Electro-Harmonix Superego Instruction Manual

- WARRANTY INFORMATION -

WARNING: Your Superego comes equipped with an Electro-Harmonix

9.6DC-200BI power supply (same as used by Boss® & Ibanez®: 9.6 Volts
DC 200mA). The Superego requires 140mA at 9VDC with a center negative
plug. The Superego does not take batteries. Using the wrong adapter may
damage your unit and void the warranty.

Please register online at http://www.ehx.com/product-registration or complete and
return the enclosed warranty card within 10 days of purchase. Electro-Harmonix will
repair or replace, at its discretion, a product that fails to operate due to defects in
materials or workmanship for a period of one year from date of purchase. This
applies only to original purchasers who have bought their product from an authorized
Electro-Harmonix retailer. Repaired or replaced units will then be warranted for the
unexpired portion of the original warranty term. If you should need to return your
unit for service within the warranty period, please include a brief description of the
problem as well as you name, address, telephone number, copy of your receipt, and
a check or money order.

United States - $12
Canada - $15
Europe and outside countries - $25

Ship to:

Electro-Harmonix
C/O New Sensor Corporation

55-01 2nd Street
Long Island City, NY, 11101

Attn: Service Department

Please make checks/money orders payable to New Sensor Corporation.
To hear demos on all EHX pedals visit us on the web at www.ehx.com.
Email us at [e-mail]

Note:

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital
device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates,
uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with
the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does
cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning
the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:



Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.



Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.



Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the
receiver is connected.



Modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user's authority to
operated the equipment under FCC rules.

Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

- FCC COMPLIANCE -

SUPEREGO

SYNTH ENGINE

Congratulations on your purchase of the Electro-Harmonix SUPEREGO Synth
Engine; a new and unique product that combines elements of sampling, synthesis

and infinite sustain. The Superego allows the musician to freeze sound, gliss between
frozen sounds, layer sounds and place an external effects loop on only the effect. In
addition, the Superego can detect new notes or chords and sustain them
automatically without requiring the musician to step on the footswitch.

DOUBLE-TAP THE FOOTSWITCH FOR BYPASS IN LATCH OR AUTO MODE

In LATCH and AUTO modes the footswitch must be DOUBLE-TAPPED in order to
enter bypass mode. A single footswitch press in either mode will yield different
results, see the Modes section for more information.

-MODES-

The Superego has three modes: LATCH, MOMENTARY and AUTO. A toggle switch
located in the center of the Superego chooses between the three options.
MOMENTARY mode is not labeled in the artwork; it is the center (or eye) position of
the 3-position toggle switch.

MOMENTARY Mode: When the toggle switch is set to the center position, the
Superego effect is momentary, meaning the effect is only active when the footswitch
is pressed down. Upon releasing the footswitch, the Superego goes into bypass
mode. In order to properly freeze a sound, the sound must be occurring at the
moment you press down on the footswitch. Once you freeze a sound, it will sustain
for as long as you hold down the footswitch. The LED, located between the two
switches, will light while the effect is active. When you release the footswitch the LED
shuts off after the effect has fully decayed. In MOMENTARY mode, the

SPEED/LAYER knob acts as a speed control for the attack and decay time
of the effect. As you turn this knob clockwise, the speed of the effect’s fade-in and

fade-out slow down.

LATCH Mode: When the toggle switch is set to the left position, the Superego is in
LATCH mode. In this mode, press the footswitch once to activate the effect and light
the LED. After you release the footswitch the effect remains active and the sound
sustains indefinitely. In order to bypass the effect in LATCH mode you must
double-tap the footswitch, the LED will shut off to indicate bypass. To properly
freeze a sound in LATCH mode, the sound must be occurring at the moment you
press down on the footswitch. Each time you press down once on the footswitch, a
new sound is frozen.

LATCH mode also allows you to layer your notes or sounds. Each time you press
down on the footswitch to sustain a new note, the Superego will layer it on top of the
notes that were previously sustained. The SPEED/LAYER knob sets the amount of
attenuation for the old layers. If you turn this knob down to the CCW position, no
layering will occur. As you turn the SPEED/LAYER knob up, less attenuation and more
layering will occur. If you turn the knob up all the way to the maximum CW position,
each layer will remain at full volume.

AUTO Mode: Set the toggle switch to its right most position to select AUTO mode.
In the other two modes: MOMENTARY and LATCH, the Superego requires you to
press the footswitch each time you want to sustain a new note, chord or sound. In
AUTO mode the Superego detects each new note or chord that you play and sustains
it automatically. If a note is not loud enough, it will not trigger a new sustain.

