Strymon Limited Midnight Edition El Capistan dTape Echo Pedal Overview
Very Limited Edition.
Overview by GAK
The Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo Machine is one of the most powerful Tape and Echo pedals available. It’s a faithful recreation of the real tape echo machines, but more portable and affordable, especially compared to real tape echo machines which are bulky and costly.
It has a wide range of features and is great for anyone who is looking for the natural warmth and idiosyncrasies of a real tape delay, but in a smaller, more reliable form. It uses a DSP chip that makes the ‘dTape algorithm’ sound as authentic and high-quality as possible with all the nuances of a real tape echo.
The El Capistan has three tape machine heads in the form of a toggle switch - Fixed, Multi and Single, each with three unique modes switched with the other toggle switch called Mode.
It also has 5 tape adjustment and tone shaping knobs - Time controls the delay time depending on the Tape Head type, so while you’re on Fixed or Multi, it controls the tape speed. If you’re on Single, it varies the positions of a sliding record head. Mix controls the balance of wet/dry, Tape Age controls the frequency characteristics from the tape bandwidth and tape head alignment, Repeats controls how many echos you hear, and Wow & Flutter controls the pitch fluctuations that are caused by imperfections of the tape machine, making this a truly authentic pedal.
Each of these knobs also has a secondary function that is accessed when you hold down the Bypass and Tap at the same time, so you get Spring Reverb (Time knob) which simply controls the amount of spring reverb in your signal, Tape bias (Repeats knob) which lets you choose from under-biased and over-biased, +/- 3dB Boost/Cut (Mix knob) which lets you get a plus or minus 3dB boost or cut, Low End Contour (Tape Age knob) which gives you control over the low-frequency shaping of echo repeats, and Tape Crinkle (Wow & Flutter knob) which controls the amount of severity of tape irregularities including contaminants, splices, creases and friction.
It also lets you adjust the parameters from an external expression pedal (not included) to give you better accessibility, and you can connect a Favourite switch (not included) so you can save your favourite presets.
Overview by Strymon
Magnetic Monster.
When we decided to develop an effects pedal that delivers the sound and feel of our favorite tape echo machines, we knew we must relentlessly study and faithfully recreate every last nuance.
We spent months in the Strymon sound design labs with an intense focus on capturing the warm, saturated, distinctive qualities of tape echo machines. The result is our hand crafted dTape™ technology. Utilizing a ridiculously powerful SHARC DSP, every drop of processing power is harnessed.
Extensive control.
El Capistan provides three different tape machine types in one, each with three unique modes. With ten parameters to tweak, you get extensive control over tape quality, machine health and tone shaping.
Go from the sound of a pristine, studio-quality tape machine to the heavily fluctuating sound of a machine in need of service. Get the full bodied sound of fresh tape all the way to the gnarled qualities of worn out tape.
Because it’s DSP driven, you get a range of tape experiences unattainable with a traditional tape machine. All of this without the headaches of tape machine maintenance and repair!
