Black Rooster Audio TD-201 User manual

TD-201 | PRODUCT OVERVIEW & MANUAL
TD-201
VINTAGE TAPE ECHO

TD-201 VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
GENERAL OVERVIEW
2
AN EXPLORATION OF SPACE
TD-201 | VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
The TD-201 vintage tape echo plug-in brings the
unmistakable sound of the classic analog delay into
the 21st century. This intuitive unit oers a wide
variety of detailed parameters, making it highly
customizable yet simple to operate.
HISTORY
As a part of the 1950s revolution in music production,
musicians, producers, and engineers were busy
creating the foundation of the modern-day workow,
introducing countless technical innovations - from
guitar amps to electric organs, as well as an incredible
amount of studio eects. This period also marked the
birth of electric reverberation & delay units.
Early-day tape delays such as the Echoplex or Copicat
- the rst attempts at echo generators - have a history
of being technically unreliable and prone to damage
when transported, yet their sound was so captivating
that further attempts inevitably ensued.
It was in the late 1960s when Japanese engineer
Ikutaro Kakehashi and Hammond started
experimenting with multi-head tape echos. One of
these featured a free-oating 1⁄4-inch tape & spring
reverb housed in a rock-solid tape chamber, ready for
touring and more stable and reliable than anything on
the market at the time.
The Roland Space Echo RE-201 became a best-seller
for the brand. It further evolved into a range of delay
eects that are still extensively used in music
productions and in sound design today. The famous
delay sound has stayed consistent ever since the
RE-201 was born.
For many tape delay acionados, there is nothing like
the sound of a legendary vintage unit. Still, many
struggle with their unpredictability, not to mention
that they can be time-consuming to use and dicult
to access. This is why we have created the TD-201 - a
highly customizable in-the-box tape delay that oers
all of the vintage character of the classics, as well as
countless customization options for maximum
usability.

TD-201 VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
GENERAL OVERVIEW
3
FEATURE OVERVIEW
MULTI-HEAD MODE SELECTOR
We have implemented a complex mode selection that
allows for seamless transitioning between the play-
back heads so that you can dial in your perfect room
setup. Eortlessly mix your reverberation and delay
just like with the vintage original.
PER HEAD FINE TUNING
Fine-tune your perfect echo by adjusting the depth,
volume, and stereo position per playback head in the
lower panel. The nine parameters allow for surgical-
level precision in your workow.
TAP & SYNC
Quickly synchronize the tape speed to your mix/
rhythm with the sync control. By using this feature,
the echo will follow the impulse given by the tap
knob.
DIAL IN SOME RANDOMNESS
In order to go "full vintage", try to use our range of
ne-tuning parameters to control the motor, utter,
headroom, dropouts, and noise – all of which are
hardware tape machine features. Play around with
these, and dial in some randomness to make your
echo sound even more authentic.
LO-FI CASSETTE EFFECT
Here’s a little pro-tip: Set your echo to 0ms (HEAD 1
ONLY Mode Selector = 1 & HD1 Pos = 0) and solely
manipulate the motor, utter, headroom, dropouts
and noise in the mid panel. This is your perfect lo-
cassette eect.
ADJUSTABLE GAIN-STAGING
The adjustable gain-staging gives you the ability to
control the pre-processing input gain level, as well as
the post-processing output gain level.
SSE2 & APPLE SILICON OPTIMIZED CODE
DSP operations are pipelined using SSE2 and Apple
Silicon instruction sets. This ensures a high-perfor-
mance operation despite its very complex computa-
tions.
HIGHDPI/RETINA SUPPORT
The user interfaces support high pixel density on both
Windows and Mac OS systems, giving you the most
enjoyable user experience on high DPI displays.
FURTHER INFO
PLUGIN ACTIVATION & SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
All Black Rooster Audio plug-ins are equipped with a
straightforward and easy to use, serial-based activa-
tion system. We did our best to ensure that our sys-
tem works well for both online and oine users. By
supporting USB key activation, mobile use is sup-
ported.
For detailed information on activation and the current
system requirements of our plug-ins please refer to
blackroosteraudio.com/en/faq

TD-201 VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
PLUG-IN CONTROLS
4
» INPUT/OUTPUT GAIN STAGING
The TD-201 allows you to control the input and output gain, to perfectly adjust the
eect to your given signal/mix.
» MODE SELECTOR
Layer your playback heads (H1, H2, H3) with this versatile head selector, that will
internally route & mix your head setup as inspired by the original.
» MAIN EQ
Equalize your processed signal with this classic 2-band EQ.
» REVERB VOLUME
Adjust the amount of reverberation, that is added to your signal.
» DELAY INTENSITY & REPEAT RATE
Adjust the self-oscillating intensity and repeat-rate for diving into “space” with
the echo. The parameters will control & intensify the feedback leverage onto the
tape and therefore allow for deep delay eects.
» ECHO VOLUME
Adjust the amount of echo/delay, that is added to your signal.

