Chase Bliss reissues the Condor as the HiFi edition
February 22, 2024 · 4 sources
Chase Bliss announced the Condor HiFi on February 22, 2024, a revised version of a pedal that had been part of its lineup before12. The new edition uses the internal power supply of the Preamp MKII to raise the internal voltage to 30V, which the maker ties to increased headroom, and OPA1662 op-amps, which it says bring higher fidelity and lower noise23.
The pedal remains a multi-purpose analog unit. Guitar Pedal X describes it as covering "analog EQ, preamp, filter, auto-wah, phaser-ish, tremolo and harmonic tremolo"1. MusicRadar calls it part EQ, filter and overdrive pedal, but 100 per cent analog2. The Mids control can apply 18dB of boost or cut to the frequency selected with the Freq knob24. MIDI, CV and expression control are available, along with presets and internal modulation24.
Front panel controls, as listed by Guitar Pedal X1:
| Control | Options |
|---|---|
| Knobs | Gain (Ramp), Freq, Volume, Bass, Mids, LPF |
| Bass | Minimal / Moderate / Most |
| Mids Q | Wide / Moderate / Narrow |
| LPF | One-Pole / Two-Pole Moderate / Two-Pole Resonant |
| Presets | 1 / Manual / 2 |
| Footswitches | Bypass, Drive/Hold |
There are also 16 dip-switches for expression and ramp parameters1. Guitar World counts six dials, for gain, frequency, volume, bass, mids and LPF, plus three switches for reshaping waveforms and two footswitches4.
The Condor HiFi is $399, and Guitar World reports free shipping for US customers24. Guitar Pedal X and MusicRadar both put 1,000 units on sale at launch, with another 1,000 circuit boards held for upgrades of original units12. The upgrade costs $49, and GearNews and Guitar World give May 31 as the deadline for owners to send units in34. GearNews reports an additional production run after the three-month period3; Guitar Pedal X says any upgrade boards left over will be built into HiFi pedals1.
Chase Bliss founder Joel Korte described the change in clipping character:
"The original Condor has a very gnarly clipping characteristic when it runs out of headroom and hits the power rails. I've called it "Power Rail Distortion" in the past. Condor HiFi does not do that, and clips in a more traditional way."
Sources (4)
- Guitar Pedal X - GPX Blog - Chase Bliss reissues the Condor in new HiFi edition - which delivers lower noise floor, smoother breakup, and more headroom, guitarpedalx.com
- “Part EQ, part filter, and part overdrive, it's all there… a 100% analogue, all-in-one solution to crafting your core tone”: Chase Bliss's Condor HiFi takes flight – is this your next always-on tone-shaper? | MusicRadar, musicradar.com
- Meet the cleaner and more dynamic Chase Bliss Condor Hi-Fi, gearnews.com
- “An all-in-one solution to crafting your core tone”: The Chase Bliss Condor HiFi is the next generation of its “weird little EQ pedal” that it hopes you'll never want to turn off | Guitar World, guitarworld.com