The Wampler Metaverse
While the term metaverse does make me throw up in my mouth a fair bit, considering how much it gets tossed around these days, I am not going to let a product name get in the way of what is to my mind a really nice pedal.
One could ask why the world needs another multi-delay type pedal. There are certainly lots of good options already out there, and delay is delay. Whether we are talking about drum delays, tape delays, bucket brigade style analog delays or true digital delays, there are a number of excellent pedals that bring all these delay types into a single multifunction delay pedal.
To my mind, a sad board is one with only one delay pedal. Two at minimum, maybe three, appeals more to me. Besides as we get YATS (yet another tube screamer) every other day, delays hardly come close to the number of same old same old annoying overdrives. Yes, I am not a tube screamer fan, I know that others are. That’s cool, no need to write in to tell me what an idiot that I am.
I am however, a fan of delays. I have certainly spent more than what most would consider reasonable on delays and while I find myself falling to single purpose delays over multi-delay units, the Metaverse is, in my opinion, worth consideration.
Why Metaverse
For many folks, they want more than one delay type but don’t have the space or the coin to populate a pedal board with a bunch of individual delay types. DSP technology has improved significantly such that digital implementations of older analog circuits sound very good, and with none of the too often forgotten side effects of analog.
With the Metaverse we get 11 types of delay. Starting in the noon position is FTE or Faux Tape Echo, an implementation of Wampler’s excellent Tape Echo pedal. Moving around in a clockwise direction we next find ETH which is the Wampler Ethereal digital delay. Next is MOD a digital delay with a flanger modulation added. Then we have SPC which is the digital version of an Echoplex / Roland Space Echo. Then there is TAPE, which to my mind is named poorly. It should be called DRUM because it emulates a Binson EchoRec which is not a tape delay at all. The next option is DIGI, basically Wampler’s implementation of a TC2290 digital delay unit. Coming up the left side we have ANLG which is Wampler’s take on the Boss DM2 analog delay pedal. WET is Wampler’s tribute to the Way Huge Aqua Puss. BBD is the implementation of a Deluxe Memory Man bucket brigade style delay. JET is the ANLG delay with the addition of a whooshy flanger. Finally there is DOC, aka the Doctor, a Wampler unique offering that is, well it’s unique.
Unlike a lot of multi delay type delays, these sound good and for my use cases most of them are delays that I would use. I have other multi-delay options but where the delays delivered include stuff that I would never use. Technically interesting but it’s my money and if I am paying, I want stuff that I will actually use.
Usability
The Metaverse is kind of like a double wide. For those who listen to the Wampler podcast, double-wide really fits as a description considering where Wampler is located. Ins and outs are on the sides and offer mono and stereo options. I prefer jacks on the top but it is what it is. The bypass switch is well separated from the Tap Tempo switch and going for either, you are unlikely to hit the low preset select button.
The knobs are well labeled but be prepared to spend time with the manual as they tend to have different secondary functions depending on the delay type selected. I don’t hate this, but I don’t love it either. The delay type selector is a rotary knob, and each delay type has an LED to show which one is active. The Metaverse is the same size as the Terraform modulation pedal but is massively more usable because the text is white on black as opposed to the nigh unreadable medium blue on dark blue of the Terraform. That’s a nice pedal but it’s a real pain in the ass to use until you memorize everything or give up. The Metaverse is hands above the Terraform from a usability perspective.
The top of the pedal looks like a random attack of holes. In addition to the connection for 9V power and an optional expression pedal, there are a pair of 3.5mm MIDI jacks, useful as the device is completely MIDI capable. Even if you don’t use MIDI, you can use a MIDI capable between the Metaverse and Terraform to sync their repeats if you wish.
You can get to eight presets in the box, and up to 128 if you use MIDI. Programming the eight in box is easy and switching through them is pretty quick.
What’s Not to Like
Despite the massive improvement over the Terraform in readability, if this unit is on the floor you’re going to want a pedal board light so you can see what’s going on and reader glasses to read the settings unless you have perfect eyesight.
Typeface size and colour are the big offenders to me, as I can get by the side mount jacks and such.
What I find missing, because I am a multi-delay user, is a box in the same size that has two independent delays where I could set delay one to be completely different from delay two and then run them in serial or in parallel. That for me would be ideal, and while I could do it with a simple XY box and a second multiverse, I would prefer everything in one place.
It’s a moot point that there is no battery option, and that the unit does not come with a power supply. I use CIOKS supplies so it was easy enough to connect another power line at 9v and deliver completely isolated power to the device, but for those just getting started, it means buying a power supply, or sticking it on one of those noise machine daisy chain devices.
Bonus
When you purchase and register a Metaverse, you can then download plugins that deliver the same delays as the pedal for use in your DAW. The plugins sound terrific and while you can buy the whole set for $50 USD, free is a good price. Just be aware that the registration portal requires a serial number and my Metaverse did not have one. I have heard others say this. Make something up, I chose NOSERIALNUM and then the download worked. It’s a great offer, executed poorly.
Buying
I have seen the usual scumsuckers on Reverb buying these things and then reselling them new at a premium. Don’t get hosed. I bought mine new off the shelf at Cosmo Music in Richmond Hill Ontario for $460 CAD and they had it in stock. $460 may sound pricey and I guess it is but it is 11 delays in a box and I would likely use 8 of them with some regularity.
Summary
There are choices in multi delay type effects pedals. This is no Strymon Timeline or Eventide Time Factor in either price or complexity. It is very usable for a bit more than a single effect type delay and the build quality so far has been excellent. I think that there are other delays that sound better, but you pay more and may get less, and I am using the superb UA Starlight as example. For the regular user wanting the choice of different delay sounds in a single small package with a fairly short learning curve, the Metaverse is an excellent candidate.
As usual I receive no compensation for these reviews, so opinions are purely my own. Thanks for reading. Please subscribe to the articles and the podcast to be notified when new content is posted. Until next time, peace.
