Stellar Echoes

Description

Configurator

Firmware Update Instructions

Controls

Time – adjusts the delay time. The secondary parameter sets the reverb tail length. The third parameter allows selecting the buffer size (short 5-80ms, medium 150-1000ms, long 300-2000ms) for the first effect bank. In the second bank, the buffer size is fixed at 150-1000ms.

Mix – controls the volume of the delayed signal. The secondary parameter adjusts the reverb mix. The third parameter adjusts the drykill (1 – off, 2 – dry signal cuts off when the effect is activated, 3 – dry signal completely turns off).

Regen – sets the feedback amount. The secondary parameter adjusts the reverb brightness. The third parameter sets the feedback value when the tap-tempo button is held.

Rate – adjusts the modulation speed. The secondary parameter selects a preset, from 1 to 8. The third parameter allows choosing the wave (square, triangle, sine, smooth random wave).

Tone – adjusts the brightness of repeats or another parameter depending on the mode. It has a secondary parameter, which also depends on the mode.

Depth – sets the modulation depth. The secondary parameter depends on the mode; in the first bank, it adjusts recording quality. The third parameter allows assigning LFO to control delay time.

Subdivision – the left switch adjusts the tempo multiplier (eighths in the left position, quarters in the center, and dotted eighths on the right). The secondary parameter allows selecting stereo modes (ping-pong, dual mono, and wide).

Mode – the right switch selects the mode (Analog, Digital, Tape – classic delay in the first bank; Pitch, Granular, Reverse – in the second bank).

Left Footswitch (Bypass) – toggles the effect on/off. Holding the button while the effect is active lets you adjust secondary parameters of knobs and switches. A quick double tap toggles the reverb on/off. The blue LED on the tap-tempo shows the reverb is on, pink indicates it is off.

Right Footswitch (Tap-tempo) – sets the tempo in BPM with consecutive taps. Holding the button adjusts the third parameters of the knobs while resetting the feedback value. The function when holding the button can be configured in the configurator with three modes:

1. Feedback resets to its secondary value, by default this is the maximum.

2. Subdivision multiplier changes to the neighboring one (x1 to x0.5, and vice versa; x0.75 to x1).

3. A combination of the first two.

On the Top:

Stereo input, stereo output.

Standard power connector with center negative – 9V, 250mA.

USB Type-C.

Two mini-jacks 3.5mm, left for MIDI Type A input, right for footswitch, expression pedal, or CV signal from 0 to 3.3V.

Switch that selects mono input (top position) or stereo input (bottom position). In mono, the input signal is sent to both left and right channels.

Modes

Modes are switched by the right switch. To change the effect bank, hold the bypass button and switch the mode.

First Bank:

Analog – emulation of analog delay using BBD chips. The tone knob controls the filter frequency, with a secondary parameter adjusting the gain. The secondary depth parameter controls the quality of repeats.

Digital – delay based on vintage digital delays like the Boss DD-2 or Digitech PDS. The tone knob adjusts the master low-pass filter frequency, which is outside the feedback loop and doesn’t process each repeat individually. The secondary tone parameter adds a phaser effect on repeats when turning right and a tremolo effect when turning left. The depth secondary parameter adjusts the sample rate of repeats.

Tape – tape delay emulation, characterized by smooth delay time transitions, soft saturation, and clean repeat filtering. The tone knob adjusts the low-pass filter frequency, and at zero, it also cuts low frequencies. The secondary tone knob adjusts the saturation of repeats. The secondary depth knob sets tape quality by adding white noise, random fluctuations in delay time, and signal amplitude.

Second Bank:

• Pitch – standard digital delay with a pitch-shifter on repeats. The tone knob adjusts the low-pass filter frequency, and the secondary tone knob adds a phaser or tremolo to repeats (right for phaser, left for tremolo). The secondary depth knob adjusts the pitch-shifting factor, from an octave down to an octave up. The feedback knob works in both directions, with zero in the center. Turning right makes each repeat pass through the pitch-shifter, while turning left applies the pitch-shifter to the whole signal. The third depth knob parameter assigns LFO control to the pitch-shifting factor.
• Reverse – a delay that plays the recorded signal backward. The tone knob adjusts the balance between a normal reverse delay (left) and an octave-up reverse delay (right). The secondary tone parameter sets a low-pass filter when turned left and a high-pass filter when turned right. The secondary depth knob sends octave-reversed repeats back to the input, creating additional repeats a full octave higher. The third depth knob adjusts the volume of the normal direct delay.
• Granular – a micro-looper that cyclically records incoming signal to a buffer and slices it into random “grains.” The time knob adjusts the grain size, working together with the tone knob and the space parameter, which determines the sample window size (left for smaller, right for larger). The secondary tone knob adjusts filter frequency. The depth knob sets the speed/pitch of the left channel, and the secondary value sets the right channel’s speed/pitch. The cross-feedback between left and right channels is controlled by the regen knob. The left switch allows modulating the space parameter with rate in the left position, or applying tremolo in the right position. Tap-tempo button freezes the signal when pressed and resumes recording when pressed again.

Secondary and Tertiary Parameter Adjustments

Each knob, besides its primary function, has two additional parameters.

• To adjust a secondary parameter, hold the bypass button and turn the knob. The primary parameter remains unchanged while adjusting the secondary one.
• To adjust a tertiary parameter, hold the tap-tempo button and turn the relevant knob.

Expression Pedal

To configure the expression pedal, hold the bypass button and adjust the pedal. The bypass LED changes color when in configuration mode. In the highest position, it adjusts the upper value, and in the lowest position, the lower value.

You can adjust the primary and secondary parameters for time, mix, regen, tone, depth, and only the primary parameter for rate.

To finish and save the settings, hold the tap-tempo button. To reset expression parameters, double-click the tap-tempo button.

Footswitch

The expression input can be reassigned to a footswitch input in the configurator. The footswitch can work in five modes:

1. Turn reverb on/off.

2. Toggle reverb on/off with a short tap, or both reverb and delay with a long tap.

3. Favorite mode – triggers the first preset with a click.

4. Preset scroll mode – scroll through the first 8 presets with short taps, and reverse with long taps.

5. Reverb/preset scroll mode – toggle reverb on/off with a short tap, and scroll presets with a long tap.

Any footswitch with a normally-open momentary button, closing the tip and shield of the jack, will work.

Presets

Presets are recalled with the Rate knob while holding the bypass button. Turn the knob until the preset number appears on the screen, and once you release the bypass button, the preset is activated. To save a custom preset, turn the Rate knob to the desired slot while holding the bypass button, and press the tap-tempo button to save it.

To reset all settings to the default configuration, double-tap the tap-tempo button while selecting a preset.

Reverb

The pedal includes stereo reverb with three settings: decay (tail length), mix (reverb volume), and tone (brightness). These are controlled by the secondary settings for the time, mix, and regen knobs, respectively. Reverb is placed after the delay and has its own independent bypass. To toggle it on/off, double-tap the bypass button, and the screen will show its status. The tap-tempo LED also indicates reverb status: blue means on, pink means off. Reverb settings are saved with the preset. Default settings are loaded from the first preset when the pedal is powered on.

MIDI

The MIDI input is located on the left side of the top panel. It requires a TRS MIDI Type-A 3.5mm cable for use.