GFI System Solis Ventus takes the original Specual Tempus stereo delay and reverb pedal to new fields, including new algorithms, flexible routing, and more.
Synthesizer players love effect pedals. Delay and reverbs, in particular, are the all-time favorites. In many studios, you can find an Eventide H9 or an H90. Closely followed are Strymon pedals or the GFI System Specular Tempus, which combines excellent delay and reverb in one stompbox.
However, the latter was recently taken off the market. With the new Soli Ventus, GFI System brings back the Specular Tempus as a new pedal with more power and algorithms.
GFI System Solis Ventus
Solis Ventus is the official successor of the popular Specula Tempus and bundles again high-quality delays and reverbs in one stereo pedal.
At its core are two high-performance 32-bit ARM processors for smooth performance. Two processors because Solis Venus offers an all-new dual engine thas can run two algorithms simultaneously.
One of the dual engine’s powerful features is flexible routing, which allows you to route the effects in series, parallel, or dual mono.
The GFI System Solis Ventus also allows you to set the algorithms flexibly. You don’t have to put the reverb after the delay. You can use two delay programs, two reverbs, delay + reverb, or reverb + delay in any order you want.
Things get more exciting with the built-in algorithms. Solis Ventus features the entire beloved algorithms library from the Specular Tempus in an expanded and improved form. On top, it ships with new algorithms. In total, you get 15 delays and nine reverb types to explore.
- 9 reverbs: Aether Reverb, Plate Reverb, Marble Reverb, Echo Chamber, Spatium Reverb, Modulated Reverb, Spring Reverb, Shimmer Reverb and Tremble Reverb
- 15 delays: lo-fi, analog, filter, android, dual digital pitch, modulated delay, tape echo, 3-heads delay, dual digital delay, diffuse delay, ambiental delay, digital delay, ping-pong delay, dual digital analog and reverse delay
Deeper Engine Tweaks With Stereo Looper
Once the algorithms are set, you can delve deeper into the dual engine. First, independent dynamics processing engines can be placed post DSP X and DSP Y. They allow you to create dynamic effects with any algorithm in Solis Ventus, including ducking and gating.
Both DSP X and DSP Y have their own dynamics engine, allowing unprecedented flexibility and precision in sculpting your dynamic delay and reverb soundscape. There is more.
A switchable crossover filter splits the input signals into two frequency bands. DSP X hosts the first frequency band, while DSP X has the second. This unique band-splitting setup allows the X and Y engines to run the algorithms on different frequency bands. Nice, the cutoff frequency of the cross filter is also modulatable via MIDI.
The built-in stereo looper is another great feature of the new GFI System Specular Tempus eh Solis Ventus. It works independently from the delay and reverb engines, either pre or post-effects and can capture up to 40 seconds of stereo audio.
The developers promise that you can create sound-on-sound style loops with it. As an extra goodie, it offers playback effects, including speed manipulation, sound reversal, to an ever-increasing pitch transposition. That sounds like a cool little looper.
Connectivity
The Soli Ventus has eight parameters, a screen, two touch strips, and three footswitches. The latter can also be set very flexibly. There is a special “stompbox mode” that dedicates one footswitch to controlling the ON/OFF state of each engine, so you can use it in a two-stompbox setup.
On the back, you have stereo inputs/stereo outputs on four 6.3mm mono sockets and two expression pedal inputs with CV compatibility. The first EXP-1 input also works as an AUX input.
Further, there is a power supply input, a USB-C port and MIDI in/through connectivity with a clock option. Plus, the pedal offers full MIDI support, allowing you to integrate it into your setup.
First Impression
The original Specual Tempus was an excellent stereo delay and reverb pedal. It was nice that it perfectly harmonized well with synth sounds, which isn’t the strength of all pedals. The Solis Ventus, the new generation, looks very exciting and offers even more possibilities.
I also dig a lot for the new look of it. It looks more pleasant and modern than the original. I would be very interested in testing it.
GFI System Solis Ventus is available soon for $499.
More information here: GFI System
Available at my partner
1/4 inch TRS MIDI? ugh.
looks like a cool pedal. wonder how it stacks up against an eventide h9.