Free The Tone releases Cosmic Wave Multiple Filtering Stereo Delay in same format as its Motion Loop

Pedal release serendipity is fairly rare, but not entirely unusual - as you often get several of the same genre of effect being launched at a similar time - some sort of a zeitgeist thing I suppose. And so - hot on the heels of Alexander Pedals’ screen-enhanced Rewind Programmable Stereo Echo - Free The Tone has its own screen-enhanced stereo delay - the Cosmic Wave.

Free the Tone seems to have evolved its screen control topology significantly since the Motion Loop - and now its display is of a similar type to Alexander Pedals Leap Series - and indeed the discontinued Cooper FX Arcades - where you have 4 parameters onscreen that you control via 4 knobs. For Alexander and Cooper FX these are the 4 corners of the topology. While for Free The Tone we get 3 knobs above, and one to the side. In fact the screen is split into 5 - with the top half representing the top 3 knobs, with the lower right segment representing the 4th PARAM knob, and the lower left segment displaying the Preset number.

This is quite a different proposition to the Alexander Rewind - which is a proper full Delay Workstation - with 10 different Algorithms. Wile the FTT Cosmic Wave is specifically focused on smart filtered delays - where you can apply several ’Functions’ simultaneously, including smart Cosmic Filtering, Bitcrushing and Reverse Delay.

You can hear how fabulous the spacey twinkly Cosmic Filters sound - while FTT doesn’t fully describe what’s happening there.

Controls - Mix, Feedback, Tone, Save Button, Home Button, Page Left Button, Page Right Button, Delay Time / PARAM / Global Settings, On/Off Footswitch, Tap-Tempo Footswitch / Hold for 0.5s to toggle between Preset O1 and O2.

The core Functions are as follows :

• Cosmic Filter - Unique sort of Multiple shimmery twinkly spacey comb-filtering in 5 flavours : A-E
• Bits / Bitcrushing - Output Resolution from 8Bits to 24, 24 is default
• Band Pass Filter - Off (default), 40-18k, 50-15k, 60-12k, 60-9k, 60-2k
• Reverse Delay - Off (default), On with Dry, On without Dry
• Trail - Off (default), On

The core effect is actually a really cool sort of shimmery twinkly sort of effect - like sparkling stars I guess - so it depends really how much you like that as to how invested you will be in this particular delay variety. It’s pretty cool for sure - but not nearly as versatile as the Alexander Rewind - that said you can combine the Cosmic Wave’s Functions in so many different combinations which makes that pretty special too.

The main sticking point is likely the price point though as the Free The Tone Cosmic Wave is somewhat dearer than the $230 of the Alexander Rewind - coming out at ¥38,500 - which equates to circa $270 - and priced £279 at Andertons.

With the Rewind you get 32 onboard presets and expression ramping versus just the 2 onboard presets of the Cosmic Wave. The Alexander must surely be the better value proposition overall - but they are quite distinct and do things in different ways - despite the superficial similarities.

I’m just glad that both these companies are leading the new wave of screen-enhanced pedals - I’m sure there will be more entering that fray before long.

For me personally - the Cosmic Wave would need to drop in price a touch to become viable for me - I do quite like it though - and it’s for sure a cool effect.

What say all of you?

Key Features

• Built-in multiple filter effects, including equalizer function. It’s possible to apply multiple filters at the same time (Cosmic Filter, Bandpass Filter, 3-Band EQ, Tone)
• Equipped with a newly-developed reverse delay
• Features output bit number adjustment function (8–24 bits)
• Small display for dramatically improved operability
• High-speed effect processing performed by a dedicated DSP
• Combination of high-speed arithmetic processing with 32-bit fixed-point arithmetic and high-precision arithmetic processing with 32-bit floating-point arithmetic achieves both high-quality sound and high processing speed, and provides the best performance
• Delay time can be indicated in milliseconds or BPM
• Tempo can be tap-entered via the footswitch
• Presets 1 and 2 can be easily switched via the footswitch
• Feedback Level Limit function
• Kill Dry function
• Trail On/Off function
• Delay Phase Inversion function

Specifications

• Number of Presets: 128 (Users), 11 (Factory)
• Input Impedance: 1 MΩ
• Output Load Impedance: Min. 10 kΩ
• Maximum Input Level: +10 dBm
• Terminals: 1 x 1/4" Standard TRS Phone Jack (IN(TRS)), 3 x 1/4" Standard TS Phone Jacks (OUT/L, OUT/R, EXP/CV/FS), DC 9V Input Jack (for AC-DC Adapter), 3.5 mm Stereo Mini Phone Jack (MIDI IN)
• Power: 6F22 Battery (Alkaline Type), DC 9V AC-DC Adapter
• Current Consumption: Approx. 185 mA
• Dimensions: 66 (W) x 125 (D)x 54 (H) mm
• Weight Approx: 335 g
• Accessories: Warranty Card, Web Access Card, Safety Instructions, Rubber Foot