KVR Audio

dynamo · Post by **dynamo** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:31 am

I'm trying to recreate that 80s funk/electrofunk sound (Paul Hardcastle, D-train, Midnight Star, The System etc.) and believe chorus is a vital ingredient for fattening up synth basses and pads.
I know the Roland SDD-320 "Dimension D" (and it's cut down pedal version; the Boss DC-2 "Dimension C") were responsible for the "motionless" type of (Bucket Brigade Delay (BBD) type chorus effects, and for "normal" chorus effects they probably used just about any chorus pedal or effect-processor with just fewer BBD chips in them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Most of these vintage hardware devices are highly sought after (and priced thereafter) these days although the Boss DC-2 has been reissued in the form of =https://www.boss.info/us/products/dc-2w/DC-2w and I also found something called the [url?https://neunaber.net/products/inspire-tri-chorus-ng]Inspire Tri Chorus Plus pedal[/url] which appears to be similar. And then there's the much more expensive 19" 1U rack Fulltone "That 80s rack chorus" (CS-TERC).

On the plugin side I've found the Dytronics stereo tri-chorus, but I can forget that one as I don't have a UAD audio interface. Universal audio also has the Studio D chorus, but as far as I know it too demands the use of a UAD audio interface.

Then there's the Eventide TriceraChorus which is affordable too (US$ 39 until November 11th when it goes up to US$ 99). Is this worth getting?
I did buy Eventide's H-910 Harmonizer plugin a little while back (when they had a discount) and although I haven't had time to fully explore all its features I'm wondering if it's suitable for this sort of thing, or do I need a dedicated chorus plugin?

Lotuz2019 · Post by **Lotuz2019** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:34 am

I'd try these chorus plugins:

https://www.arturia.com/products/softwa ... imension-d

https://d16.pl/syntorus2

Big fan of Paul Hardcastle's early work (- 1985) btw.

Black Friday will be soon, so wait for the sales.

zvenx · Post by **zvenx** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:09 pm

The Chorus in this has quickly turned into one of my favourites.
https://fuseaudiolabs.de/#/pages/product?id=300982337
rsp

donkey tugger · Post by **donkey tugger** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:10 pm

There's also the Plug & Mix Dimension 3D;

https://www.jrrshop.com/plug-mix-dimension-3d

The P&M stuff goes on sale a lot and you can get the individual ones for $10.

Use this on bass sometimes for the classic Peter Hook chorus wibble-wobble. Nice!

AKJ · Post by **AKJ** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:28 pm

check this out: https://www.overloud.com/products/otd-2 ... pped-delay
and this: https://www.sknoteaudio.com/wp/index.ph ... on-chorus/

GRUMP · Post by **GRUMP** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:59 pm

dynamo wrote: ↑Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:31 am I'm trying to recreate that 80s funk/electrofunk sound (Paul Hardcastle, D-train, Midnight Star, The System etc.) and believe chorus is a vital ingredient for fattening up synth basses and pads.
I know the Roland SDD-320 "Dimension D" (and it's cut down pedal version; the Boss DC-2 "Dimension C") were responsible for the "motionless" type of (Bucket Brigade Delay (BBD) type chorus effects, and for "normal" chorus effects they probably used just about any chorus pedal or effect-processor with just fewer BBD chips in them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Most of these vintage hardware devices are highly sought after (and priced thereafter) these days although the Boss DC-2 has been reissued in the form of =https://www.boss.info/us/products/dc-2w/DC-2w and I also found something called the [url?https://neunaber.net/products/inspire-tri-chorus-ng]Inspire Tri Chorus Plus pedal[/url] which appears to be similar. And then there's the much more expensive 19" 1U rack Fulltone "That 80s rack chorus" (CS-TERC).

On the plugin side I've found the Dytronics stereo tri-chorus, but I can forget that one as I don't have a UAD audio interface. Universal audio also has the Studio D chorus, but as far as I know it too demands the use of a UAD audio interface.

Then there's the Eventide TriceraChorus which is affordable too (US$ 39 until November 11th when it goes up to US$ 99). Is this worth getting?
I did buy Eventide's H-910 Harmonizer plugin a little while back (when they had a discount) and although I haven't had time to fully explore all its features I'm wondering if it's suitable for this sort of thing, or do I need a dedicated chorus plugin?

(US$ 39 until

Eventide. Worth every Cent.
And also consider D16 Godfazer, Syntorus, Antresol.

Etienne1973 · Post by **Etienne1973** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:37 pm

Free Imaginando DLYM also worth a look IMO. Has 2 modes: Analogue and Dimension.

telecode · Post by **telecode** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:48 pm

I use the built in chorus in the Roland JC-120 sims. Works great for me.

Funkybot's Evil Twin · Sun Oct 25, 2020 2:12 pm

Fuse for the 80s Chorus stompbox (I actually bought the pedal recently based on the plugin), Arturia for the Dimension, Syntorus2 is good just for general BBD modulation duties, and don't be afraid to try something like ValhallaDelay with short delay times, no feedback, and modulation.

