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Like a lot of tape echo lovers, I was impressed with Catalinbread’s Maestro Echoplex EP-3-inspired Belle Epoch. When whispers stirred about the Belle Epoch Deluxe (and the addition of a preamp that would approximate one of the original Maestro EP-3’s coolest features), I bet on seeing a refined Belle Epoch with a scoop of extra drive that would deliver us a step closer to the Maestro EP-3 ideal in the digital realm.
But Catalinbread is a restless and imaginative bunch of builders. And in the Belle Epoch Deluxe, they’ve gone beyond simple EP-3 simulations—opting instead to create a multi-faceted echo device that delivers multitudinous shades of preamp and tape-recorder amplifier grit, shape-shifting waves of modulation, lysergic sweepable resonant filter sounds, and echo tones that range from glinting and sun-lit to misty, moody, and mysterious.
The Belle Epoch Deluxe extracts a ton of pleasing, musical, and authentically analog sounds from various combinations of echo, filter, and modulation. The three rightmost knobs will be familiar in function, if not name. Echo delay sets delay time from 80 to 800 ms (the same range as an original EP-3). Echo sustain and echo volume control the number and level of repeats, respectively. The record level control replicates the function of the screwdriver-adjusted input gain control that appeared on the EP-3 and adds dirt or cleans up repeats, depending on the level. The depth knob controls the intensity of the various modulation functions. The echo program knob switches between the Deluxe’s six different modes and voices.
Elsewhere, the small toggle enables switching between expression pedal control of delay time (taking the place of the EP-3’s famed slider) and pedal control of echo volume, modulation speed, or filter voicing (depending on the selected echo program). The leftmost footswitch is another treat for OG EP-3 fans: a latch switch that enables you to dip in and out of runaway oscillation textures.
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