![]() In this case, tape machines and rack delays. Instead, it's meant to offer the same soundscaping possibilities as a set of cascaded studio rack effects. Strictly speaking, the Polymoon isn't a straightforward delay. As a result it might suit synth players better, if playing with the joystick is the main attraction. ![]() In the studio, you can have it on a desk and use the joystick while playing, but this is hard to achieve live. Firstly, that it's hard to use while playing, and second, that the joysticks are easy to knock with your feet. The only drawback of the pedal is the same one you'll find on other joystick-controlled devices like the Walrus Janus. Both of these allow for some particularly spicy noise-rock antics when engaged. There's also two footswitches to create oscillation – a momentary 'swell' and latching 'launch' switch. The Y-axis controls the delay time, allowing you to create warping artifacts and glitched-out noise, and the X-axis controls the modulation rate. Crucially, this also has modulation on the delay line as well, for a more tape-like feel to the repeats. With the right filtering, the PT2399 can have a pleasant, almost analogue timbre to it. Reading between the lines, it's probably based on the PT2399 digital chip. It's easy to see why the Kármán Line is a 'must try' delay. Purists will say that the largely analogue signal path and through-hole components made all the difference. The DD-3 has been in continuous production since 1986, in several versions, with the longest-lived being version three. It was an affordable, compact, and ergonomic unit that any guitarist could get to grips with inside of five minutes This price drop didn't just affect BOSS either – the stage was now set for an explosion of digital delay options. Falling component prices had meant they could now build the DD-2 much cheaper, so Roland renamed a slight revision of the circuit. The DD-3 was initially a marketing exercise. Players like EVH and Steve Vai were big fans of the SDE, but now everybody could get their hands on its diminutive brother. The DD-2 used a custom IC developed for the SDE-3000, released the year before. It was an affordable, compact, and ergonomic unit that any guitarist could get to grips with inside of five minutes. For players seeking a sound-effect secret weapon, the Raster delivers the otherworldly goods by the bundle.However, it was the Boss DD-2, released in 1984, that changed the game. Those eerie pitch shifts alone are worth the price of admission. Most interesting is the way it embraces the darkly pulsating side of digital, metallic aftertaste and all. It doesn’t chase the warmth of analog echoes (though it possesses warm qualities at certain settings). Red Panda’s Raster is an excellent digital delay for both conventional echoes and radical noise making. ![]() Metallic warts aside, I’ve never heard anything quite like it, and the available control blew me away. It’s an intense and metallic-sounding effect-not for the meek, or anyone who can’t stand processed-sounding pitch shifts. When I play palm-muted notes on a low string, the repeats cavort and gyrate in a strange, evil rhythm. My favorite transpose-mode setting is delay knob to 10 o’clock for closely spaced arpeggio repeats, with the blend control at unity volume. Shifts generally sound smooth and accurate, though higher-pitched repeats have a squeaky quality that sometimes gets a little harsh. The shift knob lets me to “tune” the arpeggios to the root note of the melody I’m playing, making the eerie effect relatively musical and controlled. Long delays become flurries of repeated arpeggios that sounded like some alien organ. One of my favorite settings is feedback mode set to continuous repeats, the shift knob at 5 o’clock, and transpose mode on. It would take pages to describe the possible textures-at times the Raster has the chaotic personality of an old synth. The real fun starts when you activate shift mode. The effect is clearer than on a Memory Man, though players who seek the clarity of, say, a Boss DD-6 may want to look elsewhere. Using a Gibson Les Paul, a Soldano Lucky 13 half stack, and the Raster sans shift mode, repeats were clear, but with a slightly lo-fi decay in the highs. Raster Blaster You don’t have to get tricky with the Raster-it sounds great with simple echoes. High-pitched transpositions can sound harsh. A smorgasbord of wild pitch-shift effects.
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