Magneto support

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Magneto comes as a 3u eurorack module without a case or a power supply.  We recommend mounting Magneto in a eurorack case that has at least 28hp of space and using a power supply that can provide 210mA at +12V, 210mA at -12V, and 0mA at 5V.

We also recommend using a sound source that can feed synth level signals (minimum +4dBu and higher) into Magneto’s inputs to best experience the sounds and features of this module.  We offer the AA.1 Attenuator/Amplifier module which can be used for amplifying guitar and other instrument level signals to work with Magneto, or attenuate the synth level signals from Magneto to be fed into your instrument/line level devices such as effect pedals, amplifiers, or audio interfaces.

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Magneto is an effect module designed to receive synth level input signals.  A standard guitar’s output is typically about 18dB too quiet to work well with Magneto and the input impedance does not match well with a guitar’s high output impedance.

Plugging a guitar into a boost pedal that can provide at least 18dB of clean, high-headroom gain will work to raise the input level and provide better impedance matching for Magneto’s inputs.

We also have our own module available called AA.1 to interface guitar level signals with Magneto and other Eurorack devices.  It has at +18dB amplifier to boost your signal for Eurorack and an -18dB attenuator to lower your Eurorack signal down to instrument level for guitar setups.

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When set to ECHO mode (GREEN MODE LED), Magneto can be used as a four head tape delay with a variable delay time range dependent on the tape speed.  The delay TAP range when set via the TAP button, TAP CV, and CLK IN CV input is 50ms-15s regardless of the SPEED/PITCH knob setting.

For delay times up to 15 seconds, you simply press the TAP button with two successive presses to set your delay time, regardless of the SPEED setting*:

For delay times longer than 15 seconds, you can adjust the SPEED/PITCH knob to slow down the speed of tape after tapping in your tempo.**

For example, if you want a 20 second delay:

1. Start with the SPEED/PITCH knob set to NORMAL speed (12 o’clock position).
2. Tap in a 10 second delay using the TAP button.
3. Turn the SPEED/PITCH knob to HALF speed (9 o’clock position) to get a 20 second delay.

*Also applies to the CLK IN and TAP CV inputs to set delay time.
**Note that slowing down the tape speed results in lower fidelity delay repeats.

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When set to LOOP mode (AMBER MODE LED), Magneto can be used as a Sound-on-Sound tape looper with up to 2 minutes of recording time dependent on the tape speed.*  Tape head 4 is the looper playback head while tape heads 1-3 provide delay repeats for the incoming signal.**

To use the Sound-on-Sound looper:

• Ensure that the FEEDBACK ON/OFF button for Playback Head 4 is ON and the Playback Head 4 knob is turned up to hear the recorded loop playback.
• Press the TAP button once to Splice In (loop start).
• Press the TAP button once again at the desired end of the loop to Splice Out.
  • The recorded loop will now play back.
  • The REPEATS knob controls the regeneration strength of the recorded loop.
  • Set lower REPEATS level for loops that evolve over time.
• Press the TAP button a third time to clear the loop stopping the playback of the initial recorded loop.

* Maximum loop length is 15 seconds at max SPEED and 2 minutes at min SPEED. Note that slowing down the tape speed results in lower fidelity audio loops.

**In LOOP mode, delay times and feedback settings for HEADs 1, 2 and 3 are determined by the delay time and FEEDBACK button setting Magneto was set to BEFORE entering LOOP mode with the MODES button. Head 4 is the looper playback head.

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When set to SAMPLE mode (RED MODE LED), Magneto can be used as a Phrase sampler with up to 2 minutes of recording time dependent on the tape speed.*  Tape head 4 is the sample playback head while tape heads 1-3 provide delay repeats for the incoming signal.**

To use the Phrase sampler:

• Press the TAP button once to start sample recording.
• Press the TAP button once again at the end of the sample to stop recording.
• Trigger the sample playback with the RESTART (symbol) transport button or RESTART CV input.
• Press the TAP button a third time to clear the sample memory.

Triggering the Recorded Sample

You can trigger the playback of the recorded sample by pressing the RESTART button or sending a gate CV to the RESTART CV input.

To play back the sample with an external keyboard/controller, connect it’s gate CV out to Magneto’s RESTART CV input, and the CV out to Magneto’s SPEED CV input.

You can use the SPEED/PITCH knob to play the sample back at different pitches/speeds for a 3 octave range.  The SPEED CV input is calibrated for 1V/octave over a range of -3V to +3V.  When voltage is supplied to the SPEED CV input, the SPEED/PITCH knob still influences the the resultant speed/pitch, and the incoming CV is added to the knob position.  Zero volts at the SPEED CV input will not cause the speed/pitch to deviate from the knob position value. The SPEED/ PITCH knob’s effective voltage is 0V at minimum, and +3V at maximum. The SPEED CV input adds to this effective voltage, being limited at the top end to +3V (fastest speed/highest pitch), and limited to -3V at the bottom end. By using the SPEED CV input, you can achieve a six octave range, allowing you to go three octaves lower than would be possible using the SPEED/PITCH knob alone without any incoming CV.

* Maximum sample length is 15 seconds at max SPEED and 2 minutes at min SPEED.  Note that slowing down the tape speed results in lower fidelity audio samples.

