SOMA Laboratory Cosmos

The SOMA Laboratory Cosmos is what its maker calls "a drifting memory station designed to work with meditative states through music"¹. In practical terms, it is a tabletop unit that records what you play into a large pool of sound memory and then keeps recombining that material, so the output is an evolving soundscape rather than a fixed loop. SOMA positions it alongside looping pedals and delay pedals, but it works differently from either: as the maker puts it, the Cosmos "allows the endless layering and processing of various sounds, as in a looper, but without an intrusive, repetitive loop"¹.

Functionally, SOMA describes the Cosmos as "a large array of sound memory, in which recorded sounds undergo constant recombinations, spontaneously generating an ever-changing soundscape"¹. GuitarPlayer's Christopher Scapelliti framed it the same way for guitarists:

How the drifting works

The endless, non-repeating drift is not random noise. SOMA achieves it through three mechanisms working together¹:

• A mathematical shift based on the relationships between large prime numbers, with the size of all delay lines set to different primes
• Asynchronous operation of the LFOs, so the modulations never line up in a cycle
• Modulation with a slowly changing chaotic signal

Because the delay line lengths are mutually prime, the recorded fragments resurface at intervals that never repeat in a musically obvious way, which is what separates the Cosmos from a conventional looper that plays back the same bar forever¹³.

Controls and modes

The Cosmos offers three operating modes, and the button in the middle selects the algorithms⁶. Guitar World's reviewer described the algorithm set as including three "four delay" algorithms "that are similar to the previous but with double the amount of delay lines"⁷. The unit handles stereo signals, and as Gearnews noted when SOMA's Vlad Kreimer demonstrated it at the Keys & Frequencies event in March 2021, "There is no clocking, just a 'normal' looper for stereo signals"⁶. A demo video by Vlad Kreimer is available through RockBoard's PedalPedia entry for the Cosmos³.

The product line includes four versions, COSMOS1 through COSMOS4¹, and an optional plastic cover is listed among the accessories¹.

Specifications

The maker's documents give the remaining electrical and physical figures: an input impedance of 50 kΩ and a current consumption of 0.25 A⁵. The unit measures 342 x 153 x 68 mm and weighs 2.2 kg⁵.

Power: 12V DC, center positive

The Cosmos runs on DC 12 V with center plus polarity, drawing 0.25 A⁵. Note that this is the opposite polarity from most guitar pedals, which typically use center negative supplies, so a standard pedalboard power tap cannot be used without a polarity adapter.

If the supplied adapter fails, SOMA says it can be replaced with a high-quality modern switched-mode power supply with an output voltage of DC 12 volts, center plus, and an output current of at least 0.5 amperes, with more being fine. The replacement supply must have a wide AC input voltage range of 100 to 240 volts⁵.

Firmware and manual

Firmware for the Cosmos is available for download from SOMA Laboratory's Cosmos firmware page⁵⁴. The main version of the firmware is preinstalled at the factory, and each unit ships with the latest main version existing on its date of production⁸.

The manual is published on the maker's specs and manual page and is available in English, German, French, Polish and Japanese³.

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