Intro

Softube Echoes is a pattern delay featuring up to ten echo taps at once. Each tap can have its own timing within the a master time-window while retaining its own pan position and volume level.

User interface

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Echoes is centered around an XY field, a master time window. The line dividing the window about 2/3 up represents the upper time limit of the delay time window. The field above this line represents the time horizon in which the echoes feedback off to. Click on the Tap button to the right of the max time limit line and you can quickly set the max time.

You populate the stereo field below the line with your echo taps (the colored circles) by doubleclicking anywhere within the field. The X and Y sets pan and time, respectively.

To the left of the X-Y field, there's three macro click-functions:

Add Echo: This click-function will add another echo tap to the X-Y field. Ten taps is however the maximum amount of taps that can be used at once.

Select All: This click-function will select all active echo taps. They can then move as one when moved around the X-Y field.

Remove Selected: This will remove and deactivate all currently selected echo taps.

Multiple taps can be selected and moved at once. By shift-clicking on and moving multiple taps at once around the mid Y-axis representing the middle pan position, it is easy to move and mirror taps relationship within the X-axis.

Echo Modes

Echoes have six operational modes with different colors, each representing a different style of echo effect: Filter, Reverb, BBD, Tape, Pan and Lo-Fi. Each mode features its own special modulation and degradation which also is represented in the UI as modulation trails. Here’s a short description on each mode:

Filter (orange): normal delay mode with a filtered feedback where filter cutoff and type can be set. The leftmost type is all taps low pass filtered and the right-most type is all taps high pass filtered. The types in between is combinations where every other tap is lowpass and high pass filtered. The hue of the tap color indicates the type used – brighter is high pass while darker is low passed.

Reverb (rose): modulation in this mode is optimized for using the echo taps in a FDN type of algorithmic reverb effect, but they are also great also for unpredictable, “living” echoes. Modulation is a macro that changes the relationship of pitch-modulation between the taps and at the same time also the pitch modulation rate. Similarly, Mod Balance is a macro that sets the ratio between pitch modulation and amplitude modulation for each tap. Diffusion controls the diffusion all-pass filters in the feedback loop, while Tone is a tilt-filter that sets the overall brightness. Modulation also changes the diffusion modulation in the feedback path.

BBD (green): Bucket Brigade Device echo mode. Longer delay times in this mode lowers the BBD line clocking speed with the known aliasing artifacts which can be filtered with the provided LP filter. Modulation will affect the clock speed BBD line and thus also the playback speed/pitch of what is currently in the delay line.

Tape (dark yellow): Tape echo mode is where the user can control tape drive, dirt and wobble. However, tape drive will affect feedback quite drastically, be careful!

Pan (beige): Pan modulation mode. Modulation phase is preset to a useful relationship, while control over modulation waveform, speed and amount can be set by the user.

Lo-Fi (light yellow): Dirty degradation mode featuring a combination of bit-crushing and slightly resonant 4 pole filtering with an envelope follower affecting the cutoff of the filter. Great for evolving organic echoes.

Three different types of modulation is represented in the UI - pan (X axis), time (Y axis) and volume (hue). Modulation amount is represented in how much the modulation “ghost-trail” behind each tap moves - the more movement = the more modulation!

Parameters

Each tap has a detailed menu:

Time: This is the time represented in percent of the time-window, it mirrors the Y position of the tap in the X-Y field.

Pan: This is the pan position of the tap rated from -100 (left) through 0 (center) to +100 (right) and is mirrored in the X position of the tap in the X-Y field.

Level: This is the relative volume of the tap.

Status: This label - “ON” - is lit up when the tap is active. Click on this label to activate or deactivate a tap. You can also achive the same result by double-clicking on the tap symbol itself in the X-Y field.

Remove button: Clicking on this button removes and disables the selected tap from the X-Y altogether until it is added again by double-clicking somewhere in a vacant space.

Main parameters

Dry/Wet Mix: This parameter sets the volume balance between the incoming dry signal and the generated echo pattern with its' dynamics, stereo-enhancement and output filters. Pattern Feedback – This parameter determines how much of the echoed signal will be fed back into itself again. When set at 0% Echoes will only repeat the tap pattern in the X-Y field once. When feedback is increased the feedback trail is also visually represented with the trails going off into the horizon beyond the max time limit. At 100% the feedback will be self-sustained and the volume of is only restrained by the limit-parameter (see below).

Feedback Limit: When this function is turned on it ensures that the feedback loop of Echoes never exceeds -6dB and thus never runs too hot.

Max Time: This parameter sets the maximum time limit for the X-Y time-window in milliseconds (ms) or in time-divisions when synced to DAW tempo (DAW sync is lit, see below).

Tap Tempo: As mentioned in the overview, you can click on this Tap button to the right of the max time limit line and you can quickly set the max time. Works also in DAW sync mode but then time is instantly set to free running again.

DAW sync: This label - “DAW Sync” - is lit up when clicking on it. When DAW Sync is active, the Max Time parameter is listed in divisions of a beat – from 1/1 down to 1/32 through all matters of useful settings including triplets and dotted notes.

Ducking parameters

This feature enables the user to create a sound where the wet delayed signal from previously played notes is reduced in volume when a new note is played.

Threshold: This parameter controls at which level the delay will “duck” against the new dry sound.

Release: This parameter sets the rate at which the ducking will pick up again after have reducing the wet level at an onset of a new dry input signal.

Sidechain: This parameter determines whether the “ducking” is initiated by the input dry signal or an external side-chained signal. How the side-chained signal is routed to Echoes works slightly differently in different DAWs. Consult your DAW's user manual.

Output parameters

Filters

There are two filters, Low Cut and High Cut in the Output section that both affect only the Wet Signal. The Low Cut filter cuts off frequencies starting from 20 Hz up to 20,000 Hz and, similarly, the High Cut filter cuts frequencies starting from 20,000 Hz down to 20 Hz.

Low cut: Set the cutoff frequency of the Low Cut.

High cut: Set the cutoff frequency of the High Cut.

Width

Sometimes you might want to enhance the wet stereo image of Echoes, or maybe reduce it. That’s what the this Width section does.

Width: This controls the effect of the stereo widener. It lets you enhance stereo differences and suppress mono behavior.

Mono Bass: This monomaker sets all audio below the set frequency to be in mono.

Output Gain: This parameter controls the final output mix volume of both the Dry and Wet signal going through Echoes.

In use

Use Echoes on an insert on the sound of your choice. Or set it to 100% wet and load it on an effect bus and use effect send from another channel if you prefer to do it the “classic” way.

Credits

Kristofer Ulfves – project lead, user manual
Fredrik Jansson – tech lead, DSP models, presets
Kim Larsson – DSP mentoring
Anna Pohl Lundgren – UI programming
Patrik Holmström – UI programming
Maxus Widarson – testing, qualification
Todd Urban – testing
Stefan Aronsson – testing, presets

Before we start, let's get this out of the way

Echoes