Strymon EC-1 Single Head dTape Echo Pedal

Strymon EC-1 Single Head dTape Echo PedalA Timeless Classic Reborn Experience the dreamy sound of a classic '60s tape echo complete with the harmonic richness of the accompanying tube preamp. Enjoy organic and ethereal modulation produced by countless subtle mechanical imperfections, and easily dial in anything from warm slapback to expansive echo feedback beds with a strikingly gorgeous stereo image. With beautifully tuned low frequency response, lush tape saturation and sublime echo decay,

A Timeless Classic Reborn
Experience the dreamy sound of a classic '60s tape echo complete with the harmonic richness of the accompanying tube preamp. Enjoy organic and ethereal modulation produced by countless subtle mechanical imperfections, and easily dial in anything from warm slapback to expansive echo feedback beds with a strikingly gorgeous stereo image.

With beautifully-tuned low frequency response, lush tape saturation and sublime echo decay, EC-1 provides all the best of what a tube driven tape echo can deliver.

Tape, Tubes, and the Best of the Best
Development of EC-1 started with the groundbreaking single moving head algorithm originally developed for Strymon's El Capistan pedal, which is renowned for its lifelike reproduction of vintage tape echo. From there, they were fortunate to acquire 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.

Strymon 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.

Full-Featured Compact Stereo Tape Echo
EC-1 offers impressive power and flexibility in a small and elegant form factor. Selectable tube-modeled preamp voices. Artifact-free tap tempo. Discrete stereo operation for independent processing of the left and right stereo inputs. Straightforward controls and expression pedal capability. High-impedance, ultra-low noise discrete Class A JFET stereo input preamp for exceptional touch sensitivity, dynamics and feel. MIDI control of tempo, patch save/recall and more. Premium components, rugged construction and a USB jack for performing firmware updates or controlling the pedal from a computer.

Input Signal Enhancer
Featuring meticulous tube modeling techniques, EC-1 offers a choice of two authentically reproduced preamp circuits that lend a subtle vintage character to your input signal.

One is based on the classic EP-2 tube preamp and features an enhanced high-end shelf perfect for brightening up darker humbuckers. The other preamp option (the default setting) produces a warm, balanced response based on the modded preamp circuit in the EP-2 unit that Strymon studied during the development of EC-1.

This option adds a pleasing sense of heft, especially to single-coils. Both preamp choices offer an optional boost of up to +6dB, or the preamp can be bypassed for an unprocessed dry signal if desired.

Tale of the Tape
Strymon's unique dTape technology was first developed for El Capistan, and they have expanded on it to reproduce all the inspiring nuances they encountered while studying a recently-acquired tube Echoplex that was in uncommonly superb condition.

Strymon's dTape system allows precise replication of every aspect of every tape echo they've studied, and in EC-1 this includes the effect of the moving head, the tape condition, the bias setting, the mechanical effects of motors, capstan slippage and all the irregularities that add up to create the unmistakable, inspiring sound of vintage tape echo repeats.

Satisfying Saturation.
Whether you want the cleanest repeats, subtle fattening or even downright dirty echos, you can instantly dial in the desired amount of tape saturation with the flip of a switch.

Providing pleasing tonal shifts from thinner to fatter, EC-1's three-way Record Level toggle switch selects the gain of the signal fed into the virtual record head. Choose the low position for unity gain with optimized bias for the cleanest repeats, medium for a 6dB input signal boost with increased bias for slightly saturated repeats, or high for a 12dB input signal boost with further increased bias for heavily saturated repeats.

This control also gives you a fast and easy way to match EC-1's response to your input signal level to obtain the desired sound from any pickup type or pedalboard configuration.

The Beauty of Imperfection.
For EC-1, fluctuations from motors and mechanical components were thoroughly studied to accurately capture their imperfections. At the lower end of the Mechanics control's range only slower motor-related wow and flutter are present, but at around one o'clock these fluctuations are reduced in favor of faster disturbances from crinkle, splices, and capstan slippage which accurately replicate the sound of Strymon's golden EP-2 unit. This setting can create uniquely reverberant and three-dimensional echos that spread across the stereo spectrum.

The slower fluctuations are mixed back in more prominently as you approach the maximum Mechanics setting, and the unique combination of multiple imperfections create truly gorgeous, organic stereo modulation effects unlike anything you've ever heard.

Mature Media.
The frequency characteristics of tape echo repeats are determined in part by the bandwidth of the actual tape stock, so older tapes will have a lower bandwidth with a warmer top end. EC-1 allows you to faithfully reproduce these characteristics by turning up the Tape Age knob for warmer repeats, or turning it toward minimum for the full-bandwidth sound of fresh tape.

Custom Vibe.
EC-1 is designed to allow high levels of repeats that are truly lush but that don't spiral into uncontrollable feedback. That wide sweet spot on the edge of runaway feedback can create intriguing sound beds under your lead or rhythm playing. Of course if you want to crank the Repeats control to maximum and play with the unique pitch effects that only a sliding record head tape echo can produce, those effects are all precisely replicated in sound and response.

Specifications

• High impedance ultra low-noise discrete Class A JFET TRS stereo input
  
• Low impedance TRS stereo output
  
• Expression pedal input allows the connection of a TRS expression pedal, MiniSwitch,
• MultiSwitch Plus, or TRS MIDI connection
  
• USB jack for controlling via MIDI from a computer or for performing firmware updates
  Premium JFET analog front end
  
• Ultra low noise, high performance 24-bit 96kHz A/D and D/A converters provide  uncompromising audio quality
  
• 520MHz ARM Superscalar processor
  
• 32-bit floating point processing
  
• 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response
  
• Audio Input Impedance: 1M Ohm
  
• Audio Output Impedance: 100 Ohm
  
• Typical signal to noise ratio: 116dB
  
• Strong and lightweight anodized aluminum chassis
  
• Power requirements: maximum 9 volts DC center-negative, with a minimum of 250mA (power supply NOT included)
  
• Dimensions: 11.7 cm deep x 6.9 cm wide x 6.4 cm tall
  
• Designed and built in the USA