My video with a very first-look kinda vibe doing some pretty washy ambient stuff is live! This thing is just an ambient atmosphere powerhouse.
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Seems to be out now, has anyone tried one yet? I’d be interested long term if it gives me high quality bread and butter FX (CDR) plus some granular stuff. The demos haven’t really convinced me of the bread and butter FX yet.
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This does sound nice but I’m already covered for reverb and delay so that leaves the granular side left. What is unique about the granular side that I can’t get in another more dedicated pedal - for example the Torso? Or does the combination of all four effects get me to a place that I can’t get elsewhere?
As a one-stop pedal, I think it is amazing, don’t get me wrong. But if you have other pedals I’m not so sure.
Surprised nobody is talking about this. Maybe some more people have it now and can share their thoughts?
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Well, I just busted NGNY 2025 ordering a Qi. Sounds like it will be here early next week. I’ll be sure to report back
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I’ve been using this for about a month on synths and guitar. It’s pretty great as an all in one/do it all ambient soundscape machine.
I’ve had the Torso S4 briefly as well and prefer the sounds and ease of use of this (thought obv the torso is deeper and does much more). The granular effect here is really nice and has enough control to really shape the sound and get it sounding quite different. I also really like the reverb, it’s fairly basic and limited compared to dedicated devices (like the Sloer) but it does sound lovely.
The delay and chorus are more ‘bread and butter’ sounds if that makes sense. They are absolutely fine but on their own nothing to write home about, for me it’s the way all the FX interact together which is special, and how hands on and creative it is. Very easy to dramatically alter the sound.
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You can here it used heavily here:
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First thoughts after a few hours with it yesterday on guitar…
- It’s best to think of it as a cohesive whole rather than four individual effects
- It definitely seems to have “a sound” that’s hard to get away from, though I need to explore more
- Really missing an expression pedal input
- Chorus has a fine line between “is this this thing on” and “box of bees.” Everything on the Rate knob past 1 o’clock is damn near unusable for me regardless of the position of the Depth knob. Depth knob doesn’t react much for the first half of travel. I think they really need to rescale these in firmware. There is a sweet spot, just not a mile wide.
- I cannot tell the difference between the two chorus engines. They sound damn near the same to me
- Delay is basic but does the job. You can get a murky SOS looper going near max feedback. Just two seconds, but it can kinda do the Avalanche Run thing
- Granular engine is more immediate and less skittery than Microcosm. I really like the reverse Grain Cloud.
- The Grain Looper kept grabbing weird bits that I didn’t want. I need more time with it (though none of the demos I saw had a great use of it either)
- Reverb quickly goes from “small room” to “far side of the solar system.” It does sound pretty good though.
- The mix knobs behave in subtly different ways between the parallel/series modes. I need more time to fully understand this. Definitely think chorus needs to be between 75-100% wet.
- Parallel v series does make a difference. Series sounds good, but parallel is the sound of the Qi
- Don’t sleep on Freeze mode. It’s great for self accompaniment and riffing on ideas
- Looking forward to putting a distortion in front of it and going full on shoegaze
- I had some great jams on it last night. I think it’s a keeper, even if it’s not the most versatile pedal. Planning to record with it soon. I have a guitar riff that I’ve been sitting on that is perfect for Qi.
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Thanks, that’s really helpful already. Doesn’t make it sound like a no brainer pedal to me. Also sounds like it’s mainly a granular pedal with some bread and butter FX thrown in on top? So we should think about the reverb more like the reverb in Microcosm than a fully functional reverb I guess?
Would you mind comparing it a bit more to other pedals like Microcosm, once you’ve played it a bit more? What I always liked about that one is how musical it often felt, meaning it would often choose the right bits to manipulate, if you knew a bit about which algo is good for which kind of input.
