Page 5 – Vintage Digital

Released in 1981

Sony DRE 2000 Digital Reverberator

The Sony DRE 2000 was Sony’s first digital reverb and they headed straight for the heart of Lexicon with a complex and very advanced system, that also proved fragile. These reverbs are hard to find on the used market, partly because those who have them hang onto them, and partly because many of them have died, proving to be too expensive and difficult to fix.

Released in 1981

Roland SDD-320 Dimension D Chorus

Roland’s Chorus effect that featured heavily on their JC Series guitar amplifiers was a unique and desirable sound back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The demand for this new chorus effect was so great, Roland developed the Roland SDD-320 Dimension D to satisfy that market demand, and it is quite possibly the greatest chorus effect processor ever made.

Released in 1981

dbx Model 224 Type II Noise Reduction System

The dbx Model 224 Type II Noise Reduction System was not a professional noise reduction system, but it did find its way into smaller studios and home studios for noise reduction duties on reel to reel recorders of the day.

Released in 1982

Marshall AR-300 Tape Eliminator

The Marshall AR-300 Tape Eliminator was designed for one purpose only; to duplicate the sound of true analogue tape echo. The Marshall AR-300 Tape Eliminator can eliminate the need for a dedicated tape machine, along with overcoming many of the limitations associated with tape and tape transports.

Released in 1982

Korg SDD-3000 Digital Delay

The Korg SDD-3000 is one of those effects that has retained it’s appeal even after decades of newer product coming after it. The Korg SDD-3000 digital delay has remained so popular that Korg themselves have re-introduced it in a guitar pedal form, as it was guitarists that fell in love with this very capable delay.

Released in 1982

Lexicon PCM 42 Digital Delay Processor

The Lexicon PCM42 improved on the PCM41 and became a studio staple, even today you will find this nearly 40 year old digital delay in use aorund the world. The Lexicon PCM42 combines Lexicon’s reliability with features for musician. Unique in concept and execution, the Lexicon PCM-42 performs all of the functions you would of a high quality digital delay line, while the door to realms of musical expression that were only a dream now.

Released in 1982

Quantec Room Simulator

The Quantec Room Simulator is a new technical concept that enables emulating the acoustical behaviour common to spaces of any volume or size, so that acoustical impressions ranging from a tin can to a columned cathedral may be synthesised and created at fingertip command.

Released in 1982

Tascam 244 Portastudio

The year was 1982, Tascam introduced the Tascam 244 Portastudio, and in doing so they managed to change the recording world forever, particularly for home musicians! This was also a game changing moment for recording studios.

Released in 1982

Bel BD-80 Digital Delay

The Bel BD-80 processor is a high quality digital delay with an expandable memory with loop edit facility, synchronised record and playback (sampling), keyboard control (1 V per octave), echo and flanging. The Bel BD-80 must be one of the most popular delay/samplers ever produced, being found in most modest home set-up to the more high-profile studio.

Released in 1982

Drawmer DS201 Dual Noise Gate

The Drawmer DS201 is a sophisticated dual channel noise gate incorporating a number of features pioneered by Drawmer, which are invaluable to the sound engineer, and not found on conventional noise gates.

Released in 1982

Eventide SP 2016 Signal Processor Reverb

The Eventide SP 2016 Effects Processor Reverb is something special. If you’ve never worked with one before, your ears are in for a pleasant surprises. What makes the Eventide SP 2016 so unusual is that (unlike most products in this specialised age) it isn’t just one thing. Not simply a reverb or a digital delay, or an equaliser…but all of these things, and more.

Released in 1982

Furman Sound RV-1 Reverberation System with Limiter

The Furman Sound RV-1 was released around 1982 and is a mono analogue spring reverb system with a limiter built in, an odd combination of effects. The Furman Sound RV-1 is a mono device with TRS or XLR inputs on offer. A stereo model was released some time later.