Kinotone releases Ribbons firmware version 1.3

April 1, 2023 · 1 sources

Kinotone released firmware version 1.3 for the Ribbons pedal in April 2023, according to the Ribbons user manual, which states that its content reflects that version.

Ribbons is a compact stereo pedal built around tape-style effects. The manual describes it as "a powerful compact toolkit that celebrates the idiosyncrasies of imperfect mediums and translates them into a simple, flexible interface that gives you tons of control"¹. Four knobs control parameters across four pages, selected with a push button: page 1 for mix, filters and compression; page 2 for wow and flutter; page 3 for dropouts, crinkle and noise; page 4 for reverb and Touch Modes¹.

Page 1 carries a dedicated mix knob for blending dry and wet signal, a four-pole virtual analog low-pass filter and a symmetrical high-pass filter, which the manual says are modeled after the filter from a 1970s synthesizer, and compression modeled after a vinyl simulator found in a sampler. The compression control can be swapped for tape saturation by sending MIDI CC 52 with a value above zero¹. Page 2 sets depth and frequency for wow and flutter, modeled after spectral and waveform data collected from tape players "ranging from perfectly functioning to completely broken"¹. Page 3 sets dropout depth and frequency, crinkle and a noise blend between tape hiss and record clicks and pops; dropouts and crinkle process the left and right channels separately¹. Page 4 holds reverb mix and placement, reverb decay and the Touch Modes¹.

The pedal has eight preset slots, entered by holding the push button for three seconds, and a four-track looper, a sine wave synthesizer and CV/expression control are also covered in the manual¹. Inputs and outputs are TRS stereo input, TRS stereo output, MIDI input and CV/EXP input; the manual notes that TRS cables are needed to run it in stereo¹. Kinotone specifies an isolated +9VDC center-negative power supply rated for at least 160 mA and does not recommend daisy-chaining the pedal¹.

The manual does not list a price for the pedal¹.