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Strymon Deco tape saturation and double tracker

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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.

Two Effects in One

Tape Saturation

The “always on” effect.

Give your sound the smooth and warm qualities of analog tape, along with the enhanced touch sensitivity and playing dynamics that are intrinsic to the inner workings of tape machines. Achieve incredible transparency at low levels, with reduced high frequency spikes and a harmonically rich low end. Turn up the Saturation to increase the amount of tape drive, dynamic compression and distortion.

Deco is perfectly suited for a last-in-chain, “always on” sweetening effect. Everything sounds better on tape. Want to push the limits of tape beyond what was originally possible? Use Deco as a tape-style transparent overdrive—crank the Saturation all the way up to “peg the meters” and gently overload the machine’s input.

Doubletracker

Fatten your sound with tape.

Go back to the early days of recording studios, where a few creative audio engineers discovered a new world of augmented sound by pushing the limits of studio tape machines. By inventing automatic doubletracking, they introduced echo, flanging, and chorus to the world of recorded music.

Intensify and widen your sound with Deco’s Doubletracker controls. Turn the Lag Time to obtain classic slapback tape echo, spacious doubletrack chorusing, and mind-bending tape flanging. Add random modulation with the Wobble control and go from very subtle movement to more extreme undulations—just like having a recording engineer vary the speed of the machine.

Specs

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, Switches

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

More

True Bypass (electromechanical relay switching)
High quality, transparent Analog Buffered Bypass mode
9V center negative DC power supply included, 250mA current draw
Strong and lightweight electroless nickel plated aluminum chassis
Designed and built in the USA