Sonuus Voluum

Description

The Voluum™ is NOT an ordinary Volume pedal!

Voluum™ is a volume-based multi-effect pedal stomp box with a digitally controlled high-fidelity pure-analogue signal chain. Constant high-voltage (>30V) analogue power rails ensure high-headroom with low distortion and low noise for maximum signal clarity. A high-bandwidth fully-analogue signal path ensures there is no digital distortion to corrupt your signal, and allows high dynamic range signals to be processed flawlessly. Digital control gives you the ability to store presets and remotely-control the effects via MIDI.

The effects chain comprises five effects (noise gate, compressor, LFO (tremolo), volume control and limiter) which can be used in any combination.

As you’d expect from Sonuus, we’ve gone further to bring you a pedal that’s innovative, sounds superb and packs more value than anything else on the market.

Innovate

Packed with innovations, Voluum™ lets you invent new sounds.

• Unique patent-pending pedal sensor for super-fine precision control that will never wear out.
• Transparent-True-Bypass giving all the benefits of true-bypass without the switching noise.
• Pedal-controlled compressor to enhance the subtleties of your music.
• Response curves let you tailor the feel of the pedal volume control.

Features

Create

It’s simple to tweak settings on the carefully designed control panel. Once you have created what you want, you can save it to one of 100 internal presets.

Clear metering

Meters to let you instantly see what’s happening with dedicated meters for the volume level, gate and compressor gain reduction.

Gate / Expander

In its simplest form a noise gate cuts the signal when its level falls below a set threshold. The Voluum™ noise gate not only gives you control over the threshold, but also enables fine control over over how quickly it reacts and how much the signal should be reduced in level. Combined with a smooth transition from open to closed, Voluum™ gives you ultra-transparent gating that reduces the noise when you’re not playing without introducing any audible artifacts.

Compressor

The compressor in Voluum™ features an intelligent make-up gain which means you only need to think about how much compression you want to apply. This also allows dynamic modulation of the compressor. For example, you can smoothly vary the amount of compression being applied without affecting your signal level – another unique Sonuus innovation.

Variable attack and release times let you configure the effect to suit your performance and even these can be pedal-controlled.

While other compressors are either on or off, the Voluum™ compressor gives you glitch-free pedal-control to enhance the subtleties of your music.

LFO (tremolo)

Tremolo is a classic effect where a low-frequency-oscillator (LFO) modulates the volume of your instrument.

The Voluum™ LFO (tremolo) lets you recreate this effect, while giving you many more options. Smooth tremolo sounds with multiple waveforms featuring envelope and pedal-controlled speed variation, as well as MIDI-clock sync to keep the tremolo in time with your sequencer.

Volume

A typical volume pedal gives you basic control of your signal level where the pedal replicates the function of the volume knob on your instrument.

The volume effect on Voluum™ lets you do the same thing, but without compromising your tone. But just doing that would be boring! Voluum™ lets you cut or boost the signal level to any level you desire while providing fine control over the feel of the pedal: how its position maps to the volume change. You can also configure fades where the pedal acts as a switch and the volume fades up or down smoothly over a preset time to give you super-smooth fades that are impossible to do just by using foot-control.

In envelope mode, the level change is triggered when you play a new note, or strum a new chord. Combined with built-in ADSR shaping, you can create synth-like tones from your instrument.

Limiter

The high voltage analogue power rails in Voluum™ give great sonic quality, but it means that high output levels can overdrive other effects in your chain. The limiter effect can be engaged to limit the signal peaks to keep them within the range of your other effects to avoid nasty clipping distortion.

The limiter can also limit asymmetrically which can add sweeter-sounding overdrive to limited signals.

Perform

As well as being ideal at home or in the studio, Voluum™ has special features that make it perfect on stage. The sturdy, lightweight aluminium chassis, paired with modern robust electronic design ensures that Voluum™ will stand up to the demands of the toughest gigs. The large bright display is readable outdoors but can also be dimmed when required in low-light environments.

A lock switch ensures that settings cannot be changed accidentally in the heat of a performance, but still allows you to select which preset to use. Foot-operated selection of presets lets you access what you need with minimum hassle.

