EHX Freeze Sound Retainer Pedal

The Electro-Harmonix Freeze Sound Retainer lets you capture a note or chord and sustain it indefinitely while continuing to play over the top. Rather than functioning like a conventional looper, the Freeze grabs a short real-time sample and seamlessly holds it as a continuous pad, making it useful for drones, sustained chords, ambient layers, practice accompaniment, and sounds that would normally require another instrument or player.

The single Effect Level knob controls the volume of the sustained sound while your dry instrument remains at its original level. This keeps the basic operation extremely simple: capture a chord, set how loudly you want the frozen layer to sit underneath your playing, and continue playing normally over it.

Three operating modes change how the footswitch handles the captured sound. Fast mode grabs the current note or chord immediately and sustains it only while the footswitch is held, stopping as soon as you release it. Slow mode works similarly but fades the frozen sound in and out for smoother transitions. The Slow-mode fade time can even be customized, with three available fade-in/fade-out behaviors stored through power cycles.

Latch mode is designed for hands-free indefinite sustain. Tap the footswitch once and the captured sound continues after you remove your foot. Tap again while playing something new and the Freeze immediately replaces the previous sustained sound with the new one. A double-tap silences the frozen layer entirely.

Because the Freeze captures complete notes and chords, it works well before or after other effects for creating much more elaborate textures. Feed a frozen chord into delay, reverb, modulation, or other processing for evolving ambient pads, or place effects before the Freeze to capture an already-processed sound and hold it indefinitely.

Key Features

• Real-time digital sound capture with seamless looping
• Sustains individual notes or complete chords indefinitely
• Fast, Slow, and Latch operating modes
• Fast mode sustains only while the footswitch is held
• Slow mode provides smooth fade-in and fade-out transitions
• Three user-selectable Slow-mode fade behaviors
• Latch mode provides hands-free infinite sustain
• New sounds can replace the current frozen layer in Latch mode
• Double-tap silences the effect in Latch mode
• Effect Level control adjusts only the sustained sound
• Dry instrument remains present at its original volume
• Handles signals coming from pedalboards
• Buffered bypass
• Compact enclosure
• Electro-Harmonix power adapter included

Specifications

• Effect Type: Sound Retainer / Infinite Sustainer / Freeze
• Circuit: Digital
• Controls: Effect Level
• Modes: Fast, Slow, Latch
• Slow-Mode Fade Options: 200ms / 400ms, 200ms / 1.0 sec, or 800ms / 3.2 sec fade-in / fade-out
• Input: 1 x 1/4"
• Output: 1 x 1/4"
• Input Impedance: 2.2MΩ
• Output Impedance: 470Ω
• Audio: Mono
• Bypass: Buffered Bypass
• Power: 9V DC, center-negative
• Current Draw: 140mA
• Included Power Supply: EHX 9.6VDC / 200mA adapter
• Battery Operation: No
• Dimensions: 4.5" x 2.75" x 2.1"
• Year Released: 2010
• UPC: 683274011103