User Manual: Echo Collection
User Manual: Echo Collection
User Manual: Echo Collection
Echo Collection
User Manual
McDSP
McDowell Signal Processing, LLC
2083 Old Middlefield Way #204
Mountain View, CA 94043
Support
Email: [email protected]
Technical Support: [email protected]
World Wide Web: www.mcdsp.com
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McDSP EC-300
Copyright Notice:
Copyright 1998-2019 McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company
All Rights Reserved. The McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company’s EC-300 Plug-In and
corresponding User’s Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Information in this document is
subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of McDowell Signal
Processing, Limited Liability Company. This document may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied,
reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form for the purpose of
resale without prior consent, in writing, from McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company.
Trademarks:
McDSP is a trademark of McDowell Signal Processing, LLC.
All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
EC-300 EC1
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McDSP EC-300
mcdsp.com Page v
McDSP License Agreement
The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in
accordance with the terms of the agreement.
You May:
• authorize 1 (one) copy of the Software on 1 (one) PACE Anti-Piracy iLok USB Smart Key or iLok Cloud
session, for use with no more than 1 (one) computer at any given time;
• make copies of the Software for archival purposes, or copy the software onto the hard disk of your
computer and retain the original for archival purposes;
• after written notice to McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company, transfer the Software on
a permanent basis to another person or entity, provided that you retain no copies of the Software and
the transferee agrees to the terms of this agreement
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McDSP
Limited Warranty:
McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company warrants that the media on which the Software
is distributed will be free from defects. Your sole remedy in the event of a breach of this warranty will be
that McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company will, at its option, replace any defective media.
McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company does not warrant that the Software will meet your
requirements or that the operation of the Software will be uninterrupted or that the Software will be
error-free. THE ABOVE WARRANTY IS EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON INFRINGEMENT. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS.
YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS, WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.
Disclaimer of Damages:
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ANY REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE, IN NO
EVENT WILL McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY SPECIAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE EVEN IF McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability
Company HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE
LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE
LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO CASE SHALL McDowell Signal Processing,
Limited Liability Company’s LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR THE SOFTWARE. The disclaimers and
limitations set forth above will apply regardless of whether you accept the Software.
General:
This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of California. This Agreement may only be modified
by a license addendum which accompanies this license or by a written document which has been signed both
by you and McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company. Should you have any questions concerning
this Agreement, or if you desire to contact McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company for any
reason, please email: [email protected]. By downloading, using, or copying this Binary Software, Licensee
agrees to abide by the intellectual property laws, and all other applicable laws of the U.S., and the terms of
this License. Ownership of the software shall remain solely in McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability
Company.
System Requirements
McDSP HD and Native plug-ins are compatible with Pro Tools, Logic X, Cubase,
Nuendo, Abelton Live, MOTU Digital Performer, Studio One, Sonar, and other
DAWs that support AAX, AU, VST and/or VST3 plug-in formats.
McDSP Native plug-ins support AAX Native, AU, VST, and VST3 plug-in formats.
McDSP HD plug-ins additionally support the AAX DSP plug-in format, as well as
AAX Native, AU, VST, and VST3 plug-in formats. McDSP plug-ins support Mac OS
10.8.5 (Mountain Lion), Mac OS 10.9.5 (Mavericks), 10.10.x (Yosemite), 10.11.x (El
Capitan), 10.12.x (Sierra), 10.13.x (High Sierra), and Windows 7, 8, and 10.
McDSP plug-ins require an iLok2 or iLok3 USB Smart Key, or an iLok License
Manager account and an iLok Cloud session for authorization.
McDSP AAX plug-ins require Windows 7 or later, Mac OS 10.8.5 or later, and
support Pro Tools 10.3.8 or later, Pro Tools 11.1.3 or later, Pro Tools 12.x or later,
and Pro Tools 2018.x or later.
McDSP AU plug-ins require Mac OS 10.8.5 or later, and support Logic X, Digital
Performer, Abelton Live, and other AU compatible DAWs.
McDSP VST and VST3 plug-ins require Windows 7 or later, Mac OS 10.8.5 or later,
and support Cubase 8.x or later, Cubase 9.x or later, Nuendo 6.5.x or later, and
other VST and VST3 compatible DAWs.
McDSP HD plug-ins also support the VENUE S6L systems.
Please visit mcdsp.com for the latest compatibility information.
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Getting Started
Installation on Mac OS X
The EC-300 plug-in package includes this manual, ReadMe and Release Notes,
a folder of presets for the EC-300 plug-in, and the EC-300 plug-in. Two copies
of the EC-300 Licensing Agreement are included - one in this pdf manual and a
second as a separate text file. The EC-300 plug-in manual requires that Adobe
Acrobat reader (or similar .pdf reader) is installed.