Etienne1973 · Post by **Etienne1973** » Sun Oct 25, 2020 2:40 pm

Free TAL Chorus LX

Roland Juno BBD Chorus as separate effect plugin.

Funkybot's Evil Twin · Sun Oct 25, 2020 4:22 pm

Forgot about the TAL. Another goodie.

Andywanders · Post by **Andywanders** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:00 am

Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: ↑Sun Oct 25, 2020 4:22 pm Forgot about the TAL. Another goodie.

TAL Chorus is a great freebie.

Another great freebie is the Wampler Pedals VSTs. Three, free modulation effects. Grab them here...

https://www.wamplerpedals.com/wampler-d ... downloads/

HansP · Post by **HansP** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 5:52 am

Chorus CH-2 by ag-works is versatile, you can select any number of voices. Works great for Fender Rhodes funky sounds. You can kind of emulate these Roland JC 120 amplifiers that work with two speakers, where one has a modulated delay line in the path. You do this with the panning of each delay voice. I like it best with one lower-level direct signal and two delay lines panned left and right to different extents.

Decades ago I built a hardware chorus with two delay lines. I has a very unique design, that places it in between the regular chorus flanger, and the 3-voice string emulator. It is especially for keyboards, Hohner D6 sounds, or DX-7 stuff.
Looking for a plugin maker to emulate that one..

dynamo · Post by **dynamo** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:22 am

HansP wrote: ↑Mon Oct 26, 2020 5:52 am Chorus CH-2 by ag-works is versatile, you can select any number of voices.

Decades ago I built a hardware chorus with two delay lines. I has a very unique design, that places it in between the regular chorus flanger, and the 3-voice string emulator. It is especially for keyboards, Hohner D6 sounds, or DX-7 stuff.
Looking for a plugin maker to emulate that one..

Thanks for the link, but unfortunately the plugin was Windows only (I'm on a Mac -I forgot to mention that in my first posting).

Cool to hear you built your own hardware chorus!
Did you share the schematics online at the time? I would be interested in looking at that as I have some unused BBD chips which I could use for such a project. My (still unfinished) hardware vocoder was planned to have a Roland VP-330 "ensemble" effect, but gave it up as it was too complex (and Oakley Sound sells an SRE-330 kit of more or less the same thing).

Thanks to everybody for posting links of commercial and free chorus plugins. I've got several free ones to try out first.
I'm wondering: among all those choices, are there specific ones I should look into for that 80s sound, or are chorus effects by definition all an 80s type effect?

Here's an example of the sound i'm looking to recreate. I believe the Prophet-5 bass here has chorus and compression on it to fatten it up. Listen from around 5:36 to hear it more or less on its own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgXzivszRo

kidslow · Post by **kidslow** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:54 am

I was scanning through the Godfazer manual earlier today and this table was very illuminating. All it says in the marketing collateral is, "22 effect types" ...

Roster of models available in the Ensemble module:

Code: Select all

Type name 		Description
Chorus BBDx1 Neutral	Single delay line chorus effect with one LFO
Chorus BBDx1 Wide	As above but with a wide stereo image
Chorus BBDx2 Neutral	Double delay line chorus effect with one LFO
Chorus BBDx2 Wide	As above but with a wide stereo image
Chorus BBDx3 Neutral	Triple delay line chorus effect with one LFO
Chorus BBDx3 Wide	As above but with a wide stereo image
Chorus Fat Neutral	Triple delay line chorus effect with one LFO per delay line. All LFOs are slightly detuned against each other
Chorus Fat Wide		As above but with a wide stereo image
Chorus Spacey		Single delay line chorus effect with one LFO, a widened stereo image, and a longer base delay time
Chorus Syntex1		Chorus effect modelled on the Elka Syntex – Preset 1
Chorus Syntex2		Chorus effect modelled on the Elka Syntex – Preset 2
Chorus Syntex3		Chorus effect modelled on the Elka Syntex – Preset 3
Ensemble ARP Classic	Double LFO (fast and slow), triple delay line (all controlled by the two LFOs) ensemble modelled on the ARP Solina. Depth and Speed are fixed
Ensemble ARP Thin	Double LFO (fast and slow), single delay line (controlled by the two LFOs) ensemble modelled on the ARP Solina. Depth and Speed control only the slower LFO, and the stereo image is widened
Panner			Stereo panner
Rotary Horizontal	Emulation of a horizontal rotary speaker with adjustable Depth and Speed
Rotary RA200 Fast	Emulation of the classic Yamaha RA-200 rotary speaker, set to Fast
Rotary RA200 Slow	Emulation of the classic Yamaha RA-200 rotary speaker, set to Slow
Rotary Vertical		Emulation of a vertical rotary speaker
Tremolo+Chorus		Vibrato effect with tremolo and a single delay line, producing chorus when mixed with the Dry signal. Depth controls only the vibrato. Speed controls vibrato and tremolo
Trem+Chrs Fat		Double delay line chorus effect with tremolo on the wet signal. Depth controls only the vibrato. Speed controls vibrato and tremolo
Tremolo			Tremolo effect

80s funk BBD type chorus plugins