Strymon Timeline User Manual

USER MANUAL

®

TimeLine - User Manual	®

Front Panel Controls

VALUE: Provides fine

TIME: Provides coarse

REPEATS: Sets the delay feedback

MIX: Adjusts the mix of

adjustment of delay time.

analog dry signal to wet

adjustment of delay time.

level (number of repeats.)

Push to access the parameter

delay signal. The Mix

menu for the current delay

occurs in analog. Set

machine. Hold to access the

around 3 o’clock for a

global menu.

FILTER: Controls the shape of the repeats filter.

50/50 mix.

GRIT:

dTape: controls tape age

dBucket: controls the special dBucket filter. See

Progressively

TYPE: Selects the

dBucket section for full details.

adds distortion

Filter: controls center frequency of LFO filter.

and artifacts

currently active delay

dTape: controls

machine. Push to toggle

tape bias

the display between

dBucket:

showing time and the

controls bucket

current bank. Hold to

loss

save the current preset.

VALUE

TIME

REPEATS

MIX

TIP: If the parameter or

REVERSE

ICE

push (param)

SPEED:

global menu is currently

PATTERN

DUCK

hold (global)

displayed, push to exit

DUAL

SWELL

Controls

and show bank or time.

the speed

DIGITAL

TREM

of the delay

dBUCKET

FILTER

FILTER

GRIT

SPEED

MOD

DEPTH

modulation LFO

dTAPE

LO-FI

dTape: controls

TYPE

®

tape crinkle

A & B LEDS: Green

push (bank / time)

hold (save)

if active. Amber if the

A

B

TAP

preset has been edited.

DEPTH:

Off if bypassed.

TAP LED: Flashes to

Controls the

indicate delay time in

BANK DOWN

BANK UP

intensity of

quarter notes. Flashes

the delay

alternating red/green

REC / DUB

PLAY

STOP

modulation.

while looper is active.

hold (looper)

dTape: controls

Flashes amber to

wow & flutter

indicate that a tap

division is active.

FOOTSWITCH A: Press to

TIP: To find the knob

FOOTSWITCH B: Press to engage or bypass

TAP: Tap to set the delay

engage or bypass preset A

preset B of the current bank. Hold to activate

time.

positions of a saved

of the current bank. Hold to

infinite repeats.

Looper Active: Stops loop.

preset, turn each knob

activate infinite repeats.

Looper Active: Starts playing loop. Restarts

Hold to enter and exit

until the LED returns

Looper Active: Activates

loop from beginning if pressed while playing.

looper.

to GREEN after glowing

record if there is

Amber.

no loop recorded

BANK SELECT: Press A & B to select a lower bank. Press B & TAP to select a

or clears the loop

higher bank. While the selected bank is pending it is displayed as “B.A.N.K.” After

and starts recording

the desired bank is selected, press A or B to activate a preset from that bank.

if the looper is

stopped. Overdubs if

loop is playing.

pg 2

TimeLine - User Manual	®

Rear Panel

INPUTS: High impedance inputs. Use LEFT input for mono. RIGHT IN is used as an effect return if the feedback loop is selected.

OUTPUTS: Use LEFT output for mono. RIGHT OUT is used as an effect send if the feedback loop is selected.

EXP: Connect an expression pedal or switch for external tap tempo. See EXP Connections

POWER: NEVER plug into voltage higher than 9VDC. Requires at least 300mA of available current. 9V DC center negative polarity.

MIDI: Full featured MIDI input and output supporting Midi CCs, Program changes, etc. See the

MIDI Specification section for a complete list of features and commands.

LOOP SWITCH: Set switch to feedback loop to insert an effect in the delay feedback path. See

Feedback Loop.

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TimeLine - User Manual	®

In Depth: Filter & Grit controls

The Filter knob works in conjunction with the Grit knob to shape the fidelity of the repeats. The brightest and cleanest repeats occur when they are both set at the minimum position.

*The below descriptions are for the Digital, Dual, Pattern, Reverse, Ice, Duck, Swell, Trem & Lo-Fi delay machines. To see how the Filter & Grit knobs work for dBucket and dTape delay machines see their respective sections.

FILTER: At minimum setting, the Filter FILTER Function provides a flat full-bandwidth

response. As you turn the knob up, the repeats get progressively darker. Around 12:00, the filter is voiced to give an analog delay EQ curve. The darkest repeats occur with the Filter knob between 12:00 and 2:00 in these machine types. As you continue to turn the Filter Knob, the low end is progressively reduced, and some highs are added back in to create an EQ curve similar to that of a Tape delay when the knob is at maximum position.

Delay time ranges and Display

GRIT

GRIT: The intensity of the Grit control will depend on the

strength of the input signal. Hotter inputs will intensify the effect of the Grit knob in all modes. The volume of the wet signal may change as you increase the Grit control (getting louder or softer depending on the input signal strength). Use the MIX knob to compensate accordingly.

