Walrus Audio isn’t messing around in 2022. One week on from the Slötvå Multi-Texture reverb and two days since the D1 V2 was unveiled, the company has dropped a heavyweight new addition to its feature-rich Mako Series: the M1 High-Fidelity Modulation Machine.
The M1’s killer app is its ability to deliver six modulation effects – chorus, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, rotary and filter – from one compact pedal.
Walrus is promising studio-quality algorithms inspired by classic analog sounds, which offer a wealth of customization, as well as three types per effect.
In addition to the usual Rate, Depth and Type knobs, the pedal offers a dedicated Lo-Fi knob for dialing in unique movement and texture for each effect type, plus controls for Tweak and Tune, which promise a huge amount of flexibility via two three-way toggles.
Using these switches, Tweak adjusts the shape, tap tempo division and type of effect, while Tune handles tone, symmetry of the LFO waveform and Walrus’s trademark effect-specific X control.
Here, X can tweak everything from pitch detuning and the level of stereo modulation to flutter and resonance, depending on which effect is selected.
The M1 even features a dedicated footswitch for tap tempo and ‘skipping’, which repeats the last few milliseconds of audio received by the pedal.
You can hear a variety of tones in action below courtesy of Yvette Young’s Pedal Play demo, which finds the Covet fingerstylist go full midwest emo with some melancholy extended chords and shimmering mod sounds.
Of course, this being a Mako Series pedal, you get all the tricked-out benefits found in the rest of the line: full stereo operation, MIDI control and nine onboard presets, as well as the USB updatability introduced in the D1 V2. And like the rest of the range, it runs from a 9V pedalboard power supply that can provide 300mA of juice.
Given Walrus’s stellar reputation in this arena, the M1 could prove a compelling alternative to larger multi-function modulation pedals like the Strymon Mobius or Boss MD-200.
The M1 is available to preorder now, with shipping commencing on February 15. Pay a visit to Walrus Audio for more info.
