Waves Audio SuperTap User Guide
SuperTap
Enigma Manual
Chapter 1............................................Introduction....2
Chapter 2...............................................Quick Start.... 3
Chapter 3....................What is a Multi-Tap Delay?.... 5
Chapter 4.......................................Tips and Hints .... 6
Chapter 5..........................Controls and Displays .... 7
Chapter 6.....................................Factory Presets.... 15
Chapter 7.............................Tempo Sync in V5.0.... 18
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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Thanks for buying Waves processors.
SuperTap is a six-tap delay plug-in that can be used to produce a broad range of multi-tap delay effects,
including analog and tape delay emulation, chorusing, rhythmic looping, and more. It also includes modulator and feedback sections.
The following pages explain how to use SuperTap. Be aware that this processor, just like its analog equivalents, is easily capable of overmodulation and positive gain feedback loops (i.e., increasingly louder sounds
going well into distortion). There’s no way to give you complete freedom and protect you from getting such
sounds, so Be Prepared.
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Chapter 2 - Quick start
At the most basic,there are two types of SuperTap processing: one with modulation, or one with longer
taps. You can also choose between 2 or 6 taps for either type,as well as mono or stereo. Please note that the
TDM and Native Power Pack products come with a 2-tap-only version of SuperTap; the full version is part
of either the Pro-FX Plus or Gold p roducts.
In your menu, you’ll see four different component plugs, or “sub-plugins” of SuperTap: 6-taps (with and
without Modulation) and 2-taps (with and without Modulation). The 2-tap takes less power and memory.
The Modulation versions have shorter delay times (1.2 seconds); the components without modulation have
the longest delay times (6 seconds).
Note: The components without modulation are not available in native applications.
Maximum delay time may vary from application to application
Launch one of the SuperTap components from your plug-in menu. It will open with the default settings.
The default setting of any of the components has all the taps turned on, without Feedback. The factory presets (located in the Load menu) are a great place to start, but take a little time to read at least this page!
There’s lots to know about this processor that will save you time.
1. Each tap’s controls are arranged in a row from left to right. The on/off button is on the left, going across
to the EQ section. Notice that when you turn a tap on, it illuminates in all three buttons: the on button
itself, the delay slider, and the Pan Graph (for stereo plugins).
2. Drag the tap marker to set the delay time for each tap.
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3. Drag a Pan Graph marker to change Gain and stereo position (rotation) at the same time, or adjust the
Gain and Rotation controls separately for each tap. (Panning is only for mono signals, Rotation works
with mono and stereo, so that is why it is here).
4. On the right side is the EQ/Filter section, with on/off control, 5 filter types,plus gain control for the bell
and shelving filters. You can filter each tap separately for a very large range of creative rhythm effects
from a single sound source.
5. The feedback section in the lower left corner is worthy of a warning! Using feedback can produce
increasingly louder sounds, well into distortion, just as the analog equivalents can do. In order to give
you great flexibility, there is also the small danger of very loud feedback sounds, so it is best to use low
feedback values and adjust it slowly.
6. Modulating the taps produces variation in the delay times, which changes the pitch from each tap. You
can control the depth (in milliseconds) and the rate of variation.
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Chapter 3 - What is a Multi-tap Delay?
Audio delays have widespread use in studios and sound design and have been used for quite some time, dating from the earliest recording devices. There have been many versions, including analog “bucket brigade”
types, digital, acoustic, tape, and more, each with their own flavor and character. The SuperTap doesn’t try
to directly emulate all of them, but you have a huge set of tools to work with to do exactly that, or create
completely new effects only available in digital software tools.
What is a delay line?
A delay line simply plays a copy of the original signal following a delay of a certain amount of time. When
you add this delayed copy to the original, some extraordinary effects can be created. When you play several
such delayed signals along with the original where each signal is delayed by a different amount, you have a
multi-tap delay.
Therefore,a multi-tap delay is a single delay with multiple outputs (taps) along the d elay. In SuperTap, the
delay is a maximum of 6 seconds (without modulation), and the taps can be placed anywhere along that
delay. These taps are “feed forward”, which means they are all mixed together at the output. A “feedback”
control is also provided which routes audio back to the input for looping and complex rhythmic effects.
Digital reverbs operate using a similar principle. By adding mirrored copies of the original signal to itself,
and by reducing the gain each time, the effect of a disappearing echo in a large space can be reproduced.
However, reverbs can have millions of delayed repetitions with great complexity in relationships (volume,
phase,frequency response, direction).
Modulation
Audio modulation is the variation of one or more aspects of a sound. There are many kinds of modulation
(frequency, amplitude, phase), but in SuperTap we use only Frequency modulation.A low-frequency oscillator (20Hz and below) very slightly changes the delay times of each of the taps, producing changes in the
pitch of each output. This is ideal for chorusing and other effects where varying pitch is desired.
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