Kinotone Audio Ribbons Lo-Fi Stereo Magnetic Tape Emulator

A good two-knob pedal can be great for getting killer sounds easily, but sometimes, we all want to dive into our effects and really explore what they can do. While there are a lot of these out in the world, ranging in size, features and price points, today’s pedal is unlike any we’ve encountered before, much to our delight. The Kinotone Audio Ribbons is a stereo magnetic tape emulator. It can degrade, mangle, and age incoming audio in real-time, just like that old reel-to-reel you found at the thrift store but with more control and flexibility. Features include a variety of creative Touch modes, a lush reverb, a four-track asynchronous looper, and a four-voice sine wave synthesizer. All parameters are fully controllable via MIDI or CV.

Here are some of the features available in this amazing creation:

Lo-Fi Tape Emulation

Four-pole (24dB/octave) virtual analog low-pass and high-pass filters
Controls for wow, flutter, unpredictable dropouts, and tape crinkle
Dry/wet mix to dial in classic or chaotic vibrato and chorus sounds
Static hiss, clicks, and pops
Compressor modeled after a vinyl simulation algorithm found in a classic sampler from 2001

Touch Modes

Four playful performance modes that can be activated momentarily or latched
Magnetic Dance – Creates a drone of sound using a micro-loop. Tune it to chords; play it forward or backward
Tape Stop – Slows down the playback of your audio in real-time, with individual controls for start and stop time. Use it to subtly bend the pitch or for dramatic effects
Broken Machine – Makes a garbled mess of your incoming audio
Repeater – Records a slice of audio and repeats it. The slice can be divided into smaller subdivisions for glitchy effects. Synchronizable using tap tempo or MIDI clock

Reverb

A beautiful stereo reverb with controls for wet/dry mix, decay time, and where the reverb goes in the signal chain (pre or post tape emulation)
Capable of infinite sustain / decay

CV, MIDI Control, Presets

All parameters are fully controllable via MIDI or CV
Directly compatible with all of your favorite MIDI controllers – no external MIDI box required
Internal jumpers available to switch between TRS MIDI A, B, or CBA
Use our handy Max for Live device to control Ribbons via MIDI using Ableton
Use Presets to save your settings and queue them up later using your favorite preset device
CV control up to 500Hz

Easter Eggs

Four-track asynchronous looper
Allows up to four stereo loops
Length per loop: 40 seconds at 0.5x speed, 20 seconds at 1x speed, 10 seconds at 2x speed
Each loop has separate controls for playback direction (forward or backward), playback speed (continuously variable from 0.5x to 2x), and track volume
Overdubbing possible at any speed
Looped sounds are affected by the tape effect
Four-voice sine wave synthesizer
Connect your favorite MIDI controller and start playing
Synth voices are affected by the tape effect and can be used in the looper mode
+/- 5 semitone pitch bending

WHEW!! Like we said before, this is one that all your experimenters and sonic enthusiasts will LOVE to dig into, and there’s no shortage of fun things to find in the Ribbons Lo-Fi Stereo Magnetic Tape Emulator. Jaak at Kinotone Audio has masterfully crammed so much into this pedal, it’s hard to wrap your head around at first. Once you get into it a little bit, though, the possibilities are truly endless. Hopefully, you have 15 minutes to spare to check out the in-depth demo we’ve created, ‘casue there’s a lot to try and explain, sohold on tight and get ready for a ride… Be sure to follow Kinotone Audio on all the socials, and check out their website for more information and details on how to order a Ribbons for yourself – Cheers!!

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