When in AUTO mode, press the footswitch once to put the Superego into effect
mode, the LED will light to indicate the Superego is activated. To switch back to
bypass while in AUTO mode, you must double-tap the footswitch, after doing
so the LED shuts off. If you press and hold the footswitch while the effect is activated
and in AUTO mode, the Superego stops accepting new notes and sustains the frozen
sound indefinitely. This allows the musician to play over frozen sounds while in AUTO
mode.

As long you are not holding down the footswitch, the sustained notes automatically
fade out at a speed determined by the SPEED/LAYER knob. As you turn the knob
clockwise the fade out time increases. When the knob is set to its maximum CW
position, the sustained notes do not fade out.

-CONTROLS-

SPEED/LAYER Knob: In MOMENTARY mode, this control adjusts the speed of the

attack and decay of the frozen sound. Fully CCW produces the quickest attack and
decay, having a nearly instantaneous fade in and fade out. Fully CW yields the
longest attack and decay time for a more gradual fade in and fade out. For any given
knob setting the decay time is always longer than the attack time.

In LATCH mode, this knob is a layer control. The layer control adjusts the volume of
the previously latch-sampled sound. Turn this knob fully CCW and only the newly
latched samples will be heard. Set to fully CW, previously latched samples will not
decrease in volume and newly latched samples will be added to the existing sound.

In AUTO mode, this knob will adjust the decay of the auto triggered samples. Fully
CCW yields a very short decay time and will result in an effect that is staccato and
reverberant in nature. As you turn this knob clockwise, the decay time increases. At
fully CW, the sampled sound plays until a new sample is triggered or until the effect
is disengaged.

GLISS Knob: This control adjusts the speed of the gliss effect. Gliss morphs one
frozen note or chord into the next; it is similar to the portamento function found on
many synthesizers. As you turn the GLISS knob clockwise, the gliss effect slows
down. To turn gliss off completely, turn the GLISS knob down all the way to its full
CCW position. PERFORMANCE NOTE: The easiest way to hear the GLISS effect is
to put the Superego into AUTO mode, completely turn down the DRY knob and set
the GLISS and SPEED knobs at 12 o’clock or higher.

DRY Knob: This knob adjusts the volume of the unaltered dry instrument signal.
Set DRY to fully CCW and no dry signal will be heard. As you turn DRY clockwise, the
volume of the dry signal will increase. Unity gain is at approximately the “2 o’clock”
setting.

EFFECT Knob: This control adjusts the volume of the wet effect signal. Fully CCW
yields no wet effect signal. As you turn the EFFECT knob clockwise the effect’s
volume increases.

Footswitch: In MOMENTARY mode, the footswitch triggers the Superego to freeze
a new note, chord or sound when the footswitch is pressed down. The sound will be
sustained as long as the footswitch is held down. Once the footswitch is released, the
Superego goes into bypass.

In LATCH mode, the footswitch triggers the Superego to freeze a new note, chord or
sound each time it is pressed. When you release the footswitch, the Superego
continues to sustain the sound. A double-tap is required to disengage the effect.

In AUTO mode, pressing the footswitch once will engage the effect to sample new
notes, chords and sounds automatically. If the footswitch is held down while the
effect is ON, the Superego stops accepting new notes while sustaining the last sound
that was sampled, enabling the musician to play over the frozen sound. A double-tap
of the footswitch is required to disengage the effect.

TOGGLE Switch: The toggle switch selects the mode of operation for the Superego.
Point the switch to the left and Superego is in LATCH mode. Set the toggle to the
center position, for MOMENTARY mode. Set the switch to the right for AUTO mode.

INPUT Jack: Connect the output of your guitar into the INPUT jack of the Superego.
The input impedance presented at the INPUT jack is 2.2Mohms.

OUTPUT Jack: Connect the OUTPUT jack of the Superego into the input of your
amplifier, or another effects pedal. The output impedance is approximately 200
ohms.

SEND Jack and RETURN Jack: The SEND and RETURN jacks help to form an
effects loop for patching in additional effects that will process the wet signal only.
SEND is an output with impedance < 5k ohms. RETURN is an input with impedance =

2.2M. To properly connect an external effects loop, connect the SEND jack to the
input of the first effect in the effects loop. Connect the output of the last effect in the
loop to the RETURN jack. While in Bypass, the SEND jack is muted.

The SEND jack can also be used independently as a “wet out”. To use the SEND
jack as a “wet out”, connect the send jack to another amplifier, or effects chain, and
leave the RETURN jack disconnected.

9V PWR Jack: Connect the output plug of the supplied AC Adaptor into the 9V
power jack at the top of Superego. The Superego’s current requirement is 140mA at
9VDC. The polarity of the power jack is center negative. The maximum allowable
power supply voltage is 10.5 VDC.