Blind Shoot Out - MAESTRO ECHOPLX EP-4 VS 10 TAPE DELAY PLUGINS AND PEDALS

[Dessertman]

Hey there everyone. I recently decided to do a shootout of different tape delay plugins, pedals and units. Just did this as an experiment so folks can see how close, or how not close emulations are these days in sounding like an authentic tape delay unit. I’ve got a Maestro Echoplex EP-4 in great condition that I’m shooting out against a number of my favorite tape delay plugins and pedals.

I understand some of these emulations are that of different units than my echoplex, for example a few are 201 emulations. While, others are either emulations of an echoplex or just a general tape delay emulation. However, as stated prior - Im simply trying this as an expiermeint to see how close these emulations can get to sounding like an authentic genuine tape delay. All of the units are using a single head delay and somewhere around a 369 MS delay time. I’ve also used the exact same piano recording on each of these devices and tried my best to maintain an average volume of each.

Here is an alphabetical list of the gear compared in the audio :


1977 Maestro Echoplex EP-4
Arturia Delay Tape 201
Audiority Plexitape
Audiothing Outerspace
GSI GS 201 MK II
Logic Tape Delay
Pulsar Echorec
Repeater D16 (Space Delay)
Soundtoys Echo Boy (Echoplex)
Strymon El Capistan
Valhalla Delay (Tape Past Era)



Im including time stamps here so the listener can cycle through different units as easily as possible. Also, to make voting or suggestions on which is the real unit easiest by just mentioning a letter.

Anyhow hope someone gets something out of this and thanks for listening!


A :02 - :08

B 0:10 - 0:16

C 0:18 - 0:25

D 0:26- 0:33

E 0:34 - 0:41

F 0:42 - 0:49

G 0:50 - 0:57

H 0:58 - 1:05

I 1:06 - 1:13

J 1:14 - 1:21

K 1:22 - 1:30

Links :

DRIVE :

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vaas1 ... lWXngRH0DM

YOUTUBE :

https://youtu.be/gkYXyDnq56I

[sidrat]

Thanks for doing this. I liked E and G. A couple others seemed a bit flat so wondering what they are?

[Warp69]

Thank you for doing this blind test.

[dubguy99]

Hmm, from a quick listen, I think B, E, G, J sound the nicest.

I think you should have included some self-oscillation in the examples, IMO that's where the differences between the delay models really come out.

[sqigls]

you have too much time on your hands.
now compare 10 different RE-201 units.

a guitar, vocals, some synth patches...

where are we going with this?

[HunterKiller]

A, E, F, G, and J are pretty good.
The rest are okay. C and B are the worst.

[Elektronisch]

This is quite a badly made test because:

1. Some of the delays had set Widening on
2. Some examples used piano in Mono (wtf?)

[sqigls]

subjective, vague and lacking dynamic context or depth of insight into each effect's character.

[deastman]

I don’t think this test really pushes the delays far enough to clearly illustrate the differences between them. I have a T-Rex Replicator, and I pretty much always run it at the slowest possible speed with a touch of modulation in order to really bring out the tape qualities of the delay.

[sqigls]

i have 30 plugins in my delay folder, and i use all of them.
there's no best, or more authentic. there's just soft, hard, edgey, round, bubbly, smooth, overdriven, warm, diffused, gated, masked, ducked... etc... and it depends on the source material and the volume as to what we can get out of them.
like i mentioned before, i've heard a whole bunch of different RE-201s alone, and a lot of them sounded quite different than the others. It might be the type of tape, the components they've been repaired with...
If you want 'authentic', then just buy a friggon hardware tape delay, but all the algorithmic digital delays OP mentioned sound good. I think were long past the golden ears point with hardware emulation testing, so it's just a waste of time really.

[Dessertman]

No widening on. you're right two of them were in mono. I've re done the two in mono and now theyre all stereo'd :

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1N5stM ... 3oD-N5wzFp

This is quite a badly made test because:

1. Some of the delays had set Widening on
2. Some examples used piano in Mono (wtf?)

[Dessertman]

Also if any one is interested in the results here a link the answers :

https://drive.google.com/open?id=111qu3 ... -jpyQ4kNRU

[zerocrossing]

Thanks for doing this. I liked E and G. A couple others seemed a bit flat so wondering what they are?

Because this is a terrible test and it’s clear that some of these are in stereo, some aren’t. They all seem to have various amounts of wow and flutter to them (or modulation). Waste of time. I shut it down after a few of them.

[plexuss]

Thanks for doing this. I liked E and G. A couple others seemed a bit flat so wondering what they are?

Because this is a terrible test and it’s clear that some of these are in stereo, some aren’t. They all seem to have various amounts of wow and flutter to them (or modulation). Waste of time. I shut it down after a few of them.

It seems like an ok survey... which one sounds most like a real tape delay. You'd need know what a real tape delay sounds like in order to do it. I started out with tape delays in the late 70s - mostly echoplexes (the cheaper solid state ones) and the 201. Today I have the Fulltone Tape Echo. I'll take a listen and vote my opinion. Very interesting!

[sidrat]

Thanks for doing this. I liked E and G. A couple others seemed a bit flat so wondering what they are?

Because this is a terrible test and it’s clear that some of these are in stereo, some aren’t. They all seem to have various amounts of wow and flutter to them (or modulation). Waste of time. I shut it down after a few of them.

Thanks for taking the time to tell us your criticisms. I'd be interested in seeing your properly done shootout of these delays? And, I promise not to make disparaging or unappreciative comments about it. Thanks in advance!