Powered by 9VDC, 4xAA batteries or USB, and with modern-yet-retro styling, you can be sure Voluum™ will fit into your rig.

MIDI

With both USB-MIDI and standard 5-pin MIDI connections, Voluum™ was designed to be connected!

Any effect that can be controlled by the pedal can also be controlled by MIDI messages allowing you to automate effects or remotely control them in real-time. Program change messages can also be sent to Voluum™ to select the effects you need for particular songs.

Unique patent-pending pedal sensor

Most volume pedals operate using a potentiometer (a pot) which has two main problems: the pot sucks the tone from your instrument, and it wears out quickly resulting in the effect becoming scratchy. These also have mechanical couplings which limit fine control and let dirt inside the unit, so compromising reliability.

Some other volume pedals use optical methods to avoid the limitations of pots, but these are susceptible to dirt and often don’t have fine control or fast response.

Sonuus’ patent-pending position sensor allows fast, super-fine precision control that isn’t susceptible to dirt and grease. As a result, the pedal control on Voluum™ won’t get scratchy and will never wear out. Combined with ultra-smooth pedal action with user-adjustable tension, in a rock-solid chassis, Voluum™ gives you unrivalled signal level control.

Transparent-True-Bypass / Buffered Bypass

True-bypass means that the effect is completely switched out of your signal chain when bypassed to preserve the integrity of your guitar/bass signal. This is typically done by mechanical switches but these cause clicks or pops when switching.

Voluum™ uses a custom-designed silent-switching true-bypass circuit (first introduced in the Sonuus Wahoo™) so you get the benefits of true-bypass without the associated switching noise. What’s more: if the power to Voluum™ is interrupted, the unit will automatically switch back to the bypassed state so you don’t lose your signal.

A buffered bypass option is also available which gives a super-smooth transition between the effect and the bypassed signal with no switching noise. This has the advantage of faster effect switching, no signal muting while switching and the ability to drive long cables even when bypassed.

By having both options, you can choose which bypass configuration works best in your rig.

Computer Connection 

A USB connection lets you connect Voluum™ to a computer where the Desktop Editor Software allows visual preset editing and manipulation. Presets can also be save to, and loaded from, files for exchange with other Voluum™ users.

MIDI and USB-MIDI can be used to sync the internal LFO and to automate the effect parameters. The expression pedal also sends MIDI controller messages to drive software instruments and effects.

You can also use Voluum™ as a standard USB-MIDI interface where MIDI data from your computer can be routed to/from the 5-pin MIDI ports.

Future-Proof (Upgradeable Firmware)

To support new features and to make it futureproof, the firmware (internal software) of Voluum™ can be upgraded. This means you can invest with confidence in Voluum™.

Desktop Editor Software

The digital control and configuration of the Voluum is very flexible and powerful. Although you can access all of this power from the Voluum’s control panel, to make it faster to give you an overview of all the settings, we have provided a Desktop Editor Software application that runs on both Microsoft Windows and Apple OSX.

You can run this beside your other audio applications to give you quick and simple access to any configuration parameters you want to adjust on the Voluum.

Full details of the Desktop Editor Software are provided in the pdf manual. This section gives a brief introduction to what’s possible.

Preset Edit

You can view, edit, save and delete presets. To make setup of the gate and compressor as simple as possible, metering and a graphical compressor display lets you see exactly what’s going on, just as you would when using a plug-in in your DAW. Similarly, all of the effect parameters can beadjusted as if you were editing a software effect, and the Voluum hardware is udpated in real time.

MIDI Configuration

The Voluum operates as a USB-MIDI interface, allowing you to add 5-pin MIDI capability to your computer. At the same time, MIDI data received from the 5-pin MIDI input, or the USB-MIDI input can be used to control the Voluum and its effects.

The Voluum can also be used as a precise MIDI expression controller.

Setup and Utility

Various utility features let you configure the basic operation of the Voluum.

User presets and the settings of the Voluum can be saved to, and loaded from, files. This lets you backup your configuration and allows you to exchange your favourite presets with other Voluum users.