Effects Timeline

Our Vintage Digital and Analogue Effects timeline now includes Audio Recorders and Classic Music Tracks to help place these effects and devices within the history of recorded music. Any errors, please notify us using our contact form.

1998
Released in 1998

Alesis ADAT LX20 Digital Recorder

For musicians, home studio owners, or users of other ADAT models wishing to supplement an existing system, the Alesis ADAT LX20 provides an economical solution for capturing the power of the award-winning ADAT recording format.
1998
Released in 1998

Alesis M20 Digital Recorder

The Alesis M20 Professional 20 Bit Digital Audio Recorder is a new, professional-quality modular digital multitrack tape recorder that was specifically created for commercial audio recording facilities as well as high-end video and film post-production studios.
1998
Released in 1998

Crane Song Trakker Compressor Limiter

Crane Song Trakker is a high-quality Single Channel Discrete Class A Compressor-Limiter.
1998
Released in 1998

dbx 786 Microphone Preamplifier

The craftsmanship of the dbx 786 precision microphone preamplifier is as stunning as the engineering is innovative.
1998
Released in 1998

dbx 586 Tube Preamplifier

Mic preamps have long been a part of dbx's reputation as the leader in signal processing technology. In keeping with that proven tradition, dbx proudly enters the vacuum tube domain with the dbx 586 Dual Vacuum Tube Preamp.
1998
Released in 1998

dbx 576 Tube Preamplifier/Compressor

With innovative, state-of-the-art engineering, the dbx 576 Vacuum Tube Preamp/Compressor carries the dbx heritage into the vacuum tube arena.
1998
Released in 1998

dbx 566 Tube Compressor

The inclusion of 2 vacuum tubes makes the dbx 566 Vacuum Tube Compressor no ordinary compressor.
1998
Released in 1998

dbx DDP Digital Dynamics Processor

The dbx DDP offers you the processing power of digital, with the great sounds you know and want from the analogue world. Plus, with digital technology, we can offer you more precise control and extended parameters than you could ever have with analogue processing.
1998
Released in 1998

Tascam DA-302 Dual DAT Recorder

The Tascam DA-302 was upon its release, the world's only dual DAT recorder, and it brought the convenience of a dual cassette deck to the DAT format for the very first time.
1998
Released in 1998

Tascam DA-20 MkII Digital Audio Tape Recorder

The Tascam DA-20 MkII is an affordable DAT recorder bringing the best of the DAT format to the home studio, project studio or budget minded professional.
1998
Released in 1998

Tascam DS-D98 Digital Recorder

The Tascam DS-D98 is a DTRS recorder which supports Sony's Direct Stream Digital format for production of the Super Audio CD (SACD).
1998
Released in 1998

Studer V-Eight Digital Tape Recorder

The Studer V-Eight recorder incorporates the S-VHS recording principle and possesses all the necessary features required for professional audio applications. It is designed to meet the stringent demands of a professional studio environment, with a sturdy and distortion-free die-cast aluminium alloy chassis. Its modular design allows for sample-accurate interconnection of multiple units through a straightforward sync bus.
1998
Released in 1998

Sony DPS-V55 Multi Effects Processor

Sony made a killer effects processor with the DPS-V77, so next step was to capitalise on that with a four-channel version, right? But something went wrong...On paper at least, the Sony DPS-V55 should be a killer effects processor, but by all accounts, it does not succeed. Just as Roland did with their SRV-3030, the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired.
1998
Released in 1998

Fostex D-160 16 Track Digital Recorder

The Fostex D-160 is a 16-track digital multitrack recorder with eight additional tracks that employs a 3.5-inch E-IDE type removable hard disk as the recording media.
1998
Released in 1998

TL Audio 5051 Voice Processor

The TL Audio 5051 provides the perfect front end for any system by offering a combined preamp, compressor, equaliser and noise gate all in one easy-to-use package: now with an optional digital output.
1998
Released in 1998

TC Electronic M3000 Digital Reverb

The TC Electronic M3000 has some of the best sounding, most versatile and easy-to-use professional reverbs for music and film/post applications. The VSS3-reverb technology inherent in the TC Electronic M3000 is an industry standard.
1998
Released in 1998

TC Electronic FireworX Studio Effects Processor

The TC Electronic FireworX is the most radical sounding Multi-Effects Processor you’ve ever heard and a real challenge to your imagination. Take whatever you need from the broad palette of internal effects, drop it into the forge at the heart of the TC Electronic FireworX, and turn your music into a fireball of sound.
1998
Released in 1998

TL Audio 5050 Tube Preamp & Compressor

The TL Audio 5050 came directly from user requests for a simple yet great sounding valve front end and boasts the winning combination of a mic/line/instrument preamp and mono compressor: making it the most cost-effective way of processing your sources.
1998
Released in 1998

