here's a specs summary:
street price $399 / €380* (pre-orders are open at the direct store, CME, Sweetwater, et cetera)
dedicated MIDI I/O
8 internal presets, 300 presets available via external control
DSP spring reverb
(3) sub-modes: Drum (the vintage Echorec used a magnetic drum with wound wire), Tape (not sure if this is a composite or modeled after a specific unit), Studio (reel-to-reel emulation, it's the cleanest of the 3 modes)
https://www.strymon.net/products/volante/
17-min, in-depth tour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpE0TreydZs
Set Playback Level and Feedback for Each Head.
Each head’s playback level can be set for full volume, half volume, or off. Independent of playback level, you can switch each head in or out of the feedback circuit. You can even switch heads into the feedback circuit that are not activated for playback. All of this control allows the creation of interesting and complex rhythmic patterns as well as unique atmospheric delay textures.
Variable Head Spacing.
On some vintage multi-head tape echo machines, the heads were not evenly spaced, which created interesting sonic interactions when multiple heads were set to repeat. Volante gives you a SPACING control that is adjustable between Even, Triplet, Golden Ratio (for dense, non-overlapping echoes) and Silver Ratio (for non-overlapping repeats biased toward the quarter note). The spacing between the heads is continuously variable for the entire travel of the SPACING knob, morphing between the available settings.
Mirror Universe.
In Sound on Sound mode, press the ON footswitch, and the entire loop length will play in reverse. You can continue recording new audio to layer with the reversed audio.
Dedicated Instrument/Line Input Level Switch.
Volante offers an input level switch to work perfectly with a variety of input sources. Set the switch to the INST position when using a guitar level input. Set to LINE when using Volante in the effects loop of a guitar amp, or when driving Volante with a hot output from a synth or mixer insert. The LINE input mode is also perfect for using Volante as a send effect or insert effect in the studio.
Morphing expression control.
Connect an expression pedal and enjoy a whole new level of instantaneous, continuous control. Set as many knobs as you like for the heel position and toe position of your expression pedal, and all settings will simultaneously morph throughout the full range of the expression pedal.
Instant Access to Eight Presets.
Even without using MIDI, Volante gives you instant access to eight presets. The playback/feedback buttons represent preset locations, and you can use the FAVORITE footswitch to recall from or save to any of those eight locations. Of course, if eight is not enough, MIDI gives you access to 300 preset locations!