TD-201 VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
PLUG-IN CONTROLS
5
» DRY PREAMP
When turned on, the dry signal is routed through the preamp stage, which will
add some subtle saturation.
» SEND
The “dub” switch in OFF position will not pass the direct signal, but any repitition
or self-oscillation through the echo processor.
» SYNC & TAP
With the sync control you can easily synchronize the tape speed to your mix/
rhythm. Your echo will follow the impulse given by the tap knob (input by man-
ual tapping).
» DRY IN VOLUME
Adjust the volume of the dry input signal for the tape processor.
» NOISE
Dial in some random tape noise for more authenticity.
» DROPOUTS
Adjust the amount of typical tape dropouts for more authenticity.

TD-201 VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
PLUG-IN CONTROLS
6
» HEADROOM
Adjust the headroom capability of the tape for limiting/expanding the dynamic
range of the echo eect.
» FLUTTER
Add volume and pitch imperfection to your tape signal for more authenticity.
» MOTOR
Add motor/speed imperfection to your tape signal for more authenticity.
» DRY MUTE
Disables the dry signal. You can utilize the eect plug-in as a pure send eect by
muting the dry signal from the wet/mix section of the plug-in.
» POWER (BYPASS)
Use the power switch to bypass the processing of the plug-in (ON/OFF).

TD-201 VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
PLUG-IN CONTROLS
7
» HEAD POSITION (1/2/3)
Adjust the head position of the playback head in order to ne-tune the depth of
the echo/repetition.
» HEAD VOLUME (1/2/3)
Adjust the head volume of the playback head in order to ne-tune the balance of
all heads.
» HEAD PAN (1/2/3)
Adjust the head pan of the playback head to ne-tune the stereo-width and
stereo-position of the echo/repetition.
» TAPE BASS
Fine-tune the amount/capability of bass within the tape.
(This parameter will only aect the tape, further adjust with the main EQ)
» TAPE TREBLE
Fine-tune the amount/capability of treble within the tape.
(This parameter will only aect the tape, further adjust with the main EQ)
» VU METER & PEAK LEVEL
Check our beautiful VU meter for some visual feedback on your plug-in settings.
The PEAK LEVEL LED next to the output control will further indicate overshoots.

TD-201 VINTAGE TAPE ECHO
PREFS & INSTRUCTIONS
8
ADDITIONAL PLUG-IN PREFERENCES
(GEAR ICON MENU AT THE BOTTOM)
GUI SIZE
In the GUI size menu, you can select your preferred GUI ranging from a list of four settings, if you’re looking to
change the default sizing. Please note that the GUI size setting is a global preference that aects all Black
Rooster Audio plug-ins installed on your system. If you are stuck with large GUI sizes, please right click on any
non-control section of the plug-in for the regular settings menu to adjust GUI size.
KNOB BEHAVIOUR & KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
Use the plug-in settings menu to select your preferred knob mode globally. Please note that all of our plug-ins
share the same settings across all DAW applications. Choose between “Host Setting“, “Circular“, “Relative Cir-
cular" and "Linear“.
• By default, the knob mode is set to "Host Setting", which means that the knob mode is dictated by the DAW
application. Some VST hosts allow you to change the knob mode setting in their preference menu. Our plug-
ins will respect the host knob mode in that setting.
• In "Circular" or "Relative Circular" mode, all knobs will react to circular mouse gestures and you have to drag
your mouse in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction to change its value.
• In the "Linear" mode you have to drag your mouse up or down when selecting a knob to change its value.
Use the knob sensitivity menu and adjust it to your liking. Please note that this function is only available in lin-
ear mode.
ALL OF OUR PLUGINS SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
AU Hosts on Mac OS
Alt + Click - Reset control to its default value Shift + Drag - Fine control
Shift + Mousewheel - Fine control
VST Hosts on Mac OS
CMD + Click - Reset control to its default value
Shift + Drag - Fine control (only a applicable in linear knob mode) Shift + Mousewheel - Fine control
VST Hosts on Windows
Ctrl + Click - Reset control to its default value
Shift + Drag - Fine control (only a applicable in linear knob mode) Shift + Mousewheel - Fine control