Erica Synths Black Stereo Reverb & Delay 2 Review
Eurorack Effects at their best!
Once I went modular and started buying my first modules, I said to myself: “No Eurorack effects, ok??“. Well, that was just another lie I said to myself and here I am, creating an effects-only 104HP case 🤷🏻♂️. In this case, the first two effects are the most useful and must-have effects - a reverb and a delay. And we are about to find out, probably the best straightforward Stereo Reverb and Delay modules out there.
Today we are checking out the Erica Synths Black Stereo Reverb and Delay 2. Two fully-featured, amazing-sounding modules that you simply can’t go wrong with. Both are 12HP, have a completely identical layout, are DSP-based effects, and they’re, of course, stereo! They were made in collaboration with 112.dB, a company that specializes in making effects plugins.
Both modules have CV inputs for every control on their panel and two left & right inputs and outputs. On the top, there is a big knob to control the Delay Time or the Reverb Size, two switches for changing types and modes (we’ll go through those in a bit), a Tone knob, a Feedback knob, a Size/ Time CV knob, and a Dry/Wet knob. In the middle, there is a button for Tap Tempo for the Delay and for a Freeze for the Reverb. You can also store up to 10 presets in both of them and the cool thing is that you can change presets using a CV signal in the Patch input. To save a preset you just hold the Shift button, choose a slot using the Time/ Size knob, and press Tap or Freeze accordingly.
One thing to note is that both modules look, sound, and feel premium. The layout is perfect, the knobs, switches, and buttons feel great to tweak, and you can immediately tell they’re high-quality modules. Erica Synths is, after all, one of the biggest and most innovative synth & module manufacturers so you know you’re getting a very well-made and high-end product every time.
Now let’s go through each module and see if they’re also the perfect starting effects modules for your modular system!
Black Stereo Delay 2
The Black Stereo Delay 2 has three delay types you can choose with the left switch. A Tape Delay (T), a Bucket Brigade Delay (B), and a Digital Delay (D). For all three types, you can also choose a mode with the right switch. The three modes are Stereo, Cross-Feed, and Ping Pong.
The Digital Delay is, as you’d expect the “cleanest“ one and it sounds pristine on every repeat. The Tape Delay is also quite hi-fi but a bit darker than the digital one. The Bucket Brigade type is quite different. Honestly, it doesn’t really sound like a bucket brigade delay that much. The repeats are crunchy and have a lot of high frequencies and it sounds more like a bit-crushed delay than a bucket brigade but that’s also quite cool. This is a type with a lot of character and the tone knob is very helpful to remove or accent those higher frequencies.
The three modes revolve around the stereo aspect of the delay which by the way is so important to take full advantage of this module. All three distribute the repeats in the stereo field in different ways. Cross Feed (Mode 2) is very interesting since it mixes different delay times and spreads them in the stereo field while the other two are somewhat more standard but still great-sounding. Also, by holding the Shift button, the Tone knob has a secondary function that allows you to control the Spread of the repeats into the stereo field.
The button in the middle is a Tap Tempo which is a very useful touch but you can also sync it to an external clock using the Sync input. While synced, the Time knob goes through different time divisions of the same tempo and it’s such a joy to modulate it using the Size CV input. By the way, it’s a bit odd that the CV input is the same as the Reverb and it’s labeled as Size CV instead of Time CV but, don’t worry, you won’t get confused.
Delay 2 will self-oscillate at higher repeat settings but it takes a lot of time before it reaches to that. There’s way more usable range on the Repeats knob than in most delays. For example, some analog delay pedals will start self-oscillating at around 2 o’clock while on this module you can crank up the repeats and almost have a pseudo-looper without worrying about it.
This delay module is very straightforward and sounds incredible. There are not a lot of weirder, out-of-the-box features but that wasn’t what this is made for. It’s a simple delay that just works perfectly and sounds even better. You can modulate everything and it has all the extra features you’d want like Tap Tempo, Spread Control, and Presets. If you want to add a bit more character, you can always use the bucket brigade delay type that sounds more crunchy and if you just need a delay, the other two types are great. The fact that it’s stereo is amazing and can actually give like to a simple patch. The Time knob has a big range and you can have very long delay times and you can also set it to a very short time for some modulation effects.
Overall, this is a solid and beautiful effects module. Not the most weird one, but certainly one for everyone and every case. A perfect all-rounder delay module.
