Analog electronics and music

Elk EM-4 Echo Machine

16/12/14 at 5.14am   /   by ESTECHO   /   5 Comments

This echo machine is fairly common here in Japan. It shows up on auction sites regularly, and judging by the amount I see on the market, I suspect many of them were manufactured. The EM-4 is clearly an improvement over the other Elk tape delay I own, the Echo Machine; it features a variable speed motor (the Echo Machine does also, but has a 5-position speed knob instead of a continuous speed control), decent tone controls, a standby switch to disengage the pinch roller, and it’s also much smaller than the Echo Machine. In fact, it’s probably the smallest tape delay I’ve seen using the Sony RE cartridge tape transport, apart maybe from another Elk delay, the Elk EM-5, which is slightly smaller but lacks many features of the EM-4.
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Ace Tone EC-10 Professional Echo

16/12/14 at 4.56am   /   by ESTECHO   /   10 Comments

This unit has a great selection of inputs and outputs, including a “wet only” output through the “vocal amp” jack. The mode selector resembles the one on Roland Space Echos, and with 11 positions almost completely covers the range of head selections possible.

The EC-10 looks great with its red, black and gold design and cool, uncommon knobs. Plus the VU meter an logo light up when the unit is on, so it’s a great looker.
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Evans Super Echo EE-3

16/12/14 at 4.38am   /   by ESTECHO   /   10 Comments

This is a fairly primitive unit, with only one playback head and a fixed speed motor, but it does have a sliding record head allowing for some delay time adjustments. The ES-1, part of the same line of equipement, was a more professional unit (see the ES-5 which has the same features).
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Evans Super Echo ES-5

16/12/14 at 4.30am   /   by ESTECHO   /   1 Comment

One of the smallest “free running tape” units around. It has a great selection of inputs and outputs, and the motor speed is variable (although the adjustment knob is located under the plexiglass, not on the front panel). The write head is a “sliding” type, which is probably why the motor speed knob is not on the front: you can adjust delay time by sliding the head.
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Evans Super Echo SE-780

16/12/14 at 4.04am   /   by ESTECHO   /   16 Comments

This is perhaps the best rival to the Space Echo series. It features everything that can be found in the RE-201, but also “sound on sound” and more flexible routing of the delayed signal. The fidelity of my unit is comparable to a 201, perhaps a bit brighter sounding.

The tape transport on my unit is extremely stable, as a result the delay has very limited wow and flutter. I didn’t have to change the drive belt, it was still in good shape. The reverb uses two springs that span almost the whole width of the unit. The tone knob is really strong: at max treble, bass frequencies are completely cut out. You can shape the delay tone very aggressively if you want to.
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Hawk HE-2250 5-head/2-channel Echo Unit

16/12/14 at 3.48am   /   by ESTECHO   /   8 Comments

This unit is a true stereo delay, a rarity for tape units. It can keep the left and right channels completely isolated from each other, each with its own delay settings (feedback, depth, tone, head selection), or can provide a variety of ping-pong and switched-channel delays. Heads can be set to “super repeat” or “repeat and swell” mode, independently for each channel.. Output settings are dry, mix & echo only, switchable for both channels as well.

The unit also provides two unique buttons due to its stereo capabilities: ‘reverse echo’ and ‘mirage’. The first one sends the delayed signal to the opposite channel, so the left channel’s echo is on the right, and vice-versa. The mirage setting is for ping-pong delays alternating between each channel.
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Denon Dic EM-1000

16/12/14 at 3.30am   /   by ESTECHO   /   1 Comment

This is perhaps the strangest tape echo in ESTECHO’s collection. I’m still not quite sure what I bought exactly! It looks like it comes from a vintage hospital and it weighs a TON! The whole thing is built in solid metal, it must weigh at least 15 kilograms… Every time I move this thing around, I grunt and pant!

I’m still trying to figure out what it was designed for, because it’s obviously not made for the gigging musician! Perhaps it was built for radio stations? It doesn’t have any rack ears, but there was probably a different front panel available that had them. At 42cm wide, it would certainly fit in a rackmount, although with such weight the whole thing would probably warp!
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Mirano Echo Chamber T-4

16/12/14 at 2.45am   /   by ESTECHO   /   0 Comment

This is probably one of the very last models Hawk released under the “Mirano” name, before switching its line of tape echos to the “Hawk” name, and producing wonderful units such as the HE-2250. Contrary to the Mirano 3, this is a solid state unit and has a variable speed motor, which was a big improvement in technology at the time: no more need for a fan to cool the interior, better overall reliability and lots more control over delay speed.

This unit has all the basic features needed for a good tape echo, including elaborate control over head selection, a tone knob, a wet only output and variable speed.
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Binson EC 3

16/12/13 at 8.12pm   /   by ESTECHO   /   8 Comments

Binson echos are perhaps most famous due to their association with the British band Pink Floyd. In the late sixties and early seventies, they were the Floyd’s preferred echo machines; the band used them for everything: vocals, guitars, organ… Around 1970 you could easily spot three of them on stage, although they weren’t quite the same as the EC3 in design. The Echorec models used by Pink Floyd were tube units, and had a much more stylish yellow enclosure.

The EC3 may not look as cool, but it has plenty to offer. It has great versatility in playback/feedback head selection; there are individual buttons for each head’s playback and feedback, which makes it possible to have all sorts of delay colors. The repeats are very stable due to the rotating drum and direct drive (there’s no drive belt).
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Iwase Voice Echo Machine

16/12/13 at 6.17pm   /   by ESTECHO   /   1 Comment

This is a tube tape echo much like the Mirano 3, with 4 playback heads, a separate output for the delay signal, a tone control and a cool “magic eye” for input level metering. In addition, it has a couple of extra features, such as on/off switches for each head, as well as a switch that stops the motor and disengages the pinch roller. It even has a funky typo on the front panel: Iwase Electoronic Co…. Loaded with features!

On the negative side, of course, is the fixed speed motor… This isn’t necessarily a big problem for most applications, but when trying to sync a delay to, say, a drum loop, it becomes an issue. You can always change the tempo of the loop to match the tape echo’s speed, but that can only be done to a certain extent without completely changing the feel of the track…
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