Dragon Digital Reverb

What can I say 🤷 they surpass my expectations , they sound amazing and have a beautiful music sound to them some the best I have ever heard.

I own many AZOR pedals, all mini, analog and with true bypass which I’ve been using for years without a hint of trouble. When I noticed they recently released digital models, I couldn’t resist checking a few of them out. This review is for the AP509 “Dragon Pure Reverb”. It shares the same physical traits with others in this new line: - Rugged cast aluminum alloy body, all identical in color (white). - Includes both rubber and Velcro hook bottom adhesive pads. - Large diameter knobs, making fine adjustments easier. - Although not mini, it remains more compact than full-sized pedals. - Colorful top graphics, although they’re simply a sticker. As far as setting up the Reverb effect itself, there’s not much to work with. It’s controlled entirely by the Decay knob, and can be set to various levels via the Mix. I’ve never used a Reverb pedal with a Tone control before, nor do I see a reason for one. That’s normally set up by the pedals preceding it, since it’s normally last in a modulation chain. The ability to set an overall “delay” time is a feature I found myself missing, allowing a much wider variety of this effect. Sound aside, its biggest step backwards is going from true to buffered bypass: - Momentary contact foot switch, versus the latching type which retain their previous state. - Worse of all, it always initializes as active. I can’t imagine many guitarists wanting a Reverb pedal operative by default, whenever it’s powered off then back on again. I don't see many improvements over their older model AP312 Reverb, certainly not enough to command nearly twice the asking price.

Azor is following in the footsteps of their parent company Caline by releasing a new line of colorful budget pedals. I previously reviewed their new Chorus pedal which was just okay and this one is also "just okay".... Positives: 1. Build quality is good, everything functions as it should. 2. I did not notice that this pedal added much noise to my chain at lower volumes. There was a minor amount, slightly more so than with the new Azor "Goat" Chorus pedal, but still very minor. Negatives: 1. As with the Azor "Goat Chorus pedal, this pedal when engaged has a slight tone suck going on concerning the higher end. It gives a slight boost to the low end and lowers the treble, which makes for a darker-sounding reverb. There is a Tone knob - but it actually makes things WORSE. When the tone knob is turned up even a little, it adds a metallic-sounding digital sheen to the reverb which I find very undesirable because it distracts from the notes you are playing. I decided to leave the Tone knob completely off because the reverb actually sounds better that way and the digital artifacts are eliminated. 2. The pedal is buffered and not true bypass. This means that even with the pedal is turned off, the signal to the amp or through your chain will still be affected somewhat by the the pedal's effect circuitry. Something to be aware of. 3. This is a basic reverb and lacks any options like Spring, Shimmer, Plate, Hall, Church, etc. I am not even sure what type of reverb this is considered - it is just a no-frills, minimalist reverb. For what it is it is not bad but it is just not very versatile, although the Mix knob helps to deepen it, and the Delay knob adds longer tails. OVERALL SUMMARY: This is a serviceable, basic reverb pedal and will help to deepen your sound if there is no reverb on your amp. Don't expect to get a Spring reverb "drip" though, this will not give you that. This pedal is also not a good choice if your goal is to create lush, ambient soundscapes. By using the Tone knob you can get part-way there, but again you will have to contend with an annoying digital sheen that gets added to the sound. This pedal is fine for basic reverb, but I never get to the place where I'm playing through it and find myself fascinated and delighted by the tones I'm getting. Even in the budget category I believe you can do better. I enjoyed the CoolMusic Reverberry pedal which is $20 less - the only thing there is that it has a different tone suck where it adds more treble. There are other multi-reverb pedals by Donner, Joyo, Caline, Flamma, Behringer, Sonicake, etc. If you are looking for something more high-end and better for ambient or shoegaze, I'd say save your money and look into any of the following (all are combo Reverb/Delays under $200): Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master V3, Boss RV-6, EHX Canyon, Keeley Caverns V2, Matthews Effects Cosmonaut V2 Void Delay/Reverb Pedal, Wampler Ethereal, and the NUX Atlantic pedal. If you can go over $200 the following are some top choices: Source Audio Collider, AmpliTude X-Space, Line 6 DL4 Mk2, Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run V2, and Strymon BlueSky.

I'm sure it's a great pedal, but mine came in used with some obvious scratches on the side. If I'm spending $50-$60 for a new pedal, I expect it to be new.

Die Sensitivität ist leider sehr schwach bzw zu hoch eingestellt sodass entweder kaum bis kein Reverb oder sehr präsent Reverb zu hören ist. Ansonsten tut es was es soll aber für die Preis-Leistung kann ich es leider nicht empfehlen, auch wenn sie cool aussieht.

This little pedal seems well-built. The feel of the knobs is nice. They are not overly loose and have the right amount of resistance when turning them. The pedal button is solid and has a nice feel when you push it. The reverb is very gritty and it's nice that you can control the brightness, darkness, duration, and wet/dry ratio. The pedal does not come with a power supply but I had power supplies already available. The graphics on the pedal are nice and vivid. The casing of the pedal is medal making it very durable. I am pleased with all aspects of this pedal and it has exceeded my expectations.

This is a great little reverb pedal. It does not come with the power adapter you have to get that separately. Sounds good though. Very small and easy to carry in the storage in my guitar case.