Strymon takes its famous stereo reverb pedal BigSky to the next level with the new BigSky MX powered by a dual engine with 12 algorithms, and more.
The Strymon BigSky is one of the most popular Reverb pedals on the market. It is very popular among guitarists but also Synthesizer enthusiasts. It’s not a secret that a synth sounds better and smoother connected to a BigSky. And the algorithms have also been available as a plugin for some time.
Strymon today continues the BigSky journey with the BigSky MX, an evolution of the original pedal with twice the power, and more.
Strymon BigSky MX
BigSky MX is a new stereo reverb pedal and a massive further development of the original pedal. It uses a high-performance tri-core 800 MHz ARM processor, all dedicated to producing truly breathtaking reverbs. Strymon says:
This type of neural fine-tuning is based upon the same techniques that have enabled the recent AI revolution, and the result is springs that drip and splash, physical spaces you can really feel yourself in, and the sweetest possible musical response to every note you play.
The highlight of the new MX version is its dual reverb engine that hosts two reverbs at once. Dual reverbs can be routed in series, parallel, or split modes and individually panned engines. You can switch between reverb engines with a single button press. That sounds pretty neat.
That’s not all. In this new dual engine, you can now find 12 reverb algorithms, seven of which are brand-new. The other classic ones got an upgrade in the feature set and quality. New algorithms, for example, are impulse and chamber.
Impulse Response Engine
The new impulse response engine is powerful with its ten-second IR playback and full IR edition capabilities. It ships with 22 pre-loaded custom captures of classic analog gear.
In addition to the new processor and algorithms, the Strymon MX also has a new user interface. The pedal now comes with a dedicated Infinite/Freeze footswitch and the bank up/down footswitches.
Then, it has basic controls for decay, pre-delay, tone, mod, param 1, param 2, and Mix, a rotary Value encoder, and a rotary switch for choosing one of the 12 reverb algorithms. All parameter tweaks are visualized by a new OLED display.
On the connection side, the Strymon MX version also features full MIDI control via USB-C, TRS, or DIN connections. It has stereo inputs and outputs, so it is also perfect for integrating into synth setups.
First Impression
A new BigSky reverb pedal immediately awakens the GAS in one. The two engines sound very tempting, as do the new algorithms. But 749€ is also a lot of money and that slows down the GAS a bit. Nonetheless, it is a very exciting release.
Strymon BigSky MX is available now for 749€.
More information here: Strymon
Available at my partner
Awesome! I still hope they considering rack versions at some point.
I would love to see them do 500 series. FX in 500 series is very limited so there’s market potential I think. Imagine a lunchbox with a couple of these Strymon FX in there. Yummy 🙂
With two reverb engines, why only one stereo input??
maybe two reverbs at the same gives you options 🙂 and you can route it differently: 1 – 2 , 2 – 1, parallel… maybe in a BigSky MX 2 with four inputs and four outputs for 1000€ 😉
maybe we will see in a MX 2 in the future with 4 inputs and 4 outputs for 1000€ 😉
The two engines are obviously there to be used together on one guitarist’s pedalboard, ie: a splash of spring reverb and a dreamy chorale or shimmer.
I put my limit for pedal prices around 500$. It’s still a bunch of algos packed into a nice box. The answers to “what else can I get/do for this amount of money?” are too convincing again buying one.