PE	LO	to toggle the display
TYPE

	ush (bank / time)	between BANK & TIME
	push the
	TYPE encoder

TIME can be displayed in milliseconds or BPM based on the MS/BPM global parameter

Digital, Dual, Pattern, Reverse, Ice, Duck, Swell, Trem, Filter	60mS - 2500mS
Lo-Fi	2 mS - 2500mS
dBucket (RANGE = SINGLE)	40mS - 400mS
dBucket (RANGE = DOUBLE)	80mS - 800mS
dTape (TAPE SPEED = NORMAL)	60mS - 2500mS
dTape (TAPE SPEED = FAST)	30mS - 1250mS

pg 4

TimeLine - User Manual	®

EXP Connections

Connect a Strymon MiniSwitch to tap tempo remotely. Use a standard TRS cable to connect the external switch. Set the EXP MD global setting to TAP to use external tap.

Connect a standard TRS expression pedal for continuous control over any knob. To select the knob(s) controlled by the expression pedal, use the EP SET parameter in each preset. All knobs can be controlled simultaneously. See Common Parameters for set up instructions.

Connect a Strymon MultiSwitch for external bank selection, preset selection, or extended control of TimeLine’s built-in looper. Set the EXP MD global setting to either TAP, BANK, PRESET, or LOOPER.

Please refer to the MultiSwitch user manual for detailed setup information: www.strymon.net/support/ multiswitch

TRS

®

OR

TRS

®

pg 5

TimeLine - User Manual	®

Banks and Presets

TimeLine has 100 banks with A & B presets in each bank. Banks are numbered 0 to 99 on the display. The presets in banks 0-49 are duplicated in banks 50-99 at the factory.

Saving Presets

Save a preset to the current location:

PE LO

TYPE

ush (bank / time)

hold the TYPE encoder

Save a preset to a new location:

PE	LO	VALUE
	TYPE	push (param)
ush (bank / time)		turn the
hold the		VALUE encoder
TYPE encoder

PE LO

TYPE

push the TYPE encoder to save your settings

to select the bank to save to

Note: To cancel an in-progress save press the TAP footswitch.

Restoring Factory Presets

or

PE LO

TYPE

push the TYPE encoder or the A or B footswitch to save your settings

CAUTION: This procedure will erase any custom presets saved in the TimeLine and restore them to factory

A	B	TAP
BANK DOWN		BANK UP

POWER UP TimeLine while holding A & TAP. Keep holding for 5 seconds after TimeLine has powered up.

REINIT will be displayed and all factory presets will automatically be restored

Editing Parameters

While displaying

VALUE

to enter PARAMS

VALUE

to select the desired

BANK or TIME

menu

push (param)

PARAMETER

push the

turn the

value encoder

value encoder

VALUE	and turn to edit
push (param)	the selected
push the value
encoder again	PARAMETER	pg 6

TimeLine - User Manual	®

Delay Machines: Common Parameters

All Delay Machines share a set of parameters. These parameters are saved with each preset and include:

Tap Division: Selects the subdivision to use for delay repeats when tapping in a tempo. Tap division options include:

Quarter notes (default), Dotted Eighth notes, Eighth notes, Triplets, Sixteenth notes note: If TAPDIV is set to anything other than Quarter notes, the TAP LED will blink in amber

Boost: +/- 3dB of boost/cut. This can be useful for level matching in your effects chain, or can be used as an effect such as boosting a solo with delay.

Persist: Turns on delay persist “trails” which will spill over when the effect is bypassed. Use this if it is desired for delay repeats to continue after the effect has been bypassed. Note that if persist is set to ON, the bypass mode will automatically be analog bypass.

Name: Allows editing the 16 character name of the current preset. Use the VALUE encoder to

change the selected character. Use the TYPE encoder to select a character. Exit by pressing

the VALUE encoder, then press and hold the TYPE encoder to SAVE the name permanently. note: For the preset name to be displayed the NAMES global must be set to ON or SCROLL.

Expression Pedal ON/OFF: Enables or disables the expression pedal input for each preset.

Expression Pedal Set: Enters the expression pedal setup for each preset. All knobs can be configured to be used with the expression pedal. To set up which knobs are controlled by the expression pedal, push the Value encoder when it displays “EP SET” and it will then display “HEEL”. Turn the knob(s) to the position desired at heel down on the expression pedal. Then, turn the Value encoder right to display”TOE” and set the knobs to their desired values at the toe down position on the expression pedal. An expression pedal can control all of the knobs simultaneously.

