USER MANUAL ®
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Front Panel SATURATION BLEND LAG TIME Sets the amount of tape drive by adjusting the preamp gain. At low levels, a subtle harmonic enhancement occurs, increasing the dynamic compression and distortion as the knob is turned up. Sets the relative mix level of the two tape decks.Turn lower to blend in more of the Reference Deck, which can serve to tame your doubletracking effect. Turn higher to blend in more of the delayed Lag Deck.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Secondary Functions HIGH TRIM Controls a shelving filter for subtle high frequency tailoring. Full bandwidth at minimum setting. DOUBLETRACKER BOOST/CUT Boosts or cuts the Doubletracker effect by up to 3dB to allow for precise level matching. Full boost at max, unity gain at 12:00. AUTO-FLANGE TIME Sets the sweep time for the press-and-hold Auto-Flange feature. Low settings are faster, and higher settings are slower.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Tape Chorus Lag Time Ranges Slapback Tape Flange Tape Echo LAG TIME TAPE FLANGE -.3 to 3 ms • Set the Blend to 50/50 (12:00) for the most pronounced flange effects. Very short Lag times produce a moving comb-filter/flange effect that goes ‘throughzero’ when the lag time is set less than zero. A static filter effect is achieved when the Wobble is turned to minimum.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Saturation Ranges The Saturation knob allows for a wide range of input signals to provide a nicely saturated tape effect. The overall range of Tape Saturation is rig dependant. Depending on your application and your input signal level, the affect of the tape saturation will vary. Below are some general guidelines.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Rear Panel INPUT EXP LEFT OUT RIGHT OUT 9VDC + - INPUT STEREO OUTPUTS POWER High impedance input. Default configuration is mono input. Can be used as TRS stereo input by flipping internal jumper switch. Use LEFT OUT for mono signal output. If using Wide Stereo Mode, left out is the Reference Deck, right out is the Lag Deck. Maximum 9 volts DC center negative, with a minimum of 250mA current. See page 10 for TRS stereo input information.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Expression Input Modes The EXP jack on your Deco is set up for Expression Pedal from the factory. To change the Expression Input mode, hold down both Saturation Bypass and Doubletracker Bypass switches while powering up. While holding down, turn the Saturation knob to one of three ranges shown below. EXPRESSION PEDAL Set to Expression pedal mode and connect a standard TRS expression pedal for control over any knob.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Bypass Modes Deco is set up for True Bypass from the factory. To change this mode, hold down both Saturation Bypass and Doubletracker Bypass switches while powering up. While holding down, turn the Blend knob to one of two ranges shown below. TRUE BYPASS Set here to use our True Bypass circuit, which is simply a mechanical relay to switch the input signal directly to the output, with absolutely no components attached.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Input Modes Deco provides two input modes to tailor the range of Tape Saturation for your input signal. To change this mode, hold down both Saturation Bypass and Doubletracker Bypass switches while powering up. While holding down, turn the Lag Time knob to one of two ranges shown below. NORMAL MODE Set here to use Normal Mode, which is calibrated for a wide range of guitar and instrument level inputs.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Auto-Flange Feature Press and hold the Doubletracker Bypass footswitch to achieve a recording studio-inspired Auto-Flange effect. This engages a “virtual audio engineer” manning the faders and tape reels to create a smooth and predictable through-zero flange experience on the fly. When the Doubletracker Bypass footswitch is held down, the delayed Lag Deck is set just a bit behind the Reference Deck.
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Sample Settings (All examples have both Saturation and Doubletracker engaged) Subtle Chorus Slappy Leads Zero Warped Space Wobbly Fat Slap Thick Chorus pg 11
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Features SOUND DESIGN • Detailed recreation of the mechanics of two vintage studio reel-to-reel tape decks and their interactions • Nuanced sonic delivery of the classic saturation effects of the tape record/playback process • Simple and intuitive Lag Time knob allows for slapback delays, tape echoes, tape flanging, tape chorusing • Two Tape Saturation adjustment and tone shaping knobs: Saturation, Level • Three Doubletracker adjustment and tone shaping
Deco - Tape Saturation & Doubletracker User Manual ® Strymon Non-Transferrable Limited Warranty Warranty Strymon warrants the product to be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the original date of purchase. If the product fails within the warranty period, Strymon will repair or, at our discretion, replace the product at no cost to the original purchaser.
