Strymon Cloudburst

The Strymon Cloudburst is a compact ambient reverb pedal from Strymon, pairing a lush reverb with a newly developed Ensemble engine that generates pads and soundscapes from your guitar signal. With the Ensemble switched off it works as a standalone lush reverb; switch it on and it adds a layer of harmonies that Strymon describes as going beyond shimmer, for an almost orchestral effect¹². Guitar World's Michael Astley-Brown described the Ensemble processing as taking "the longstanding shimmer reverb to the next level, adding a wealth of new harmonies"¹.

The pedal builds on the Cloud algorithm from the Strymon BigSky, one of that pedal's standout machines, expanded for this compact format¹³. Strymon says it wanted to provide the spacious experiences of BigSky's Cloud machine at higher decay settings, with the short end of the decay range tailored to smaller spaces⁴.

What the Ensemble engine does

The Ensemble is the Cloudburst's distinguishing feature. Delicious Audio describes the pedal as an ambient reverb followed by a particular effect that goes beyond modulation, referred to as an Ensemble engine⁶. A three-way toggle switch sets it to Off, Mezzo Piano or Forte, with Forte being the more intense setting⁶.

MusicRadar's reviewer found the two modes distinct in character: Mezzo Piano is the subtler of the two, "while the Forte is capable of swelling synth string ensemble beds"¹². Premier Guitar's reviewer found that "both modes can generate high-harmonic or orchestral textures that straddle the strange and organic"¹³. MusicRadar's Rob Laing described the result as deep ambient spaces where you can "think of your guitar as the conduction unit for a rich harmonic synth pad"².

Controls

The Cloudburst keeps its control set small, with four knobs, one toggle and one footswitch⁴¹⁴.

Power

The Cloudburst runs on a 2.1mm, 9V DC center-negative power supply rated at 250mA minimum, and no power supply is included in the box⁴¹⁰. Strymon recommends its Ojai and Zuma isolated power supplies, and a wall wart with compatible specifications also works¹⁰.

Stereo, bypass and the EXP/MIDI jack

The Cloudburst is a stereo reverb pedal with full stereo in/out through a single TRS input and TRS output jack⁴. A rear TRS switch selects the routing: mono gives mono in and mono out, mono to stereo gives mono in and stereo out, and stereo gives stereo in and stereo out⁴. Use a TS cable for mono output or a TRS cable for stereo⁴.

The bypass behavior follows that switch. From the factory, with the selector set to mono, the pedal defaults to electromechanical relay-switched true bypass for an untouched, unprocessed signal. Set the selector to mono to stereo or stereo and the bypass mode automatically becomes buffered bypass, which Strymon says preserves signal integrity by preventing the high frequency roll-off that can come from longer cable runs⁴⁹. You can also toggle the Ensemble switch during setup to choose between the two bypass modes⁹.

The rear EXP/MIDI jack can be set to one of five modes: Expression Pedal, Favorite, Freeze, Infinite, or MIDI Mode¹⁴. A standard TRS expression pedal gives continuous control over the knobs (the default setting)⁴. In MIDI Mode, a Strymon MultiSwitch Plus selects three presets, and full MIDI functionality is available via MIDI Program Change messages over 1/4 inch TRS MIDI using a Strymon Conduit or MIDI EXP cable, with up to 300 presets available¹¹. The USB jack handles MIDI control from a computer, firmware updates, and connection to Strymon's Nixie editor/librarian software¹⁴.

Freeze deserves a note on how it interacts with the mix. In KILL DRY mode the dry signal does not pass through the pedal at all, even when Freeze is engaged. Without KILL DRY enabled, the dry signal is added back into the output at maximum Mix when Freeze is engaged¹⁵.

Under the hood and BigSky lineage

Strymon describes the Cloudburst as an expanded version of the Cloud reverb algorithm found in the BigSky pedal and plug-in³. Guitar World's launch coverage noted the pedal "builds on the Cloud algorithm, one of the standouts from the company's flagship BigSky"¹.

The signal path is digital, built around a 520MHz ARM Superscalar processor with 24-bit 96kHz A/D and D/A converters, fronted by a high-impedance, ultra-low noise discrete Class A JFET preamp⁴. Input impedance is 1M Ohm, output impedance is 100 Ohm, and the typical signal to noise ratio is 116dB⁴. The enclosure is a strong and lightweight anodized aluminum chassis measuring 4.6 inches deep by 2.7 inches wide by 2.2 inches tall⁴. Firmware Rev 1.24 was released in November 2024¹⁶.

Setup, reset and updates

Power Up Mode is entered by pressing and holding the footswitch for at least 2 seconds while powering up; release it once the LED flashes. Inside Power Up Mode, the Mix knob selects the function of the EXP/MIDI jack, with the LED changing color to show the current status, and pressing the footswitch exits and stores the settings¹¹.

A factory reset restores the pedal to its factory default Power Up functions and replaces all stored presets with their factory defaults¹⁷:

1. Press and hold the footswitch for at least 2 seconds while powering up the Cloudburst.
2. Release the footswitch once the LED flashes.
3. Hold the footswitch again and sweep the Pre-Delay knob from minimum to maximum and back, two times.
4. The LED flashes red to indicate the reset is taking place¹⁷.

Firmware updates are handled through Strymon's Update software, downloaded from Strymon's website, which detects the connected pedal automatically over a USB-C data cable. If a newer version is available, click the Install Update button; once complete, the installed version matches the available version¹⁸.

What reviewers said

Reviews were positive about the sound, with some reservations about live features. MusicRadar's Rob Laing found the pedal "quite accessible, while offering plenty to explore" and suggested it could attract new players to Strymon, though he noted that "no onboard presets holds it back for live functionality"². Premier Guitar's reviewer flagged that the Favorite and Freeze functions require an outboard switch that is not included, while confirming that with a MIDI controller the pedal can be set up for 300 presets¹³.

MusicRadar's full review was enthusiastic about the range of the pedal:

Guitar.com's Jason Mays reviewed the pedal at launch and later called it "last year's impressive Cloudburst pedal" when covering the BigSky MX¹⁹²⁰. Guitar.com's 2025 ambient pedals guide named it the best compact ambient reverb²¹.

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