A super-realistic recreation of a legendary Italian magnetic drum delay, capturing its lush, ethereal tone with adjustable playback heads, stereo modes, and extensive control over the classic echo character.
Purpose and Core Tone
ECHOSON models the distinctive sound of a celebrated Italian magnetic drum delay, a unit known for its warm, lush, and ethereal echo character that shaped iconic rock recordings. The plugin meticulously recreates the original hardware’s sonic behavior, including its unique saturation and transient response, providing an authentic vintage delay experience within a modern digital workflow.
Unlike simple delay plugins, ECHOSON simulates the complete electromechanical signal path. This includes the magnetic drum, playback heads, and associated circuitry, yielding a rich, organic sound with natural instability. The result is a delay that adds depth and movement rather than just repeating the input signal, making it a powerful tool for creating atmospheric and textured audio.
Independent Head Control and Tempo
The plugin provides independent control over each of the playback heads, a key feature of the original hardware. Users can switch heads on or off individually and route any of them back into the feedback path of the magnetic drum. This allows for complex rhythmic patterns and evolving echoes that are impossible with simple delay controls.
The hardware’s fixed delay time is expanded in ECHOSON, allowing the delay time to be freely adjusted or synced to the host tempo via BPM sync. This modern functionality makes the plugin suitable for both authentic vintage-style effects and contemporary music production, where tempo-synced echoes are essential for cohesive rhythmic placement.
Stereo Modes and Sound Shaping
ECHOSON offers versatile stereo operation with separate controls for the left and right channels. The input can be processed in dual-mono, where each channel maintains independent settings, or in a cross mode that sends delays to the opposite channel. A combined reverb mode allows for the creation of wider soundscapes.
Beyond its delay core, the plugin includes a built-in parametric equalizer for tone shaping within the effect. Users can also adjust the amount of wow and flutter, along with electrical noise, to dial in the desired level of mechanical imperfection. These controls work together to create everything from subtle colorations to dramatic, animated effects.
Workflow and Integration
The plugin is designed to fit seamlessly into mixing workflows. It provides a multilevel undo-redo system, an A/B comparison function for evaluating different settings, and a large collection of presets developed during real mixing sessions. Scribble strips allow users to leave notes directly on the plugin panel, facilitating collaboration and session recall.
ECHOSON is available in Audio Unit, VST, and AAX plugin formats for both Mac and Windows, and also runs as a standalone application. It supports a wide range of major DAWs, ensuring compatibility with most production environments. The software can be authorized on multiple computers and a USB stick using a simple, one-click procedure.
Key features
- Independent control of each playback head with selectable feedback routing
- Stereo modes: dual-mono, cross-feed, and reverb for expansive soundscapes
- Adjustable delay time with BPM sync capability
- Built-in parametric equalizer
- User-adjustable wow and flutter along with electrical noise
- Multilevel undo-redo and A/B comparison for easy tweaking
- Scribble strips for taking notes on the plugin panel
Best for
Best for producers and mixing engineers seeking an authentic vintage magnetic drum delay for adding lush, animated echoes to guitars, vocals, and synths, particularly in rock, ambient, and psychedelic genres where the classic Italian hardware is celebrated.