Pigtronix Cosmosis Review
Our Verdict and Review Summary
Pigtronix was one of the pioneers in the expansive ambient pedal space, and the Cosmosis continues to build on that genre of effects. The "Morphing" title refers to how you can blend between settings, and I found the tones on their own to be incredibly satisfying simply by using the control knobs as a traditional guitar pedal. It's especially effective with higher register notes and ethereal arpeggios.
BEST FOR: Clean tones, higher register arpeggios, ethereal effects, modern electric guitar fills, worship guitar styles, and sound experimentation.
TONE
95
CONTROL
98
VERSATILITY
98
PRICE/VALUE
90
- Unmatched flexibility
- All three algos sound great
- Morphing feature is (as far as I know) the first of its kind
- Strong at both frequency extremes
- Price point is fantastic
- None whatsoever
To be transparent, I did not experiment heavily with the left footswitch, the "Morphing" feature, in favor of just using the knobs to test the three modes of this pedal. However, I did leave the "Blend" and "Size" morphing selection on for the entirety of my demo, and used the Morph Rate knob to adjust. It was definitely my favorite combination. Either way, the Cosmosis tones are beautiful and a great addition to the growing genre of ambient, ethereal reverb effects. Pigtronix always nails this type of sound.
The Cosmosis ready for testing.
Sound and Tone Quality of the Cosmosis
There's not as much "sparkle" with the reverb trails until you get to the higher register notes, which is about halfway through my demo below. Once you do, it's very pristine, so I liked it best on either very low bellowing notes (in drop D for the demo) or high chime with a long drawn out reverb trail. The "Cosmos" mode was my favorite, while the Theatre mode reminded me more of a traditional reverb but with a lot more flexibility. To use the morphing feature, I just set the knob and rolled with each algorithm. All three sound excellent.
Lower notes and the higher register are made especially expressive by the Cosmosis algos.
Cosmosis Controls and Flexibility
For most of my testing (and all of the above demo), I kept the morph setting between blend and size, which was my favorite. But you can experiment a lot more with this than I did and then switch between them with the button. You can also use the knob to adjust the morphing rate. As far as I know, this is a feature that's unique to Pigtronix pedals. I'm not even sure if they've implemented it in any of their other stompboxes. It should go without saying, this feature dramatically expands the flexibility of the Cosmosis.
The morphing feature pushes flexibility and control off the charts.
I left the morph setting on the whole time, mainly blend and size, then used the rate knob to adjust.
Price and Value of the Cosmosis
I'm surprised the Cosmosis isn't closer to $300, at least as of writing this review. It was $220 in most markets if you bought new, which is an incredible bargain given how much tweaking mileage you'll get out of this pedal. I rarely find reason to complain about pedal pricing, but I also don't typically see what I'd consider a dramatic bargain. The Cosmosis is definitely one such bargain.
The asking price for this pedal is uniquely reasonable. I typically don't find what I'd call "bargains" in the guitar pedal market, but this is one of the few.
Cosmosis Review Wrap Up
If you find something to dislike about the Pigtronix Cosmosis, leave it in the comments section below. Maybe you see something I don't or it's just not your style of pedal. It's a fantastic option if you're looking for ambient sounds and a more ethereal clean tone, though certainly not a good fit if you're looking for more of a traditional reverb sound. Leave your thoughts about it and we'll chat. As always, thanks for trusting our reviews.
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Written by Guitar Chalk on Effects & Roundups
Written by Guitar Chalk on Effects & Roundups
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