble (slow)
Shimmer (low intensity)
Tremble (fast)
Shimmer (high intensity)
Voices (perfect fifth)
Echo
Voices (octave)
Let’s say the current sound is
Shimmer
(low
intensity)
,
to switch to the
Voices
(octave)
sound do the following :
1.
Switch to Secondary atmosphere set.
2.
Select preset location 4.
3.
Confirm the selection.
Preset location 1 -
Preset location 2 -
Preset location 3 -
Preset location 4 -
Atmosphere
LED
Off
:
Normal
reverb
mode.
Green
:
Primary
atmosphere
set
(
Modulated,
Shimmer,
Echo
)
Red
:
Secondary
atmosphere
set
(
Tremble
,
Voices
,
Infinity
)
6
Chapter 3 - The Algorithms
Normal Reverb
This is the ‘mother’ reverb whose basic character is shared by all modes in this
pedal. The design is influenced more by psychoacoustic principles rather than
geometric representation (room, hall, chamber, etc.). In general, we thrived for a
reverb that sounds good over the whole span of
Decay
settings, this yields a ver-
satile reverb that can be used to achieve anything from subtle ambience, medium
sized room, all the way to very large majestic spaces with seemingly endless re-
verb tails.
Modulated
adds modulation to the late reverberation. As the Intensity knob is turned clock-
wise, both
depth
and
intensity
increases; approaching the maximum position a
weird but beautiful swirling resonance starts to appear.
Blend
Decay
Damping
Intensity
standard reverb control
controls modulation intensity
Blend
Decay
Damping
Intensity
standard reverb control
Not used
controls high-freq damping
(turn counter clockwise for
brighther reverb, clockwise for
darker reverb).
controls reverb level
controls reverb decay time
7
The Algorithms
Shimmer
adds regenerative octave components onto the reverberation. The harmonized
decay emulates the presence of multiple strings pads accompanying your instru-
ment. Used together with a volume pedal this atmospheric mode can work magic!
Echo
this mode is unique compared to the other atmospheres in the sense that it’s not
‘reverb with echoes added in’, instead, it’s a ‘reverbed echo’. The effect that is in
focus here is the echo, with reverb being the additive component.
There is only one reverb parameter that is adjustable :
reverb level
. The
damping
parameter is fixed to a moderate setting, and
decay
parameter interacts with
echo
regeneration
and
echo time
in a way that is pleasant and physically meaningful.
Blend
Decay
Damping
Intensity
standard reverb control
Blend
Decay
Damping
Intensity
controls reverb level
controls shimmer intensity
controls echo regeneration
controls echo time
controls echo level
8
The Algorithms
Tremble
adds amplitude modulation (tremolo) to the reverb. Only the reverberated signal is
affected, while the direct signal remains intact. The result is a very interesting
pulsating ambience that injects rhythm to the standard reverb sound.
Voices
adds a pitch-shifted secondary voice on top of the late reverberation. There are
three interval choices :
Unison
(no shift),
Perfect Fifth
(7 semitones), and
Octave
(12 semitones). The
Intensity
knob is partitioned into 3 regions, each region repre-
sents a distict voice.
Blend
Decay
Damping
Intensity
controls tremolo intensity
controls tremolo speed
standard reverb control
Blend
Decay
Damping
Intensity
standard reverb control
controls voice selection
Voice Select
Perfect Fifth
Unison
(no pitch shift)
Octave
9
The Algorithms
Infinity
This mode allows you to capture a brief snapshot of the sound you are playing,
and hold it indefinitely, then you can play over it (with reverberation). Later on, you
can fade out the sustained sound, and immediately fade in a new one. Here’s how
you do it :
1. Adjust
Blend
and
Decay
knob to get the desired amount of reverb mix and
reverb time. Leave
Damping
and
Intensity
knobs at midpoint.
2. Press and hold [Select / Atmosphere], when both LEDs starts flashing the pedal
began to continuously capture a snapshot of whatever you are playing. When
you release the footswitch, the pedal will take the last 0.25 seconds of the
captured sound and hold it indefinitely.
3. Now adjust
Intensity
and
Damping
to get the desired level and tonality for the
sustained sound. The Intensity knob runs backward : the sound gets more
intense as you turn counter-clockwise.
*
Do not turn the Intensity knob all the way to the right (clockwise), doing this
will shutdown the sustained sound
.
Now you can play over the sustained sound, and when you want to change the
sustained sound with a new one, simply repeat step-2; the current sustained
sound will fade out and then you can fade in a new one. The new sound will fade
in to the level you’ve set previously.
Blend
Decay
Damping
Intensity
controls intensity
controls tonality
standard reverb control
for the infinite sustained part of the sound
10
Chapter 4 - Auto Intensity Sweep
This feature is applicable only to
Modulated,
Shimmer,
Echo,
Tremble,
and
Voices
.
When you activate this feature the pedal automatically sweeps the parameter
controlled by the
Intensity
knob to the maximum value, hold it there, and sweeps it
back to the previously set value - It’s like having someone turns the Intensity knob
while you’re playing. Used judiciously, this feature introduces useful dynamic ele-
ment to the ambience soundscape.
Press and hold [Select Atmosphere].
Intensity
The parameter controlled by the Intensity
knob gradually sweeps to maximum value
(as if someone slowly turns the Intensity
knob all the way up).
As long as you hold the footswitch down, the
intensity parameter stays at its maximum
value and both LEDs keep on flashing.
Intensity
When you finally release the footswitch, the
Intensity parameter slowly sweeps back to
the previously set value.
11
Try this out :
1. Activate
SHIMMER
mode.
2. Set
the
Intensity
knob to a low setting (about 9 o’clock).
3. Set
Blend
,
Decay
, and
Damping
as desired.
4.
Start playing, a low level shimmer effect will be heard on top of the reverbera-
tion.
5.
Execute auto intensity sweep.
Here’s another cool one :
1. Activate
VOICES
mode.
2. Set
the
Intensity
knob to minimum (Unison voice mode).
3. Set
Blend
,
Decay
, and
Damping
as desired.
4.
Start playing, the sound is similar to the normal reverb (Unison = no shift).
5.
Execute auto intensity sweep.
12
Email :
gfisys@gmail.com
.
Web :
www.gfisystem.com
GFI System
Jakarta, Indonesia.
Specifications :
Input impedance : 1 MOhm.
Output impedance : 500 Ohm.
Current consumption : ~ 100 mA.
Weight : 0.6 Kg (1.2 lbs).
Dimension : 12 (L) x 6.5 (W) x 3.6 (H) cm
Powered by an external 9V DC Adaptor (sold separately).
This product is designed and manufactured by :
Features :
Pristine reverbs in a compact pedal.
Fully programmable (4 x 2 presets).
Normal reverb + 6 atmospheric reverbs.
Stereo input and output.
24-bits signal processing.
Analog Dry-thru.
Reverb tails persistence.