Meris Enzo X

With four different modes, onboard effects and MIDI sync capability, there’s plenty of creative potential packed into this stompbox.

The Meris Enzo X might best be described as being a pedal that creates synth‑like sounds from a guitar. It uses a hybrid approach that allows it to create mono or polyphonic sounds, based around five distinct operating modes that I’ll go into more depth on below. Naturally, it’s an evolution of the smaller, original Enzo pedal that I reviewed back in SOS January 2019, but although a tad larger it’s still simple to use — despite the new Enzo X boasting some hugely impresssive capabilities, it can be controlled using just seven knobs and four footswitches.

Sitting in a metal enclosure, the Enzo X has around the same footprint as a typical paperback book, and incorporates a colour LCD screen, five‑pin MIDI I/O, an assignable expression pedal jack, and a USB‑C port for firmware updates. The signal path can handle any permutation of mono and stereo in and out, and both the in and the out are switchable for synth/line or instrument level. The analogue signal is converted to/from digital at 24‑bit/48kHz, while the processing is performed at 32‑bit floating‑point using Sharc DSP. An Analog Devices JFET input stage provides a suitably high impedance and low‑noise preamplification. The user also has the choice of a true or buffered bypass, and there are 99 user presets arranged in 33 banks plus a quick‑access bank for three favourite patches.

Synth Modes & Effects

What the Enzo X can do is probably best explained by running you through the four different operational modes. Monophonic synth pedals are nothing new, of course, and as with others the Mono Synth mode here requires the user to avoid playing more than one note at the same time. That said, the processing seems to tolerate fingering noise and quietly resonating adjacent strings better than most, which is a definite plus point. With its synth‑style filters, separate ADSR envelopes for both filters and amplitude, selectable saw/triangle/square waveforms, modulation and FM cross‑modulation between two oscillators, the Mono mode works really well for lead and bass synth sounds. There’s also the ability to add noise to the synth sounds, and this Mono Synth section can also create portamento pitch glides.

Poly Synth mode offers similar waveform choices but supports six‑voice polyphony, each voice having two independent oscillators with ADSR amplitude and filter envelopes. The filter selection can be set to Ladder, State‑Variable or Twin modes, and there’s cross‑modulation between the oscillators to give sounds more depth and interest: in this mode, the Enzo X is able to produce evolving pad sounds, polyphonic stabs and huge clouds of reverb‑drenched loveliness. There’s also the facility to have the synth voices persist after the end of the note that’s coming from a guitar, and this creates a more keyboard‑like feel when you’re changing notes or chords.

Another mode, called Arp Synth, uses the same engine as the Poly Synth mode but it adds note sequencing, controlling both oscillators. You can choose one of four different...