NPD: Space Echo on a budget...

DarnWeight

...namely, the NuX Tape Core Deluxe.



Hadn't really been aware of it until watching a youtube demo a few weeks ago, and managed to pick up a nearly new one from an eBay seller shortly after.  Here are the good/bad bits after a few hours of playing and tinkering...

Good

1. The core tape delay sounds are really very good...the wow/flutter/modulation doesn't go over the top, but is effective at adding some nice movement.
2. Tap tempo allows for much longer repeat times than the Time knob...the third "longest" playback head does about 500ms via the time knob, but you can tap in delays of well over a second.
3. The extra parameters are accessible via a Win/Mac app when connected over USB...tweaking these is key to getting the best out of this pedal...Wow/Flutter, Bass/Treb, Reverb, Saturation, plus you can kill the dry signal if you need to.  Also allows you to sync the three heads to time subdivisions, so you can replicate some very cool Echorec-type sounds.  Parameter values do persist after powering down, which is a bit of a relief, as I'd read some reports that they were lost when switching off.
4. Looper/Sound-On-Sound is perfectly functional (40 sec, I think)
5. Expression pedal works well for Time adjustment (I'm using a Moog one, no issues)

Bad

1. Occasional weird crashing/clicking noise on the delay line.  Not linked to footswitch or any USB shenanigans.  Guy on TGP suggested using the other Stereo output instead, and sure enough, that appears to have done the trick.  Will keep an ear out for this one resurfacing.
2. Tap tempo and Exp pedal don't interact well...definitely a case of using one or the other.  Shame you can't assign the Exp pedal to the Repeat knob instead, as it would be great to have oscillation/feedback control via expression.
3. Multi-head modes do need a bit of tweaking out of the box, as I found they got soupy and indistinct a little too quickly for my liking.  Less saturation, more treble, less bass appears to be the way forward.  Good for reverb-ish sounds, but doesn't really nail the rhythmic thing as well as others.

And that's about it so far.  Never tried a real Space Echo or an RE-20, but for cool single- or multi-head tape sounds it sounds pretty great.  Some might prefer more depth to the modulation, but the ability to add in some reverb makes up for that for me.  It reminds me a little of the tape mode on the Digitech Obscura, but with more tweakability via the app.  For use on my minimal/second/spare board, and for what I paid for it, I'm chuffed.