WatKat

Summary
An accurate emulation of the classic Watkins Copicat tape echo unit, including tape hiss, motor whine, and no control over the delay time. Pros: Classic look and feel. Cons: Just three fixed delay times. Tape hiss and motor whine. No tempo sync.
Scores
Features:	Weak
User Interface:	Weak
Sound:	Fair
Value:	Fair
Overall:	Weak
TestTone
Reviewed on:	November 3, 2008
Reviewed with:	Logic Pro 8 -
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WatKat Review

Created in 1958, the Watkins Copicat was one of the first affordable compact echo units and it helped to define the electric guitar sound of the 1960s. The unit used a loop of analog tape that ran past a record head, three playback heads, and an erasing head before returning to the record head for another go around. Audio recorded to the tape by the record head was picked up a few moments later when the tape passed the playback heads, creating a delay effect. With three playback heads spaced a few inches apart, the unit had three different fixed delay times for creating slapback, fast, and slow echos.

GSi's WatKat recreates this classic device as a VST and AU plugin for the Mac and PC. It has the look of the vintage hardware right down to the tape transport and heads in the middle, the cable drawer on the left, the jacks on the right, the fuse holder at the top, and the screws holding the whole thing together. Only the name and logo have been changed.

Exploring the user interface

Like the original Copicat, the user interface is simple and easy to use. Three white push buttons at the bottom select among the three playback heads to create short, medium, and longer echos. While typically only one head is engaged at a time, it's possible to engage two or all three to create more complex echos.

Above the playback head push buttons are four knobs. Left to right, the "Swell" knob varies the echo volume, the "Sustain" knob adjusts the delay feedback for creating chains of echos, and the "Gain 1" and "Gain 2" knobs adjust the volume on the left and right inputs to the plugin.

There is one more hidden control. A click and hold on the capstan (at the far right of the tape loop) slows down the tape motor as if you were touching it with your finger. As the motor slows, the echos slow down and the playback pitch drops. Letting go of the capstan returns the motor to its normal speed.

Getting good results

The plugin's delay times are fixed and set to match those on the original Copicat. The shortest delay is about 1/4 second and a good choice for slapback echos. The middle delay is about 1/2 second and the longer delay is about 1/3 second. Both make nice 1960s style spacey echos.

Turning up the "Sustain" knob adds more feedback to create a longer chain of echos. But at half way or more, the echos increase in volume each time through the delay, getting louder and louder until they distort from tape saturation while repeating forever.

Using the plugin

The WatKat is a literal interpretation of the original Copicat. This can be both good and bad, depending upon your point of view. It has the same straightforward interface as the original, and the same three well-chosen delay times. But with only fixed delay times it's far less flexible than today's standard delay plugins. The WatKat also can't sync to song tempo and it has no presets.

The WatKat has that vintage sound, but that sound includes motor noise and tape hiss. With no audio input, the plugin still outputs a constant low-volume motor whine and hiss. Turning up the echo volume and feedback lets the whine and hiss gradually swell into an overdriven feedback that pulses at the selected delay rate.

Conclusions

Features: weak: While the plugin does a complete job of emulating the Copicat from the 1960s, it is now 40 years later and we expect more from our effects processing. Any of the delay plugins included with today's DAWs provide more control over the delay time. They also usually include tempo sync and low- or high-pass filters in the feedback loop. In today's context, the old Copicat is very basic.
User interface: weak: The WatKat interface is a realistic representation of the Copicat's front panel, but most of that panel is taken up with the tape transport, the cable drawer, and non-operative jacks, power lights, and fuse holders. This makes the plugin larger than it needs to be. And yet the labels under the knobs are still very small and hard to read.
Sound: fair: The plugin's tape saturation sounds good, but it comes along with tape hiss and motor noise. In today's digital age, it is hard to see these as features worth emulating.
Value: fair: The plugin is free.
Overall: weak: Though the WatKat deserves high marks for vintage accuracy and style, the 40 year old hardware it emulates is quite limited in the context of today's gadgetry that can do so much more, without adding tape hiss and motor whine.

Alternatives

GSi's Tape Echo GS-201 effects plugin emulates the old Roland Space Echo RE-201, which also used a tape loop to create repeating echos. The Tape Echo GS-201 has more flexibility, but it still has tape hiss. Loomer's Resound also emulates old tape loop gear, and again it includes tape hiss.

If you don't want tape hiss, Apple's Tape Delay for Logic emulates tape gear down to its wow and flutter. Ourafilmes' Tape Delay also includes an LFO to add tape machine wobble, and Ourafilmes' Space Delay adds tape saturation too.

from GSi

Summary

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Cons:

Scores

TestTone

WatKat Review

Exploring the user interface

Getting good results

Using the plugin

Conclusions

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