UNIVERSAL AUDIO ASTRA MODULATION MACHINE

Universal Audio made its name with authentic plug-in emulations powered by DSP and housed in hardware, but this year saw its first stompboxes, including this modulation pedal featuring studiograde emulations of revered mod effects, such as Boss’s CE-1 chorus, mid-60s Fender opto-tremolo tones and MXR’s Flanger/ Doubler rack unit. Handily, if you register your Astra with UA, you can download two extra emulations and store a single preset to the unit. There’s optional true and buffered bypass, too, a feature we’d like to see more of. A polished package with some of the world’s most evocative modulation effects at a high level of sonic quality.