Blackstar HT-Reverb review

Better known for causing a raucous racket than a soothing sonnet, Blackstar has brought its tank-like construction and organic valve-powered tones to the effects world, and they're feature-packed, including this reverb pedal.

There are eight different reverbs on offer, ranging from the usual plate and spring effects to different room types, and even reverse and gate reverbs, all of which offer a unique character and atmosphere.

The sounds are tweaked by a series of fairly straightforward controls. The Tone and Level controls perform as expected, and Time enables you to change the decay, ensuring that each individual reverb can be tailored to your needs.

Dwell takes direct control of the ECC83 valve peeking through that metal grille, Blackstar's not-so-secret weapon. This adds an analogue warmth and realism, which, to our ears, introduces a subtle harmonic quality that really helps combat the sterility that digital effects can sometimes suffer from.

Also included is a Mode switch that, when held down for a second or longer, switches to a preset mode with both short and long decay settings for each effect.

If you initially scratch your head at the amount of reverbs on offer, remember that the right one can make sure you're in exactly the right place in the mix, both live and recorded.