Echo, is it just me?
- Scoobyman II
- Posts: 254
- Joined: 15 Jan 2015
- Location: Japan
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The first time I watched those old Echo promos I thought it was a cool device. Now, I find it always lowers the volume of whatever I put through it, and I can never really hear the echo clearly on it. I find the half rack DDL-1 more clear and great for panning.
The Echo puts out exactly what you put in. The DDL-1, on a mono source delivered to both inputs, will add 6 dB. DDL-1 does this because it's a mono delay, and it first sums the input which doubles the signal/voltage giving the 6 dB boost. Even with a stereo signal, anything panned center will be boosted by 6 dB.Scoobyman II wrote:The first time I watched those old Echo promos I thought it was a cool device. Now, I find it always lowers the volume of whatever I put through it, and I can never really hear the echo clearly on it. I find the half rack DDL-1 more clear and great for panning.
In comparison, the device that DOESN'T get the boost will seem softer. But The Echo is actually the "correct" version. That being said, you can always turn up or down a signal, but if DDL-1 floats your boat and you don't need the extra features of The Echo, keep on rocking the DDL-1!
Selig Audio, LLC
- Scoobyman II
- Posts: 254
- Joined: 15 Jan 2015
- Location: Japan
- Contact:
Thanks for the response Selig. Maybe it's where I put it in the chain. I have noticed when I bypass it the volume of my dry signal goes up.
That would make sense if you have the Dry/Wet around 50/50 - remember ANY dry/wet control is doing two things as you increase it from the "dry" position towards the "wet": you are increasing the wet signal, and DECREASING the dry. SO in the center position, the dry signal WILL be necessarily less in level. This is why I don't often use insert FX during the mix, as they will affect the level of the DRY signal, and I've just spend HOURS setting this level and don't want an effect changing it!!!Scoobyman II wrote:Thanks for the response Selig. Maybe it's where I put it in the chain. I have noticed when I bypass it the volume of my dry signal goes up.
But as I have previously mentioned, the DDL-1 is ADDING 6 dB gain overall, which is then subtracted by the dry/wet knob around the 50% position - bypassing it will therefore not change the "dry" level.
Also, this means that at 50% for signals with a strong mono element, the DDL-1 is not giving you true 50/50 balance. Test this: lower feedback, measure the level of a drum loop through the DDL-1 (I use the College Drums default loop on Dr Octa Rex for this type of comparison). Compare the level with the dry/wet set to 100% dry, vs 100% wet. It's probably around 6 dB louder with 100% wet, meaning that at 50% the wet signal will be 6 dB louder than the dry and not really "50%".
Using the College Drums loop, if the signal is -11 dBFS going in, at 50% dry/wet the dry signal will be - 17 dBFS (6 dB less) but the wet signal will be -11 dBFS. So a "true" 50/50 balance will be closer to 42 on the DDL-1 with most input signals - but not all, making it a bit of a mess level-wise and why I choose to use it as a send/return most of the time!
Again, if this behavior already makes sense to you, keep on using the DDL-1! But I've found it can be helpful to understand WHY one prefers one device over the other.
Selig Audio, LLC
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