There’s a fair amount of folks discussing the differences between these two on the intarwebz at large, but the majority of it appears to be guitar-focused. I’m hoping that someone around here who has experience with both would be willing to compare them as synth effects.
Lately I’ve been GASing about a Strymon delay: at first I was just as confused as you, so I looked into it further. The table below can already help you understand the differences between the entire collection
After watching countless YouTube reviews, I finally bought El Capstan: it sounds grittier and tape worn (if you decide to make it sound like that), the Volante instead remains cleaner. The good part of Volante instead, is to have more manual controls and therefore fewer combinations to memorize (submenus), making it easier to use,
The right choice if you don’t have budget limitations, is the Timeline pedal: the most versatile delay, it can replicate everything that other Stymon delays do, it also has presets and a screen. (obviously it’s the most expensive)
Here’s a good comparison between all Strymon delay pedals:
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That comparison sheet fails to mention that Volante also has the JFET preamp and the SOS looper.
El Cap is more specialised on tape and is said to be darker. This does not mean that Volante would be all sun shine: switch to drum mode with some preamp & some spring reverb and delays will get really gritty. Significant for synth players is the stereo head panning on the Volante, as is the knob per function interface and perhaps for some the accessibility of the SOS looper interface.
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yeah i think the machanics knob on the volante is quite special, don’t think the el cap has this?
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The El Cap has more control over the tape characteristics than the Volante and the new El Cap now also has the JFET. At almost equal price now, I personally find the Volante more appealing for use with synths but as an owner I am also biased 
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Yet another option, in-between both the Volante and the El Cap:
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What makes this ‘in between’?
According to discussions on TheGearPage forum, this little device borrows tone characteristics and features from both Volante and El Cap while at the same time offering only a reduced feature set.
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resurrecting this - i’m finding El Capistan V2’s at the same price used as Volante’s.
I’m looking for classic dub techno sound and more interested in tape than some of the extra options the voltane might have, like brighter delays - but i’m hearing different things about the advantages of the interface. For El Capistan owners, are the combos that hard to remember? It would be great to get the smaller pedal to save space.
I never remember which secondary function is which. Probably because when it comes down to it, it’s non-essential information and I have to remember other new things daily which are more important than retaining the secondary functions of el capistan.
Luckily it came with a little cheat sheet with that information printed on it and none the less, I really like it for tape delay sounds, the unique looper and the pedal’s overall character etc.
I’ve seen an overlay for the pedal, maybe on reverb, a while back that has the secondary functions printed on it but it wasn’t doing anything for the pedal aesthetically and not remembering has never prevented me from using or enjoying el cap, so though I didn’t find it a necessary purchase, the potential may still exist to purchase that or perhaps a custom one via styleflip or something.
I will say that the overall character can’t really be tuned out of it. If you’re committed to a decidedly “tape delay” delay pedal, then I do think it’s great and well built, although there are quite a few more options on the market now than there were when I purchased it and that’s also something to consider.
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Same! I downloaded the manual to my phone when I need a reminder! Love the El Cap!
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the secondary functions on el cap are more “set it and forget it” so you don’t really need to remember them in most situations. easy enough to look uo when you do.
the el capistan is great because if its sound and simple interface. i don’t really enjoy using their bigger pedals, the immediacy is important for my use.
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I’ve had both the El Cap and Volante. Still have the Volante.
I think they’re both incredible, but the El Cap definitely gets darker if that’s what you’re looking for.
That being said, the spring reverb in the Volante is more customizable, and the looper is significantly longer. I also appreciate the full size midi ports, as well as the I/O.
One thing that does bother me on the Volante vs the El Cap is the echo mix. El Cap can just go full wet with the mix knob, where the Volante requires a power up mode to go kill dry. Small complaint.
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On the Volante you can play with the four tape heads. I don’t have one, but I use Uhe Satin a lot in four head tape echo mode and I guess the general concept is pretty much the same. There’s so much to explore from different rhythms to textures etc.
I’d imagine that to be a huge plus for dub techno.
el cap has a multi heads mode
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this is such a sane and funny post. thanks for putting those concerns into perspective. Lmao
gonna try out the capistan at a local guitar shop.
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No problem man, good choice. Take a minute online before you go to learn how to use the looper. It’s really simple to use and the sound and degradation of the repeats are really pleasantly characterful. Lots of fun.
Also check out how wide the range of the tape age and the wow and flutter parameters are. It’s not just a sliding scale, there’s some kind of real modeling going on across the range of the pedal’s voice.
The spring reverb is passable and adds to the tonal palette but no replacement for a real standalone reverb.
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Agree with @shigginpit, out of likes! El Cap is so good and the looper is fantastic! You can lose hours playing!
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why are you assuming I’m a man?
just kidding, I am
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Here seems to be your most important personal point. Volante is roughly 1.8 times wider than El Cap, all the rest being equal. You could go even smaller with the EC-1, if a single head delay is enough for you.
There is also Strymon Deco V2, if you are more interested in tape character than tape delay and it also does up to 2 delay repeats among many other things. Finally, having mentioned the Deco, honourable mention goes to Chase Bliss’s Lossy and GenLoss MkII.
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