DigiTech 2120 Artist Valve Guitar System

The Digitech 2120 Artist Valve Guitar System is a versatile dual-tube multi-effects processor with limitless tone configurations and presets, including a programmable foot controller.
1998
Released in 1998

Fostex CR200 Professional CD Recorder

You've wanted professional CD recording for ages, you've needed it for even longer. But the ability to professionally master audio compact discs has until now been somewhat of a luxury, with only the very top studios and recording professionals having the kind of investment to purchase a CD mastering machine.
1998
Released in 1998

Apogee DA-2000 20-Bit Stereo D/A Converter

Apogee DA-2000 Studio Reference Standard Digital to Analog Converter – Switcher represents a milestone in digital conversion technology. Contained within the design are technologies that Apogee pioneered, such as low jitter clocking and critically matched filter designs.
1998
Released in 1998

Lexicon MPX G2 Guitar Effects Processor

The Lexicon MPX-G2 is a premium guitar effects processor featuring iconic Lexicon reverb, over 70 effects, dual audio paths, and a programmable preamp with a built-in analogue speaker simulator. With 24-bit processing, 250 presets, flexible routing, and extensive MIDI control, it provides exceptional versatility and professional sound for both live and studio use.
1998
Released in 1998

GML Model 8900 Dynamic Range Controller

GML Model 8900 Dynamic Range Controller, twenty-two years of progressive research into loudness perception resulted in a limiter/compressor unlike any other.
1998
Released in 1998

TL Audio 5001 Mic Preamp

The TL Audio 5001 preamp offers four top quality valve mic preamps in a single 2U package, and now boasts extra features including a discrete mic preamp stage, 30dB pad, instrument DI inputs, improved metering and optional 24-bit digital output.
1999
Released in 1999

SPL Tube Vitalizer

The SPL Tube Vitalizer is a completely different type of EQ, with which almost virtuoso interventions in the sound image become possible. When mixing, mastering and restoring, the Tube Vitalizer goes beyond traditional equalisation.
1999
Released in 1999

TL Audio C-1 2-Channel Tube Compressor

The TL Audio C-1 features military-spec valves, gold-plated bases, and backlit VU meters, offering rich sound and durability. With variable controls, direct-to-tape preamps, and a VCA-free gain stage, it delivers transparency, low distortion, and a 5Hz to 70kHz range.
1999
Released in 1999

Tascam DA-40 Digital Audio Tape Recorder

Tascam DA-40 is a feature rich DAT recorder, bringing together deep recording and playback capabilities, plus a wealth of control functions. Controlling the DA-40 is easy through the clearly marked buttons on the front panel.
1999
Released in 1999

Langevin Dual Vocal Combo

The Langevin Dual Vocal Combo is a 2-channel microphone preamplifier with 2 shelf equalisers plus 2 channels of electro-optical limiters.
1999
Released in 1999

Maselec MLA-2 Compressor

The Maselec MLA-2 is a stereo or 2-channel compressor with stepped drive (input gain), ratio, attack and release time and output gain controls. For optimum transparency and freedom from noise the MLA-2 employs a non-VCA design.
1999
Released in 1999

Roland VSR-880 Digital Studio Recorder

The Roland VSR-880 is an 8-track rackmount hard disk recorder with 24-bit sound quality, 128 Virtual Tracks, and all the powerful editing and optional effects V-Studios are known for.
1999
Released in 1999

Apogee AD-8000 8-Channel Digital Audio Converter

The Apogee AD-8000 is an eight-channel 24-bit A/D converter with extensive I/O and processing features and an extensive, accessible user interface.
1999
Released in 1999

Tascam DA-45HR High Resolution Digital Recorder

The Tascam DA-45HR is a professional-grade digital audio recorder that improves upon the feature set of its predecessor, the DA-40. With the DA-45HR, Tascam has elevated the recording quality to 24-bit resolution, allowing for a greater dynamic range and a more accurate representation of the original audio source.
1999
Released in 1999

Sony DRE-S777 Sampling Digital Reverb

After the lacklustre DPS-V55, Sony had one last shot at the studio effects market, and they went out on a high with the spectacular DRE-S777 Sampling Reverb. The Sony DRE-S777 was a new type of reverb, one that used real impulse responses to capture real space, rather than the traditional method from the past of trying to emulate a real space.
1999
Released in 1999

Roland SRV-3030 24bit Digital Reverb

With all that Roland had learned from making superb effects processors like the SRV-330 and R-880, the SRV-3030 should have been so much better than it was.
1999
Released in 1999

Sony PCM-9000 Master Disc Recorder

By the late 1990s, there was a noticeable trend towards seeking superior sound quality in professional digital audio processing, resulting in a shift from using 16-bit systems to those with 20-bit resolution. Sony was at the forefront of this shift, having already introduced a CD Mastering system. Sony in 1999 unveiled the Sony PCM-9000 Digital Master Disc Recorder, which employs an MO (Magneto-Optical) disc as its recording medium.