In this article
TL;DR — What's New
🎛️ Stratus Firmware
Cabinet & speaker sims (impulse responses) are here. Drop IR files anywhere in your chain for real cab/mic character. Plus: chromatic tuner in the app, more output headroom on amp models, faster & more reliable Bluetooth installs, cleaner audio with fewer pops/clicks, and a bunch of stability fixes.
👉 Update your Stratus with the Stratus Update Tool
📱 Chaos Audio App
Rebuilt from the ground up. New premium dark design, native iPad + Mac + Android tablet layouts, drag-and-drop effect reordering, automatic cloud backup for presets, upload your own NAM captures & IRs, beautiful new AI FX Builder animations, live chromatic tuner overlay, and a massive reliability pass across all platforms.
👉 Update the Chaos Audio app (iOS / Android)
💻 Stratus Update Tool
macOS now supports all the way back to version 12.0 (was 15.0+). Windows fixes the "stuck on Downloading..." issue some users experienced.
👉 Download the Stratus Update Tool (Windows / Mac)
🎛️ Stratus Firmware — Full Details
This is a big one — a new effect type, a smarter tuner, and a top-to-bottom pass on speed, reliability, and audio quality.
✨ New
Cabinet & Speaker Sims (Impulse Responses)
Stratus now loads IR (impulse response) .wav files, bringing real cabinet, speaker, and mic character to your rig.
- Place an IR anywhere in your chain — after your amp model, stacked with other effects, wherever you like
- Dial it in with Mix and Output controls
- Installs over Bluetooth from the app, just like amp models
- Different IR files are automatically leveled so swapping cabs doesn't change your volume
- Any sample rate is handled for you
- Adds essentially no latency
Chromatic Tuner in the App
Tuner mode now drives a full chromatic tuner display in the app — note name, octave, and exact cents sharp/flat — updating live as you play, alongside the pedal's on-board tuning lights.
More Output on Amp Models (NAM)
The amp-model Output control is re-centered so 12 o'clock is unity (the model's natural level), with up to +6 dB of boost on tap. Easy makeup gain to drive the next pedal or match levels between presets.
⚡ Improved
Faster, More Dependable Installs
- Installing effects, amp models, and IRs over Bluetooth is noticeably faster and far more reliable
- During an install, the pedal now frees up its processing power for the transfer, so installs finish quicker and your playing doesn't stutter
- Interrupted installs recover on their own in about a second instead of hanging
Cleaner, More Stable Sound
- Knocked out a class of pops and clicks, including a pop when adjusting amp-model EQ from the app and faint crackle on quiet, fading tails
- A round of real-time engine fixes removes several sources of rare dropouts and glitches
- Smoother, more reliable looper
🛠 Fixed
- Older pedals getting stuck on update: Fixed a rare problem where updating a pedal that hadn't been updated in a long time could leave it stuck on the boot animation. Affected pedals now recover automatically — just run the update again, no special steps.
- Fixed a crash that certain MIDI messages could trigger
- Additional Bluetooth and reliability hardening throughout
📱 Chaos Audio App — Full Details
We rebuilt the Chaos Audio app from the ground up with a fresh, modern design, native iPad and Mac layouts, your own custom amp captures and impulse responses, automatic preset backup, and a major reliability pass across every platform.
✨ The Big Stuff
A Whole New Look
The app has a brand-new design throughout, with refined dark surfaces, gradient accents, cleaner cards and buttons, and polished popups and dialogs. Everything feels more premium while working exactly as before.
A Guided Welcome Tour
The first time you open the app, a quick 5-screen walkthrough introduces your pedal, shows how to build and reorder your board, and points you to the Tone Shop, AI FX Builder, and NAM models — so you can get to great tones faster.
Built for iPad and Mac
The app now runs natively on iPad and Apple-Silicon Macs with layouts made for the bigger screen: wider effect grids, centered content, and properly sized cards, popups, and pedalboard tiles instead of a stretched phone view.
Automatic Cloud Backup for Your Presets
Your MY PRESETS are now backed up to your Chaos Audio account automatically and restored when you reinstall the app or sign in on a new device. A backup icon in the presets header lets you back up manually any time.
