The first Reverb wasn’t a revolution in design, but it did stand out with a sharp 2,160 x 2,160 pixels per eye. It won’t be surprising if HP pursues bragging rights once again, especially when its Twitter teaser claims the new Reverb is the “next benchmark” in VR gear. We wouldn’t count on Valve dramatically influencing the design given that the Index remains its pride and joy, though. The new Reverb may be more gamer-friendly, but this is still likely to be aimed as much at professionals as it is enthusiasts.

Traditional reverb tanks — which add a sense of space to your guitar pedal — were first used in electric organs. Fender quickly added similar units to some of its guitar amplifiers, arguably redefining the sound of the era. As technology progressed, engineers created reverb effects using capacitors, rather than springs and transducers. Eventually, digital reverb became the de-facto standard. But that responsive and dynamic nature of spring reverb was lost along the way, and effects makers knew it — emulated spring reverb is a setting on most of today’s reverb pedals.

A few pedal companies like Spaceman and Crazy Tube Circuits offer miniaturized spring reverb tanks, but Gamechanger doesn’t seem interested in treading the same path. Rather than using the electromagnetic undulations of the Light Pedal’s springs, the pedal’s optical sensors — which cast a red glow — measure their nuanced movements and convert them into echoes. This process captures some of the signature timbre of a spring reverb, but don’t expect it to sound exactly like a vintage unit.

Gamechanger says that the optical components result in a more detailed signal compared to a traditional spring reverb tank — you won’t hear that typical lack of low and super high frequencies that shape the somewhat percussive sound associated with spring reverb. On the one hand, that could be a good thing: Gamechanger says that tremolo, modulation and shimmer effects can be blended with the reverb signal, so the pedal has some of the flexibility of a modern stompbox. On the other, vintage junkies may miss that lo-fi sound.

We’ll have to wait to see if the Light Pedal receives the same critical success as the Plasma Pedal and Plus Pedal — the company didn’t announce a release date — but one thing’s for sure; it’s certainly different. Many electronic musicians, meanwhile, are anticipating Gamechanger’s novel Motor Synth, which will be out in May.

If regulators approve the deal, it should close late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of 2019. Reverb CEO David Kalt will step down from his leadership role once Etsy names a new executive.

Etsy hasn’t made many acquisitions in its day (there were ‘just’ five between 2009 and 2016), but this could be one of the more significant examples. Although Reverb isn’t huge compared to its soon-to-be-parent with 1 million active buyers and 380,000 sellers, it’s also attempting to corner an underserved niche. Should Etsy complete the buyout, it could easily become the go-to destination for anyone wanting to buy their first flute or sell an old guitar.