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I'm sorta goinna echo (HA!) what others said on the real vs digital thing...The small fraction of subtle mechanical articfacts mojo you lack with pedas, doesn't weigh out all the upsides of having a convenient reliable compact source for tape delay effects...

RE-20, or maybe Empress Tape Delay, ymmv. Haven't messed with any of the Strymon options. I'm not the biggest tape delay purist, I usually drown out all the details and subtleties with other effects anyway. I easily get by with the echoplex-y tape modes on my Nemesis.

imho the pt2399 delays like the keeley magecho fall short, but it depends on the settings you want. the pt2399 all have that mid focused analog delay sound, because they need it to filter out all the noise. that's one thing the space echo can do, but you can also use the eq on the space echo to get a pretty mid-scooped, almost hifi sound (though of course the preamp and tape add too much grit and compression for it to really be hifi). digital is really the way to go. maybe watch some demos of the re20 and el cap to compare, they do the same thing in theory but the el cap has a much cleaner sound (sometimes too clean for me).

Have an EP3 Echoplex, used to have a Roland RE-501 too. Love the sound and would say the preamp matters and the repeats are a bit more bright as they roll off.

A few years before I had the real deals I thought the El Capistan was a fantastic pedal. Just to create a sound that isn't clean like digital but not noisy and dark like analog or PT2399. There are settings that can go to extreme, over-characterized simulations of a broken unit that no one would actually want to use. But I was able to craft delay trails that were a bit brighter and sat well in a band mix. Plus it has a quirky looper that decays into lofi chaos.

The old big box Deluxe Memory Man had a strong preamp and great first repeat. I understand the preamp isn't special, but the fact that there is a preamp that engages with the delay makes it a bit more lively in how it works. It is analog but not extremely dark. Pretty pricey nowadays.

Old Boss DD-2s and DD-3s (MIJ) were pretty stellar pedals, can be modded for high pass echoes that are really quite nice.

If I were going to replace my EP3 today, I would strongly consider trying a Dawner Prince Boonar. Seems like some magic rolled into that one to simulate a preamp too. Yeah, not "tape" but similar enough. Guess I would reconsider an El Cap or possible even the Volante too.

Would love to re-try an RE-20 again. Last few people I know that had them really were annoyed by the always on preamp. Maybe it isn't great? I am curious. Real units have a preamp always on too, and they are heralded as omg amazing secret toanz and marketed to us a a booster pedal.

I am quite fond of my Boss RE-20. The always-on preamp just means that settings or pedal combos
have to be adjusted to accommodate and work with the preamp.

When I'm making a direct recording and I want stereo separation I almost always use the Boss RE-20.
That goes for when using other mangle/glitch/loop pedals or various fuzz pedals.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae9O3mStMeI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R71YmJXoDg[/youtube]

I will say though that I was playing the Pest Tattern direct into my Lab Series L7 amp and was liking that
better than through the Boss RE-20 into the same amp. But... maybe I just need to twiddle around.
The amp has a parametric mid control and that can bring out or suppress whatever mids you target.

I would say that for “distant spacey faraway” echoes you might look at a Malekko 616. Originally I bought it to replace my Deluxe Memory Man but sold it because I didn’t think it cut the mustard. I’ve since bought another one (and if you’ve been following thre EHX list thread, another Memory Man) and really like the 616 - as I often have a DD7 for crispy digital delays as well. It does the self oscillation thing very well, has a buffer (not a preamp but I do like that buffer). The modulation is pretty useless however but what can you do? I feel like with the mix at 12-2 it always has this distant icy cold tone to it.