Sonic Charge have been in the sound design game and mindset for two decades. Swedish brothers Fredrik and Magnus Lidström are behind some of the most well thought out and executed fx plugins out there, and in this review I will be rating what I think is one of the best effects out there in terms of delay and frequency mutilation.
At the time of writing, this plugin is not exactly ‘new’ on the market, in fact we’re talking about a 10+ year old initial release (2015 as a VST, 2012 as a rack extension for Reason), but Echobode is still very relevant (in 2022 it was updated with even better hi-res UI and midi mapping), and goes as hard as any other current plugin releases in terms of sonic delivery and playability.
Explained in no better and simpler way than on the official product website, “Echobode is a delay effect with a frequency shifter placed inside the feedback loop”, Echobode will blow your mind after just listening to the first row of presets. It may sound simple in writing, but this thing is capable of mashing up your sound into other dimensions, with wild inharmonics and huge otherworldly sweeps and staccatos as you play with the main, smear and feedback knobs, primarily. If you watched Star Wars in the late 70s and 80s, you probably remember some of the then crazy sounds made by George Lucas’ team of foley wizards? Echobode is that translation droid in the Jawa repair shop, speaking at your fingertips – and you can make it scream all the way into The Matrix.
Without going into the exact science behind the models used – other than at least giving credit to Harold Bode, whose pioneering work has in part inspired this plugin – the controllable parameters are a playground visible right on the interface with nothing hidden. At the very least Echobode is straightforward and easy to get results with in the realms of pitch and delay and even generating effects like reverb, flanging, rhythmic gates and chorus too.
… easy to get results with in the realms of pitch and delay and even generating effects like reverb, flanging, rhythmic gates and chorus too.
The large knob controls your frequency, either on a wide scale, finer or via MIDI, while a range of knobs let you dictate the delay factors. The Wet and Smear controls take care of the degree, smear really washing things out, somewhat similar to the huge washes achievable with BlackHole from Eventide.
High and low pass filters let you target what is affected. Take your sound low or send it into the highest frequencies, just like that. A nice collection of rather logically named presets hinting at the precise effect come packed with Echobode, making it easy to get something started or finished.
I reach for Echobode quite often, either if I’m looking for a random surprise, something full spectrum, or to subtly alter the character of anything from snare drums to melodies and vocals. You can really go droid on things, but if you’re looking for more standardized effects like chorus, reverb and echo, Echobode is your friend too. That big fat knob is really a symbol of the potential wonkiness in this plugin – actually more plugins should have bigger knobs because of the precision – and in this case range. At one end of the scale you have soft fur, at the other you have frozen shards of ice, stuff flying and aliens arriving.
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Permut8 is another classic Sonic Charge plugin for unexpected results, not to mention synth flagship Synplant, which I hope to look at soon, now that version 2 has recently arrived, spreading Sonic Charge’s wonderful DNA in DAWs worldwide.
Verdict
Echobode is easily a great frontrunner for those classic, unavoidable effect plugins to consider finally getting if you’re into sound design and deep control. You can in fact try it for free for a generous 3 weeks before deciding on a purchase, during which time you will probably think to yourself more than once: How can this thing alter sounds in so many ways? And why didn’t I grab this thing yesterday? Sonic Charge provide both buy and demo options on their site.
