Space Echo - A piece of Modern History
And the release of the new RE-2 & RE-202 by Boss
The Space Echo is undoubtedly one of the most legendary effects units ever created. Being a true Tape delay, it is still a piece of gear that lots of producers want in their studio as it cannot be replicated by digital effects or other analog delays available.
The first tape echo by Roland was created by Ikutaro Kakehashi in the late 1960s and it was called the Roland Echo Chamber RE-100 based on the designs of the Echoplex and EchoSonic. Then it was followed by the RE-200 with had a spring reverb built-in.
But it was in 1974 when Kakehashi had his breakthrough moment with the release of the RE-101 and the famous RE-201. The difference was that he used the standard 1/4" tape of the open-reel variety, but made it as one, continuous loop with no reels of any kind. The tape loop was contained in a loose, constantly moving jumble in the tape chamber (also known as the tape tank) under a plastic panel which protects the tape and keeps it from getting tangled. The design resulted in lower levels of noise, wow, and flutter, and cut down on tape wear.
After the RE-201, Roland continued the production of the Space Echo with the RE-301, which had three additional features: sound on sound recording, allowing it to be used as a looper as well as an echo; an analog chorus circuit; and the ability to control the repeat rate externally by control voltage via foot pedal.
Lastly, Roland released the RE-501 Chorus Echo. The RE-501 was built using Roland's free-running tape system that minimized wow and flutter and extended the life of the tape for more than 300 hours of use. It included dual outputs for a three-dimensional sound. The outputs included unbalanced, and for the first time, balanced XLR outputs putting it into the professional range of studio effects. As the name suggests, the key-selling feature of the RE-501, was the Chorus effect that added a new level of modulation.
But why such an old piece of gear is still so relevant and lives in so many studios?
Just like vintage analog synthesizers, vintage analog effects are also very popular in the past decade. Tape delays nowadays are just digital recreations and not actual tape delays (with a real tape!) and although some of them sound amazing, they’re simply not the real thing.
The heart of tape delays lies on the tape itself. They are unstable and unpredictable (in the best way possible) with real wow and flutter and they sound warm and gritty. The RE-201 has also a very useful input preamp that colors your sound beautifully, a reverb, and EQing options.
Once you listen to a true tape delay, you will immediately know why they are so famous and valuable.
RE-201 Space Echo Price History on Reverb
On the other hand, tape delays like the original RE-201 have their flaws. Being almost 50 years old, the units sold today have been heavily used and sometimes abused and you need to be careful when you get one online. They also need a lot of (expensive) maintenance and part replacements that can be very tough. Just like any other vintage machine, they need extra care and they might fail on you so beware.
To solve this problem, an Australian company called Echo Fix started by re-selling parts for the Space Echo and repairing them. And by getting very experienced in doing that, they released their own, completely new Space Echo called the Tape Echo EF-X2. This is a brand new, authentic re-creation of the Space Echo with some new modern features. It is the absolute best solution to get the true Space Echo sound without having to deal with its problems.
If you are looking for the next best thing that’s not an actual tape delay but a very faithful digital rendition, BOSS (which is a part of Roland) has two options to check out.
The first is the BOSS RE-20. Released in 2007, it is a Space Echo in a pedal form. It looks great, sounds very close to the original Space Echo and it’s cheap and reliable. It has the exact same panel and knobs as the RE-201 with an added functionality of tap tempo without breaking the bank.
And now, BOSS announced two brand new Space Echo products, the RE-2, and the RE-202. The RE-2 has almost all the main features you would want, but in a much smaller form factor - the same housing as all BOSS pedals and it cleverly uses dual encoders to have hands-on control of all the pedal’s parameters.
On the other side, the RE-202 is a new, updated version of the old RE-20. Very similar form-factor, with hands-on control on every function the original Roland Space Echo had. The RE-202 also includes extended features, including twice the delay time, tap tempo control, memories for saving presets, and a fourth virtual tape head that unlocks five additional sound combinations. The selection of new and aged tape is also a nice touch if you want some extra grittiness and overall the RE-202 sounds and looks like a faithful re-creation of the mythical Space Echo.
Prices:
The RE-2 is around 250€ or 250$ and the RE-202 comes at 400€ or 400$. It is a bit frustrating that the RE-202 took a big step up in price compared to the RE-20 (which cost 250€), but it also has a few more features that you may need.
Boss RE-2 Links
Boss RE-202 Links
A side note: we decided to include only hardware effects since there are tons of plugins that copy the Space Echo. But if you just want a great tape delay plugin, we suggest checking out Audio Thing’s Outer Space - Vintage Tape Echo Plugin. It has every feature the RE-201 has, with added features like time sub-divisions, stereo mode, noise, and of course presets.
With no doubt, the Space Echo is a legend. It is a piece of music history, used by numerous artists for the past 5 decades due to its character and warmness. Producers and musicians are always after gear with character and uniqueness and the Space Echo offers both. Now, whether you are willing to pay the price for one or not, we can all agree that this chunky box by Roland has left its mark.
