First Listen: A Review Of The Meris Enzo Synth Pedal

Since entering the pro audio/pedal game, Meris has flipped the world upside down by creating some of the most interesting sounding gear to be released in years. From delay (Polymoon) to reverb (Mercury 7, Mercury 7 pedal) to bit-crusher (Ottobit, Ottobit Jr.), they've been killing it on all levels.

The latest release from Meris, the Enzo, takes the idea of an instrument-based synthesizer pedal and expands on it in a way never done before. Utilizing a guitar, bass, drum machine, your voice or even another synthesizer, you can take full advantage of a wide-ranging swath of beautiful sounding synth features.

Watch our new Meris Enzo demo below to see the pedal used on several different sources by Vintage King's Dustin McLaughlin. Continue on afterward to read some of Dustin's insights into his favorite settings for this pedal. 

Upon unboxing and plugging in the Enzo, I immediately had to explore the pedal's Arp mode. In my opinion, this is easily the flagship feature of the Enzo.

Even while I was just cycling through a progression, I was amazed at how accurate and fast it was tracking major and minor changes in my playing. I was even more impressed by how it reacted to more odd intervals and complex chords.

I would recommend starting in this mode to learn the expansive feature set of the Enzo. Try turning the Sustain knob all the way up and it will hold and loop your arpeggiation infinity. From here, you’re free to explore the different waveforms, six filter types, modulations and all the onboard effects of the pedal.

Speaking of onboard effects. Meris did not skimp in that department. The onboard delay is spread across three secondary parameters.

• Tap sets the delay time (holding tap will send the delay into self oscillation)
• Alt: Mix sets the delay amount
• Alt: Modulation sets the delay feedback

As an added bonus, advancing the delay amount from 7:00-12:00 gives you a single tap delay. From the 12:00-5:00, a second tap is added and right around 2:00, it pushes the delays into the stereo field. This adds a beautiful, 3D effect to the Enzo.

In addition, the Alt function of the Sustain is a Tremolo that can speed up the audio rate to give you a bell-like Ring Mod to your repeats.

In Mono mode, I recommend starting with a Square wave, adding some slight Portamento and Delay for some classic lead lines. When dropping the Pitch down an octave and cranking the Filter, you'll get into MiniMoog Model D territory.

The pedal's Poly setting is also equally incredible and will get you to those classic Juno/Dave Smith pad sounds in no time. The Modulation control comes in handy for this setting when you want to get some beautiful string section sounds.

Dry mode takes the waveforms out of the equation to give you a full featured pitch shifter to blend in with your dry signal. -2/+2 octaves in half-step intervals for different harmonies and oh, did I mention that every parameter on the Enzo is controllable via an expression pedal? So yeah, run the Mix all the way wet and you have a Whammy pedal.

Overall, the Meris Enzo is already in the running to be the most cutting-edge pedal release of the year and the most realized synth pedal to date. Aside from its self-contained feature-set and incredible sound design, the Enzo is a fun, immersive and inspirational experience every time you dive in.

If you'd like to order the Meris Enzo, please click here to visit our product page. If you have any questions about the Enzo or any other Meris products, please feel free to reach out to one of our Audio Consultants via email or by phone at 888.653.1184.