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.
6 Likes
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.
1 Like
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?
1 Like
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
2 Likes
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.
2 Likes
You can here it used heavily here:
1 Like
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.
4 Likes
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.
2 Likes