ELTA Music Console

The ELTA Music Console is a multi-effects pedal built around an unusual idea: the effects themselves live on interchangeable cartridges that you plug into the pedal. Made by Russian company ELTA Music, the Console hardware stays the same while the cartridges decide what it does, from reverb and shimmer to bit crusher and glitch effects¹. Gearnews described it at launch as a unit that "uses a unique a wacky cartridge system to reprogram the Console on the fly"².

The concept is that you buy one hardware interface and then collect cartridges, each of which is effectively its own small effects unit. ELTA listed 12 cartridges available at the start, with each cartridge containing three effects¹. At launch the pedal carried a recommended retail price of USD 250, including the Cathedral and Magic cartridges, with additional cartridges at 20 USD each³².

The cartridge system

Each cartridge holds three effects, and each cartridge has its own set of three modes, selected from the pedal's front panel¹⁴⁵. The cartridges ELTA and the press documented include:

Pedal of the Day worked through the cartridges in a review series, with the Magic Pitched Delays cartridge second in a series of 10⁵. The Cathedral cartridge covers reverb and space effects, the Magic cartridge pitched delays, the Time cartridge classic mod delays, and the Filter cartridge filter and wah². The maker's page sums up the platform's scope as running "From Reverb and Shimmer to Bit crusher and Glitch effect"¹.

The controls: joystick, Z, Blend and Program Select

The Console's control surface is built around a joystick rather than a row of conventional knobs. Gearnews highlighted "the onboard joystick controller, with its X/Y axis control" as the way to tweak the effects². Pedal of the Day explained that the joystick "operates both an 'X' and 'Y' axis. What these control depends upon which cartridge you're using" and which program you choose⁸. In practice, the two axes map to the two main parameters of whatever mode is active, so the same physical control behaves differently on every cartridge.

The rest of the panel breaks down as follows:

The Z knob gives you a third parameter the joystick cannot reach, and each cartridge ships with its own cheat sheet explaining what sounds are available in each mode⁴. Rear panel connections are simple: input and output jacks for connecting your instrument and amp⁴.

Changing cartridges is deliberately quick. As Pedal of the Day put it in its Filter cartridge review: "once you change cartridges, just hit this [the Reset button] and the new one will load right up"⁸. The same procedure is described in the Vibe cartridge review⁴.

What reviewers said

Reviewers responded well to the concept. Gearnews' Jef wrote at launch: "I'm really impressed by the whole ethos of it and look forward to hearing how creative players use this in their music"².

Pedal of the Day, reviewing the Vibe cartridge, praised the joystick in particular, saying "this control lets you really explore each of the programs, fine-tuning each aspect for a truly unique experience"⁴. Of the pedal's overall character, the site wrote that it can "produce a wide array of tones and auditory revelations that will alter your approach to creating music"⁹.

Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio was blunt about the launch: "We are blown away by this new pedal by Russian company Elta Music!"³.

How it differs from other multi-effects

Most multi-effect pedals put all their algorithms in one box and let you scroll through menus. The Console instead treats effects as physical objects you collect and swap, closer in spirit to game cartridges than to a preset list. Where a conventional multi-effects unit grows by firmware, the Console grows by buying another 20 USD cartridge³.

A modern contrast is the Hologram Electronics Chroma Console, a multi-effect pedal that packs 20 effects into one unit with deep routing, MIDI and USB-C. The ELTA Console takes the opposite approach: fewer effects per cartridge, but each one selected deliberately and controlled with a joystick rather than a screen¹⁰¹¹¹².

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