Ampersand Ampersand Wear & Tear is a new stereo cassette tape emulator module with full CV goodness for your Eurorack systems.
Developing digital modules costs a lot of money and time, often months or even years. However, sound environments with embedded DSPs have simplified digital module development in the past. In this case, you need a front panel with custom controls and the code that you load on the chip.
The Daisy platform is very popular and is used by many well-known Eurorack companies: Noise Engineering, QU-Bit, and others. The platform also allowed many indie developers to bring hardware to the market. The latest Daisy-based module is called Wear & Tear and is from the new company Ampersand Ampersand. For a change, this isn’t Superbooth 24 news.
Ampersand Ampersand Wear & Tear
Wear & Tear is a new stereo cassette tape emulator for Eurorack. The core is based on the Daisy, which is where a newly developed code sits. In this case, it’s all about cassette tape emulation. It allows you to “dive into the heart of sonic nostalgia with your personal time machine to the golden age of Lo-Fi soundscapes.” says Ampersand Ampersand.
Your signals go on two mono inputs (L/R), so stereo into the module, where you can shape your signal with a wide range of different sonic tools. From left to right, it starts with a stereo lowpass filter for shaping your timbres. These filters are great for removing a bit of the spice or adding more resonance.
Dust is a macro control that adds chaos to all other settings. A small amount moves the parameters subtly to make them more organic. Go extreme, and you will wreak havoc. Then, age is a shifting non-resonant filter that transforms your incoming audio to the sounds of yesteryear.
Saturation is a tape saturation effect that adds subtle, cozy warmth to your signals up to hard clipping. It’s your choice. With the pure white noise generator, you can add crackles and pops to your signals. Use the envelope follower; you can use the noise volume or duck it with incoming audio.
On the absolute right side, you have another stereo filter—this time, a highpass filter. Of course, the Ampersand Ampersand added wow and flutter to its Wear & Tear module. This can be tempo-synced.
Further, you can infuse sporadic, authentic dropouts to your signals using the crinkles function. And there is also a one-knob compressor that bundles both threshold and ratio. The user interface of Waer & Tear looks very neat and offers dual-function knobs.
On the connection side, it has stereo input and stereo output on two L/R mono inputs, CV control over all important features, and a clock input.
First Impression
Wear & Tear is a module that will appeal to musicians who like retro, Lo-Fi sounds. If you like sounds that aren’t perfect, go out of tune easily, or crackle, this module can be very exciting.
Ampersand Ampersand Wear & Tear is available now for $350.
More information here: Ampersand Ampersand
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