Ghost Audio Swirls

The Ghost Audio Swirls is a single stompbox that combines three effects in one box: a VCA-style compressor modeled on the dbx 160x, a Tri-Stereo Chorus, and a micro pitch-shifter. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio describes it as distilling "the massive, studio-grade rack rigs of the 1980s into a single stompbox," which is the idea behind the whole pedal: the kind of compressed, wide, swirling chorus sound that once took a rack of outboard gear, built into a compact format¹.

What it does

The three stages run as a chain. The compressor sits first, and its output feeds the Tri-Stereo Chorus, completing what De Gregorio calls a three-part parallel-style chain in a compact format¹. The chorus stage is tuned to emulate the Dyno-my-piano and Fulltone TERC units, which are the reference points for wide, swirling tri-stereo chorus sounds¹.

The compressor is the characterful part of the signal path. Because it is modeled on the dbx 160x, a hard-hitting VCA compressor, it "adds a sharp, percussive 'pop' to your attack," a character De Gregorio notes is especially pronounced with Stratocasters¹. Ghost Note Audio itself describes the compressor as "very fast and aggressive," according to Guitar.com's review².

The pitch-shifter is the third voice. On Pedal of the Day, the reviewer found that it "produces a thick, chorus-like sound, but without the movement of a traditional chorus," which comes from the low frequency oscillator that a normal chorus uses³. That makes it a useful contrast to the chorus stage: a static thickening rather than a sweeping one.

The chorus itself is a three-channel design with a separately controllable detune effect. Guitar.com's Richard Purvis notes that the detune "can be added to the main three-channel chorus and controlled separately," giving you an extra layer of modulation to blend in².

What reviewers said

Guitar.com reviewed the Swirls, and its verdict sits alongside the maker's own pitch for the pedal: a single stompbox that distills the massive, studio-grade rack rigs of the 1980s, built around an aggressive VCA-style compressor modeled on the dbx 160x and a lush Tri-Stereo Chorus tuned to emulate the sought-after Dyno-my-piano and Fulltone TERC units for wide, swirling modulation¹.

Pedal of the Day's reviewer found the three stages work well together: "once you start playing around and mixing up the parameters, you'll see how seamlessly they all blend with one another," covering everything from a hint of effect to what the review calls out-of-this-world sonic creations³.

Where it sits

For players comparing it with single-purpose pedals, the Swirls overlaps with compressor pedals, chorus pedals and octave and pitch pedals, combining one of each in a single box rather than asking for three separate units on the board¹.

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