Doepfer

(in the sense of glowing review, nothing to do with op amps)

i was a little worried by dieter's warning, that the clock noise of
this module is more intense than on the single tap versions. but bakis
chimed in with a go-for-it post, and so i went for it :)

only having previously the 4096 stage single tap version, i can only
speak from limited experience, but i haven't found the noise to be
more intense at all. anyone who has filtered out or integrated or just
loves the noise of the a188-1 will have no problems with its multi tap
sibling.

actually, i ran across a method of filter-free noise elimination a few
days ago: judicious mixing of the various taps, especially the first
and the last, can cancel out the noise almost completely. i assume
this is some kind of phase phenomenon. if i were a module developer,
i'd take a closer look at this, it really does massively increase the
sound potential of the module when used as an echo box.

the sound  of even the longest (3328 stage) delay is significantly
higher fidelity than my 4096 stages. this has its advantages and
disadvatages, but certainly allows higher feedback settings while
maintaining the character of an echo. okay, so i'm a dubhead :)

the only thing that it doesn't do as well as the a188-1 is tracking.
if i have a 1v/octave response at long delay times, then short delay
times are way out, and vice versa. this is not a problem with the
single tap modules. but you can't have everything, n'est-ce pas?

the million things that you can do with a multitap version are
interesting but not the point of this post. but if you're crazy about
your a188-1 and you're wondering whether to risk buying one of the
largest and most expensive modules in the doepfer catalogue, i can
only say go for it...

hope this helps somebody :)

stu