Echoa

Echoa is a 12 HP stereo dual-delay module by Hermetic Modular. It has two independent stereo delay lines: the left column of knobs controls Delay Line 1 and the right column controls Delay Line 2. The six knobs change function across three performance pages, stepped with the top button. Delay times run from 1 ms up to 16 seconds, and feedback runs from 0 up to 110 percent, so each line can go from short resonant effects through ordinary delay into self-oscillation and long reverb-like tails.

Control Identification Notes

The panel has two main zones from top to bottom:

• Knob and button rows – Three rows, each with a large knob on the left, a small button in the center, and a large knob on the right. Each row is one effect slot: top row is the Top slot, middle row is the Mid slot, bottom row is the Bottom slot.
• Jack section – Ten jacks in two rows of five, with a USB-C port centered just above the jacks.
• Knobs do have a cut indicator mark that can be felt, but the indicator is not as pronounced as, say, a Rogan style molded knob. There is also a set screw; the indicator mark is opposite the set screw.
• The knobs are called Knob 1 through Knob 6 in this document, counted left to right, top to bottom: Knob 1 is top left, Knob 2 is top right, Knob 3 is middle left, Knob 4 is middle right, Knob 5 is bottom left, Knob 6 is bottom right.
• The three buttons are Button 1 (top), Button 2 (middle), and Button 3 (bottom).
• The panel print gives each knob and button a fixed name (TIME, ENGINE, FEEDBACK, COLOR, MIX, MULTI TAP on the knobs; ECHO, BLOOM, TONE on the buttons). Because knob functions change with the active page, the printed names do not always match the active function. This document refers to controls by position.

Buttons

• Button 1 (top) – Next page / parameter lock. A short press steps to the next performance page (three pages, wrapping). Hold it and turn any knob to record a parameter lock on that knob. Hold it and press Button 2 or Button 3 to freeze that delay line.
• Button 2 (middle) – Tap tempo for Delay Line 1.
• Button 3 (bottom) – Tap tempo for Delay Line 2.
• Hold Buttons 2 and 3 together for about two seconds to enter Settings (see Settings).

Performance Pages

In the default layout the left knob column is always Delay Line 1 and the right knob column is always Delay Line 2. Button 1 steps through the three pages; within a page, the top, middle, and bottom knob rows carry these parameters:

• Page 1 – Time: top row Delay Time, middle row Feedback, bottom row wet/dry Mix.
• Page 2 – Space: top row Diffusion, middle row Bloom, bottom row Damping.
• Page 3 – Engine: top row Engine, middle row Engine Depth, bottom row Multitap Mode.

Parameter behavior

• Delay Time – 1 ms up to the maximum set in Settings (2, 4, 8, 12, or 16 seconds; 4 seconds from the factory).
• Feedback – 0 to 110 percent. In a small zone at about 4 o’clock the value snaps to exactly 100 percent; above that zone the line self-oscillates. A soft limiter keeps it from running away, but self-oscillation gets loud — keep monitoring levels in mind.
• Mix – Dry/wet for the line. The bottom few percent of travel is fully silent; if a line seems dead, this knob may simply be at the very bottom.
• Diffusion – Smears repeats: low keeps distinct echoes, high dissolves them into a wash.
• Bloom – Lengthens and animates the diffusion, from short and static up to plate- or hall-like tails.
• Damping – Tone of successive repeats. Noon is neutral; below noon each repeat gets darker, above noon each repeat gets brighter.
• Engine – A four-zone selector across the knob’s travel, counter-clockwise to clockwise: Digi (clean digital), BBD (dark bucket-brigade voicing), Tape (wow, flutter, and hiss), Vinyl (slow wow, crackle, and surface noise). Transitions between zones are hard switches. There are no physical detents.
• Engine Depth – How strongly the chosen engine colors the line. At zero the line is clean regardless of which engine is selected.
• Multitap Mode – A four-zone selector: single tap; two taps (extra tap at one third of the delay time, a triplet feel); four taps on a rhythmic grid (25, 50, 75 percent); four taps at irrational spacings.

Jack Section

Ten jacks in two rows of five. Described by column, left to right:

• Column 1 – Audio inputs, labeled IN. Top jack is the left input, bottom jack is the right input.
• Columns 2 through 4 – Six CV inputs, grouped inside a printed outline labeled CV IN. Counted as CV 1 through CV 6: CV 1 is column 2 top, CV 2 is column 2 bottom, CV 3 is column 3 top, CV 4 is column 3 bottom, CV 5 is column 4 top, CV 6 is column 4 bottom.
• Column 5 – Audio outputs, labeled OUT. Top jack is the left output, bottom jack is the right output.

Each CV input is freely assignable in Settings to any knob on any page, or to one of five special gate functions: tap both lines, tap Line 1, tap Line 2, freeze Line 1, freeze Line 2. Continuous CV is added on top of the knob position; gate functions ignore the attenuverters. See more on how to control this in Settings below.

Tap Tempo and External Clock

Buttons 2 and 3 are always live as tap tempo for their line. The tempo is averaged over the last four taps; taps between 50 ms and 4 seconds apart are accepted, and a long gap starts a fresh measurement.

