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Looper's Delight
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Some of you have been discussing the SDD-3300 lately, so I thought I'd pass along this "review" Michael Caloroso sent to Analog Heaven earlier this year, hope it's helpful... >The SDD-3300 is a programmable triple digital delay with 64 memory slots >and MIDI In, Thru, and Out. It has a 2x40 LCD screen, menu page buttons, >and six sliders for editing the sounds. This is five better than one or >none at all on most FX boxes and is much better than increment/decrement >buttons, but sometimes I confuse the sliders as I move between menu items. >You can name each patch. > >I see a lot of head scratching out there. Most people wouldn't >immediately recognize the applications of three digital delays in one box. >Hey, I didn't either when I saw one of these in a store five years ago. > >Wanna know a dirty little secret? The best stereo chorus and ensemble >effects use a triple delay configuration. These include the coveted >phaser/chorus/ensemble in the ARP/Solina String Ensemble/SE-IV, the Korg >Trident, the ARP Omni/Omni II, and the original analog chorus pedal, the >Boss CE-1. Well looky here, this little gem can do that. > >The delays can go from 0.5 to 500 milliseconds at 16Khz bandwidth and you >can apply 12dB lowpass and/or highpass filtering to the feedback path. If >you chain the three in series you can get 1.5 seconds of delay. The delay >resolution varies depending on the range you're in; the longer the delay, >the more coarse the resolution, so it's not as fine as the SDD-1200 or the >SDD-2000. You can get up to 110% feedback for runaway loops. Each delay >can be used as sampling units for playing over looped audio, and you can >assign a MIDI note to trigger each unit. > >There's an input mixer and an output mixer for each delay unit, with >levels for any of the three input busses, feedback busses, output busses, >and effect busses. Not only that, you can invert *any* of the inputs off >the busses. This allows you to configure the delay units in parallel, in >series, or any combination, and you can cross feedback lines to your >taste. The nicest plus is that you can tap any combination of effect >lines to the outputs for the ultimate stereo processing. It's like having >a programmable patchbay for three delay boxes. This is one *seriously* >configurable box. > >There's a peak level LED above the three master input sliders and a four >segment input level LED for *each* input and output mixer. The LEDs are >also critical to make sure you're not clipping anywhere in the system, >which is easy to do. Once you've normalized the levels and made them as >even as possible, you'll get the best S/N ratio. Let me tell you it's a >*gas* watching these things dance in a complex stereo effect. > >Each delay has *two* LFOs, and you can control the phase of each LFO >relative to the LFO in the first delay or you can run them asynchronously. >Why are phase control of LFOs significant? You use out-of-phase LFOs to >get stereo processing that doesn't cancel in mono mode. Why two LFOs per >delay unit? For awesome ensemble effects, like the ARP String Ensemble. > >On the rear panel we have input, direct output, mix output, hold/trig, and >level control for each independent delay unit. At a glance it's sparse >compared to the rear panel of the SDD-1200, but deep inside the SDD-3300 >*does* has the I/O flexibility of the 1200, with the added bonus that it's >programmable in software. But there's no access to the feedback path at >the rear panel. > >Changing the delay time interupts the audio signal which is common for a >digital delay, but it's about a one second wait before the audio comes >back in. Likewise with the bypass function - when you enable it the >effect does not come on immediately. This is not a box you'd use for live >realtime tweaking. > >As experienced as I am with delay processing, it took a little time before >I got comfortable with this system, it's easy to confuse the parameters in >the input and output mixers. This is not a box for the novice, so if >you're starting out you'll want a good reference on delay processing. >Harmony Central has an excellent primer on delay processing techniques: >http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/effects-explained.html > >So how does it sound? > >The cleanest clearest stereo chorus I have ever heard, excellent flange >effects, good reflections (simple algorithms), and good tapped delay >effects. The ultimate in going hog wild on outlandish effects and >unconventional delay configurations not possible on any DSP box, >especially when crossing feedback ann effect paths. I used to pump the >Memorymoog through my old ART Multiverb and it would clip way too easily, >and then I'd have to raise up the already noisy output of the ART to >compensate. I don't have that problem with the SDD-3300. The delay >effects I get on this thing just doesn't compare to a DSP box; if I want >reverb I'll use DSP, but if I want basic delay processing I'll reach for >this thing. The clarity is unreal. I can get awesome stereo ethereal >sounds from the Memorymoog, and playing the Mini on one oscillator through >a stereo imaging algorithm is heaven. > >I bought my unit used and I think it had the original presets in it. I >think Korg originally marketed this to guitar players, but many of them >give up trying to struggle with it. The presets are so-so, but I started >having fun creating my own effects. This thing is made for the >experimenter. There's a lot of magic in this box, if you see one and are >not afraid to experiment, grab it you will not regret it. > >It will find use on vocals, guitars, and other instruments. I dialed up >an awesome stereo imaging effect that uses phase-controlled LFOs, it is >*wonderful* sounding. I also dialed up a great chorus effect that makes >any sound move around the room in the stereo image :) The famous >ARP/Solina String Ensemble/SE-IV, whose sweet stereo high strings have >been heard on almost all the 70s records (and is still popular today), >gets its sound from a triple delay processor with twin LFOs. That effect >is nice enough that many SE owners have had the chorus board scavenged >from the keyboard and mounted in a rack as an outboard effect. With a >little research from http://www.midiwall.com/aharchives and info from the >schematics, I was able to duplicate that effect with the SDD-3300. This >baby can do it. Feed it a simple filtered ramp, and -presto- instant >stereo strings, high notes are *sweet* just like the real thing. > >The kicker is even though it's 12-bit A/D at 88Khz, it sounds *good*. > >The manual tells you how to operate the unit, but it doesn't give you any >basics of delay processing, IE parameters for chorus, flanging, doubling, >etc. The manual *is* well written, nothing like most pathetic Roland >manuals. It has a MIDI program mapper and you can load/save a single >program or the whole kit-n-kaboodle. The block diagram on the top of the >unit is reproduced in the manual. It even provides the MIDI Sysex codes >for remote editing!