The authorization of the EC-300 plug-in is still required after running the
installer, and those steps are detailed in the following sections.
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Installation on Windows
The EC-300 plug-in package includes this manual, ReadMe and Release Notes,
a folder of presets for the EC-300 plug-in, and the EC-300 plug-in. Two copies
of the EC-300 Licensing Agreement are included - one in this pdf manual and a
second as a separate text file. The EC-300 manual requires that Adobe Acrobat
reader (or similar .pdf reader) is installed.
The authorization of the EC-300 plug-in is still required after running the
installer, and those steps are detailed in the following sections.
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Getting Started
Installing the EC-300 plug-in and presets on VENUE with the ‘HD Disk’:
The installer for all McDSP VENUE compatible plug-ins is available at the McDSP
website (mcdsp.com). Once located and downloaded, the installer must be
copied to a USB flash drive in order to run the installers on the VENUE system.
For convenience, all McDSP VENUE compatible plug-ins are located in the same
downloadable zip file, so only one file needs to be copied onto a USB flash drive
to install all VENUE compatible McDSP products.
• Unzip the downloaded file and locate the folder named “AAX Plug-Ins”
inside the unpacked folder.
• Copy this folder and its contents to an MS-DOS (FAT32) formatted USB flash
drive.
• Once you have copied this folder, you should see it at the root level of the
USB flash drive (i.e. “D:\AAX Plug-ins”). Important: If the “AAX Plug-ins”
folder is not located at the root level of the USB flash drive or has been
renamed, the VENUE console may not properly recognize the installer.
Once the USB flash drive has the “AAX Plug-ins” folder at its root level, continue
to the next steps below.
• Insert the USB flash drive into an available USB port of the VENUE S6L system.
• Ensure your system is in ‘CONFIG’ mode, you cannot install plug-ins in ‘SHOW’
mode.
• Navigate to the ‘OPTIONS’ page and then select the ‘PLUG-INS’ tab.
• You should now see the all the McDSP VENUE compatible plug-ins available
on the left hand side.
• Select the EC-300 plug-in and select ‘INSTALL.’
• If a previous version of the EC-300 plug-in was already installed, it will be
updated by the installer.
• To authorize, insert an iLok2 or iLok3 containing the appropriate license into
your VENUE S6L console. Note McDSP plug-ins running on an S6L may not be
authorized from an iLok Cloud session.
Note that after installing new versions of the PACE iLok drivers with the EC-300
plug-in installer, you will need to reboot your system. You will not be prompted
to reboot, and if you don’t you may see an error message saying “TPkd driver
required, and a reboot. Please reboot or reinstall the software.’ If you see this
message, simply reboot the console and try again.
mcdsp.com Page xi
Authorizing your McDSP Plug-ins
McDSP plug-ins require an iLok2 or iLok3 USB smart key, or an iLok Cloud
session, to purchase or upgrade McDSP plug-ins. Management of authorizations
(licenses) are handled via the iLok License Manager software application. Both
the iLok License Manager software and iLok3 USB smart key are available at ilok.
com. Additional information about the iLok License Manager is available at ilok.
com.
After you’ve downloaded and installed the iLok License Manager, make sure
your iLok is plugged into the USB port of your computer and login.
Demos
All McDSP plug-ins can be demoed immediately without any iLok USB smart
key. Even if the user does not have an iLok account, a McDSP plug-in will
guide the user to create an iLok account and will automatically deposit a demo
authorization into the newly created account.
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Authorizing Your McDSP Plug-ins
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McDSP EC-300
EC-300
The EC-300 Echo Collection brings the sound of dozens of echo and chorus effects
into a single plug-in. The three delay types - Magnetic, Digital, and Analog -
come with a generous collection of user controls, plenty of character modes,
highly stylized visual feedback, and McDSP’s nearly two decades of gear modeling
experience.
Each EC-300 delay type comes with additional character modes to create new
and unique sounds. Other delay features include adjustable saturation, wow and
flutter, delay output ducking, in-loop filtering and EQ, and level control at the
input and output stages. The EC-300 can operate in single, dual, and ping-pong
modes, and delay time can be synced to session playback or to a tapped tempo.
