Stratus vs Spark PEDAL: AI Effects vs AI Presets

Published September 28, 2026. Written by Chaos Audio, maker of Stratus. Prices are in US dollars; specifications and sources were checked on the publication date.

Positive Grid’s Spark PEDAL and Chaos Audio Stratus both put app-connected tone tools on your pedalboard. Both offer AI features. The important question is what those features let you create.

Spark AI creates presets using Spark’s existing amp and effect models. Stratus’s FX Builder 2.0 can create a custom effect that you install on the pedal. Stratus also runs native NAM A2 captures, including up to three models simultaneously in one preset, with access to 600,000+ amp and pedal NAM captures on TONE3000. If you want to keep adding sounds and shaping how your effects behave, those are substantial differences.

The short version

• Stratus: Create and refine custom effects in FX Builder 2.0, combine them with NAM captures, and take the resulting chains to your pedalboard. Includes 19 free effects covering all effect categories and 30 free AI builds every month.
• Spark PEDAL: A $199 amp-and-effects processor with preset-generating AI, a rechargeable battery, stereo outputs, headphones, and USB recording.
• Hands-free on Stratus: Two built-in footswitches and seven RGB LEDs give you access to 14 presets without a phone; USB-MIDI reaches all 128 stored presets.

Side by side

Sources: Spark PEDAL specifications, current Spark PEDAL price, Spark AI documentation, and Stratus specifications and price.

AI presets and AI effect creation: what actually changes?

A preset saves a selection of amps and effects along with their settings. Spark AI takes a description and produces that kind of preset. Positive Grid also documents follow-up requests that adjust the sound, such as changing gain or reverb. That is useful when you want help dialing in a tone from the models already available. See Positive Grid’s Spark AI release notes.

FX Builder 2.0 goes further for custom effect requests: it generates an effect’s audio-processing code and adjustable controls. Describe the behavior you want, audition the result, ask for refinements, and install the effect on Stratus. You can do this in the Chaos Audio mobile app or on the web. Once installed, it runs locally on the pedal.

“A reverse granular delay where every repeat drops an octave.”

That request describes what happens inside an effect: how audio is sliced, reversed, repeated, and pitch-shifted in the feedback path. A preset generator can only deliver that behavior if its existing effects and routing already support it. Spark AI’s documented workflow does not provide a way to write and install a new granular-delay algorithm.

With FX Builder 2.0, that is a custom effect request you can build toward and refine by listening. We have not run this exact prompt as a head-to-head test, and complex requests can take iteration. The meaningful advantage is being able to change the effect’s behavior beyond the factory selection.

TONE3000 captures expand the gear you can play

Stratus gives you access to all 600,000+ amp and pedal NAM captures on TONE3000. The catalog’s NAM captures have been retrained to A2; each A2 model includes Lite and Full modes, and Stratus runs Lite natively. Browse and install through the Chaos Audio app, or import your own supported models.

With the latest app and firmware, up to three NAM A2-Lite models can run simultaneously in a single Stratus preset/chain. For example, combine two pedal captures with an amp capture, then add other effects as the shared CPU budget allows. You can change the captured gear itself as your tastes change. Read about the three-NAM-block update.

Spark’s ToneCloud expands your selection of ready-made presets using the Spark ecosystem. TONE3000 supplies captures of additional hardware. Those library counts describe different things: a shared preset is a saved configuration; a NAM capture is a model of a particular amp, pedal, or recorded rig. Positive Grid’s current Spark PEDAL documentation does not list NAM import or TONE3000 integration.

Stratus also uses a verified capture library for many amp and pedal requests in FX Builder 2.0. That puts the right tool behind the request: real hardware captures for familiar gear, custom effect generation for new processing ideas.

Two footswitches, 14 hands-free presets

Stratus has two built-in footswitches. The silver switch is one; the black Multiknob also presses down as a footswitch. Its seven RGB LEDs identify seven color-coded preset pairs. Use the Multiknob footswitch to step through the pairs and the silver switch to choose between the two presets in each pair.

That gives you 14 complete presets you can switch between hands-free, with no phone connected. For a larger set, MIDI Program Change reaches all 128 stored presets over USB-MIDI. A conventional MIDI controller needs a USB host to connect to Stratus.

Spark PEDAL puts three footswitches and hands-on amp/effect knobs in front of you, with six hardware presets across two banks. Both pedals can perform with saved sounds without keeping an app open. Stratus offers more onboard preset access for a set that moves between different capture-and-effect chains.

What you get for the price

At $299, Stratus includes 19 free effects covering all effect categories, 30 free AI builds every month, and access to 600,000+ TONE3000 amp and pedal NAM captures. Use builds to create and refine effects; installed effects remain playable without an ongoing subscription. The five-minute looper and tuner are part of the pedal too.

Spark PEDAL costs $199 and combines battery operation, stereo outputs, headphone monitoring, and USB recording. Those conveniences can matter more than custom effect creation if you want an inexpensive portable practice and recording setup. Stratus has mono audio and uses external amplification or monitoring; headphones and recording require suitable equipment.

For a player who already has an amp, pedalboard, or audio interface, Stratus’s extra $100 buys a different kind of flexibility: new captures, new custom effects, three NAM blocks in one chain, and more presets available underfoot.

Which should you buy?

Choose Stratus if you want a pedal that can keep changing with your ideas. Create an effect around your playing, pair it with captures of the gear you want, and save the whole chain for hands-free recall. That combination of FX Builder 2.0, native NAM A2, TONE3000, and live preset control is the reason to choose it.

Choose Spark PEDAL if its included models cover your needs and you prioritize its lower price and integrated practice connections. Spark AI helps you configure those sounds; it does not offer the same documented custom-effect development workflow.

Explore Stratus and its included features, or hear FX Builder 2.0 examples and start shaping your next effect.

Sources

• Positive Grid — Spark PEDAL overview, specifications, and FAQ
• Positive Grid — Spark PEDAL price and included features
• Positive Grid — Spark AI preset-generation and refinement workflow
• Positive Grid — Spark app release notes
• TONE3000 — NAM Architecture 2 and the capture ecosystem
• Chaos Audio — Stratus price, specifications, and included features
• Chaos Audio — FX Builder 2.0 workflow and examples
• Chaos Audio — three simultaneous NAM blocks and mobile FX Builder 2.0