Electro-Harmonix Superego

T
he Superego+ pedal
combines the Superego
‘synth engine’ with a
simple two-knob
multieffects unit and
opens up the control
with expression pedal
and external control inputs. As with
many recent EHX pedals, there's a lot
to get to grips with here.
The core of the Superego+ is the
synth engine, a polyphonic pitch
tracking delay-based sustainer/freezer
effect. The Attack, Decay and Threshold
control the effect’s response to the
input. Though it’s geared toward
guitar, any instrument-level source
works: I tried bass and monosynth to
great effect. The Layer and Gliss
knobs set how the smoothed-out
sustain effect overlays itself as the
input changes and how the tracked
pitch changes, (ie the glissando
effect). The pitch tracking is good and
with long Decay/Gliss settings, a slow
Attack and some healthy Layering,
some real spaced-out sounds can be
harnessed. Mix is via two knobs, Dry
and Effect, which makes a better job
of balancing the gain structure than a
the extra £30-40 over the original
Superego. An expression pedal
enhances the creative range of the
core effect, and though I didn’t get to
explore the EXT (external control)
input, it offers a useful range of
remote switching options for use in
larger pedalboard setups. The
synth-engine effect takes a little
getting used to, but with familiarity
the Superego+ can add anything from
luscious atmospherics to ear-melting
wall-of-noise (add distortion to taste).
single mix knob, especially when
using the Send/Return path as things
can get rather spicy (distortion works
a treat here). The Send-Return path is
for the Effect signal only, with the
Send also able to act as a signal
splitter for two amps/destinations.
The expression pedal can be
assigned to control any of the seven
synth control knobs, it’s just a matter
of setting controls at heel-down and
heel-up points, and this opens up a
world of potential... and weirdness.
The multieffects portion of the
Superego+ comprises mod effects
(fl ange, phase, rotary, trems, chorus),
delay/echo, pitch/detune, and fi lter
(LPF). Two knobs control Rate and
Depth, with the former controllable via
the expression pedal input. The central
footswitch toggles this section on/off
in four of the fi ve available modes,
with the fi fth mode being multieffects
only (no Freeze). The effects are all of
a good quality, adding a creative
fl exibility to the Superego effect. They
won’t beat dedicated stompboxes, but
they will save on pedal board space.
The multieffects, extra synth knobs
and external control inputs are worth
THE PROS & CONS
+
It's easy to set up
luscious pad-style
freeze effects
Flexible expression
pedal assignment
Send/return loop for
tailoring the effect
-
Switching the
multieffects in/out
overrides the
expression pedal
assignments
It’s a niche effect,
so you’ll want to be
keen on it to invest
FM VERDICT
8.4
The Superego+ does the
atmospheric polyphonic
glissando pad effect like
no other. This ‘plus’
model really amps up
the control and creativity
Electro-Harmonix Superego+ | Reviews
95
FMU326.rev_ehx.indd 95 29/11/2017 15:26