Black Stereo Reverb
Now let’s go onto the second module, the Black Stereo Reverb. As I already mentioned, both this and the Delay 2 share the same layout like the presets, the inputs and outputs, etc. Again, there are three different reverb types to choose from. There is Tape, Bucket Brigade (BBD), and a Dirty Bucket Brigade. The types are the ones that give the reverb’s character and the three modes affect the size of the reverb. The three modes are Room, Hall, and Cathedral from the smallest “room“ to the largest.
Similar to the Delay 2, the first two types (Tape & BBD) are quite clean-sounding and the Dirty BBD, as its name clearly states, is a lot dirtier and scratchy (in a good way). For me, reverb is an effect that it’s not that easy to make it sound amazing. And if it’s not really working for me, I’m not really sure why. In this case, the reverb sounds coming out of this module are so good. It’s so lush and aerie, and with the right settings, it sits perfectly beneath your dry signal - or even better, it spreads into the stereo field and makes room for the dry sounds to come through.
I mostly used Hall & Cathedral modes and cycled between the three different types. To be honest, I couldn’t spot a huge difference between the first two modes - both sounded great to my ears. The Dirty BBD on the other hand, is quite unique. While not being too hollow or metallic (which I don’t prefer most of the time), it added some noise to the reverb sound that just worked. It doesn’t add too many higher frequencies like the BBD delay type, but just a subtle broken feel to your reverb and I loved it.
The Size can go very big if you combine it with the Cathedral mode and you can have massive and long decay times and the Tone Control is subtle but very effective. By using the Shift button and the Tone knob, you can also spin the reverb signal across the stereo field. it does feel like the Spread control on the delay module, but I’m still not quite sure what it does. It is not exactly a width control but something very similar.
The Stereo nature of this module really shines when you use it. I highly recommend always using both outputs to have a stereo reverb because it sounds so nice and surrounds you with reverb. The button in the middle is a Freeze button that grabs the current wet signal and freezes it until you press it again. You can still play on top of it but the “new” won’t be fed into the reverb. If you press that at the right time and max out the Dry/Wet knob, you can get some beautiful pads. Especially when you feed multiple notes into the reverb. And it’s also patchable as you can send triggers or gate signals to freeze and unfreeze the reverb.
I’m in love with this reverb module. It’s the perfect reverb module for anyone who just needs a great reverb in Eurorack format. Just like the Delay 2, another perfect all-rounder that works with any sound you feed into it.
Overall Experience
Sometimes you need simple things that work well. And those two modules are exactly that. A delay and a reverb - the two most useful and most used effects of all time - that sound amazing and can be fully controlled and modulated. After using both with my modular synth, I started running other stuff through them to see how they’d sound. I used them with acoustic and electric guitars, vocals, and a few other synths, and they both were perfect for every sound.
They have been my end-of-chain effects for my modular cases and I use them for everything in them and now I can’t do without them. Their main pros, in my opinion, are the following:
Super simple to use and tweak: If you ever used a delay or reverb, it will take you about 5 seconds to find a good setting on these two. No weird labeling, no mysterious features.
Design and layout: The modules are medium-sized at 12HP so everything is easy to access and patch and since all the inputs and outputs are on the bottom, there will be no cables flying around and preventing you from using the knobs and switches.
CV Modulation: On the other hand, you can modulate anything on both modules, so if you want to go crazy with them, there is also that option. The fact that you can change presets with CV is genius and if you set it up properly, you can have some incredible results. On Delay 2 especially, I experimented with different times, types, modes, and settings for each preset and then swapped between them with CV and it was magic!
Sound: You’ll probably bored so far but yes. They both sound incredible. What else can I say?
On the cons side, I honestly can’t find anything to say. They are designed to be simple and straightforward modules and they excel in that. If you want something experimental and unusual, there are definitely better options both for reverb and delay. But if you want a delay or reverb that can play well with everything, I’m not sure you can find better ones.
Conclusion
I really thought I could live without Eurorack effects. But now, I simply can’t. It’s so convenient having a delay and reverb in your system that I’m not sure I can let them go. Even without modulating a thing, they just work and make everything prettier. Even if you end up recording a part without effects, it is always nice to have them onboard and be able to audition things through those two effects without plugging in pedals (which we will do in a later post with another module that I’m reviewing).
The build quality is top-notch, the design is well-thought, and the sound is just superior. So if anyone is looking for a delay or reverb (or both) for their Eurorack synth, I can strongly recommend both to them. They’re perfect for everyone without considering genres or expertise with modular.
The only problem now is that I will fill a case with Eurorack effects after my experience with the Black Stereo Reverb and Delay 2.
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