The NativeAudio In the Water, sold as the In The Water Wave Reflector, is a multi-octave reverse delay, wave generator and drone device from Native Audio, the pedal company built by Mike Trombley. Delicious Audio calls it "a reverb, a delay, a drone engine, and a meditation on chasing reflections," and it sits well outside the usual delay pedal territory: instead of clean repeats, its core Reflections engine produces "reversed, refracted echoes that bloom octaves above and below your signal"1.
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson reviewed it at release in July 2026 and described the character this way2:
"This is a kind of aqueous Modulator / Delay / Reverb / Drone. So simple in operation, but so beautifully organic and ever morphing / evolving with the most complex interacting soundstage."
What it does to your sound
The Reflections engine is the heart of the pedal. It takes your signal and returns reversed, refracted echoes that bloom octaves above and below it, and because every reflection lands in a different place in the stereo field, Delicious Audio describes the whole thing as moving around you instead of stacking up in one spot1. The Ripples control sets how much that surface moves, "from a single shimmer to near-oscillation"1, which is the difference between a subtle watery shimmer and a sound close to breaking into oscillation.
The Wave Gen side turns the pedal into a drone machine: hold the Wave Generation footswitch and it captures your input and generates a blooming or droning wave from it2. For players who use drones to build soundscapes or to accompany practice, that means the pedal can sustain an evolving wash from a single chord.
The controls and footswitches
The pedal is split into two independent effects, each with three knobs2. The controls the reviews name are:
| Side | Control or switch | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Reflections | Dry>Wet Mix | Blends the dry signal with the processed echoes2 |
| Reflections | Reflections Length | Sets the length of the reflections2 |
| Reflections | Reflections Footswitch | Engages the Reflections side2 |
| Wave Gen | Waveform Low Pass | Shapes the generated wave's tone2 |
| Wave Gen | Wave Generation Footswitch | Hold to capture input and generate a blooming or droning wave2 |
| Shared | Ripples | Controls how much the surface moves, from a single shimmer to near-oscillation1 |
Because the two sides are independent, each with its own three knobs, you can run the reverse-delay Reflections engine on its own, the drone generator on its own, or both together2.
Price and availability
Delicious Audio reported the pedal available from nativeaudio.com for $272 USD as of September 20261. Guitar Pedal X had listed it at $299 on the Native Audio store when it was covered at release in July 20262, so the reported price has come down since launch. For UK players, Guitar Pedal X noted there is no active dealer in the UK, and that Break the Machine, still a sort of dealer, had not ordered the new pedals in2.
What reviewers said
Guitar Pedal X's review was strongly positive. Karlsson called it "a quite superb aqueous wave reflector multi-octave reverse delay and wave generator," his favorite of Native Audio's three pedals, and said he would "be looking to get one of these in from early August"2. Delicious Audio's writeup frames the pedal around the story Trombley built it on and highlights the stereo movement of the reflections as what keeps the effect from simply stacking1.
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Questions
What does the Native Audio In The Water Wave Reflector do?
It is a multi-octave reverse delay, wave generator and drone device. Its Reflections engine produces reversed, refracted echoes that bloom octaves above and below your signal, with every reflection landing in a different place in the stereo field. The Wave Gen side captures your input and generates a blooming or droning wave, so the pedal can work as a reverb, a delay and a drone engine.
How much does the In The Water Wave Reflector cost?
Delicious Audio reported the pedal available for $272 USD as of September 2026. Guitar Pedal X had listed it at $299 on the Native Audio store when it was covered in July 2026, so the reported price has come down since release.
What does the Wave Generation footswitch do when held?
Holding the Wave Generation footswitch captures the input signal and generates a blooming or droning wave, according to Guitar Pedal X's review. That lets you feed the pedal a chord or note and have it sustain a moving, organic drone built from what you played.
Can the Reflections and Wave Gen sides be used independently?
Yes. Guitar Pedal X notes that the pedal has independent Reflections and Wave Gen effects, each with three knobs, so the two engines can be shaped and used on their own terms.
Sources (2)
- NativeAudio In The Water Reflector, Delicious Audio, 2026-09-09
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2026-07-23