For external clock, assign a CV jack to a clock function and choose the clock mode in Settings. In Tap mode each pulse acts as a tap. In Div mode the module reads a 24 PPQN clock and the Delay Time knob becomes a division selector with 13 zones from counter-clockwise to clockwise: 64th, 32nd, 16th triplet, 16th, 8th triplet, 8th, quarter triplet, quarter, half, dotted half, whole, dotted whole, double whole. If the clock stops, the line keeps running at its last time — no jump.

Freeze

Hold Button 1 and press Button 2 (Line 1) or Button 3 (Line 2) to freeze that line: input to the line is silenced and feedback locks at 100 percent so the buffer loops indefinitely. Time, mix, diffusion, bloom, damping, and engine all stay live for reshaping the captured audio. Repeat the same gesture to unfreeze. Freeze can also be driven by a gate into an assigned CV jack.

Parameter Lock

Hold Button 1 and turn any knob to record up to 4 seconds of knob motion, which then loops as modulation on that knob. The recorded motion is added on top of wherever the physical knob sits. Hold Button 1 and nudge the same knob again to clear it. Locks are remembered separately for every knob on every page, and are saved and recalled with presets. The recording/playback indicator is a marker on the light ring, which is visual-only.

Settings

Settings can be controlled by plugging in the USB-C port and going to the hermeticmodular.com preset programmer and connecting the module. This allows realtime control of the module from the browser. This may be screen reader accessible, this needs to be tested. Below describes the direct on-module behavior.

Hold Buttons 2 and 3 together for about two seconds to enter or leave Settings. Inside Settings, Button 1 steps through four pages. All six knobs change meaning on each page:

• Settings Page 1 – Routing and presets: Knob 1 selects the routing mode in four zones, counter-clockwise to clockwise: Series (Line 1 feeds Line 2; the factory default), Parallel (both lines from the same input, summed), Mono (one line per input channel), Spectral (the input is split by frequency — lows to Line 1, highs to Line 2). Knob 2 sets the spectral crossover, 100 Hz to 8 kHz (noon is roughly 894 Hz); it only matters in Spectral mode. Knob 3 selects a preset slot, 1 of 16. Knob 4 is the preset action knob: turn it fully counter-clockwise to save, fully clockwise to load; the wide middle of its travel does nothing. Knobs 5 and 6 set the output gain of Line 1 and Line 2.
• Settings Page 2 – Global: Knob 1 light brightness (visual only). Knob 2 Delay Time taper, exponential (counter-clockwise half) or linear (clockwise half). Knob 3 page layout, default or alternate. Knob 4 clock mode, Tap or Div. Knob 5 maximum delay time, five zones: 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 seconds. Knob 6 light palette selection (visual only; no effect on sound).
• Settings Page 3 – CV assignment: Each knob assigns the destination of one CV jack. The pairing is by position: Knob 1 configures CV 2, Knob 2 configures CV 1, Knob 3 configures CV 4, Knob 4 configures CV 3, Knob 5 configures CV 6, Knob 6 configures CV 5. The first five zones at the counter-clockwise end are the special gate functions (tap both, tap Line 1, tap Line 2, freeze Line 1, freeze Line 2); the rest of the travel steps through every knob on every page.
• Settings Page 4 – CV attenuverters: Each knob scales its paired CV jack (same pairing as Page 3). Center of travel is zero (the CV is ignored), turning clockwise from center scales it up to full strength, turning counter-clockwise from center inverts it. The factory default is full strength.

A preset stores all knob values on all pages, all parameter locks, both engine selections, and the settings.

Knob Pickup (Pot Catch)

Because knob functions change with the page, the knobs deliberately stop responding after every page change until you move them through the stored value of the new parameter — so changing pages never jumps a setting. A reliable non-visual technique: sweep the knob once across its full travel. That guarantees you cross the stored position and the knob becomes live; then set it where you want it. The stored position is marked on the light ring, which is visual-only.

Power-On Behavior

On every power-on the module spends about two seconds in its bootloader before the delay starts. Do not hold any buttons while powering on: holding Button 3 during this window puts the module into firmware-update mode (it will sit silent until power-cycled), and holding Buttons 1 and 2 during power-on starts a factory calibration routine. If the module seems unresponsive right after power-on, power-cycle it with no buttons held.

Accessibility Notes

• The active page is indicated only on the lights, which is visual-only. Non-visually, track pages by counting presses of Button 1 — there are exactly three performance pages and they wrap. You can also confirm a page by ear: nudge a knob whose effect you know (for example, the bottom-left knob is Mix on Page 1).
• Tap tempo, freeze, page stepping, and the panic-free direct controls all work entirely by touch and timing; no gesture on this module requires looking at the panel.
• The zone selectors (Engine, Multitap, routing, clock mode, and so on) are firmware zones spread across the knob’s travel, not physical detents; you will not feel clicks. With audio running, engine and multitap changes are clearly audible.
• Preset save and load confirmation is a flash on the lights, which is visual-only. The save gesture itself is positional (action knob fully counter-clockwise) and needs no visual feedback to perform.
• If you are worried you may be in the settings menu, press B2 or B3 to exit.
• If a knob seems dead, remember knob pickup: sweep it across its full travel once.
• Settings and presets can also be edited from a web page on the manufacturer’s site, which connects to the module through the front USB-C port in a browser that supports WebSerial. This is an alternative to the on-device settings gestures.
• The manufacturer’s full text manual is HTML on their website.