Sonuus Voluum review

Volume has never been the sexiest effect, but the genius Brits at Sonuus might just change all that with the Voluum.

It packs five analogue effects - noise gate, compressor, LFO (tremolo), volume and limiter - all of which can run at once and offer a staggering amount of flexibility thanks to digital control.

Effects are tweaked using the minimal control layout and LED display - initially, we were a little flummoxed, but 15 minutes with the well-written manual explained all: press the effects knob to select the effect, the active button to activate it, then use the up/down buttons to scroll through parameters and twist the effects knob to adjust 'em.

Every effect defies expectations: volume can give you string-like swells using envelope control, gate cuts your decay short for synth-like blips, plus you get full treadle or envelope control of tremolo rate and rhythmic stutters.

There's no faulting the 'normal' sounds, either: the compressor is as transparent and smooth as any optical unit we've heard, while the volume pedal itself is hugely customisable, and can even be used as a boost.

The amount of potential here is stupefying, so the factory presets make a solid launchpad for your own patches - and while we would have liked a bigger screen on the pedal itself, Sonuus's Editor for Mac/PC makes creating and saving presets a whole lot easier.