Tap Mode: Adjusts how the last tapped tempo affects preset changes. Set to PRESET so the delay time will change to the saved value in the preset. Set to GLOBAL so the delay time will remain at the last tapped tempo regardless of what tempo is saved in the preset.

MIDI Clock ON/OFF: When set to ON, TimeLine will respond to external MIDI clock from the MIDI input. This parameter is saved independently so that only presets with this parameter set to ON will respond to MIDI Clock.

pg 7

TimeLine - User Manual	®

Delay Machines: Digital

DIGITAL

A classic crystal-clear “voiced” digital delay. A wide range of delay tones are possible by tweaking the Filter, Grit and Modulation controls. Modern to classic 80’s delay tones are easily achievable with this delay machine.

PARAMETERS:

Smear: Softens the attack of the repeats while maintaining full frequency response. This allows for higher mix levels while keeping the delay out of the way of the dry signal. With high Repeats levels, the delayed signal gets dreamy and ethereal.

OFF

|||||||||

High Pass: Reduces the low frequency content of the wet signal after the delay. A useful additional tone sculptor for delays on low-note riffs or chords where you want to reduce booming in your rig.

OFF

20Hz

120Hz

230Hz

500Hz

40Hz

140Hz

260Hz

600Hz

60Hz

160Hz

300Hz

700Hz

80Hz

180Hz

350Hz

800Hz

100Hz

200Hz

400Hz

900Hz

Repeat Dynamics: Reduces the Repeats in a non-linear fashion so that the delay tapers off faster than it normally would. The effect is most easily heard with high Repeats levels, allowing for high repeats that trail off to allow the next phrase or chord to stand out more.

OFF

ON

TIPS & TRICKS: The HIPASS parameter can be very effective in producing bright repeats for a ‘super-clean’ digital delay. Set the Filter and GRIT knobs to minimum position for full bandwidth and experiment.

Set GRIT and FILTER knobs to 12:00 for an “analog-voiced” digital delay, or try GRIT at minimum and FILTER at maximum for a “tape-voiced” digital delay.

pg 8

TimeLine - User Manual	®

Delay Machines: Dual

DUAL

Two independent delay lines that can be run in series or parallel. The second delay tracks the first at selectable time ratios. This is very useful for creating interesting rhythmic delays that feed into each other or act independently in parallel.

PARAMETERS:

Time 2:

Adjusts the delay time of Delay 2 relative to Delay 1. Since Delay 2 is a ratio of Delay 1, it adjusts with changes in delay TIME or Tap Tempo to keep the same ratio, and allows for cool rhythmic effects.

1/8
1/7	2/5	5/6	3/2	7/2	8/1
1/6	1/2	7/8	5/3	4/1

1/5	2/3	1/1	2/1	5/1
1/4	3/4	5/4	5/2	6/1
1/3	4/5	4/3	3/1	7/1

Repeats 2: Adjusts the repeats level of Delay 2. Set to TRACK to follow Delay 1 Repeats knob. When not set to TRACK, you can set an independent repeat level for delay 2. In this case changing the Repeats knob will only affect the repeats level for Delay 1.

TRACK

|||||||||||

Mix 2:

Adjusts the mix level of Delay 2. Set to TRACK to follow Delay 1 Mix, set by the Mix knob. When not set

to TRACK, you can set an independent mix level for delay 2. In this case changing the Mix knob will only

affect the mix level for Delay 1.

TRACK

|||||||||||

High Pass: Reduces the low frequency content of the wet signal after the delay. A useful additional tone sculptor for delays on low-note riffs or chords where you want to reduce booming in your rig.

OFF

20Hz

120Hz

230Hz

500Hz

40Hz

140Hz

260Hz

600Hz

60Hz

160Hz

300Hz

700Hz

80Hz

180Hz

350Hz

800Hz

100Hz

200Hz

400Hz

900Hz

Configuration: Select from a series or parallel dual delay setup. In series, Delay 1 feeds Delay 2, just as if you had two independent stereo delays connected on your pedalboard. In parallel configuration, the input signal goes to Delay 1 and Delay 2 simultaneously, and the output of the two delays are fed to the Left and Right channels respectively (or summed to the Left channel in Mono operation).

SERIES

PARA

TIPS & TRICKS: Set the CONFIG param to PARALLEL to get independent Right and Left channel delay lines (the two parallel delays will be summed to mono in mono operation - very useful for rhythmic delays). This also allows for a ‘wet - dry’ stereo setup as follows:

CONFIG param to PARALLEL ::: Turn the MIX knob to minimum (dry) ::: Set RPT2 param to TRACK Set TIME2 param to 1:1 ::: Set MIX2 param to set the level of the delays

Now the knobs on the machine will control Delay2 (Right channel), while Delay1 (Left channel) is dry only (since

MIX knob is minimum). The repeats will only be heard from the Right channel.

pg 9