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Ahead of Superbooth 2026, 4MS Company has introduced MESA, high-fidelity reverb module, created in collaboration with Valley Audio.Running at 96 kHz with 64-bit double-precision processing, Mesa is “among the finest-sounding reverbs available at any price point”, according to 4ms.

The four modulation LFOs, pre-delay buffer, dual filters, and vast reverb network open the door to subtle chorusing, plucked strings, pitched echoes, swirling textures, and deep ventures into “genuinely alien sonic territory”.

Features:

• Stereo Inputs and Outputs
• Freeze: holds the reverberations forever. Button can be set to momentary or toggle/latch
• Clear: clears the buffer, canceling all existing reverb and letting new echoes build up. Useful for gated reverbs or purging chaos
• Size: Sets the overall delay time and apparent size of the reverb. Ranges from very short to extremely long.
• Tuned Size button: Shortens the delay times and tunes the all-pass filters to an exponential response so that the reverb can be played with 1V/oct sources
• Diffusion: Controls how diffused and smeared the reverb is. No diffusion results in audible echoes like in a delay effect
• Diffuse Input: Engages the input diffusion stage that pre-diffuses and smears the signal before reverberation. Bypassing the stage sharpens the input signal.
• Decay: Sets the speed at which the signal decays over time. The maximum setting results in a long reverb that evolves over time into a very slowly dying cloud of sound.
• Pre-Delay: Determines the delay for when the original signal is fed into the reverberator. Ranges from 0 to 500ms.
• Input Filter: Filters the incoming signal from low-pass to flat to high-pass
• Reverb Filter: Filters the reverberations from low-pass to flat to high-pass
• Dry/Wet: Control the mix of the original and reverberant signals. Reverb clipping light flashes when clipping at this stage.
• Input Level: Boost/cut the input from -? to +3 dB. Input clipping light flashes red when clipping at this stage.
• Mod Depth: Amount of modulation to apply to the left and right delay sections via the four modulation LFOs
• Mod Rate: Speed of the modulation. Each of the four LFO’s speed is offset from the others
• Mod Shape: Shape of the modulation LFOs. From rising sawtooth, to triangle, to falling ramp.

The 4ms MESA module is priced at $399 USD, with availability to be announced.

Superbooth 2026: Announced last year, Roland’s Project Lydia – a neural sampling stompbox that enables you to apply the tonal qualities of a trained AI model onto an incoming audio signal – has now reached the second phase of its development, bringing it closer to becoming a fully realised commercial product.

Various changes and improvements have been made since we first got wind of the device, which comes from Roland Future Design Lab. This innovation wing of the company was founded in 2024 “to help design the future of music creation”.

What musicians want that future to look like is very much open to question so, perhaps wisely, Roland has made the changes to Lydia based on demos, industry showcases and global surveys.

The result is a refined hardware design that promises enhanced flexibility, such as easier Raspberry Pi 5 installation and standalone USB MIDI controller operation. There’s also fully integrated I/O, which does away with the need for an external USB audio interface, and an onboard LCD display for easier navigation and real-time parameter feedback.

User preset memories are now part of the package, so control settings can be stored, and MIDI connectivity has been added for deeper control, automation and integration with other studio and live gear.

We’re still a way off from Lydia being something that you can actually buy, but Roland says that the first prototype generated strong interest, which prompted it to have a good think about where to go next with it.

“From the very first demos with professional audio developers through the overwhelming response from musicians worldwide, it was clear that Project Lydia was resonating,” says Paul McCabe, LA‑based leader of Roland Future Design Lab. “That dialogue directly shaped Phase 2. This version reflects what creators told us they want from AI hardware in real musical contexts, while also bringing forward new ideas from our team.

Roland’s philosophical argument for using AI in this case is that, rather than replacing musicianship, it augments it, giving people a way of interacting with neural models and developing another avenue of expression. Lydia was conceived with the help of AI music technology company Neutone, and our correspondent’s view of the first prototype was positive, with its ability to turn one sound into another turning out to be a compelling creative proposition

If, as now seems likely, Lydia does end up coming to market, Roland’s hope is that the familiar pedal form factor will help musicians to trust in the new technology, giving them something tangible to cling onto as they experiment with what the AI side of the technology can do. The company also says that Lydia conforms to its ‘seven principles for music creation with AI’, which it laid out in 2024.

No release date or price has been announced yet. The Lydia Phase 2 is a prototype and can be seen at Superbooth 2026 at booths B023 and B026.

Erica Synths’ big launch at this year’s Superbooth is Resonant Filterbank – an analogue/digital performance and production-friendly effects unit which sports ten bandpass filters to squeeze and maximise your input sounds, cutting and boosting specific frequencies at will.

But this sleek aluminium-housed box is more than just a simple 10-band filterbank, you can also use it as both an unconventional multimode filter or as an instrument in its own right, particularly when you play with the box’s various resonance controls.

It can become a standalone instrument via configurable feedback loops. “[It can be used] even as an experimental sound generator for no-input mixer-like setups,” state Erica Synths.

You can use the Filterbank’s Clocked Modulation Mode to program specific band positions in a set sequence and build oscillating stereo effects. This is done via 20 independent LFOs and envelope followers which can be assigned to any control parameter. It also features a spectral analyser and a dynamic EQ, making it a lot deeper than you might think upon initial inspection.

The small display screen gives detailed visual feedback as to what’s happening, with a helpful Macro view that can guide you when setting the sliders to access and control specific features and, orienting the machine to be used as a performance instrument.

Its user snapshot preset memory has 128 slots which you’re also able to morph between on the fly.

In terms of ins/outs, there’s 6.3mm balanced stereo inputs and outputs, a customisable footswitch input, and five-pin DIN MIDI in and USB for firmware updates and patch loading. There’s an analogue Gain Stage which boosts incoming signals up to +24dB.

Going back to the surface level filtering abilities, and its frequency range stretches across: 29 Hz, 61 Hz, 115 Hz, 218 Hz, 411 Hz, 777Hz, 1.5 kHz, 2.8 kHz, 5.2 kHz and 11 kHz.

So, however you use it – whether it’s applied to drum machines, synths, modular setups or even guitars, Resonant Filterbank sounds like it will expand the sonic scope and then some.

Resonant Filterbank is available to preorder for €660 (VAT not included) at Erica Synths website, the product ships on May 18