DigiTech S-200 Studio Dual-Engine Multi-Effects Processor
A 4.2-pound rack processor with a 16-band vocoder hiding in its menu. It does the weird jobs nothing else in the rack wants to do.
Overview
The S-200 weighs 4.2 lbs (1.91 kg) and draws 10 watts. DigiTech's own manual calls it a "true power plant effects processor." It is a dual-engine design, meaning two processing blocks run at once. It has stereo 1/4" inputs, unbalanced, and stereo 1/4" outputs, impedance balanced, with a maximum input and output level of +18 dBu.
The signal path is where DigiTech spent the money. The manual lists a 24-bit internal signal path and a 48-bit internal data path, with 20-bit A/D and D/A converters running 128-times oversampled, and a sampling rate of 46.875 kHz. There is a 24-bit x 24-bit multiplier in the chain as well. Stated frequency response is 20 Hz to 20 kHz within ±0.5 dB, THD is under 0.008%, and signal-to-noise is 96 dB A-weighted. Memory is 99 user programs alongside 99 factory programs.
The feature list is longer than the spec sheet suggests. The manual lists stereo inputs and outputs, dual-engine processing, a large custom display, five effect routing configurations, studio reverbs and modulation effects, MIDI program change and CC command support, footswitch control, and both compressor and de-esser effects. The rear panel has an input level knob, left/mono and right input jacks, left/mono and right output jacks, a footswitch jack for the DigiTech FS-300, a MIDI in jack, and an internal power supply fed by an AC line input. The left input jack feeds both channels when used alone, so you get mono in, stereo out without patching anything else.
EQ Magazine (December 1998, p.121) described the S-200 as "a dual-engine multieffects" in its coverage of outboard gear. Both placements put the S-200 in the company of working studio processors rather than guitar-floor stompboxes — which is exactly where DigiTech aimed it. The S-200's own manual markets it as a studio and live processor, not a pedal.
The "Other Effects" menu is what sets the S-200 apart from a rack full of generic reverb units. The manual details a 16-band vocoder that takes a vocal signal on the left input and superimposes it onto a second source on the right input, either a keyboard or the built-in tone generator. DigiTech itself calls the result a vocal effect "more robotic than human." The vocoder's sibilance parameter runs 0 to 100, and its source parameter selects either the instrument input or the internal tone generator, which sweeps 20 Hz to 600 Hz. A ring modulator is also on board, with a frequency range of 300 Hz to 1500 Hz, capable of what the manual describes as mathematically-based harmonic effects. A compressor and a de-esser round out the menu, both sharing threshold, ratio, attack, and gain parameters: threshold from -60 dB to 0 dB, ratio from 1:1 to ∞:1, attack from 0.1 ms to 15 ms, and gain from -19 dB to +20 dB.
The S-200 also carries a three-band EQ and a noise gate per program. The EQ has a low shelf at 200 Hz, a parametric band sweepable from 25 Hz to 20.0 kHz, and a high shelf at 3 kHz, each with ±12 dB of range. The noise gate's threshold runs from off through -99 dB to 0 dB, and its release time is switchable across ten steps from 10 ms to 900 ms. These are program-level adjustments, so each of the 198 stored programs can carry its own EQ and gate settings.
The unit's compliance paperwork names DigiTech Studio of 8760 S. Sandy Parkway, Sandy, Utah. It declares conformity to EN 60065 (1993), IEC 65 (1985) with Amendments 1, 2 and 3, EN 55013 (1990), and EN 55020 (1991), under the Low Voltage Directive 73/23/EEC and EMC Directive 89/336/EEC as amended by 93/68/EEC. DigiTech Studio and S-200 are registered trademarks of the Harman Music Group. The factory warranty ran one year on parts and labor, provided the registration card was mailed within ten days of purchase. It was voided outright if anyone other than a certified DigiTech Studio technician opened the main assembly, or if the unit was run outside the suggested AC voltage range.
The internal power supply means there is no wall wart to lose, but it also means the unit is not a candidate for casual disassembly. DigiTech explicitly reserved the right to change the design without retrofitting earlier units. The manual's own note concedes that undocumented changes since the manual's completion may make some of its information inaccurate, so the shipping product may differ in small ways from the documentation.
Expect the usual caveats of a late-1990s digital rack unit. The display and encoder are the parts most likely to show age, and the 99 user programs are only as good as whatever the previous owner left behind. The vocoder and ring modulator are the reasons this box still gets pulled out of racks. A 16-band vocoder with a sweepable internal tone generator is not a common feature in a processor of this size. The routing is flexible too, with five configurations, stereo throughout, and MIDI program change and CC, so it works as a dedicated effects brain. The 96 dB signal-to-noise ratio and sub-0.008% THD mean it will not be the weak link in a clean signal chain.
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