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Please note: this item is available for purchase in the United States only.
MICROPHONES
OUTBOARD
SOFTWARE
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INSTRUMENTS
When Strymon decided to develop an effects pedal that delivers the sound and feel of their favorite tape echo machines, they knew they must relentlessly study and faithfully recreate every last nuance. They spent months in the Strymon sound design labs with an intense focus on capturing the warm, saturated, distinctive qualities of tape echo machines. The result is the hand crafted Strymon dTape technology. Utilizing a ridiculously powerful SHARC DSP, every drop of processing power is harnessed.
The Strymon El Capistan provides three different tape machine types in one, each with three unique modes. With ten parameters to tweak, you get extensive control over tape quality, machine health and tone shaping. Go from the sound of a pristine, studio-quality tape machine to the heavily fluctuating sound of a machine in need of service. Get the full bodied sound of fresh tape all the way to the gnarled qualities of worn out tape. Because it's DSP driven, you get a range of tape experiences unattainable with a traditional tape machine. All of this without the headaches of tape machine maintenance and repair!
I love delay pedals. This really does the job that my tube echoplex did. I run it in stereo but it sounds great in mono too. Nothing like it, worth the price. Makes me super happy when I use it I own two, I joke.
The best pedal I’ve purchased. I really mean that! Been touring and recording since 1990. Thanks, Daniel
Sonically, it has a really rich tonality, some cool functionality overall. Really great for slap back/short delay time effects. However, the repeats/mix knob can't really provide the truly washed out long feedback you would want for dub style echoes. I found that there was a point around 2 o'clock on the mix knob where it goes from mostly dry with echoes in the background, to losing your entirely clean signal and just having the wet signal. Much prefer the Boss RE-20 to truly capture tape echoes.
The El Cap is everything you want from your classic Echoplex without all of the headaches. The repeats are so perfectly tuned. I feel like most companies just tune the repeats to be dark and call it tape echo. That's not what tape echo sounds like. They are slightly modulated with a nice "ping" to the first couple of repeats before they start to decay and darken. So musical. This can obviously be controlled with the Wow and Flutter and Tape Age. The multi-head setting is cool for tapping into some more rhythmic settings. The Sound on Sound feature is great for some Frippertronics or Les Paul action. This is the absolute industry standard for capturing the tape echo sounds and feeling in a pedal. UA should make a plugin of it!
This is one fantastic pedal. No longer does one need to hunt down legacy tape delays on the used market, in questionable condition; now you can get all those sounds and more in a reliable, rugged pedal from Strymon. It faithfully captures the tones of vintage tape delays and what's even better, you get to choose whether your "device" is in new condition or road worn and in need of a tuneup (which represent some of the most iconic, classic sounds on recordings). You get complete control over tape flutter, tape age, and so many other parameters that it will absolutely blow your mind. Great pedal. You need one !
The best gear advice always comes from those who use it the most. That's where you come in! Let the pro audio world hear your voice with a review of the Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo Pedal . Once you submit your review, please check your email and verify your address to have it posted.
