I have been seeing a lot of cool looking old Dynachord gear on ebay lately. Neat looking rack mount tape delays, table top tape delays, reverbs and digital delays. Is this stuff good or should I avoid it. I never used any before and am curious about it. I know Dynachord still makes a boatload of PA gear, mixers ect and they remind me of a European Peavey in a way, but the old stuff looks interesting.

ssshhhh!!!!

i haven't picked up a dynacord yet...

don't make these go up just yet.

European Peavey is correct now.

Back when I was a young lad playing in punk and rock bands (man does my age show now) Dynachord was pretty good gear.
They surely have a distinctive sound.
The tape delays are nice but a bitch to maintain. Finding parts is not always simple.

I would say go for it if you are able to service them.

I have several tape delays, one that works, others for parts

Their mixers were not very good though, at least in my humble opinion.
They did make a bitchin rotary emulation.

I am indeed looking at the older 19" wide rack mount gear. I have seen some pretty cool tape delays and old digital reverbs but I know nothing of them. I am more interested in their rack gear and not the older table top tape delays. There was a delay and the model number was EC504. It had about 5 tape heads and variable reverb and delay settings and it went for about $450 CDN on ebay. It looked like a top notch piece but I know virtually nothing about their gear and quality, but I assume it is good stuff.

Mom is the word.

The TAM 19 / TAM 21 units are gooooorgeous flangers/doublers, complete with envelope-follower function, foot control, etc...
Make your head spin better than a Mu-Tron Bi-phase

I have or have had the following
TAM 21, SRS-56, VRS23, DRS-78, EC280.. (the EC280 and DSR78 are gone)
All are great. The DRS-78 was a very early digital reverb (guess which year ;-) ) and noisy but nice. Cool delay which had 3 settings and you could swithc between them with a front panel footswitch jack. Used to trigger it from my modular!
VRS23 is AMAZING on guitars and vocals. Love it. LOVE IT!
SRS.56 is a big reverb system but I prefer the 23. The 56 has a lot of flexibility though and can be whacky in a good way.
TAM 21 is a great Flanger/chorus. Excellent.
The company still exists and is very helpful.
I also have an ADD One drum system of their's which is INCREDIBLE. Sampled drum sound but with a full blown analogue synth channel per voice and a very cool triggering system. Very deep and unique. No, WAY DEEP and totally OUT THERE !!!
I use the ADS sampler as well. Design was by Oberheim I believe. No filters, but a seriously good sampler.

The tape echos are a mixed bunch. I bought a tatty early one which was fully valve for $100. Needed work, so I put it on ebay as needing work and not fully functional and got $400. Go figure!
I would really like an EC504. Later and probably less character, but more practical.

Good stuff!

What about the DRP-20? Anyone got one, care to share thoughts?

I have DRP20 and DRP15

Contrary to popular opinion, I think the 15 is a better machine than the 20 (it's certainly a lot quieter). The 15 also has the same modulation algorithms as used in their other outboard such as the much-rated Dynacord Leslie simulator (the name escapes me).

I always wondered why the 15 had a 'laid back' sound. When I got a service manual I noticed that it's about 2-3 dB down at 12K, which would explain the 'warm' (sic) character. Note that the 15 contains high-quality DSP chips from the likes of Sony. Also note that you want to replace the bypass capacitor on the 5v rail input to the PCB with a higher-voltage unit - if this blows up, it's bye-bye motherboard.

I was told that one of the programmers who was behind the EMT 250 worked on the DRP15. I've had the 15 next to some expensive competition from the likes of Lexicon and Eventide and it holds its own.

These types of debate are extremely difficult to give accurate comment on, as everyone seems to have an opinion of what is right for their requirements, so my suggestion would be to get out there and try it for yourself.

One thing I can say is that the 15 is incredible value for money secondhand, judging by what I've seen them go for. Originally, the 15 retailed for £1,300 Sterling - I have the Studio Sound review from '93 - SS criticised it for not having balanced I/O (very odd for a machine of that price), but were glowing about its abilities in general.

And yes, Telex Germany's support is absolutely stellar, to the point where they really put some high-end OEMs to shame.

I think it's pretty sad to see the current range... Dynacord could've been a contender...


Justin

Hey Justin,
Thanks for that. I've had my eye on a 15 too. Tell me this, what is the difference between the DRP15 and DRP16. I'm basically looking for warm reverb at a very cool price.
joe.

The DRP16 is from a totally different range and I have no experience with it at all.

Bear in mind that the Dynacord numbers don't really mean anything, i.e. the higher numbers aren't necessarily the more expensive units (DRP15 retailed for more than 20, although the 20 was earlier).

I only know the 15 and 20. The valve-based tape echos look cool and I've fancied one for years...maybe one day.

Justin

I forgot about this thread, so thank you to any who replied. Good info here. I am eyeing a DRP 20 digital reverb for about 249 Euro, as well as a SRS 56 reverb ( a programable SRS 23? ) for 398 Euro at the moment.

The SRS 23 is a vertical reverb. What the hell is a vertical reverb?

Justin, how does the DRP 20 compare to offerings by Lexicon, specifically in the PCM70 and 81 range?

The 20 is totally and utterly unlike anything Lexicon would ever make. IMHO, the 20 is unashamedly 'artificial'.

The 15 was touted as a rival to the PCM70 at the time. I prefer the Dynacord, but I know most people would prefer a PCM70 - I've never been a big Lex fan.

