Strymon Cloudburst Ambient Reverb Pedal

Prior to discovering the Cloudburst, I really had no particular interest in Strymon pedals. Too large, too expensive, too ethereal, and too impractical for the type of reverb pedal I would actually need and consider placing on a pedalboard. But the Cloudburst offers something entirely different. It would be easy to dismiss it as a just a stripped-down version of a single Big Sky algorithm, but that's not the case at all. The Cloudburst actually offers a handful of different reverb types across its simple control layout, and it does a lot more than just "praise & worship" ambient reverb. BUILD QUALITY & CONTROLS: First off, the Cloudburst is surprisingly compact. In pictures, I always assumed it would be a mid-size pedal - something like a Way Huge pedal. In real life, it has the width of BOSS compact pedal, but is actually shorter from footswitch to jacks. Also, it has top-mounted jacks, which allow for even tighter placement on pedalboards, though I will point out that real estate is tight up there with the I/O jacks, another 1/4" jack for external controls, a 9V jack, a mono/stereo switch, and a USB-C jack! Just keep that in mind if you use angled cables that you'll have to be a little creative to get everything to fit properly. The controls are very simple and similar to other reverb pedals. You have MIX knob that changes the amount of effect, a PRE-DELAY that changes when the reverb effect starts to come in, and controls for decay (length of reverberation), and TONE/MOD (modulation) controls. The footswitch is soft kind that started appearing on boutique pedals in the 2010's, and the knobs have a nice resistance to them. Everything feels great and is easy to access and adjust. The pedal itself has metallic blue enclosure, which I believe is aluminum. It's lighter than you'd imagine, but not so light that it will get kicked around. THE SOUNDS: The Cloudburst is based on the Cloud algorithm from Big Sky, and I'll happily disclose that I have never played a Big Sky and cannot compare. However, the development team indicated that the algorithm was redesigned and tweaked for this pedal, and the efforts show. This is not just one type of reverb. With MIX between 12:00 and 2:00 and the DECAY set low, you actually get an excellent room-style reverb. This gets into "hall" territory as you increase DECAY. The fact that they programmed this to also function as a straight, no-frills reverb that is also capable of ambient soundscapes was a major selling point for me. It transforms the pedal from "expensive one-trick novelty" to "useful musical tool". But the ENSEMBLE switch is clearly the differentiating feature of the Cloudburst, and its Strymon doing what they do best. As many reviewers have noted, Cloudburst really isn't a shimmer pedal, even if it can be used in that way. When you flip the mod switch to mP (mezzo piano) or forte, you get increasing amounts of what I would describe as "orchestral", synth-like accompaniment that trails your signal. The reverberated effect does have overtones with higher octaves, but that isn't the prominent feature like it would be with a shimmer pedal. In fact, if you find shimmer pedals too bright or grating, the Cloudburst might be a nice alternative to try out. The DECAY is capable of very long sustain times - I believe they say it is 50 seconds, but whatever it is, it's enough. You can also hook up an external footswitch that works like a "freeze" or "infinite" button. Play a chord, hit the footswitch after the effect comes in, and it will hold it like a beautiful orchestral drone. You can then play over this, but note that the additional notes will not the reverberated effect (unless supplied from another pedal in front of Cloudburst). The freeze effect works, but for a new user like me, there are some quirks to getting the timing right so that you hold the sound as you are intending. I can also confirm that while Strymon wants you to buy their $50 MiniSwitch to use with it, other momentary switches like the BOSS FS-5 do work. CONCLUSION: It's generally wrong to imply that any single piece of gear is a "game-changer", or that it will fundamentally change the way you play your instrument. Cloudburst is just a reverb pedal, but it's such a unique and beautiful approach to that effect that I do find it particularly inspiring. While I got primarily for electric guitar, it EXCELS with acoustic-electrics, and I'm sure could be used with any number of other instruments with great success. Strymon were smart in making a pedal that could be set to do more traditional and subtle types of reverb, in addition to the Cloud ensemble effect, which is truly incredible.

This is simply the best reverb I have ever used. The dreamscapes it creates are sublime. I watched a few reviews on YT before making the purchase--no buyer's remorse when I finally heard it through my Gretsch. It's such an impactful pedal I ended up composing an instrumental titled "Tonight" and copyrighting it so as to be one of the early ones to voice its orchestral harmonics, not in front of the music per se, but within it. The presence it creates is unobtrusive, but expansive, giving the player a sort of panoramic view of the atmospheric soundscapes being generated. I'm hooked. This is the first pedal where, during recording, I ended up not mixing it with any other reverb plugins available in my DAW. The con? Probably the price. It's not cheap...but it is a keeper, 100%. I do not ever see myself touching my BOSS reverb again.

This pedal is a great addition to my setup. The clean tone and ensemble effect fill the space with a warm, ambient sound. Quick to set up and easy to use, this pedal is worth the money. It will replace my Super Chorus for sure. The control knobs are easy to set up and understand, and the foot button's functionality is quick and accessible.

Very beautifully sounding pedal. Delivery was quick!

High quality and worked good with one spot. Definitely a 1 trick pony though. Synthesizer esc which couldn't gel with so returned. Awesome product just not 4 me. Liked the ensemble idea at first, but it drowns your guitar playing and is always droning in your ears. Not sure ensemble wud even work live as would prevent from cutting thru the mix. Also, having to use a Y cable to make stereo is a bummer, plus no batt. option

Just amazing! I can’t describe the feelings this pedal invokes. Its exactly what I’ve been looking for forever.

Short version: amazing reverb. Buy it. It’s solidly built, perfect size, tons of options. 100% worth the price and then some. I was looking to buy the universal audio golden reverberator for the second time, but I don’t really care for spring reverb, I like room/hall/ambient. I have a Friedman amp and I love the old school tones. This reverb came up in my search, and some people said it was a one trick pony… only good for ambient reverb. Dead wrong. Watch Pete thorn’s review. It does room and hall really good, and the ambient tones… sweet Jesus! This pedal does everything really well. If I was more than a home player with extremely expensive gear and a decent job outside of music, I wouldn’t tell a soul about this pedal. If you can work a reverb pedal, this one is as good as it gets. Unless you’re after spring reverb. If so, you won’t like this. While it won’t nail any specific room/hall, it will do them both exceptionally well. The ensemble is ridiculous. It’s built with quality. When I want spring reverb, I’ll use my fender amps

In all honesty I was hoping for more with this pedal. I received it and plugged into my pedal board and played with all of the features and settings and was severely disappointed. So I will say if you’re looking for bright orchestral sound then look no further this pedal is for you. It’s just not my flavor but others may think it’s the greatest thing ever so I digress.

いやー，凄い．空間音満載．

Lo uso como reverb con bajo. Puedes obtener unos sonidos súper tétricos y atmosféricos activando el modo de ensamble. Combinado con un shimmer hace cosas bellísimas. Es de las mejores inversiones que he hecho.

Beautiful reverb! Sell your other verb peddles!

Pedale spettacolare! L'ho aggiunto alla mia catena di Srymon.

It's not cheap, but the Cloudburst is my first Strymon pedal and it totally lives up to the excitement that surrounded its release. It's fantastic quality and it really sounds gorgeous! I used it in rehearsal for the first time today, and the band was blown away by the extra dimension it gives to our sound. It offers everything from a small room echo to almost a string section playing in the Grand Canyon (in Ensemble mode) - so it's a fantastically versatile pedal.