Faster Startup
The app launches and reaches the main screen noticeably faster — including right after an update and on slow networks.
🎸 Use Your Own Gear
Upload Your Own Amp Captures & IRs
Upload your own private NAM amp capture (.nam) or impulse response (.wav) right from the app and use it as an effect on your board. Tap USE MY OWN at the bottom of the amp models or impulse responses list, pick a file, name it, and optionally add your own artwork. Your uploads stay private to you and get a distinctive chassis design so they're easy to spot.
Impulse Responses as Their Own Effect
Browse and add TONE3000 impulse responses as a brand-new effect type alongside NAM amp models. Each IR drops onto your board as a simple two-knob pedal with Mix and Output, which now start fully open at 100% so a freshly added IR sounds right out of the gate.
Smart CPU Budgeting for IRs
Impulse responses use real processing power on your Stratus, so the app now counts each IR against your pedal's available CPU, just like amp models. Effects automatically gray out when adding one more would overload your Stratus, so you always know how much room you have left.
Pick Which IR from a Multi-IR Pack
When an impulse response pack contains more than one IR, a dropdown lets you choose exactly which one you want — just like switching models in an amp pack.
Clearer Effect Labels
Effect cards now show a small badge for the capture type (Full Rig, Amp Head, Pedal, Outboard, or IR), and your private uploads are marked PRIVATE, so you can tell at a glance what each effect is.
🎚️ Build Your Board
Drag and Drop to Reorder
Long-press any effect to lift it and drag it into place. Neighboring effects slide out of the way with haptic feedback, and your new order is saved automatically.
Beautiful New FX Builder Animations
While the AI FX Builder generates your effect, a flowing animated waveform brings the experience to life, with smooth transitions and a satisfying finish when it's done.
Live Chromatic Tuner
Activate the tuner on your Stratus and an elegant floating tuner glides onto the screen, showing your note and an animated needle that turns green when you're in tune, then disappears on its own when you finish. The overlay is large, crisp, and scales to any screen size including iPad.
Category Banners on Effect Tiles
Effect tiles in Add Effect, Replace Effect, Library, and Store now show a color-coded category banner that matches the pedalboard chip colors, so you can spot Distortion, Reverb, and other effect types at a glance.
📱 Built for the Bigger Screen (iPad, Mac & Tablets)
- Two-column lists on tablets and iPad: The Add Effect categories and My Presets lists now show two columns side by side in landscape
- Free rotation on tablets: Android tablets are no longer locked to portrait and can rotate to landscape
- More room for your tones: Reclaimed wasted space at the bottom of the screen and corrected header spacing
- Bigger, cleaner NAM amp view on iPad: The exploded effect view for NAM amp models is now larger and better proportioned
- Fit more of your pedalboard on screen: Tighter pedal chain spacing on iPad lets three full effects fit at once in landscape
🔄 Smoother Browsing & Presets
- Faster Add Effect: The Add Effect screen now loads categories instantly and only fetches each category's effects when you tap in
- Polished detail and Load Preset popups: Repositioned buttons, extended dimming, restyled popup cards
- See which account you're signed into: Your account email now appears on the YOUR ACCOUNT page
🛠 Stability & Fixes
- Top-to-bottom reliability pass fixing a large batch of crashes and glitches across iPhone, iPad, Android, and Mac
- Fixed crashes when closing an effect or popup on Mac
- More reliable TONE3000 sign-in on Mac (now opens in system browser)
- Smoother connecting on Mac — no more flickering or reappearing prompts
- Fixed a crash opening the Presets tab on iPad
- Your AI-created effects now reliably restore on a new device
- Many more small fixes throughout
💻 Stratus Update Tool
macOS
We now support all the way back to macOS 12.0 and later! Previously it only supported macOS 15.0 and later. If you've been unable to use the Stratus Update Tool due to an older macOS version, you can very likely run the updater now.
Windows
We've updated the Stratus Update Tool to help alleviate issues where some users would be stuck on the "Downloading..." step, even if they tried using a different Wi-Fi network.
Ready to update? Open the Chaos Audio app to get the latest firmware, or download the Stratus Update Tool from our website.