Strymon EC-1 is a new stereo tape echo pedal that recreates the sound of a classic ’60s tape echo while offering modern features.
Delays are a popular tool for Synthesizer players and guitarists to liven up sounds and make them move in space. We live in a great time that offers many colorful delay types, including unusual granular and spectral delays.
One of the most popular is the tape delay/tape echo, with its warm, saturated nature. Strymon has unveiled the EC-1, a compact stereo echo pedal that brings this beloved character to your pedalboards.
Strymon EC-1
EC-1 is a new compact stereo tape echo pedal. The newly developed algorithm is partly inspired by the popular Strymon El Captistan and partly by the sound and character of a modified Echoplex EP-2.
Development of EC-1 started with the groundbreaking single moving head algorithm originally developed for our El Capistan pedal, which is renowned for its lifelike reproduction of vintage tape echo.
From there, Strymon acquired what turned out to be a very special Echoplex EP-2, as the unit was in amazingly good condition and had been worked on by storied technician Cesar Diaz. They discovered that several purposeful and skillfully-implemented modifications had been made to the unit, including tweaks to the tube preamp for a warmer sound closer in frequency response to an EP-3.
The modifications seemed aimed at bringing the best aspects of the various vintage Echoplex models into a single unit, and the inspiring result significantly informed development of EC-1, imbuing it with a special character that is immediately nostalgic.
Strymon EC-1 features a fully stereo signal path but can used in different configurations depending on the application. If you use it with a mono synth or guitar, you can use the mono to the stereo mode, or with stereo synths, you can go in and out on stereo jacks.
Hands-On Tape Echo Controls
It is a very compact pedal but offers a good range of hardware controls. Time sets the delay time from 50ms up to 1 second, including faithfully modeled sliding record head tape echo intricacies.
Then, you can choose between three ways the signal is fed into the virtual record head, allowing you to optionally push the echo machine harder for more saturation on the repeats. These range from unity gain up to high gain with a 12dB input signal boost for heavily saturated repeats.
The mix is a classic dry/wet mix control, and tape age defines the tape condition as bandwidth. The higher you set it, the more broken it will be, and the higher frequencies will be reduced. You can also control the delay repeats with a dedicated control.
Another fun control on the Strymon EC-1 is the mechanics knob which introduces mechanically-related speed fluctuations and media irregularities, including friction, creases, splices, and contaminants.
Further, Strymon EC-1 offers a buffered or true-bypass operation to pass your signal unaffected or recover lost high end from cable runs.
Strymon promises that the pedal can create the dreamy sound of a classic ’60s tape echo, complete with the harmonic richness of the accompanying tube preamp.
Connectivity
On the backside, you have switchable input and output jacks that operate in mono, mono-to-stereo, or all-stereo, an expression/MIDI input for parameter control or clock sync, and a USB-C for firmware updates and MIDI.
According to Strymon, the EC-1 features a low-noise Class A JFET input that increases touch sensitivity and responds to every nuance of your playing. Plus, it has an input for a 9VDC power supply.
First Impression
At first look, it’s a lovely, feature-accessible stereo echo pedal. It has a handy form factor and sounds beautiful. I’m sure it will also harmonize well with analog and digital synthesizers.
Strymon EC-1 is available now in the US for $279 and for pre-order in the EU for 319€.
More information here: Strymon
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