Product Launch - The Soundgas Roland RE-2101 Stereo Space Echo is Here
Soundgas Roland RE-2101 Stereo Space Echo
The Soundgas RE-2101 is a fully stereo Space Echo built on the RE-101 platform. Compact and reliable, it features early preamps, mono/stereo in/out, internal pingpong mixing, and an optional motor slow/stop mod. Developed and tested in-house by the Soundgas tech team, it's a practical, sonically rich vintage tape echo for modern studios.
The Soundgas RE-2101 is a single-chassis stereo Space Echo built on a vintage Roland RE-101 platform. It use a single tape tray, transport and motor and uses stereo heads, retaining individually switchable head patterns, echo volume and feedback per channel via the additional knobs on the front panel.
The RE-2101 runs mono in/stereo out or full stereo in/out. After many years' extensive R&D and testing, we are excited to introduce this awesome machine which offers full stereo functionality, early preamps, internal ping pong mixing, and an optional motor slow/stop mod - all within the form factor of a standard Space Echo.
Key Features:
- - Single chassis stereo design
- - Early preamps
- - Mono/stereo input; stereo output
- - Internal ping pong mixing
- - New motor; many new/refurbished parts
- - Optional motor slow speed mod for longer, darker repeats and slow down/stop effects
- - Compact size and weight - similar to a standard Space Echo
Preorder Now
Optional Motor Slow Speed Modification:
This modification allows switching the motor speed to a much slower range with its own speed control, creating longer, darker repeats. The mod has been in development for over a year but can require additional adjustment over time, hence is offered as an optional extra.
What do you mean by Prototype?
This project is an ongoing development - we have been refining and adjusting our designs and modifications over the course of many years. The current machines we are selling is a part of that process: while the design and mods may change over time, we are confident that this machine will delight and inspire while remaining reliable into the future.
Built to our exacting standards, the RE-2101 offers the ultimate stereo Space Echo in a sensible, practical package that's utterly delightful and addictive - both sonically and creatively.
Stereo Space Echo Background - the RE-402:
When we originally took preorders for five Stereo Space Echoes, the plan seemed achievable. We'd already built and tested prototypes, and early orders would fund further R&D and custom parts. Had we stuck to the original design of two stacked RE-101s, we’d have shipped within months. But the aim was more ambitious: to create the ultimate Stereo Space Echo, incorporating features we and our customers wanted.
Building a stereo machine from two stacked RE-201s brings exponentially greater complexity. Every added feature demanded time and testing. During this period, our brilliant head tech, Dr Huw, who first built the stacked 101 prototype, had to retire due to long-term illness. Max Dawson had already stepped into a lead role and later proposed starting afresh with a more straightforward design.
After extensive testing of three machines, including a full-feature prototype which went out for real world testing by Ed O’Brien to record his new solo album, the 201-based design was proving too costly and difficult to build. Rising parts costs and supply issues only added to this. The answer lay in a single-chassis stereo machine based on the RE-101. Huw and Max had already begun work on what became the RE-2101.
We’ve now tested multiple 2101 units. It’s practical, compact and musically every bit as compelling. It also fits wherever a standard Space Echo does - unlike the weighty and imposing 402. The latest update is that Max has had a breakthrough with the 402 design and we may be able to build more of them after all.
Watch this space!
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