READ THE OFFICIAL OWNER'S MANUAL HERE.

Anasounds' description of the Anasounds Utopia Deluxe analog-voiced vintage-style delay

THE MIDIUM® CURATOR'S NOTE: Signature Edition

CAM: Recognizing the people behind a musical instrument's creation is as vital as recognizing the artist who plays it, and the audience who appreciates it. In that spirit, The Midium® asked the owner of Anasounds, Alexandre Ernandez, to please sign a run of the Anasounds Utopia Deluxe. It is The Midium®'s hope that you feel a deeper connection with your Utopia Deluxe Signature Edition, with the knowledge that Alexandre himself added a personal touch to the units in our collection. We hope you enjoy this special pedal, which represents more of the performance and sound design potential in the Anasounds Utopia series.

FRENCH VINTAGE-STYLE DELAY FOR SYNTHS AND GUITARS.

The Anasounds Utopia Deluxe was designed for the musician who’s looking for a gorgeous sonic texture but also a wealth of functionalities. It is a delay with a musical and easy-to-play voicing that also has many exciting tricks up its sleeve.

The PT2399 chip from the original Utopia was the starting point, but the way that part is being used has been redesigned to get a sound not unlike a very well set up tape echo or an analog delay, without the problems of that design and with actual treble in your repeats. The musicians have asked for a tap tempo, so we included it on the Utopia Deluxe. Both the blues rock purists looking for the ultimate echo and the sophisticated pop aficionados should find what they’re looking for (see what we did there?).

Many users of the original Utopia have requested a tap tempo, a footswitch that allows you to enter the tempo of the song by tapping your foot in order to always be perfectly in sync with the part you’re playing, without having to go through presets and the likes. The PT2399 chip has not been designed for tap tempo at all, so we had to work tirelessly on that aspect of the design. It actually took a whole year of R&D.

We finally made it happen, but we actually did a whole lot more. The tap tempo switch gives you three tempo subdivisions (including the classic dotted eighth), and the tap tempo footswitch launches infinite repeats and self-oscillation when it remains pressed.

MODULATIONS.

Modulation is not just a nice option to add an effect to your delay. It is part of the delay sound, what gives it its true personality, and – if set up correctly – a good modulation sound can get you very close to that hallowed tape echo sound.

But setting up is a big part of the problem. With two knobs for depth and rate, musicians can find themselves struggling with mostly less-than-musical sounds and one of two settings that actually work. And most of the time you don’t get to choose your modulation type.

The Anasounds Utopia Deluxe has a Bliss knob in the center that switches from one modulation preset to another. It simultaneously affects the modulation type, the depth and the rate. No need to worry about getting the right setting, we did it for you. Just sit back and enjoy the sonics depths that have been crafted for you.

BUILT-IN PREAMP.

A big part of the sound we think of as a musical and flattering delay sound comes in fact from the preamp. A delay is not only a box that rhythmically repeats your licks, it is a tool that should bring you added warmth and richer harmonic content.

As proof of this, the preamp stage of the Echoplex EP-3 of the 1970s has become legendary on its own, independently from the tape echo it accompanies. It even became a best-seller as the EP Booster pedal in the 2000s. This is the classic circuit we used as inspiration for the Utopia Deluxe preamp, with four diodes and no JFET. 

But we wanted to get everything absolutely right, so we did experiment with preamp placement relative to the delay. We even went as far as sending prototypes to artists who used those on stage and in the studio. This allowed us to reach the conclusion that the sound remains cleaner with a preamp placed before the repeats. The preamp gets a single volume knob – which also controls the gain to softly get into overdrive – and a three-way switch turns into an always on or always off preamp, or activates it along with the delay.

SPECS.

• Enable tails or true bypass
• Kill dry or full wet setting
• Internal oscillator trimpot for setting (factory-set to max)
• Available modulation: Tape, Chorus, and Vibrato
• Preamp with adjustable gain and volume on one knob
• Mono output and input
• Mix, Feedback, and Time settings
• Tone knob that controls tilt filter
• Control of subdivisions of tempo tapped in
• LEDs that indicate tempo and bypass status
• Footswitches for bypass and tap tempo
• Power: 9v / 150 mA