Digitech Polara

With one of the first in their newest line of pedals, Digitech gives us the Polara. This might be the best bang-for-your-buck reverb available. With Lexicon reverbs, the recording industry standard for reverb, and a nice array of options and controls, you cannot go wrong. The pedal art is awesome, but it makes the settings incredibly hard to read.

External Control: None
Cost: $

HornFX Review

Interface:  3.5/5
The Polara’s three controls are simple and intuitive and its many reverb options all sound wonderful. The trails switch can really be a blessing in some situations. The only problem is the art. We love the way this pedal looks, but there is absolutely no way to read any of the options or settings while on stage. You have to memorize this pedal’s settings ahead of time.

Versatility: 4/5
Not only does this pedal have more than its fair share of reverb types, but they are all usable and high quality. For such a small and inexpensive pedal, you could not ask for more.

Quality of Effect: 4.5/5
The Polara is built with modulated, plate, and spring reverbs by Lexicon, often referred to as the industry standard. Despite its low price tag, it’s reverbs match up to some of the higher priced reverb pedals on the market.

Live application: 4/5
The only two things holding this stompbox back from being a perfect live pedal is its lack of presets and its impossible to read labelling. The settings are easy to change on the fly and the trails option makes live use that much more dynamic.

Audio

Input Signal - Trumpet

Product Information

Featuring seven inspirational Lexicon® reverbs, the DigiTech® Polara will be the new architect of your soundscape, defining space and adding dimension to your playing. The Polara’s flexible reverbs cover a full spectrum, from the intimate warmth of “Room”, to the vast expansiveness of “Hall”, through time with the cosmic power of “Reverse”, and anchored by Lexicon’s revered “Modulated”, “Plate” and “Spring” reverbs. In addition to those classics, the Polara introduces the new “Halo” reverb. The “Halo” reverb with cascading octaves interspersed in the reverb decays will cast a heavenly glow over your tone. With its new, compact size and soft-touch vacuum-style footswitch, the Polara truly represents the latest evolution in DigiTech pedal design. We’ve put years of experience into every detail of its mechanical and sonic blueprint. The Polara offers independent Level, Liveliness, Decay and Type controls; Stereo Inputs and Outputs; a Soft Click Footswitch; and a Reverb Tails On/Off Toggle Switch. It is true bypass, and uses a 9V DC power supply to easily integrate into your existing pedalboard.

Input - Separate Left and Right ¼" Unbalanced (Tip-Sleeve)
Input Impedance- Effect on: >1 MΩ (stereo), >500 kΩ (mono); Effect off: True hardwire bypass
Output - Separate Left and Right ¼" Unbalanced (Tip-Sleeve)
Output Impedance - Effect on: 1 kΩ; Effect off: True hardwire bypass
Controls - Level, Liveliness, Decay, Reverb Type
Switches - Soft Click, Vacuum Style Footswitch; Reverb Tails On/Off Toggle Switch
Power Requirements - 9 VDC external power supply (required)
Power Consumption - 675 mW (< 75 mA @ 9 VDC)
Current Draw - 75 mA (typical at 9 VDC)
Power Supply Model - PS0913DC-01 (US, JA, EU); PS0913DC-02 (AU, UK)
Power Supply Output - 9 VDC 1.3 A
Dimensions - 4.40” (L) x 2.65” (W) x 2.0” (H); 11.18cm (L) x 6.73cm (W) x 5.08cm (H)
Weight - 1 lb; 0.453 kg

Product info taken from the Digitech website.