Hey folks. The Hypersleep, our weird warbly analog reverberator, is back in stock on December 9 at noon EST. It will be available through our website plus select retailers worldwide.

Here’s the short version:

After this batch, Hypersleep production will be suspended indefinitely, likely forever.
We made the circuit a little better.
We’re offering upgrades to V1 units so they can sound a little better too.
To celebrate the release, we have coffee!

The first point is bittersweet, but perhaps inevitable news given the extreme rarity of the MN3011 IC. The old stock BBDs at the heart of each Hypersleep were only manufactured during a brief window of time in the late 70s/early 80s. Unlike more popular BBDs like the MN3005, they have not been reissued and likely never will be. To the best of our knowledge, we have exhausted our available supply of authentic, functioning parts. We sent several samples to a counterfeit mitigation vendor (who was kind enough to send us a cool microscope photo of the die, see below), and most of the available chips were either fakes or of unusably poor quality. I never like to speak in absolute terms about this type of thing, but unless a hidden stockpile of MN3011s mysteriously appears, this will be the final Hypersleep batch.

Die photo of the MN3011, courtesy of our counterfeit mitigation vendor.

I wanted to do right by these beloved old chips, so I made some refinements to the design. Hypersleep V2 has the same features and functions as V1 but with improved BBD filtering, some very minor tweaks to the feedback circuit, reduced current consumption (from 180mA to just under 100mA), lower power supply noise, and moderately quieter bypass switching.

Of these, the revised filter most significantly impacts the sound of the pedal. Like all BBD effects, the Hypersleep uses low pass filters to keep the signal within the bandwidth of the delay line and suppress clock noise. Such filters contribute greatly to the sounds typically associated with BBD effects, especially in sensitive midrange and treble frequencies.

My friend and mentor Hawker at Asheville Music Tools introduced me to some new filtering methods. With his inspiration, the new filter in Hypersleep V2 allows more high frequencies while sporting superior clock rejection. Here’s what that looks like on our audio analyzer:

Hypersleep frequency response comparison - this encapsulates the whole delay line for each unit. Miranda performed the measurement with our trusty QuantAsylum QA401.

This type of graph is cool because you don’t need to be a filter expert to get a sense of what’s going on. The V1 filter has a gentle rolloff for a more muted treble response. The V2 filter lets more treble through and then cuts off with a steeper slope so that the higher frequency clock noise is still rejected. In other words, they get to the same place, but the V2 does so in a sharper, more precise fashion. This greatly changes the reverberation character. V2 has brighter overtones while retaining the characteristic warmth of a filtered bucket brigade delay line. The reverb also dwells for a longer time relative to V1.

The feedback change is extremely slight. We changed the low frequency cut to make the wet signal less “boomy” overall. It also makes the Hypersleep more refined when placed in front of a drive or an overdriven amplifier (a use case in which it absolutely excels).

I think these changes are objectively huge improvements, but they may not be for everyone. The upcoming demo video will illustrate the differences in greater detail. For now, here is a brief clip comparing the two units with a simple phrase. First a clean tone, then the V1, then the V2. I’m using longer Space and higher Feedback settings so you can really hear the differences.

Since overall quantities of the Hypersleep are so limited, we are offering a V1 upgrade service to rebuild the filters to the V2 spec. This will provide a solid approximation of the V2 sound without necessitating the purchase of a new pedal. In other words, they’re not identical but they are quite close. The upgrade costs $60 plus return shipping. Send your pedal to us, and we will rebuild the filter circuitry. While we’re in there, we can tune up the calibration and perform any other necessary maintenance (provided you didn’t like, spill a beer on it or something.)

The upgrade is not reversible. But, we think you’ll enjoy it enough for that to be a moot point. For more details, see the product page. Upgrade orders will open at the same time as the V2 orders.

Finally, to celebrate the sendoff of this special pedal, we commissioned a fine batch of coffee from our friends at Quartertone Coffee. It’s a delicious single-origin Ethiopian coffee that we have thoroughly enjoyed here at the shop. It’s called Push Start, and you can read more about it here. We’ll have some Hypersleep/coffee bundles, and you can also order the coffee on its own while supplies last.

We will be sad to see the Hypersleep go, but we are also very excited to make some new reverbs with more… current technology. The lessons learned here have already proven to be great sources of inspiration.

Thanks to everyone, and see you on the 9th!

-John