Cooper FX Launches the Cartridge-Based Arcades Pedal

April 30, 2020 · 7 sources

Cooper FX announced the Arcades, a card-based modular multi-effects pedal that changes its sound engine by plugging in small cartridges. Designed by Tom Majeski, the pedal shipped with four cartridges, each containing eight effects in a single category: delay, reverb, pitch and lo-fi¹². The concept was widely compared to Elta Music's now discontinued Console cartridge-based multi-FX system³.

Each effect on a cartridge has four specific parameters, labeled on the pedal's screen and controlled by four knobs, A, B, C and D³. A PRGM button scrolls between effects algorithms and opens system parameters, and a separate button switches the current effect to the next³⁴. The pedal's control pages work in layers:

• The first page maps knobs A, B, C and D to global controls that stay the same for every cartridge: dry, wet, tone and clock rate¹³.
• The second page displays controls specific to the loaded cartridge¹.
• Further pages handle mapping of an external footswitch, expression control and configuration¹³.
• Eight presets are stored per card, on the card itself³.

The pedal carries a BYPASS footswitch plus a second footswitch labeled AUX/TAP, whose function changes depending on the loaded cartridge⁵. Any parameter can be assigned to a momentary footswitch or an external expression pedal⁶⁷.

At launch, Cooper FX limited each purchase to one of two $330 packages: either the Delay + Reverb cards or the LoFI + Pitch combination³. The cards were in very short supply at announcement³.

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson reviewed the Arcades alongside the Hologram Electronics Microcosm and rated the Cooper FX unit the standout of the cartridge-based format, pointing to its range and form-factor³.

A later review at Pedal of the Day, covering the Delay Reverb LOFI Pitch package, found the execution strong but the sounds divisive: "Some of the sounds this unit produces are absolutely incredible; some of them you couldn't use in a million years"⁷. That review noted the pedal is digital, offers MIDI capabilities, and has no stereo out option⁷.