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After having spent some more time with Qi, it’s a much more predictable beast than Microcosm, with much less obfuscation of the controls. You can use the granular engine as skittery grains, but you can also use it to craft an octave up or octave down reverb with very predictable results. You then shape the sound of the reverb with the X knob and the Delay time/feedback. In that way, you can draw out some similar sounds to Walrus’s Fable pedal. I was definitely wrong when I thought it would be a one trick pony. It has a few different sounds that you can pull out of it.
It also handles a hot incoming signal much better than MC. I ran a couple of distortions into the Qi, and it didn’t break up. I’ve found the MC to be very touchy about a fuzz guitar hitting the inputs. It tends to clip if you hit it too hard.
That said, I don’t find Qi to be as instantly musical as MC. So much of the Micro is an automatic accompaniment that sounds very musical. The MC sort of feels like “music on easy mode”. The Mosaic algo is famous for a reason. The other algos are great in their own ways (I favor Haze and Tunnel). But you have to put up with the really opaque/indirect controls on the Microcosm
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Sounds like it borrows heavily from the fathom reverb pedal (which I love). Maybe others, but fathom is the only one I can attest to firsthand.
Not so in love with buying a pedal that’s so similar to something which I already own so I think your reviews were a good indication that while it’s probably awesome, I don’t need it.
Just wish fathom were stereo but that’s neither here nor there, so I’m unlikely to trade up unless a really great deal falls into my lap.
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Definitely!
Thanks for sharing more impressions. I’ve come to the conclusion that my Mood and Onward Combo is the most inspiring for granular / glitchy sounds and for the bread and butter, I can just use Ableton or my digis.
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I’m a bass player who’s interested in using this effects processor with my instrument. Actually ordered one which I’m anxiously awaiting and need some observations on my planned usage for this device.
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Welcome to the community, and congratulations! Bass guitar through effects can sound so beautiful (and gnarly). My bass hero Juan Alderete was so good at combining the two. I hope you have a great time with the Qi!
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I was a bass player in a former life. If there’s anything you’d like me to try, let me know. What is your use case, chorus/delay/reverb? I don’t know how bass would play with granular, could get muddy, but it could be cool
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Appreciate your quick response, mate, and I share your enthusiasm as I await delivery of my Walrus Qi. Will keep you informed after I’ve had a chance to try it out. Cheers, mate.
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I’ve been experimenting with my bass guitars to give them more of a protagonist role. As a percussionist, I’ve always viewed the bass as a musical percussion instrument which connects my world with the rest of the band [some outsider syndrome comes to the surface] and now that I’ve taken up this instrument I’m discovering how expressive it could be. Of course, with examples like Jaco and Michael Mannring, just to name a few of my inspirations, there is lots of room to take the bass into different realms. The Walrus Qi seems to have many of the effects I’ve wanted to experiment with, all in one unit and this will be my first serious foray into this dimension. Will let you know how it works out, mate.
I’ve been living with the Qi for a while, and it feels like something that you take for granted when it’s on. It can be subtle, but you realize just how much it’s adding to the vibe when you turn it off. I have been running the Chase Bliss Mood through the Qi (inspired from the Polyend MESS videos from Superbooth), and experimenting with the dual granular engines feeding each other. The Qi chorus takes a lot of the edge off of the Mood. I’ve always found the Mood to be a bit harsh at lower settings, but the chorus/granulator/reverb do wonders to smooth it out. My next goal is to explore bass+Qi with synths.
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Hi @jayhosking, @Duskmos, or anyone else who have had both the Qi Etherealizer and the Chroma Console. 
How would you compare those two?
If you could have one, which one would you choose?
Watching lots of demos, they both sound great.
I’m playing mostly house/tech music but would like to add some quirky/ atmospheric sounds that is missing in my productions. Something that doesn’t create only eternal bed of sound but can also add warmth and character underneath (does that makes sense?!)
I had in the past the Microcosm but didn’t like it, there were a couple of presents that were really awesome, but otherwise it just didn’t click with me.
Appreciate the advice!
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