The Poly Verbs is a stereo reverb pedal from Australian maker Poly Effect, announced in December 2023, and it looks like nothing else on a pedalboard: there are no knobs at all. Instead, four touch-sensitive sliders and a screen control a convolution reverb engine loaded with captures of real spaces and vintage reverb hardware, including EMT140 plates, springs, a 480L, and an oil can unit123.
Where Poly Effect's earlier Beebo and Hector units were deep, complex multi-effects, the Verbs takes a streamlined approach: an elegant UI with the entirety of the unit's power dedicated to reverb3. It is a digital pedal with stereo input and output over TRS jacks, MIDI, and 9VDC 500mA power45.
The sliders and presets
The whole interface is touch. Four sliders handle the core sound: Onset (pre-delay), Mix, Low Cut, and Swoosh, which sets reverb density5. Poly Effect says the sliders are accurate, providing 4096 values per slider for tweaking the tone1. The name of the density control appears as "Smoosh" in the MIDI documentation and "Swoosh" in press coverage; Sonic State quotes the maker's description of it as a control that "spreads and expands the sound particles to fill the void"63.
Two footswitches round out the hardware. The A footswitch is held for a reverb Crescendo, and the B footswitch handles bypass, or hold it to scroll through presets4.
| Control | What it does | MIDI CC |
|---|---|---|
| Onset | Pre-delay | CC 146 |
| Mix | Wet/dry balance | CC 156 |
| Low Cut | Rolls off low frequencies in the reverb | CC 166 |
| Smoosh (Swoosh) | Reverb density | CC 176 |
| Crescendo | Turns on above CC value 64 | CC 186 |
The 48 presets are organized as banks of eight captures16:
- Presets 0 to 7: Pool Of The Blackstar6
- Presets 8 to 15: Capricornia Caves6
- Presets 24 to 31: Echo Plates6
- Presets 32 to 39: Analog Devices6
- Presets 40 to 47: Irregular Verbs6
- Presets 48 to 55: Adverbs6
Delicious Audio describes the 48 factory presets as offering a variety of ambiances, emulating architectural and natural spaces, vintage technologies like spring and plate reverbs, and "irregular" more unusual reverb algorithms5. The Irregular Verbs collection holds bubbles, rain and unusual impulse responses that generate granular sounding textures1. Eight of the preset slots can be filled with imported spaces you capture yourself, which is what sets a convolution design apart from a pedal running fixed algorithms1.
MIDI and connections
The Verbs has full MIDI compatibility, and presets and all values can be changed from MIDI12. Setting it up is done on the unit itself: tap the Irregular Verbs icon four times quickly to open the MIDI channel setting, then press one of the preset number buttons to set a channel from 1 to 66. Each slider has its own CC number, listed in the table above, so a MIDI controller or sequencer can drive the reverb in real time6.
Connections are mono or TRS stereo on both input and output, so it runs in a full stereo rig or a simple mono chain4.
Poly Effect is an Australian pedal company, and the Verbs reflects its own approach to control design: instead of conventional knobs, parameters such as Onset (pre-delay) are adjusted with touch-sensitive sliders2.
What reviewers said
Reception was positive. Delicious Audio called the Poly Verbs "a unique entry in the very competitive reverb pedal niche"2. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, who bought one as his final pedal acquisition of 2023 after seeing the Andertons demo, wrote:
"I'm a huge fan of Reverbs, and this one seems really special - I love the concept of Reverb Spaces applied here"7
His full review the following January concluded:
"The Poly Verbs is just beautifully usable and fantastic sounding overall."4
He found it beautifully usable and fantastic sounding overall, and particularly suited to players who want to load up their own reverb impulse responses4. Another reviewer, describing himself as a huge fan of reverbs, said the Verbs seems really special and that he loves the concept of Reverb Spaces as applied here7. Overall, the Verbs was judged a unique entry in the very competitive reverb pedal niche2.
Videos
Andertons Music Co
Michael Nielsen - Big Hairy Guitars
Mark Johnston
Questions
Does the Poly Effects Verbs have knobs?
No. The Verbs is controlled entirely through touch-sensitive sliders and a screen, with no knobs on the enclosure. Four sliders handle Onset (pre-delay), Mix, Low Cut and Swoosh (reverb density), and each slider resolves to 4096 values for fine control.
Is the Poly Verbs stereo?
Yes. It has stereo input and output over TRS jacks, and can also run in mono. Reviewers note it sits alongside other stereo reverb workstations aimed at players and synth users who want true stereo spaces.
Does the Poly Verbs support MIDI?
Yes, it has full MIDI compatibility. Presets and all values can be changed over MIDI, each slider has its own CC number, and the MIDI channel is settable from 1 to 6 by tapping the Irregular Verbs icon four times quickly and pressing a preset button.
How many presets does the Poly Verbs have?
There are 48 presets with different captures, organized into categories such as Pool Of The Blackstar, Capricornia Caves, Echo Plates, Analog Devices, Irregular Verbs and Adverbs. Eight of the slots can be filled with impulse responses you capture or import yourself.
What does the Swoosh slider do?
Swoosh controls reverb density. Poly Effect describes the Smoosh control as one that spreads and expands the sound particles to fill the void, letting you thicken or thin out how the reverb fills the space behind your playing.
What does the Poly Verbs cost?
The maker lists the Verbs at $399.00 USD as of October 2026. Press reviews from 2023 and 2024 quoted it at $399 or £399 GBP, so the US price has held steady since launch.
Sources (7)
- Verbs - Poly Effects, Poly Effects
- Poly VERBS Reverb, Delicious Audio, 2023-12-14
- Poly Effects Verbs, Sonic State, 2023-12-14
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-01-12
- Best Stereo Reverb Pedals For Synths For Texture, Ambiance, And Automation, Delicious Audio, 2024-02-23
- Voes | MIDI-CC, Voes, 2024
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-12-20
