The Intensive Care Audio FIDELEATER is a lo-fi chorus/vibrato/delay pedal, a single box that covers three related modulation and time effects and, in the maker's words, "intensifies modulation and unlocks a world of glitchy digital weirdness." Pedal of the Day's review called it "a lo-fi chorus/vibrato/delay pedal" that mixes those genres together and creates new effects, and found it offered "countless hours and days of entertainment and experimentation overall"12. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as the maker's "take on the lo-fi modulation chorus/delay" and called London's Intensive Care Audio "one of the most interesting emerging boutique makers of the new decade"3.
What it does to your sound
The FIDELEATER sits in the lo-fi corner of the chorus, vibrato and delay world: instead of a clean, studio-polished modulation, it leans into warbling delay repeats and digital strangeness. How far it goes is largely in the hands of the DEPTH knob. Pedal of the Day's reviewer found that "DEPTH sets the depth of the effect, providing serious glitching with certain settings above 12:00," which tells you where the pedal's character lives: keep it low for conventional chorus and vibrato, push it past noon and the glitching starts1.
The controls: eight LFO waveforms and two footswitches
The heart of the pedal is its LFO, the low-frequency oscillator that drives the modulation. A rotary switch selects one of eight wave shapes, and the FREQ knob "sets the frequency (speed) of the LFO"1. The maker lists the eight waveforms as Random Slopes, Random Steps, Steps, Sine, Step Up/Slope Down, Square, Ramp Down and Ramp Up WAVE FUNCTION2. The press reviews list the same eight positions, with slight naming differences between them: Pedal of the Day and Delicious Audio give the third and fifth shapes as Sweep and Triangle rather than Steps and Step Up/Slope Down13.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| FREQ | Sets the frequency (speed) of the LFO1 |
| DEPTH | Sets the depth of the effect; serious glitching with certain settings above 12:001 |
| WAVE FUNCTION | 8-position rotary switch selecting one of 8 available LFO waveforms2 |
| Left footswitch (BYPASS) | Soft-touch bypass switching2 |
| Right footswitch (TAP TEMPO) | Soft-touch tap tempo2 |
The two soft-touch footswitches mean no mechanical stomping: the left is BYPASS and the right is TAP TEMPO, so speed changes can be tapped in time with a song21.
The bypass switching is soft-touch and relay-based rather than a mechanical true-bypass stomp switch, so the switch click you feel is a relay engaging, not a physical contact2.
Versions, power and build
Delicious Audio reported in July 2023 that the Fideleater had just been released in a more compact version3. The pedal runs on 9V center-negative power, with the maker specifying "Use only high-quality 9V centre-negative power supplies"2. Its dimensions are 126 mm long by 88 mm wide, with a height that steps from 45 mm down to 27 mm, and it weighs 362 g2.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day's December 2021 review treated the FIDELEATER as more than the sum of its three effect types, saying it "not only mixes these effects genres together into a delicious auditory stew, but manages to create new" effects of its own, and summed the pedal up as offering "countless hours and days of entertainment and experimentation overall"1. Delicious Audio, writing when the compact version arrived, framed the pedal as Intensive Care Audio's "take on the lo-fi modulation chorus/delay" and praised the maker as one of the most interesting emerging boutique builders of the decade3.
Videos
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Questions
Does the Intensive Care Audio Fideleater have tap tempo?
Yes. The pedal has two soft-touch footswitches: the left one is BYPASS and the right one is TAP TEMPO, so you can set the modulation or delay speed with your foot rather than reaching for a knob.
Is the Fideleater true bypass?
Yes. Intensive Care Audio describes the Fideleater as featuring soft-touch, relay-based true bypass, and both Pedal of the Day and Delicious Audio report the same switching arrangement.
What power supply does the Fideleater need?
The maker says to use only high-quality 9V centre-negative power supplies. As with any pedal with that requirement, a dedicated supply or a quality isolated output is the safe choice.
Where is the Fideleater made?
All Intensive Care Audio pedals are built in London, England, using high-quality components, according to the maker's product page.
Sources (3)
- Intensive Care Audio FIDELEATER v.1 Lo-Fi Chorus Vibrato Delay, Pedal of the Day, 2021-12-08
- FIDELEATER, Intensive Care Audio
- Intensive Care Fideleater V1 Lo-Fi Chorus/Vibrato/Delay, Delicious Audio, 2023-07-26
