Strymon Deco or other tape saturation type effects

M

Mastermachetier

Member
Hello All,

I am looking to see if I can recreate a tape saturation as well as that stereotypical tape wobble and sound quality on the FM3 . I am open to all idea :)
 
I was hoping to get a little bit more granular like with the saturation. I am not looking for the delay part of the tape but for the characteristics of a tape machine if that makes sense. I haven't seen anything specific on the presets that hit that. Is there one in particular you recommend me checking out ?
 
You have to go through those few presets yourself. The description in text is only a basic introduction.

Altern., look for the "Tape Dist" type in the Drive block, or the various "Tape" types in the Preamp section of the Cab block.
 
yek said:
You have to go through those few presets yourself. The description in text is only a basic introduction.

Altern., look for the "Tape Dist" type in the Drive block, or the various "Tape" types in the Preamp section of the Cab block.
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Thanks I'll do some digging through the presets :) while I do that maybe someone has tried to recreate this as well before :)
 
You can approximate the Deco in the FM3 but there isn’t a single block that will get you there. That pedal definitely does a thing and has its own sound. If that is an integral part of your sound and you’re not a tweaker, you may want to pick one up. That said, the unit can definitely emulate tape distortion as well as chorus/flange/doubling/slap back effects from the pedal with the appropriate blocks.
 
I don't mind tweaking. I do wish sometimes fractal would include some of the more popular pedals/effects as units in their system similar to how helix does it. I get that you can get there with tweaking haha its all a matter of time. As far as the deco goes I like to explore options in the FM3 before spending money on a pedal if I can get close enough.
 
Mastermachetier said:
I don't mind tweaking. I do wish sometimes fractal would include some of the more popular pedals/effects as units in their system similar to how helix does it. I get that you can get there with tweaking haha its all a matter of time. As far as the deco goes I like to explore options in the FM3 before spending money on a pedal if I can get close enough.
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The Deco is interesting because it’s really two separate pedals in one. Use a drive block with the tape distortion section to mimic one side. That’s pretty simple. At its heart, the other side is a tape delay with a very short delay time and modulation so that it sounds like a slap back at the widest setting and has chorus and flanging effects in the shorter settings. I would check out some of the multi-delay block sounds that Leon Todd (@2112) created. He gets some really cool chorus and flange effects by messing with the advanced parameters of the delay. You could mimic these settings in a normal delay block or just use chorus and flange blocks to get the modulation sounds you’re looking for. Lots of ways to create these sounds. Just depends on your preference.
 
Helix has a tape saturation effect called retro reel that works pretty good. It’s a shame Fractal doesn’t have something similar. Your best bet is probably to put a Xotic Super Clean pedal in front of your FM3. There’s plenty of examples of people doing this on YouTube.

I did a Strymon deco emulation for the FM3 a while back - you can find it if you search the forum. It works pretty good but takes up a lot of real estate because it uses multiple blocks.
 
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Would the preamp section of the cab block be part of the equation? I’m thinking you can get some tape saturation and drive without adding additional blocks.
 
Colorado Axeman said:
Helix has a tape saturation effect called retro reel that works pretty good. It’s a shame Fractal doesn’t have something similar. Your best bet is probably to put a Xotic Super Clean pedal in front of your FM3. There’s plenty of examples of people doing this on YouTube.

I did a Strymon deco emulation for the FM3 a while back - you can find it if you search the forum. It works pretty good but takes up a lot of real estate because it uses multiple blocks.
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ya I have helix native and have been using that effect. Would love to have something in the box for this on fractal
 
everything you need is already in the box. this isn't a fractal problem, it's a user problem, to put it bluntly. a good tip, if you need help recreating specific effects, is to create a post requesting help with the effect and posting a video or soundclip so people can hear what it is you're after. maybe a link to a demo or to the manual will also help, so we can understand how it works. if you do a little bit of the work yourself, you're more likely to get the help you need.
 
simeon said:
everything you need is already in the box. this isn't a fractal problem, it's a user problem, to put it bluntly. a good tip, if you need help recreating specific effects, is to create a post requesting help with the effect and posting a video or soundclip so people can hear what it is you're after. maybe a link to a demo or to the manual will also help, so we can understand how it works. if you do a little bit of the work yourself, you're more likely to get the help you need.
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I understand there are tools here and I have spent time the last couple years dialing in my effects as I like it. Now to put it bluntly its a loss and problem on the fractal side that the tools are there, that there is a want from users for things like this, and that they need to spend a lot of effect and time to coax it out. We all know UI isn't fractals strongest suit. That said yes I get that if I wanted purely UI and ease of use there are other devices. That said thanks for the info
 
I get the desire to see 'out of the box' effects like the Strymon pedals and FAS has listened to a degree by providing a lot of effect 'presets' that have been added some of the effect block types. The Chorus, Flanger, Multidelay, Phaser and Plex Delay are blocks that have had types or presets added that are tweaks of a core type. I can only see more being added in the future.

As has been mentioned, there's not much out there that can't be replicated with FAS devices. The niche that Strymon has carved out are devices that incorporate different effect types 'baked in' to their pedals and presets. A lot of what they do requires different blocks in the FM3 to achieve some of the sounds available and simply aren't possible with just the Delay block. That said, the Multitap Delay (MultDly) is the block I would use to emulate a lot of the Strymon type delays. It has a lot of parameters that provide the chorus/phaser/flanger type sounds with the delays. Yes, it's going to take some tweaking and experimenting with the parameters to achieve the sounds but the tools are there.

I don't believe this is a shortcoming of FAS, it's just the difference between consumer and professional devices. Strymon fits somewhere in the middle by being relatively easy to get the different sounds right away at a reasonably high quality. FAS provides tools that can be used to create just about any tone, sound or effect you can think of. They spend their time providing the best tools to use for us to create what we want or need. The factory presets as well as people like @simeon, @2112, @Burgs and @guitarnerdswe provide a lot of information and tweaked effects if you're willing to do a bit of searching. I look at it as the 'teach a man to fish' analogy but there are a lot of 'fish' provided with the different resources available.
 
Mastermachetier said:
I understand there are tools here and I have spent time the last couple years dialing in my effects as I like it. Now to put it bluntly its a loss and problem on the fractal side that the tools are there, that there is a want from users for things like this, and that they need to spend a lot of effect and time to coax it out. We all know UI isn't fractals strongest suit. That said yes I get that if I wanted purely UI and ease of use there are other devices. That said thanks for the info
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Actually the UI on the Fractal is VERY GOOD.

Go try a POS Meris LVX "interface" and get back to me.
 
simeon said:
i think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn't think Axe Edit is brilliant. try using the editor if you haven't.
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On this board or a Fractal FB group you’d be correct. Fractal can do no wrong. Leave this place and the opinions are more “honest“.
No product is perfect. There’s always room for improvement.
The fact that I have to tether my FM9 or AxFxIII to a computer with a cable like a caveman in 2023 is very disappointing. Bluetooth to a tablet would be a huge welcome improvement.
 
rcm78 said:
Bluetooth to a tablet would be a huge welcome improvement.
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you can use the fractool app with a cme widi for bluetooth connectivity to a tablet, but nothing beats axe edit for speed and ease of use, imo. even with the "hassle" of having to use a cable.
 
simeon said:
you can use the fractool app with a cme widi for bluetooth connectivity to a tablet, but nothing beats axe edit for speed and ease of use, imo. even with the "hassle" of having to use a cable.
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Agreed. I’m just being a spoiled diva. I still want blue tooth and a Fractal supplied editor for the iPad though.
 
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