Old Blood Noise Endeavors OBNE Dark Star Stereo Reverb Pedal

The OBNE Dark Star Stereo is a major upgrade from the previous Dark Star. Stereo makes a massive difference to reverbs — run a great reverb through two amps (or straight into a desk or modeller) and it is a great experience.

What is the OBNE Dark Star Stereo?

The Dark Star’s previous models (V1 and V2) have been around for a while, and for good reason. It’s one of the pedals that put OBNE on the map, with its lo-fi, slow-attack reverb.

The Stereo is a significant step up from both. It keeps the same character as its predecessors, and adds stereo I/O, an analogue dry-through path, full MIDI control, onboard presets, and revised controls.

Dark Star Original / V2 vs Dark Star Stereo — What’s Changed?

Well, unsurprisingly, it’s stereo! Earlier versions were mono only. The Stereo adds true stereo in and out, plus mono and mono-in-stereo-out routing options.

The original Dark Star made you choose between Pitch, Delay, and Crush modes. The Stereo allows simultaneous use — so not just a workflow improvement, but a fundamental change in what the pedal can do. Blend pitch shifting, bit crushing, and lag together in ways you couldn’t before.

The control layout has also changed, giving you individual knobs for all of the above simultaneously, plus new controls like Filter, Multiply, Lag, and Spread that weren’t available before.

The Stereo adds full MIDI control over every parameter, onboard presets (three onboard and 127 via MIDI), and expression input assignable over every knob. The original had a single expression input assignable to one parameter.

The Stereo also has an analogue dry-through path, meaning the dry signal is never digitised and has zero latency through the pedal.

Controls

• Filter: Adds either a low pass or high pass filter to the reverb signal. At noon it gently filters highs, similar to earlier versions. Anticlockwise, the low pass filter kicks in.
• Pitch 1: Adds pitch shift to the left channel. Noon is the unity position. Near noon, it gives a slight detune. Further from centre, it snaps in semitones down to -1 octave or up to +1 octave, with an additional two-octave range at the extremes.
• Pitch 2: Same as Pitch 1 but for the right channel, with both operating independently in stereo.
• Crush: Creates distortion in the reverb signal. Anticlockwise gives lo-fi digital degradation. Clockwise gives a soft clipping overdrive, with increasing gain as the knob is turned.
• Lag: Sets the pre-delay time of the reverb.
• Multiply: Adds feedback across all effects, making them more intense and running to oscillation at extreme settings. Particularly effective with pitch shifting, where it can create rising or falling effects that build over time.
• Decay: Sets the reverb trail length.
• Spread: Controls the stereo balance of the reverb signals. All the way up, left reverb sits on the left output and right reverb on the right.
• Volume: Sets the overall output level.
• Mix: Sets the balance of wet and dry signals.
• Aux footswitch: Assignable to Hold (near-infinite sustain of the reverb trail), Filter (closes the low pass filter), or Pitch (sets both pitch shifts to +1 octave).
• On/Off footswitch: Tap to latch, hold for momentary action.

Setup, Presets, and Routing

Dark Star Stereo has three presets. Just hit the Preset switch to cycle through, then hold for five seconds to save.

Routing is set using the On/Off and Preset switches, selecting either Mono, Mono-In-Stereo-Out, or Stereo. Both routing and bypass settings save globally.

Expression is assigned by turning any knob while holding the On/Off footswitch.

Factory reset is available by holding On/Off and Aux for ten seconds.

The USB-C port is for firmware updates via OBNE’s firmware updater.

Why Stereo Matters

A lot of reverb pedals claim stereo as a feature. The Dark Star Stereo is actually designed around it, with the Spread control taking the reverb image from a narrow central wash to a genuinely wide stereo field. You can also reverse the left and right channels, and have independent pitch shifting on each side with bit crushing running in full stereo.

If you’re running two amps, going direct into a stereo DAW setup, or building a stereo pedalboard — this is the reverb that justifies doing it.

Power and Connections

Dark Star Stereo requires a standard 9V DC centre-negative supply at 350mA — not included in the box. Any outlet on the CIOKS DC7 v2 or CIOKS SOL will handle it comfortably.

Who Is The OBNE Dark Star For?

It’s always difficult saying “who is this for” because it constrains the creative use of a pedal — it’s for everybody! However, the obvious applications are ambient, shoegaze, post-rock, and experimental players. Essentially, anyone using reverb as a textural instrument rather than just a tail on a note.

It also works well earlier in the signal chain than most reverbs — running it before drive pedals to create pads that overdrive can then act on. The stereo output and MIDI integration make it equally at home on a stage pedalboard or in a studio context.

If you want a reverb that does one thing beautifully, there are probably simpler options. If you want a reverb that’s also a pitch shifter, a bit crusher, a pre-delay unit, and a pad generator — all in stereo, all with MIDI — this is a serious contender.

Watch It In Action

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