There are two sides to KMA Audio Machines’ new Cirrus pedal… but the good news is that you’re going to love both of them. To the left, this fully digital FX machine is all about delay; to the right, reverb is the name of the game.
Both of these dreamy effects come with the standard controls that you’d expect - you can tweak the time and repeats for the delay, and the decay and damp for the reverb - but this is just the start of an impressive sonic story.
Cirrus is called a Spatial-Temporal Modifier for good reasons: both the delay and reverb can operate in three modes, each of which rocks a special dynamic feature that’s controlled by your picking attack. You can set the sensitivity of this using dedicated knobs.
The different modes enable massive variation in your tone. On the delay side, you can dial in tape echo-style modulation via the Mod mode; choose the Sample & Hold mode to create synthy textures, with a sequencer-like filter arriving before the delay; or choose a third mode that blends in a high octave as your notes decay for sublime celestial shimmer.
The reverb modes are, of course, equally versatile. Mod mode is on hand to deliver smooth movement, while the LP and HP modes enable an opening low-pass or closing high-pass filter respectively. These filters can be pushed to more extreme settings simply by picking harder, adding an extra level of expression to your performance.
The fun doesn’t end there, though, as it’s also possible to switch the order of the two effects using a toggle switch - an instantaneous way of getting a totally different sound. A further toggle switch sets the delay tap subdivision.
There are footswitches too, of course - one to operate the tap tempo feature, and another to control Cirrus’s various bypass options. Yes, you read that right: rather than simply switching the pedal on or off, you can hold this down to engage Cirrus momentarily for a quick burst of its sonic charms; or, when the pedal is on, hold it down to max out the decay. The tap switch also hides a secret for more sonic variations - hold it down to max out the repeats for infinite echoes. Clever, eh?
Cirrus can also accept an expression pedal input (a selector switch lets you choose which parameter it’s going to control), and you can turn the reverb and delay tails on or off via an internal switch. A serial FX loops enables you to put another pedal before these effects.
So, there you have it: Cirrus is an FX pedal that’s more than the sum of its very enticing parts, and will quickly become your first-choice processor whenever your tone is lacking in atmosphere.
Find out more on the KMA Audio Machines website, and buy it from mid-October for £185/€199/$229.
