Review: DigiTech HardWire Supernatural

****

Digitech’s new Hardwire Supernatural reverb pedal lays seven genuine Lexicon-reverb algorithms at your feet.

****

The Hardwire Supernatural (Finnish street price approx. 140 €) is Digitech’s newest digital reverb in pedal form.

The pedal sports three controls:

Mix is used for setting the mix of the dry and wet signals in the output. Liveliness lets you adjust the reverb’s treble content and brilliancy. The length of the delay is controlled using the Decay-knob.

The Supernatural can be used monophonically (mono signal in –> mono signal out), as well as in stereo (mono or stereo signal in –> stereo signal out). The pedal automatically detects which jacks are used at any given time and puts itself into the correct mode of operation accordingly.

In addition to the manual, the box also includes a glow-in-the-dark sticker to put on the switch, Hardwire’s Stomplock rubber cover (which protects the controls from accidental parameter changes), as well as a velcro base for pedalboard installation.

Even though the new Hardwire pedal will work for an hour or two running on a 9 V block, you should really use a PSU with a power-hungry digital effect, such as this. A power supply isn’t included with the Supernatural, but the pedal is conforming to the (de facto) Boss-standard.

****

The Hardwire Supernatural offers you seven different reverb types, with a strong emphasis on processed reverbs. There are two ”pure” reverb types, with the rest offering combinations of reverb and modulation effects.

Plate reverb is one of the unmodulated, classic algorithms:

All the other sound clips have been recorded with the three controls set to 12 o’clock, but here’s a taste of the Plate type with Mix set to 3 o’clock and Decay turned up all the way:

Plate Mod adds a chorus effect on top of a plate reverb:

Shimmer combines an open-sounding Hall reverb with an octaver:

Supernova is a very intense-sounding reverb with a deep flanger and a pitch shifter modulating:

Shine is a chorus-endowed version of the Shimmer reverb:

Pherb modulates a Hall-style reverb with some hefty phasing:

Last, but not least, there’s a tasty version of an unadulterated spring reverb, called Spring:

****

In my view, Digitech’s Hardwire Supernatural is a superb reverb pedal, which gives you the two most important traditional reverb types for guitar – namely Plate and Spring – along with some excitingly strange modulated reverb effects.

The Supernatural is a great pedal for it’s spring and plate reverbs alone, but you will get most out of this stompbox, if you’re into experimental and/or colourful guitar sounds.

****

Digitech Hardwire Supernatural

Finnish street price approx. 140 €

Finnish distributor: EM Nordic

A big thank you to DLX Music Helsinki for the loan of the review sample!

****

Pros:

+ seven genuine Lexicon-reverbs

+ Stomplock control cover

+ sound