Players should see the rechargeable device more as a computer than a stompbox, according to the company
Florida-based tech startup Chaos Audio has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new type of pedal, the Stratus, which the company touts as an “intelligent, all-in-one multi-tool" for electric guitar players.
The Bluetooth-enabled online multi-effects platform, looper and guitar tuner can also substitute for any pedal, from drive and fuzz to any number of modulation effects, as well as create new sounds by chaining effects together in any order.
Users control the Stratus via the Chaos Audio App for iOS and Android, which can also be used to download new effects, create pedal board presets and access a wide array of tools.
The pedal itself features a streamlined enclosure, with just a single parameter knob that also doubles as a footswitch for the looper, and an effects and tuner on/off.
(Image credit: Chaos Audio)
There’s also an LED panel to help visually keep time with the metronome and tune your guitar, a USB-C port to connect to the app and two 1/4-inch mono jacks.
The pedal features a DC power input and features a rechargeable battery with up to seven hours of use.
Chaos also plans to create a five-button Bluetooth controller to work as a pedalboard substitute.
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In its ability to deliver a variety of different effects via a compact enclosure, the concept is reminiscent of designs such as the Zoom MS-100BT and the Hotone Xtomp, but Chaos Audio has equipped the device with a host of contemporary tech that goes above and beyond conventional pedals.
"Stratus is the guitar pedal re-imagined," said Landon McCoy, founder and CEO of Chaos Audio.
"Think of it more as a computer than a stompbox. Stratus has all of the amenities guitarists have come to know and love from other smart devices including internal memory, a rechargeable battery, USB-C, Bluetooth 5.0 and a functionally aesthetic LED light strip used for the tuner and other tools."
$249 secures you a Stratus pedal, but early bird deals are currently available – for more information, head to Kickstarter.
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
