The Free The Tone Cosmic Wave CW-1Y is a compact digital delay pedal built around multiple filter functions. Announced in September 2022, it carries a suggested retail price of $318.18 and was made available through the company's North American dealers12. Free The Tone describes it as "a compact, but epoch-making digital delay with multiple filter functions"1.
What it does
The pedal's central idea is stacking filters on the delay. According to Free The Tone, it is possible to apply multiple filters at the same time: a Cosmic Filter, a Bandpass Filter, a 3-Band EQ and Tone1. The maker also highlights a TRAIL ON/OFF function on the product page2.
The delay itself ranges from conventional to unusual. Guitar World's reviewer Trevor Curwen found that at its most conventional setting you can get pristine digital delays with repeats identical to the dry sound, while the filtering and modulation options reach from tape-delay wobble through lush chorus to, in his words, "really OTT stuff"3. The pedal also includes a reverse delay: Free The Tone says a newly developed method produces "a smoother, more musical reverse sound"1.
Controls and connectivity
The CW-1Y pairs three knobs with a set of buttons and a screen-based editing approach. The Tone knob handles tone in normal use, and when the operation screens are called up by the Home switch, the knobs each adjust two further parameters, mainly relating to modulation3.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Knobs (including Tone) | Control Dry/Wet Mix, Feedback and Tone, and each adjust two further parameters when the Home switch calls up the operation screens, mainly relating to modulation3 |
| Save button | One of four buttons alongside Home, Cursor L and Cursor R3 |
| Home switch | Calls up the operation screens for deeper editing3 |
| Tap tempo | Tap tempo function, which Guitar World counted as a plus3 |
| MIDI In | Parameter change or preset recall3 |
What reviewers said
Guitar World's review, by Trevor Curwen, treated the tap tempo as a plus and described the pedal's range of delay characters, from clean digital repeats through EQ'd repeats and modulation spanning tape-style wobble to lush chorus and beyond3.
Videos
FreeTheToneMovie
Simon Gotthelf Music
Brett Kingman
Sources (3)
- Free The Tone Standard Effects Series Cosmic Wave, Premier Guitar, 2022-09-22
- COSMIC WAVE / CW-1Y｜Products 商品紹介｜Free The Tone, Free The Tone
- Free The Tone Cosmic Wave CW-1Y Multiple Filtering Delay review, Guitar World, 2023-02-03
