Tape: The First Effect
Our journey begins with the early recording studios of the ’50s and ’60s. The introduction of reel-to-reel tape machines and the creative engineers that used them brought on some of the fattest sounds imaginable. These early machines really were the first effect pedals—they just wouldn’t have fit on your pedalboard!
From the inherent warmth and luscious tape saturation—to the forgotten art of how these machines were manipulated—they are capable of creating a huge range of beautiful, distinctive, and enveloping sounds.
Mid-Century Maverick.
Deco brings this original inspiration back, giving you these vintage tape effects from the earliest recording studios, right on your pedalboard.
Deco’s Tape Saturation smooths out your sound with familiar and delicious tape compression and saturation, while fattening it with subtle tape-driven transparent overdrive. The Doubletracker provides the power to shift your sound in many ways, easily allowing you to achieve syrupy slapback tape echoes, psychedelic tape flanging, and gorgeous tape chorusing sounds.
Sound design:
- Detailed recreation of the mechanics and technology of two vintage studio reel-to-reel tape decks and their interactions
- Nuanced sonic delivery of the classic saturation effects of the tape record/playback process
- Simple and intuitive Lag Time knob allows for slapback delays, tape echoes, tape flanging, tape chorusing
- Two Tape Saturation adjustment and tone shaping knobs: Saturation, Level
- Three Doubletracker adjustment and tone shaping knobs: Lag Time, Blend, Wobble
- Three Doubletracker blend types to tailor doubletracked sound: Sum, Invert, Bounce
- Five “hidden” knobs for deep tone tweaking: High Trim, Low Trim, Auto-Flange Time, Wide Stereo Mode, +/- 3dB Boost/Cut
- Press and hold studio-inspired Auto-Flange effect
Ins & outs:
- High impedance mono input (internal jumper enables selectable TRS stereo input)
- Stereo output
- Two signal routing modes: Standard, Wide Stereo Mode
- Individual Tape Saturation Bypass and Doubletracker Bypass footswitches
- Expression pedal input allows the connection of either an expression pedal (for selectable control over any knob parameter), external tap pedal (for remote time control of Doubletracker), or Favorite switch (to save a Favorite preset)
Audio quality:
- Super low noise, high performance 24-bit 96kHz A/D and D/A converters
- 110db signal to noise
- +8dBu maximum input level easily handles instrument and line signals
- Premium analog front end and output section
- Super high performance SHARC DSP in a compact form factor
- 32-bit floating point processing
