Demo: The Kármán Line by Hungry Robot Pedals

You never know what's going to come through Pedals And Effects, and we're always pleasantly surprised when something really out there comes through the studio. At first glance, the Kármán Line seems like it might have fallen off of NASA's Mission Control instead of it being an effects pedal. You take a look at it and you're like "whats with the joystick?" but the Kármán Line happens to be one of the gnarliest modulated delays out there.  

Photo credit: Premier Guitar

The Kármán Line is definitely a cool delay, very heavy on the modulation, lots of cool oscillation, with the neat addition of delay time being controllable with a joystick. The joystick control is very cool in precisely controlling the craziness of the repeats, but I can see it only really working if it were on a desk or table. I'd be worried about breaking the stick with my foot at a gig. 

All of the repeats on the Kármán Line are very dark and overdriven, the pedal itself has two switches that activate its crazy oscillation. The "Swell" and "Launch" switches do exactly what they say they do, one is more gradual oscillation and the other is more extreme. The "Launch" feature actually controls a "below the mix oscillation" which can then be controlled by the joystick, you can manipulate pitch with it too. While the pedal prides itself on it's crazy oscillation, its perfect for those subtle, ambient repeats too. The circuits in this delay have a lot of character outside of getting crazy and it's a really unique sounding delay. 

The Kármán Line's max delay time is 500ms in guitar mode and 1000ms in bass mode (theres an internal dip switch to change modes). If you're into crazy space sounds, vinyl inspired warble and delay with a lo-fi aesthetic, the Kármán Line is the delay pedal you want!

Hungry Robot is definitely one of the most exciting up-and-coming pedal makers out there. I believe this is the first pedal of theirs we've featured! Definitely looking forward to what they come up with next. Support your local builders!

-Juan