12/22/2023 0 Comments Volante pedalIt all starts with the sounds and sound quality this pedal offers. Now let’s talk about why Volante is the final word in digitally emulated multi-head echo pedals. Yes, that’s a bold statement to make and somewhat of a spoiler for the rest of this review. If anything, it certainly represents the culmination of all their expertise and experience in this singular area, and by that recognition alone, I believe Volante stands as the definitive Strymon pedal and is indeed the most important release from this builder since the original TimeLine. Before I even played the Volante, I had a feeling that this could be Strymon’s most important pedal release to date. With so much experience in the area of vintage tape delay and multi-head echo emulation, Strymon was in a unique position to put their formidable collective experience into the realization of Volante. All of this history and experience with vintage style delay and echo effects laid the groundwork for what was to come. Strymon then released their first Eurorack module, also called Magneto, which went even deeper into multi-head echo than ever before. Then the Deco came out which simulates reel-to-reel studio tape machines. (A comparable dTape machine also makes an appearance in the TimeLine.) The BigSky is Strymon’s flagship reverb pedal, but it also had a cool algorithm called Magneto that was the builder’s first foray into a multi-head echo concept. The El Capistan dTape Echo is an early moment of relevance, being Strymon’s modern classic tape delay emulation pedal that is still highly regarded years after its initial release. When looking at the Volante and the totality of what it is, it seems there are several key milestones in Strymon’s history that led to the inevitable creation of this monumental pedal. But while successor pedals to the builder’s “Stryfecta” of flagship releases would certainly be welcome at some point, what the Volante represents is a focused attempt at improving on certain concepts Strymon has attempted before. Of course, many casual pedal enthusiasts who quickly “flip” pedals for the latest hyped up release are still clamoring for a TimeLine 2 despite the fact that the original is still a formidable delay pedal. Strymon’s algorithms were and still are on par with the best there is. This is a big part of the reason why the TimeLine and Strymon’s other major pedal releases are still in production and going strong to this day. When their flagship TimeLine hit the scene and propelled the builder to notoriety, it helped usher in an era where the quality of software algorithms, unrestricted by the limited processing power in older digital pedals, would be the determining factor in what makes a pedal’s sounds superior to others. Something that initially set Strymon apart from other DSP pedal makers was that their pedals seemed nearly future proof. Acclaimed Strymon pedals like the TimeLine, BigSky, Mobius, DIG, Riverside, and others have arguably set and upheld the modern standard for what is to be expected from high-end digital guitar effects, and in this review I’m setting out to see if Volante carries Strymon’s torch of excellence and raises the bar yet again. Strymon are widely regarded as leading pioneers in the realm of DSP guitar effects processing, and the Volante Magnetic Echo Machine is the latest long-awaited pedal release from the distinguished builder.
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