It may be called an Electron Echo but I could find no cyclotrons or other sub-atomic particle accelerators inside so I must conclude that conventional BBD techniques are used.

For your money you get a mains powered analogue echo unit that has one high and one low impedance input, both of which have independent volume controls enabling simple level mixing to be carried out.

The echo effect may be engaged by means of a front panel switch or an optional footswitch and both treble and bass controls are incorporated to equalise the output. The echo section itself has the usual controls for delay time, repeat and echo level, the maximum delay being around 100 milliseconds.

Constructionally, the unit is virtually identical to the mixer so I'll skip all that and get on to the exciting bit where we plug it in.

In Use

The first thing you notice after having been spoilt by expensive digital delays is the relatively short echo time.

This is even shorter than many analogue units and is not really suitable for the production of Hank Marvin type echo (does anyone still do that?), but it is useful for enhancing vocals or generating ADT effects.

The echo level control adds echo to the dry signal but there appears to be no way of obtaining an 'echo only' output, although you can get the echo to sound louder than the dry sound.

In terms of noise, the circuitry performs reasonably well, certainly for the price, and the frequency response, though not stated, seems to be as good as other budget analogue echo units.

The repeat control sets the number of echo repeats and it is possible to generate positive feedback by over use of this control which causes the sound to build up into a roar or squeal, depending on the delay setting.

Conclusions

It must be borne in mind that this is a particularly inexpensive delay unit and its main limitation is the short delay time available.

On the plus side, it is mains powered, so no battery problems, and it does incorporate mixing facilities and EQ.

I'm sure that it will find a place in home recording set-ups and live situations where it is probably best suited to vocal enhancement or ADT effects; still at £70 or less, it has a lot to offer.

AGM products are distributed in the UK by GC Music. (Contact Details).