Feature List:
• Three delay types - Magnetic, Digital, and Analog
• Wide variety of character modes per delay type
• Saturation, Wow, Flutter, Ducking, and other delay features
• Single, dual, and ping-pong delay operation
• Tap tempo and session sync
• Double precision processing
• Mono, stereo, and mono-to-stereo versions
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McDSP EC-300
Filter and EQ
Dual Delay Adjust (In-Loop) Delay Dynamics
Delay Modifiers
Delay and Stereo Delay Levels
Width and Tone
Delay Toolbar
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McDSP EC-300
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McDSP EC-300
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McDSP EC-300
Digital Delay
Dual Delay
Adjust
EQ and SIM
Dynamics
Delay Modifiers
Delay and Stereo
Width Delay Levels
and Tone
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McDSP EC-300
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McDSP EC-300
Delay
Dual Delay Adjust
Modifiers
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McDSP EC-300
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McDSP EC-300
Delay Controls
Feedback - amount of delay output fed back into the delay input
Mix – level adjustment between delay input (dry, un-delayed signal)
and delay output
Delay 1/2 – delay time for delay 1/2
NOTE/TIME – operate the delay based on note values from the
selected tempo (source can be session, BPM value, or tapped)
Note the scrollable numeric display for Delay 1 and Delay 2 can be
viewed in milliseconds, or as a note value.
Meters
The EC-300 has an output meter located on
the right hand side of each of the delay type
interfaces. There is also a Panning meter
showing the balance of left and right signals as the audio is processed by the
delay effect.
The EC-300 output meter can also be toggled to operate as a gain reduction (GR)
meter by simply clicking the VU meter graphic. The meter can be returned to
output metering operation by clicking the VU meter again.
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McDSP EC-300
Automation
All EC-300 controls are completely automatable, excluding the “Delay Type”
parameter. See your DAW User Manual for automating plug-ins section.
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McDSP EC-300
Basics
The delay effect has been around audio production for a long long time. Hence
the many methods used to create the delay effect. But at the core of this audio
algorithm, the functional blocks are the same.
The input signal is fed into a delay line, and the delay line output is mixed with
the input signal so the total output is a combination of the un-delay (dry) and
delayed (wet) signals. The result is a ‘doubling’ effect causing the listener to
perceive two (or more) sources (or players, singers). The shorter the delay time,
the closer the sources appear to be. The longer the delay time, the farther apart
the delay sources appear to be.
The delay line can be further modified to ‘change length’ over time. Such
modulation can come from physically moving the position of the delay playback
‘head’ relative to the moving tape, or from a low frequency oscillator (LFO). Like
many pro audio effects (EQ, compression, reverb), the delay effect has many
variations. These are captured in the EC-300 Echo Collection plug-in.
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McDSP EC-300
Modulation Sources
The EC-300 modulation sources are different in the Magnetic and Analog/
Digital algorithms. Both are useful and unique, and are just a part of the
flexibility offered in the EC-300 plug-in.
The Magnetic delay uses Wow and Flutter controls to mimic the types of delay
time modifying associated with physically altering the tape medium as it plays
back the delayed signal.
Saturation
McDSP coined the concept of Analog Saturation Modeling way back in 1998 in
our FilterBank and CompressorBank plug-ins, and further perfected them in the
TEC Award nominated FutzBox plug-in. The EC-300 leverages this knowledge
to create saturation and distortion effects within the delay loop. Many delay
effects, by their analog nature, would overload when the input signal has
too high, or the amount of signal buildup in the feedback loop exceeded the
dynamic range of the electronics inside the delay.
SIMs
The Digital delay model takes saturation effects a few steps further by offering
Bit Depth adjustment to control the actual fidelity of the delay itself, and a fairly
extensive list of simulated impulse models (SIMs) from the TEC Award nominated
FutzBox plug-in. Maybe routing your delay feedback through a fax machine
does not sound like a good idea. But the complex processing of the SIM really
enhances the range of flange, chorus, and echo effects achievable in the EC-300,
unlike any other delay available.
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McDSP EC-300
EC-300 Applications
The EC-300 plug-in offers a wide variety of effects. Below are just some of the
ways the EC-300 can enhance any production.
Vocals
Singers can always benefit from a chorus to back them up. Using the EC-300 to
give a ‘doubling’ effect is a great idea, in our completely biased opinion.
Set up the EC-300 with a short delay time - maybe 15 to 25 msec. Try the
Magnetic or Analog Delay type if you want some ‘classic character’ in the echo
effect. Set up the Mix control at about 50% to start (equal balance between
original and delayed signals) and then audition varying Mix control amounts
- you may find less of the delayed signal is better, if only to not distract the
listener from the primary source. Often music production is rather precise - folks
want to hear that vocal exactly at the right time !! In that case be sure the delay
effect is not causing the edited track to seemingly appear out of the pocket of
the beat.
