Universal Audio Starlight
The most authentic tape, bucket-brigade, and digital delays ever placed into a stompbox — three iconic delay circuits from three different decades, all in one enclosure. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Universal Audio Starlight Echo Station takes center stage, running in the effects loop of my Benson Amps Vincent with my Prisma Guitars Sunset loaded with Lollar Gold Foil pickups.
UA built the Starlight around their dual-engine UAFX processing platform, and these are end-to-end circuit emulations, not approximations.
Tape EP-III — UA's complete circuit emulation of the early 1970s Echoplex EP-3 tape echo, the most beloved and sought-after tape delay in recorded music history. Every eccentric trait of the hardware is present: wow/flutter randomness, the sound of the tape splice, and the incredibly musical preamp circuit. Three tape age settings — New, Used, and Worn — shape the character of the repeats from clean and clear to saturated and weathered. Delay time: 80-700ms. Self-oscillates realistically at high feedback. This is not a simulation of a tape delay. It is a tape delay, running in a stompbox.
Analog DMM — bucket-brigade emulation based on the EHX Deluxe Memory Man, the vintage American bucket-brigade delay that defined studio echo in the 1970s and '80s. Syrupy repeats, thick modulation, and mind-bending textures. Delay time: 110-1068ms with pitch-shifting artifacts when delay time changes — just like the original hardware. Self-oscillates at high feedback.
Precision — UA's own studio-grade digital delay derived from the UAD plug-in library, emulating early 1980s rack-mount digital delay units. Pristine, transparent repeats with optional modulation. Delay time up to 1500ms. Will not self-oscillate — sustains indefinitely at max feedback without spiraling, which is the behavior of that actual circuit.
Cooper Time Cube — free at registration. Based on the truly obscure 1970s studio effect that generated delays via a coiled length of rubber garden hose. A spatial doubling effect that sits unlike any other delay in the pedal, up to 2500ms of delay time.
All four algorithms feature analog dry-through, spillover on bypass, tap tempo, preset storage, and true or buffered bypass selectable via the UAFX Control app.
This is the third demo in my UAFX series — check out the Astra Modulation Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6rPncQ6rww and the Golden Reverberator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiu8evGd-zc
🎛️ Universal Audio Starlight Echo Station: https://www.uaudio.com/products/starlight-echo-station
🎸 Prisma Guitars Sunset: https://www.prismaguitars.com/collections
🎸 Lollar Gold Foil Pickups: https://www.lollarguitars.com/gold-foil
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent: https://www.bensonamps.com/amps/vincent
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🎸 Prisma Guitars Sunset | Lollar Gold Foil Pickups
🎛️ Universal Audio Starlight Echo Station | Tape EP-III / Analog DMM / Precision / Cooper Time Cube
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent (Effects Loop)
