When I was just learning guitar back in the 90s, I quickly discovered the bounty that was the guitar effects pedal world. There was no fuzz, delay, reverb, phaser, or whatever that I didn't think was cool and tried to utilize in my own angsty rock band. Even the lowly DOD FX-80B compressor/sustainer, the first pedal I ever owned—gifted to me by a friend's older brother who probably thought it was boring since it wasn't a tube screamer or something—was enjoyed by me once I figured out what it could do and how to use it. It was interesting and useful, if not overly flashy, and it's how I learned about compression. I really loved all effects, except one—chorus: that phase modulation effect that was so overused, misused, and abused in guitar rock at the time, and popularized by Kurt Cobain's usage in Nirvana. I just couldn't stand grunge and I absolutely hated chorus, wanting nothing to do with it, whether I was playing rock, or when I discovered synths and modular. At the time, I even hated that shade of purple that the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone (Kurt's chorus of choice) employs.
But you know what? I was wrong. My haughtiness and hatred were displaced. It wasn't the chorus I hated. It was the misuse of it. How do I know this? Because Morphor's Ensemble was put upon my desk for review. Yes, I really have avoided using chorus knowingly (there was that one time I was tricked into it, not realizing what was happening with my signal…) until then. Ensemble's aim doesn't seem to be about freaking out your signal, making it sound queasy, making sure everyone knows you're using it, though it can stand front and center, too. What's so cool about Ensemble is that rather than just one control over the amount of chorus effect, like you have with most guitar-centric pedals, you have control over the stages of chorus as well. You can be tasteful with it. If you so choose.
An all-analog 8-voice BBD mono/stereo chorus, Morphor's given Ensemble a classic all-black, no BS look. There are two mono inputs (summed together if both are used) with an input level control, a dry amount control, and mono or stereo outs. The Slow and Fast LFO controls allow you add triangle wave modulation to the delay times to give it more variation, and you can control the depth and frequency for both. The Slow LFO's frequency is from 0-5Hz and the Fast LFO is 0-20Hz, so there's a little overlap there, which can make for some really groovy effects—even more phasing!—when they're not super far apart. Spread is where the magic can happen, where things can be subtle or crazy by changing the delay times between the eight voices in Ensemble. You can even add a bit o' feedback in your path for more depth, and all these controls (except Feedback) have CV inputs with attenuverters that span +/-5V. A three-position toggle switches from 2, 4, or the full 8 voices. Boom, done!
Ensemble sounds great; warm and vintage-y, and with headphones—so that the chorusing is more pronounced when in stereo—wonderfully enveloping. Using it on a pad to liven the background tapestry of a patch—in any of the voice settings—really brought my patches to life in a way that also did not overtake them. A lot of times it was subtle, but noticeable; more felt than heard, which I love for these pad-type situations. Using it in mono for subtle movement on a bass line was pretty cool as well and helped the bass cut through the mix in a pretty dense drum and bass patch I had going. I was really surprised how much I liked using the full eight voices (and in stereo, no less) for melodic leads. I usually have it in my head that melodies are mono (sounds like a mantra), but it was cool to experiment with having a highly moving stereo arpeggiated melody envelop a patch. In one instance, I had a three-chord piano sample as the main element of a patch, and adding a modulated amount of four-voiced chorus via Ensemble—slowly spanning from off to on of the Spread effect—all while synced with some external LFOs themselves synced to a main clock, helped the track bellow in a way I hadn't initially imagined. The joys of modular, of CV, of being able to tweak every last thing; this is what it's all about! You can't get that with no 80s DOD pedal.
Ensemble is highly customizable, and it's easy to go small or to go gargantuan. You can get really crazy with the modulation of the Spread and the onboard LFOs, and it's fun to experiment with textures and spatial movement. You can even get Ensemble to self-oscillate and use it as a voice by patching into the Spread to act as a 1V/Oct input. Patch a sequenced VCO into the Spread with the Feedback cranked and you get some really interesting harsh melodies, some buzzy bee sounds.
Ensemble even displaced some of the tried-and-true delays that I would have normally used in some spots, like on a snare drum, to add a little extra to the end of the hit. It was more movement than a continuation of the sound like you'd get with a reverb. Using chorus instead of delay or reverb? What?! While I initially started out using Ensemble with the gentlemanly touch of a reserved two-voice stereo implementation, it wasn't long until my apprehension disappeared and I was going full-on with the entire eight voices of phasing. There I found myself—gasp!—phasing my input signals, chorusing in a way that reminded me of being seasick on a fishing trip years ago.
Ensemble is a really nice effect—there's so much magic here, that I am more than surprised. I can see its use in practically every patch in some form or another; it's that great of a tool. To say that I'm a convert, that I now like chorus, is an understatement. I love it. I even like flannel again, something I thought would never happen. 

Price: $363

morphor.io