By Daniel Fisher

In this day and age it's difficult if not darned impossible to find a poor-quality rackmount effects processor. And unless it comes from a company you've never hear of, it's almost equally difficult to find a bad sounding stomp box or a keyboard workstation with embarrassing onboard effects.

So with all these reasonably good effects processors lying around, why on Earth would anyone want to buy an additional dedicated processor? I've got two answers: TC Electronic's M·ONE Dual Effects Processor and D·TWO Multitap Rhythm Delay (each just $699 list).

Simply put, there are times when average quality effects will do the job. But there are also times when a voice or instrument is the absolute center of attention. Imagine the Dire Strait's "Brothers In Arms" CD anytime Mark Knopfler's guitar is playing introspectively over silence or an atmospheric pad. During these moments, nothing but the best choruses, flangers, phasers, delays, reverbs and dynamic effects will do the job.

So when you think of the world's most beautiful choruses and other modulation effects, well you just automatically think TC Electronic. But the best TC effects also come with very "professional" price tags that can often exceed several thousand dollars. And their incredibly flexible architecture may prove to be just a little bit too much of a good thing for those who want to dial in an effect quickly. (Not me, of course. I absolutely love my TC FireworX and G-Force processors! But hey, I play with parameters all day long for a living.)

Now, with the advent of the M·ONE Dual Effects Processor and D·TWO Multitap Rhythm Delay, anyone can have access to TC's world-renowned effects processing without having to take out a second mortgage or going back to school for their Engineering degree.

The M·ONE is a Dual Engine Multi-effects processor, with 1/4" balanced I/Os, S/PDIF Digital I/O (full 24-bit I might add), 44.1-48kHz internal processing, various routing options and more than 20 high quality algorithms. This unit will likely revolutionize the way you work with your effects! Use the M·ONE's Dual Engine to run two of the best sounding, pro quality effects simultaneously without compromising either's sound. The Easy Parameter Level gives you the flexibility to create cool effects and control of all important parameters right at your fingertips. You also get a wide range of lush, lifelike reverbs from classic Halls and Rooms to new and grainy snare reverbs such as Live and Plate. Use the M·ONE's many quality reverbs to create complex sound reflections in various environments. Now you can add different levels of depth to your source material, and add it easily.

If you use the M·ONE Engines in the Dual Send / Return setup, you'll have two independent effects processors. Connect one Auxiliary to the Left Input of the M·ONE, and a second to the Right input and the stereo output of the two Engines are now mixed internally, and can be returned to a single stereo effects return on your mixing console, giving you two full-blown stereo effects simultaneously.

TC's unique Compressor and Limiter algorithms will bring surprising new life to your mixes, and you can add incredible Delays, a super wide Chorus or enhance the details of your source material with the Parametric Equalizers. And the M·ONE has even more algorithms, such as Flanger, Pitch, Gate, Expander, De-Esser, Tremolo and Phaser, all exhibiting that much coveted TC Electronic sound quality.

The M·ONE comes right from the factory loaded with 100 high-grade presets, covering almost any imaginable application. On top of that, the M·ONE can store up to 100 of your own creations in the User bank. When satisfied with your preset, you just hit the STORE key to save it. It's so simple, that you almost forget that you are actually making presets!

In short, the M·ONE gives you access to all the tools you need, whenever you want to create top-quality effects! And all effect parameters can be accessed via standard MIDI controllers, which allows realtime control and automation. You can also use MIDI to dump and save the entire User bank to a MIDI sequencer. Additionally, the Tap function of the M·ONE can be locked to the incoming MIDI Clock. Sweet!

With the introduction of the D·TWO, TC Electronic has once again succeeded in developing cutting-edge technology and expanding the way you work with your effects processors! Your creativity will be the only limit when it comes to exploring the endless number of delay possibilities within the D·TWO. TC's heritage of classic delays has led to the development of a truly musical Rhythm Tap feature: Not only tempo, but actual rhythm patterns can be tapped directly - or quantized according to a specific tempo and subdivision. The delays and rhythm patterns can be up to 10 seconds each. Plus, you can control the exact number of repeats with the Absolute Repeat Control! It's also possible to feed the last delay tap back into the delay line, generating a complete rhythm sequence which is repeated when you have the Feedback active. This unique feature allows you to exactly match your effects to your music.

A great sounding Chorus is included in the D·TWO, as well. Double clicking on the CHORUS key provides you with instant access to all chorus parameters. A unique Spatial Delay effect adds even more width to the sound of your material. This extra width is generated either by offsetting the left channel up to 200ms or by reversing the phase on any channel or both. The Reverse Delay effect processes the signal, and then adds a backward delay for some amazingly otherworldly effects.

The Dynamic Delay effect reduces the delay level as much as you like while the signal is fed to the Input, or enhances the delay level when the signal is at a lower level. When using this function you can get a delay effect which seems to be present only where and when it does not disturb or interfere with the source material e.g. in the pauses between phases from a vocalist, a guitar player or similar.

Ping-Pong functions let your material jump from left to right, left-center-right or let the D·TWO dynamically fit the panning to your chosen number of taps. If you combine this panning style of delay with the unique Tap function you get a delay effect which takes your production to dimensions like you have never experienced before.

If you're ready to get serious about your effects, it's time to call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer and find out how affordable it can be to own some of the best effects in the industry.