The PCM81 is from a newer generation entirely, not comparable to any Dynacord really.

The DRP20 is noisy - balanced version included. I get tempted to use a gate on the 20.

If the price is good, you'll be able to offload the Dynacord if you don't like it. $249 for a DRP20 is a steal.

Character-wise, neither is comparable to any Lex - way different.

Justin

Thanks Justin.

I picked up a DRP 20 a few months ago just to try one out (I'm pretty sure I got it for a bit under $250). It's got its own sound, very 80's and some presets have some hiss while others are clean. This unit does have a leslie preset. They make an "X" version with balanced I/O but I've never seen one for sale. If someone wants to try one out for what I paid for it (just want to break even) I'd let mine go. My location is near Chicago USA. I just picked up a large format analog desk and moniter speakers so I've overspent lol but that's why we are slutz. There is other info on the DRP 20 on this board, just do a search. I don't have a manual with the unit but if there is a specific question you have I'll try to help.

I'm not sure what I am going to do. I always see Dynachord stuff on ebay so I am just putting out the feelers for now. I tend to be interested in strange, under the radar pieces of kit. It makes life interesting.

Hi all,

I've got the VRS23 (had two sold one), DRS78 (three), Echocord (two), and the CLS222 (the highly rated leslie sim - had two sold one). I’ve also got some of their early tube amps (KV6, KV12, DA15/V, DA16/V and Eminent EMT).

The CLS222 leslie sim is indeed very interesting and actually very good. The ramp up and down effect is very realistic, highs and lows are rotating differently, note that the gain structure is quite important to get a good signal out. I got the original foot pedal as well. Stereo in and out; it has a knob to set the stereo spread. Mucho interesting! No need for a real huge ‘n’ heavy leslie, this one’s just 1U rack space and does the job too. And it’s a completely analogue device…

The old tube Echocord tape delays are very "warm" sounding, and you can get a nice guitar fuzz sound out of them too. I'm just looking for the original big white knobs (I need 4 pieces in total) which are missing on my units. If anyone knows a source for these in Germany or Europe, lemme know plz.

The DRS78 is OK. You can do weird stuff with it, for example switching from echo to reverb and back gives a rather strange effect. It has three "preset" possibilities (different delay times) that you can set, and then switch between them. There’s also a sort of strange “repeat” function which sort of loops the delayed sound until released. I particularly like the reverb on my guitar, I’ll be using one as stereo buss FX on my mixer. Also great for synths. One of my three modules works in (pseudo-)stereo, the second one in mono (one output needs to be fixed), and the third one doesn't work at all, it's for spare parts (number two and three will be up for sale soon, as I’m saving up cash for a Gretsch guitar :-)). Stereo ins and outs.

Finally the VRS23 sounds very "fresh". I don't know what they mean with "vertical", I think I read somewhere in the manual that it was meant as a way to sort out each delay composing the reverb, making it less cluttered and less dull and more realistic sounding. This one is super on guitar as well (reverb and delay), you can also add a bit of modulation to simulate a real tape delay. At the time Dynacord marketed this one as "a tape delay without tape and maintenance". Mono in, (pseudo-)stereo out. There are two versions: with the one I have it is not possible to go into oscillation; with the other version it should be possible.

Both DRS78 and VRS23 have jack-connections (ins, outs, footswitch) on front and back panel, so easy to use in your studio rack or guitar rig.


I hope this info helps.
Greetz,
Dominique.

Thanks Dominique, your info did help. I am holding out for an EC504 tape delay if I can ever find another. I missed an auction on ebay for a real nice one in mint condition so I will hopefully find one someday at a good price. Possibly an VRS23 (SRS23??) and the leslie simulator as well.

You#ll have to beat me first!

The race is on!!!!!!! The last one I missed went for about 240 Euro. Not very much in my opinion.

I must hatch a cunning plan
To be honest, I need an H3000 first, so you may have a head start!

i want to mimic the sound of tape delays made with a slew of old tube ampex machines. I love old dockstader and forbidden planet stuff, but buying a bunch of ampexs doesn't sound fun. There was a much differnet sound to those effects they made than standard delay effects. Having control over tape speed would be a plus too

I never heard of an SRS23 to be honest. Perhaps a type mismatch for VRS23.

VRS23
SRS56

Hi, if you want to listen & look to an Echocord S65 (all tube tape echo/reverb) i wrote that:
Avis Dynacord echocord super S65

You could listen to Evp73 Rhodes plugin thru it.

I MUST ASK IF YOU GOT A PAPST MOTOR FOR A DYNACORD ECHOCORD MINI

THANKS!! MARTIN

Just got to get it & throw in my usual praise for the DRP15. Love it. Beats my plugins in my opinion as well (although certainly not as quiet though). I have a PCM70 as well but will always try out the DRP15 first & usually don't even patch the PCM70.

Very beautiful reverbs & the modulations FX are awesome to me. Got mine for something ridiculous like $15 Been wanting to get a 2nd one so I wouldn't have to print FX passes so much in order to allow more patches w/ the DRP

Is the drp15 stereo in/out or just mono in like the drp20?

The DRP15 is stereo in (L/R), stereo out (L/R).

CLS-222 is the undisputed king of Leslie simulators, especially on clonewheels. They quit making them in the early 90s. Still haven't heard a modern sim as good as the CLS.