Reference

Buttons

Tap Rec

When first clicked,

silences the effect output
sets the pitch to 0.0
turns off the 'reverse' feature

When clicked again, sets the delay time to the interval between the two clicks, and immediately begins playback of the signal recorded in that time.

Hold Rec

Same as 'Tap Rec', except the delay time is set by the length of time the button is held down.

Tap Length & Hold Length

Similar to 'Tap Rec' and 'Hold Rec' except that the only effect is to change the delay time.

Freeze Loop

Similar in effect to setting the 'Input' control to zero (so no input signal is passed into the loop) and setting the feedback to 100% (so the loop doesn't decay). In fact though the behaviour is different because the loop is completely locked down so e.g. the filter is not applied in the feedback loop.

While the loop is locked you can still change the pitch, and the filter is applied to the loop output. The audio on the virtual tape remains unchanged however until the freeze is released.

Because in this mode the same bit of recorded audio is simply being replayed, you may notice slight discontinuities if you record your loop with the LFOs in operation.

You will also experience slight anomalies if the delay time is set to more than half the maximum (allocated) delay time (see also 'reverse' below).

Fix Delay

Normally when you change the pitch the delay time is changed as well. E.g. if you change the pitch an octave up, the delay time effectively halves. If you turn on 'Fix Delay', the delay time is changed automatically as the pitch changes, so the effective delay time remains the same as the pitch is altered.

Reverse

Reverses the direction of the virtual tape.

Of itself, this is fairly straightforward. However it has a slightly non-intuitive relationship with the tap delay times. In order that changing the tape direction does not produce any nasty artefacts, the position of the tap tape heads has to remain constant. This means that their order is reversed.

For example, say in the simplest case you have the L-L and R-R taps set to 100% time and level, and the other taps set to 0% level, with the master delay time set to 1s. In this scenario, reversing the tape gives you the same result, that is a delay of 1s.

In a more complex example, say the tap times are set to 100%, 75%, 50% and 25%. When the tape is reversed, the tap times become 100%, 125%, 150% and 175%. Note that the display of the tap times values does not change, only their internal interpretation.

Because in reverse delay times can reach 200%, you should try to make sure that the maximum (allocated) delay time is set to at least twice the actual delay time.

Trigger Arm

Arms the auto-record trigger.

In this mode the plug-in will watch for an input signal, and when it detects one it will effectively press 'Tap Rec' on your behalf.

You can adjust the trigger level using the small slider to the left of the input level meter. The small button above the input level meter controls the sensitivity of the meter. When pressed, the range of the trigger level slider matches that of the meter.

Clear Loop

Wipes the virtual 'tape'. Because this can be a lengthy operation (especially when the max delay time is large) you should not expect to press this button and immediately be able to begin recording again. During the clear operation, the Clear Loop button remains lit, and the output level meters show a decreasing level to indicate progress.