The EC-300 is equipped with two delays (Delay 1 and Delay 2), and more
significant ‘doubling’ can be achieved when both are used at different delay
settings (ex: Delay 1 at 15 msec, and Delay 2 at 25 msec - a delay time that is not
a multiple of the delay time in Delay 1).
Lucky Man
Synth great Keith Emerson was a darn good player, and he was also great at
leveraging technology to get amazing sounds. Enter the Echo effect.
A single delay behind a synth solo does it wonders. Instead of some anemic
direct synth sound, you get the idea your rocking out at some stadium
somewhere instead. The EC-300’s two delay lines can be setup for two distinct
echos, and the Feedback Mix and Balance controls further blend the echoes
together for some serious ambient effects.
Just add the recording of a cheering crowd as you solo around and you’re all set.
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McDSP EC-300
EC-300 Specifications
Parameter Range Function
OUTPUT -24 to +24 dB Gain applied at the output of the delay path
INPUT -24 to +24 dB Gain applied at the input of the delay path
LO-TONE Varied per Delay Type Amount of low frequency adjustment at delay output
HI-TONE Varied per Delay Type Amount of high frequency adjustment at delay output
Delay Toolbar
DELAY TYPE Magnetic, Digital, Selects the type of delay algorithm. Each delay type setting
Analog reconfigures the user interface, delay algorithm, EQ, gain
staging, saturation, and a wide variety of other parameters.
TEMPO SYNC Host, BPM When ‘Host’ is selected, the Tempo BPM control is synced
to the BPM of the host DAW. When ‘BPM’ is selected, the
value entered into the Tempo BPM numerical display is
used.
TEMPO BPM 50.0 to 240.0 BPM Sets the BPM value used to calculate the current delay
interval based on Delay 1/2 Note control values. The BPM
value is only used when either of the Delay 1/2 Note Enable
controls are set to ‘On’ (Note portion of button is pushed
inwards). Then the Tempo Sync control is set to ‘Host’, the
Tempo BPM value becomes locked and is not editable.
TEMPO TAP Tap, Tap, Tap, … Sets the plug-ins own Tempo BPM value when tapped at
least 2 times in a row
GROOVE -100% to 100% When Delay 1 or 2 are using Note values (instead of Time
values), the Groove slider scales the delay time forward
or backward towards the next higher note value. For
example, with Delay 1 set to 1/8th note, a Groove of 100%
would increase the delay time to 1/4th note. Similarly a
Groove of -100% would decrease the delay time to 1/6th
note.
DELAY MODE Single, Dual, Ping- Selects the configuration of the two parallel delay
Pong processing paths (Delay 1 and Delay 2)
DELAY 1/2 TIME 1 msec to 5000 msec Sets delay length - amount of time it takes for a signal to
for Magnetic and pass from the delay input to the delay output
Digital, 20 msec to
1000 msec for Analog
DELAY 1/2 NOTE 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, Sets Delay interval using note divisions, in conjunction with
1/32, 1/64 the current BPM value of the tempo control. Only active
when the Delay 1/2 Note Enable controls are set to ‘On’.
DELAY 1/2 NOTE/ Off, On When ‘On’, the Note control sets the current delay interval.
TIME ENABLE When ‘Off’, the Time control sets the current delay interval
OFFSET 0.0 to 30.0 msec Adds a delay to the right output channel only. This control
is most useful in Single Mode. With the Width control set
above 0 %, turning up the Offset control will provide a
stere image for the Single delay signal.
FEEDBACK 0 to 150% Sets the amount of feedback repeats for Delay 1 /2.
BALANCE -100 to 100% When in Dual Mode only, adjusts the relative volume
between Delay 1 /2. Control values approaching 100%
emphasizes Delay 2 by turning down the level of Delay 1.
Values approaching -100% emphasize Delay 1 by turning
down the level of Delay 2.
FEEDBACK -100 to 100% When in Dual Mode only, adjusts the relative feedback
BALANCE amount between Delay 1 and 2, similar to how the Balance
control operates.
FEEDBACK MIX 0 to 100% When in Dual Mode only, adjusts how much of Delay 1
output is feed into the feedback of Delay 2 and vice-versa.
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McDSP EC-300
Delay Modifiers
BIT DEPTH Off, 23 to 2 bits Selects number of bits used to represent the delay signal.
Fewer bits results in fidelity loss, noise, and signal aliasing.
MOD RATE 0.01 to 25.0 Hz Low frequency oscillator (LFO) frequency (rate) that
modulates Delay 1 and Delay 2.
EQ and Filtering
DSP Usage
EC-300 EQ mono 2 36
EC-300 EQ stereo 2 36
All McDSP AAX DSP plug-ins can share the same DSP with other McDSP, Avid,
and third party plug-ins.
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