**In SAMPLE mode, delay times and feedback settings for HEADs 1, 2 and 3 are determined by the delay time and FEEDBACK button setting Magneto was set to BEFORE entering SAMPLE mode with the MODES button. Head 4 is the sample playback head.

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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:

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Magneto features a true varispeed tape system with pitch artifacts as the SPEED/PITCH knob is adjusted faster (higher pitch, shorter delay time) or slower (lower pitch, longer delay time).  Pitch Quantize mode restricts the SPEED/PITCH knob values to relative speeds corresponding to the pitch intervals of user selectable scales.

Note: When Pitch Quantize is active, the SPEED/PITCH range is 2 octaves (4:1 speed range).

To select a scale, press and hold the TRANSPORT button and turn the SPEED/PITCH knob to scroll through the 15 available scales.  The currently selected scale will be displayed via the four FEEDBACK/TRANSPORT button LEDs, according to the table below:

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The Transport controls of Magneto provide control over the playback functions for the ‘tape.’

To activate the transport controls for the FEEDBACK ON/OFF buttons, press the TRANSPORT button.  The TRANSPORT button will turn RED during this operation the FEEDBACK ON/OFF buttons will also turn RED when their corresponding Transport function is in use.

∞ INFINITE:  Disables the Record head and continuously plays the most recent delay cycle or loop length audio.

◀️▶️ FORWARD/REVERSE:  Reverses the playback direction of the tape from the moment the function is engaged.  In ECHO mode, the entire tape length is heard in reverse until REVERSE is pressed again.  In LOOP or SAMPLE mode, the loop or sample is played in reverse.

RESTART:  Restarts the playback of the loop or sample from the starting point in LOOP or SAMPLE mode. Aligns shifted head audio in ECHO operation. Restarts deck immediately from PAUSE, without mechanical lag.

⏸ PAUSE:  Stops/Starts the playback of the tape with mechanical slowdown/startup effect. *The speed of the slowdown/startup effect can be adjusted by PLAYBACK LEVEL 4 knob when the TRANSPORT and PAUSE buttons are RED (transport is paused).

Momentary Mode: Power up Magneto while holding the desired transport control button to change between Momentary (flashes RED) and Latch (flashes GREEN) for that transport function. CV control will also be changed for the desired function to either Gate (RED) or Trigger (GREEN).  This allows for the transport function to work only while you are holding down the desired transport control button.  NOTE: RESTART is always trigger regardless of custom settings.  By default, transport controls are all latching switches except for RESTART.

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The LEFT and RIGHT dry input signals remain discreetly stereo:

• LEFT DRY INPUT signal passes on to the LEFT OUTPUT.
• RIGHT DRY INPUT signal passes on to the RIGHT OUTPUT.

Delays

The delay repeats are generated by summing the LEFT and RIGHT INPUT signals together to the Record Head.  The panning of the delay repeats from Playback Heads are determined by the PAN switch setting.

Reverb

At the end of the signal chain, the LEFT and RIGHT DRY input signals and the WET delay signals are summed together in a spring reverb ‘tank’ and sent to both outputs with a psycho acoustic process applied to create a stereo field.

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The following inputs are designed to receive continuous CV input of -5V to +5V.:

• SPEED – Controls the tape speed. (-3V to +3V, calibrated for 1V/octave)
• WET – Modifies the WET level.
• REPEATS – Modifies the REPEATS level.
• SPRING – Modifies the SPRING reverb level.

NOTE: The knob corresponding to the continuous CV inputs acts as an offset that is mixed with the CV input.

The following inputs are designed to receive 0-5V rising edge trigger CV input.

• CLK IN – Sets the delay time in quarter notes.  Clock period range: 50ms to 15s.
• REC GATE – Toggles the record head on and off.  REC LVL LED is lit blue when input signal to the delay line is muted.
• SHIFT – Toggles the SHIFT effect for the Playback heads on and off.
• INFINITE (∞) – Toggles the INFINITE transport control on and off.
• FORWARD/REVERSE – Toggles the FORWARD/REVERSE transport function.
• RESTART – Engages the RESTART transport function.
• PAUSE – Toggles the PAUSE transport function.
• TAP – Controls the function of the physical TAP button.  Sets delay time in ECHO mode.  Sets splice in/out/clear in LOOP mode. Sets sample record start/stop/clear in SAMPLE mode.

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When using Magneto with stereo output (both LEFT and RIGHT OUTPUTS connected), there is a psycho acoustic process applied to the output signal when the panning is centered on Magneto to provide a sense of depth to the audio.

In this process, we start by adding a very slight delay to the LEFT OUTPUT channel.  Because of this slight delay, the RIGHT, non-delayed OUTPUT channel is perceived as louder to the human ear because it is heard first, so we boost the level of the delayed output very slightly to compensate for this and provide a sense of space between the LEFT and RIGHT output channels.

When using only a single output from Magneto, output signal sums to mono* and the psycho-acoustic process is not applied as there is no interaction with the LEFT and RIGHT outputs. Also, when set to CENTER PAN with both LEFT and RIGHT OUTPUTS connected, as soon as you adjust any of the heads to a custom panning setting, the psycho-acoustic process is removed.

*The summing to mono only applies when the PAN toggle switch is set to LRLR, LRRL, or using a custom PAN setting in CENTER and occurs before the psycho-acoustic process.