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Source Audio Collider Review

Source Audio Collider Review

The greatest hits from a powerhouse digital reverb and an equally potent digital delay are distilled into a single, super-convenient space-and-time manipulator.

Ratings

Pros:
Fluid functionality. Many super-authentic models. Rangy controls extend capabilities of ordinary reverb and delay textures.

Cons:
Some shared controls can be tricky to operate quickly onstage.

Street:
$349

Source Audio Collider
sourceaudio.net



Tones:


Ease of Use:


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Value:

Recent releases of the Nemesis Delay and Ventris and True Spring reverbs suggest Source Audio is a little obsessed with time and space. Such suspicions will not be allayed with the arrival of the new Collider, which combines models and features from its predecessors in a smartly conceived and streamlined package. Collider has “only" seven reverb models and five delays, compared to 12 each on the Ventris and Nemesis. In general, they tend to be the most utilitarian. But there are also awesome new flavors like the excellent Tel-Ray-styled oil-can delay, and the expansive range in each of the primary and secondary controls mean the performance of common reverb and delay types can be stretched to most uncommon extremes—particularly when they are combined, which is the feature attraction of the Collider.

There's much more to the Collider than can be covered here. You can read about some of the shared technology and effects featured here in our reviews of its parent effects, the Ventris and Nemesis. But perhaps the most important takeaway is that the Collider is much more user-friendly than it looks. And as deep as its sound-crafting tools can be, it has a fluid sense of operational flow that makes it feel like a creative tool rather than a database of difficult-to-manipulate tones—suggesting that Source Audio is as obsessed with smart design and real-world user experience as warping time and space.

Test Gear: Fender Jazzmaster, Fender Telecaster Deluxe with Curtis Novak Widerange pickups, blackface Fender Vibrolux, Fender VibroChamp