strymon el capistan tape delay

I have some really tape-y delays. I am holding out until Axe-Edit's new Manager is done to share them with Axe-Change.
 
hkh said:
http://www.strymon.net/products/elcapistan/

Is the ultra capable of doing stuff like this? more tape-like delays?

I'm bying the pedal anyway, but the ultra needs a proper tape delay :cool:
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The axe-fx can do tape delays and a lot of the el capistan. The only problem is you are going to be using a delay, feedback send/return, eq, maybe synth for white noise, modulation settings, and drive maybe. It's all a bit much for one effect.

The el capistan puts it all in one great sounding package, with the controls to easily control:

fixed, multihead, single sliding head
Time, Mix, Tape Age, Repeats, Wow & Flutter
Tape Crinkle, Tape Bias, Low End Contour, Spring Reverb, +/- 3dB Boost/Cut
Sound on Sound mode with instant tape splice and bulk erase.

All the parameters are easily tweaked. Trying to get the same is tedious and a lot of work on the axe-fx. Plus it takes a ton of blocks.


The axe-fx could really stand a dedicated tape delay.

I am going to be doing a comparision of tape delays

Fulltone tube tape echo
Echoplex EP-3
Strymon El capistan
Eventide Eclipse tape delay preset
Guitar rig 4 tape delay
M13 tape delays
et al
 
javajunkie said:
The axe-fx can do tape delays and a lot of the el capistan. The only problem is you are going to be using a delay, feedback send/return, eq, maybe synth for white noise, modulation settings, and drive maybe. It's all a bit much for one effect.
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:lol: ... yeah...wise words !

The Capistan is definitely one of the best tape delays I've heard coming in a small digital package. It easily rivals with some real ones we've got in the studio...
 
Sean, I look forward to your upcoming comparison!

For the first time since the M13, I'm seriously considering a pedal purchase to use in conjunction with the Axe-FX. I'm a delay junkie. I almost pulled the trigger on a vintage DMM a year or so ago, but decided I could do without it. I'm having a very hard time convincing myself I can do without the el cap though. I watched the strymon demo vids and Pete Thorn's vid one night and I still think I need that pedal.

I'm going to play with the Axe some more in the coming weeks and see if I can get something close enough that makes me happy. Perhaps I'll wait until Matman uploads his as well so I can try those (assuming they work on a standard). If I can't get what I'm looking for though, I'm ordering that pedal!

D
 
I guess this belongs in the wish list. I just read the description of the El Capistan. BRILLIANT! To my knowledge, this unit reproduces a fundamental charactaristic of the Echoplex that no other non-tape delay has. Quote from the site:


"The most well-known movable-head machines have a fixed playback head and a movable record head. In this type of system, several interesting things happen when the delay time is changed (by moving the record head) with repeating echoes already playing back. When the record head is moved, the relative speed of the tape at the record head is the difference between the tape speed and the speed at which the record head is being moved. The echoes are re-recorded onto the tape at a different speed relative to the stationary playback head. This results in a pitch artifact that is dependent on how fast the record head is moved and independent of change in overall delay time. Moving the record head back to the original delay time will not restore the original signal, even if the record head is moved back in exactly the reverse manner in which it was originally moved. This is because the actual length of tape between the heads changes with delay time, unlike the variable-tape-speed machines. Also, since it’s the record head that is moving, we won’t hear the effect of the delay change until that section of tape reaches the playback head.

Another ‘feature’ is that with longer delays and some dead space between repeats, you can move the write head towards the read head during the playback of the dead space (quickly, chasing the repeat signal that just got written) so that the subsequent shorter repeats happen without any noticeable pitch effects at all."


No other non-tape unit does this AFAIK. Anyone wanting to build a "hyperspace pedal" should take note. The fact that you can reduce the delay time at a rate faster than (or at least as fast as) the virtual tape speed (like sliding the record head in the same direction of the tape, but faster than the tape) and achieve no pitch change once the 'record head' stops is huge in my book. Changing the delay time on an Echoplex provides an entirely different experience than any non-tape delay I've ever seen. The 'crinkle' and 'tape age' knobs are nice, but the realistic tape delay time manipulation is what makes this product unique. Plus a wide delay range and expression pedal control.

I'd love for the Axe to recreate this. Absolutely f'ing awesome. Even though it probably won't happen, wish list entry.
 
steadystate said:
I guess this belongs in the wish list. I just read the description of the El Capistan. BRILLIANT! To my knowledge, this unit reproduces a fundamental charactaristic of the Echoplex that no other non-tape delay has. Quote from the site:


"The most well-known movable-head machines have a fixed playback head and a movable record head. In this type of system, several interesting things happen when the delay time is changed (by moving the record head) with repeating echoes already playing back. When the record head is moved, the relative speed of the tape at the record head is the difference between the tape speed and the speed at which the record head is being moved. The echoes are re-recorded onto the tape at a different speed relative to the stationary playback head. This results in a pitch artifact that is dependent on how fast the record head is moved and independent of change in overall delay time. Moving the record head back to the original delay time will not restore the original signal, even if the record head is moved back in exactly the reverse manner in which it was originally moved. This is because the actual length of tape between the heads changes with delay time, unlike the variable-tape-speed machines. Also, since it’s the record head that is moving, we won’t hear the effect of the delay change until that section of tape reaches the playback head.

