The crew over at Hungry Robot Pedals has been known for creating new, unique and innovative effects since their inception in 2012, quickly garnering a reputation for the obscure and awesome. Today’s featured pedal might just be the most unique yet, and is one hell of a fun pedal to play around with. The Kármán Line is a delay and oscillation device that uses a modulating joystick with a heavily filtered delay line that features vinyl-inspired pitch modulation. Huh?? That’s right, it’s a beast, but one that we were more than happy to investigate.
This pedal’s control sections are pretty complex, though they might not seem so at first glance. The Mix knob controls the volume of the repeats of the delay effect, but this control is overridden when the “Launch” mode is activated (we’ll explain, stay tuned). Similarly, the Rpt. knob adjusts the number of repeats of the delay in normal mode, but is overridden in both “Launch” and “Swell” modes (we’re getting to it, we promise). Depth controls how deep and present the modulation is, while the footswitch on the far left controls the On/Off function for the pedal.
Here come the fun parts: first, the Joystick. When moving it Up or Down, the delay time, oscillation pitch and warping are affected. Moving it left and right controls the rate, or speed, of the modulation. Next, the middle footswitch activates the “Swell” mode, which is basically a short and loud volume swell, which is a great effect to use (sporadically) throughout a song or live set. Conversely, the far right switch activates the “Launch” mode, which sends The Kármán Line into below-the-mix droning sounds. This is also where the O.Mix knob comes into play, as it controls the volume of the oscillation, and is inactive in any of the other modes.
An internal dipswitch gives you even more options, too, as you can set the max delay time to either 450ms in “Guitar” mode, or 1000ms in “Bass” mode, depending on what you’re using this wacky device for. Hungry Robot also encourages you to place this pedal FIRST in your chain, which may seem weird to some of you, but it really is a great pedal to experiment with, both sonically on its own, and to see how well it plays with other effects in your chain.
Truly unique, as all Hungry Robot pedals are, The Kármán Line is yet again an experimenter’s dream pedal, not really labeling itself into any certain effect-type category, making it fun and exciting in conjunction with the rest of your effects. The crew at HRP just keep coming up with new and innovative inventions, so make sure to check their site for more fun gear, and keep up with us for more reviews and demos of their effects in the new year!
*Special shout-out to our friends at The Sound Parcel for letting us check this guy out!*
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