The Dirt Magnet includes a variable speed ( hopefully ) magnetic tape loop, a noise generator, a crackle generator (which mimics the vinyl crackle associated with sampling), a ring modulator, and a low pass filter, and two LFOs, that can be MIDI synced.
Looks interesting, but no sound demo in that video? Also gigantic—don’t know where I’d even put it. But kudos to Arkive for doing a tape delay and the estimated price is good for all the features.
If they get the tape working as advertised, this is the tape machine I’d want. I didn’t grow up with four tracks, so I’ll stick with Ableton & Logic for my multitracking needs. A 1/2" or 1" tape would be fun, but expensive in terms of space and maintenance to keep around.
I’m hopeful that they can get the tape mechanism working. You can spend a whole weekend digging through Youtube videos that disassemble and analyze the myriad of strange tape machines from the past. I’m sure there is a solution out there, hopefully it is cost effective and easy to manufacture too.