Another ‘feature’ is that with longer delays and some dead space between repeats, you can move the write head towards the read head during the playback of the dead space (quickly, chasing the repeat signal that just got written) so that the subsequent shorter repeats happen without any noticeable pitch effects at all."


No other non-tape unit does this AFAIK. Anyone wanting to build a "hyperspace pedal" should take note. The fact that you can reduce the delay time at a rate faster than (or at least as fast as) the virtual tape speed (like sliding the record head in the same direction of the tape, but faster than the tape) and achieve no pitch change once the 'record head' stops is huge in my book. Changing the delay time on an Echoplex provides an entirely different experience than any non-tape delay I've ever seen. The 'crinkle' and 'tape age' knobs are nice, but the realistic tape delay time manipulation is what makes this product unique. Plus a wide delay range and expression pedal control.

I'd love for the Axe to recreate this. Absolutely f'ing awesome. Even though it probably won't happen, wish list entry.
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Agreed, they do the same thing with a virtual bucket brigade on their brigade delay, orbit flanger, and ola chorus. I have the flanger and delay. They are hands down the best digital emulation of analog delay and flanger I have heard. I'm going to pick up they Ola as well.
 
On second thought...It may be that the El Capistan won't simulate the record head moving faster than the speed of the tape, as they state there must be a gap between the delays (and you must alter the delay time during these gaps) for no pitch change to occur when decreasing the delay time rapidly.

The Echoplex does not require a gap between the echoes to accomplish this. The record head will record an increasing pitch to the tape as it accelerates rapidly toward the play head until it overtakes the speed of the tape (actually recording backwards afterward), but once it stops moving, it will then re-record over the 'whoop' and the backwards audio before they reach the play head. You can have a continuously sustaining note in the feedback loop, and instantly shorten the delay / loop length with no pitch change.

Hmmmm.... I wonder if it is even possible to model this. The pitch would rise as the virtual record head approaches the speed of the virtual tape, and you'd have to dump the part of the loop after your virtual record head overtakes your virtual tape. Then you'd have to handle the transition when the head slows down again. You might need a time machine.

Even though it apparently still won't make the perfect hyperspace pedal, kudos for what they have accomplished.
 
steadystate said:
You can have a continuously sustaining note in the feedback loop, and instantly shorten the delay / loop length with no pitch change.
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I am not interested in this so much as I am in the effect of grabbing a loop and then pitch/time shifting it up/down without destroying its pitch/time integrity. The anti-"woop"... Any early digital delay (and a few modern pedals) will do this.
 
hkh said:
http://www.strymon.net/products/elcapistan/

Is the ultra capable of doing stuff like this? more tape-like delays?

I'm bying the pedal anyway, but the ultra needs a proper tape delay :cool:
Click to expand...

Wow! This thing sounds amazing. Very lush.
I'm looking forward to Matman's AXE patches, but as Java said it is very complex to achieve this in the AxeFx.
I love the simplicity of the elcapistan pedal.
I'm definitely all for a dedicated tape delay for the AxeFx!
 
Just bought El Capistan

I bought El Capistan delay two weeks ago and I'm more than happy. I'm a delay freak, I had a lot of delays in the past including three tape delays ( famous Roland Chorus Echo among them). I still have some analog and some digital stuff - including Axe-Fx own delays. And I have to say that none of these analog and digital delays captured the sound of the genuine tape echo. You can get pretty close on some very technically advanced stuff - like Axe-Fx or Eventide TimeFactor (one of the best delay machines ever made). But you couldn't get THAT sound until Strymon El Capistan. It sounds like a real thing - pure magic. If you love the real tape echo but don't like head cleaning, tape replacing and maintaining - buy El Capistan. On the other hand - I'm a bit dissapointed that I can't get that sound out of my Fractal. I have tried hard and I have quit. I'm sure the Axe-Fx is powerful enough to do that but it needs a special algorithm for that. A combination of onboard effects does not do the job.
 
tgunn said:
Have you checked out this thread? (rather recent)
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/33279-El-Capistan-attempt
Click to expand...

Thank you. I've just just checked this sound on my Axe-Fx and it sounds impressive. Very close to the El Capistan's Echoplex emulation but my echo of choice is a multihead version (like Space Echo or Copicat). I prefer more ambient sound or simply oldschool "The Shadows style" echo. El Capistan sounds simply beautiful that way and I'm affraid I can't get this sound out of my Fractal. Untill someone makes a special algorithm to cover such needs.
 
Yes, but it was a bit of a faff to control.. Your patch was really great...but having it in one block makes life a lot easier and useful... IMHO.
 
DonPetersen said:
even the 1st gen hardware was capable of doing that.
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:eek:ops Well, I guess I should've read this thread before posting my question. I haven't tried your patch Don but will when I get a chance. Seems like it would be cool to have a dedicated block as well though. BTW, Pete Thorn's demo of the pedal is very cool. I'd like to be able to dial in a patch like his demo of the multi-head setting (around 2:34).
 
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