iZotope Cascadia

We check out this budget‑friendly tape delay that aims to stay out of the way!

The first two plug‑ins in iZotope’s Catalyst series, which are designed to offer a particularly accessible processing experience, were Plasma (saturation) and Aurora (reverb). The latest addition, reviewed here, is Cascadia. First and foremost, this is a tape‑style delay, with conventional delay controls on the left‑side of the display. Delay time can be set manually or sync’ed to your host (with all the usual note length options readily available). Ping‑pong and reverse delay modes are included and, for use as an insert effect, the large Delay knob controls the level of the delay signal that is blended with the original dry source. When using Cascadia as a send effect, you won’t want any dry sound, and engaging the Solo Delay button will return only the processed signal to your mix. The Feedback and Width controls also do exactly what you’d expect, while the degree of tape‑style modulation can be controlled using the Mod Depth and Mod Rate knobs. Finally, at the base of the large central spectrum display, low‑ and high‑cut filters are available, letting you control the tonality of the delays.

Ducks With Brains

This is all very straightforward in use and, as demonstrated by the presets, Cascadia can provide a whole range of conventional delay treatments, from effective vocal thickening to long, ambient delay lines, with all stops in between. Yes, there are delay plug‑ins that offer more elaborate feature sets but, in short, these basic controls give you a very usable delay, with a tape contribution that can be easily adjusted to suit your needs.

The unmasking process operates dynamically, ducking the delay signal only within those frequency ranges where the dry signal is present.

However, as with other Catalyst products, there are also some more ‘intelligent’ controls, and in this case they’re focused on ‘unmasking’. When activated, the unmasking process operates dynamically, ducking the delay signal only within those frequency ranges where the dry signal is present, so that the dry signal always remains clear within the mix without the delay seeming to disappear. You can adjust the attack and/or release of this frequency‑based ducking, while the Amount control adjusts its depth. A Sensitivity control sets the threshold of the detection algorithm and is perhaps most useful if you’re using Cascadia as a send effect, and want to drive the unmasking process a little harder. The central display gives informative real‑time feedback on the extent of ducking in specific frequency ranges but, thanks to the small ‘ear’ button, you can also monitor the delta signal — in other words, you can hear precisely what the unmasking stage is taking away. You can, of course, also bypass the unmasking entirely.

I have to say that this unmasking process can be very effective in getting the delay to step out of the way of the dry signal, and keep things uncluttered. Finding the sweet spot does involve some back and forth, listening to the target vocal/instrument soloed and in the full mix context, but this is straightforward to do, and the control set is easy to master.

Unmasked

Ducking delays are not a new concept but, like Recirculate by Newfangled Audio or Sonible’s smart: reverb, Cascadia makes use of smarter algorithms than more traditional approaches. It’s a very useful effect, it sounds good, it’s straightforward to use, the asking price is modest, and it makes handling one of the biggest downsides of delay effects — the potential for adding clutter to your mix that robs more up‑front sounds of their impact — incredibly easy. If you want to conduct your own experiments, there’s a free trial, but if the concept appeals I’d suggest checking out iZtotope’s Aurora at the same time, since it brings the same unmasking approach to reverb.