How does SHIFT mode work on Magneto?

When the HEADS toggle switch is set to SHIFT on Magneto, the speed of each of the four playback heads changes with varispeed resulting in pitch- shifted delay repeats.  SHIFT head configuration results in playback at the speed and pitches noted below:

  • Head 1: +1 octave+5th; 3x speed playback
    • Head 1 runs at triple speed and is heard playing back 3x for every cycle of the delay time, with an offset of 1/3 of the delay time.
  • Head 2: +1 octave; 2x speed playback
    • Head 2 runs at double speed and is heard playing back 2x for every cycle of the delay time, with an offset of 1/2 of the delay time.
  • Head 3: -1 octave; half speed playback
    • As Head 3 is playing back at HALF speed, this head always plays back once on the beat every 2 cycles of the delay time.
  • Head 4: No shift; quarter note repeats
    • Head 4 runs at normal speed without any shift and playsback once for every cycle of the delay time as standard quarter note delay.  In LOOP and SAMPLE mode, this is the playback head for the recorded loop or sample.