Enjoy Electronics The Godfather

This unique combination of mixer and effects machine can be used standalone or as part of a modular setup.

The launch of Italian company Enjoy Electronics’ new hardware effects processor The Godfather was teased for months with Mafia‑themed videos (including at SynthFest UK 2022), but finally, after a very successful crowdfunding campaign (I gather they reached their Indiegogo target in 19 minutes), the wait is over. The Godfather recently found its way into my studio, and this 3U‑high, 60HP multi‑channel processor is a very pretty piece of semi‑modular design, boasting four glorious channels of mixing, dynamics shaping, frequency sculpting and effects processing... and more.

Overview

Most of the left half of The Godfather’s panel space is occupied by the four channel strips, while the right is home to its screen and accompanying menu encoder, an effects section, a modulation matrix, some function keys and a patchbay. Each channel can be routed to one of two sets of stereo outputs, and features a large, LED‑ringed, push‑turn encoder that Enjoy refer to in the 126‑page manual as the Revolver control. Thankfully, that’s where the Mafia references end; I’ll resist adding my own!

Stylish wooden endcheeks host a backlit logo, while the top panel sits at an angle to make hands‑on desktop control easy.“We don’t play with plastic,” say Enjoy on their website, and it has to be said that the build quality of The Godfather is impeccable. Wooden side panels, smooth and firm aluminium knobs, a very smart use of LEDs and a high‑resolution OLED display all coalesce to form something that, physically, is a pleasure to operate. The LEDs (154 in total, we’re told) immediately impressed me, and most conspicuously form the sleek strips that adorn each channel. I didn’t even realise these strips were made of lights until I switched the thing on, but they are and they perform a number of different roles: they can be three‑colour VU meters; they can inversely display compression behaviour (The Godfather has brilliantly usable compression on board that also allows channels to be side‑chained from others); they can indicate a sound’s place in the stereo field; and they can denote values relating to parameter changes. As users become fluent, they might even be able to adjust The Godfather’s parameters without so much as a glance at any on‑screen values.

Each Revolver encoder adjusts the master level of its channel, just as on a conventional mixer, but it also performs a host of other functions including channel selection. Hold the Off button on the other side of the panel, for instance, and click the encoder to mute that channel. Hit the Compression button and use it to adjust the different settings of that channel’s compression. Control the input gain when used in conjunction with the Gain button. Next door to the Revolver encoder is a dedicated knob for wave‑shaping saturation, and while this...