HEADROOM MINI - Dual Chn Reverb in mono/stereo (demo review)

[CoolGuitarGear]

New from Carl Martin is a dual channel mono/stereo spring reverb, based on its past Headroom reverb (which has an actual spring under the chassis). The HEADROOM MINI is an emulation of the larger Headroom, but in a much smaller size, no spring, but a fantastic digital algorithm, which I’ll address shortly. And it has the added feature of running in mono or stereo.



There are a number of nice features on this pedal, one being its dual channel, which allows you to adjust how much reverb and decay you want to set for each channel, but also each channel’s tone. The Reverb and Decay can be set from anything from a small room effect to a large cathedral, making it ideal if you want a touch of reverb for one part of a song/composition to a larger result for another part. You also can set these to the same setting and then adjust the Tone for a warmer sound versus a brighter sound. I can see this being popular among Worship players, because it is utterly clear and brilliant sounding, which I’ll repeat more than once in this review.

And so, as far as quality of sound is concerned, this is one of the cleanest and clearest reverbs I’ve heard, even when set fully warm, which blends so well with a guitar’s tone that it blends unobtrusively and naturally. The same is true if setting the tone fully bright with an element of sparkle and clarity, that can be described as crisp air on a cool morning – like dissolving a minty breath mint in one’s mouth. And this is key with the HEADROOM MINI as it is open and airy that seems to freshen up whatever instrument is played through it (the closing number in the demo includes some vargus/jaw harp via mic, as well as keyboard, and slide guitar).

When operating the HEADROOM MINI, be aware that there are no tails when shutting off the pedal to bypass the effect, which may not sit well with some users, but when switching channels between two different settings, the blending is seamless. And in that regard, each channel has its own LED light, so that you know what channel is active, e.g., red or green.

What’s also cool is that the HEADROOM MINI can operate in mono and also stereo, via TRS or stereo cables, both in and out. This is perfect if running a dual-amp stereo setup (or running to an amp + PA/mixer), but as important for studio recording for an even more immersive sound. The demo is all in mono (I didn’t have a Y-splitter cable available at the time), but even then, the reverb effect is excellent.

Another feature is that the HEADROOM MINI has a buffered bypass, to ensure signal integrity and clarity, necessary for long cable runs or when working with large pedalboards. There’s even a remote access input for channel switching if you want to set aside the HEADROOM MINI to save on pedalboard space.

Power consumption and requirements are standard, e.g., 9VDC, negative center pin, requiring 250mA. And for pedal nerds, the input impedance is 1M Ohm, output impedance 100 Ohm, and its signal-to-noise ratio 70dB.

I’ve been using the UA Del-Verb for my delay and reverb needs, but the HEADROOM MINI just took the spot for the reverb function, it’s that good and that clear, which needs to be emphasized, in case you didn’t get it the first few times already mentioned. Simply impressive. The cost is $279 USD, which is typical for many pedals of this caliber, but considering you get two reverbs in one, the investment is solid.