Catalinbread Soft Focus Deluxe FX40
The next step in shoegaze evolution has arrived.
Overview
In the late 1980s, Yamaha released the FX500, which kick-started the advancement of the shoegaze genre. Shoegaze, a genre named for how often musicians looked at their pedals, relied on layering distortion, delay, compression, and reverb during a time when reliable stompbox versions of these effects were scarce. The FX500 contained 60 patches, with patch 40, "Soft Focus," containing all these elements. This patch fueled the genre's popularity when Slowdive used it to record their pivotal album "Souvlaki."
Catalinbread designed its original Soft Focus in 2022 to recapture that sound in a more usable format, addressing issues with headroom, clipping, mixing, and setup integration. The Soft Focus Deluxe greatly expands on this, offering a full-fledged version of the original patch with five extra programs for deeper exploration of the genre.
The core of the original Soft Focus sound is a large room reverb with mild pitch shifting and chorus-style modulation. The rack unit also included compression and a delay line, which were not present in the original pedal due to technological constraints. The Deluxe model remedies this by adding a fully-adjustable echo with pulsating reverb swells. Delay time can be controlled via an expression pedal or the proprietary CB Tap device (sold separately).
The Deluxe model introduces five additional programs, each highlighting a different aspect of the Soft Focus: infinite reverb trails, extra chorus voices, shimmery artifacts, and pitch shifting delays. The expression pedal can also be used for volume swells, with the last program assigning an input level control to the expression jack.
A harmonically rich op-amp distortion has been added to complement the spatial effects and provide a velvety topnote. This onboard distortion features two operating modes: Series and Parallel. In Series mode, the distortion circuit precedes the spatial engine, and the Mix knob blends between the full signal path and the dry signal. In Parallel mode, the distortion runs in a second channel parallel to the Soft Focus engine, with the Mix knob balancing between the two. The distortion circuit is independently footswitchable and can be used on its own when the Soft Focus side is disengaged.
Program Matrix and Programs
The Program Matrix visually details how each of the six programs manipulates the core Soft Focus sound and its controls. The matrix shows six programs across the top and control categories (Overview, MOD, VERB, DELAY, TIME, MIX, DISTORTION, PARALLEL/SERIES) down the side, illustrating their behavior within each program.
Key Program Characteristics:
- Program 1: Standard Soft Focus - The standard Soft Focus patch from the original unit.
- Program 2: Long Reverb Tails - This program takes the standard reverb algorithm and increases the decay time to near-infinite, dramatically increasing the amount of ambience on tap.
- Program 3: Deep Modulation Warble - Adds an additional voice to the modulation section and expands its capabilities, extending into pitch-bending territory at higher settings.
- Program 4: Shimmer Soft Focus - Compared to the standard Soft Focus, all parameters have been juiced in this program, from the reverb decay to the modulation. A shimmer has been added.
- Program 5: Pitch Delay With Strong Shimmer - Focusing on the pitch-shifting elements of the Soft Focus patch, this mode adds an octave up to the delay repeats.
- Program 6: Expression Pedal Input Control - The Standard Soft Focus patch returns with expression tied to input volume for lush swells. Unlike other modes, where the expression jack controls delay time, Time and "DLY" Mix controls are swapped here.
Detailed control behavior for each program is available in the matrix, affecting modulation depth, reverb length, delay output, time, mix, and distortion blending. The Mix knob blends between wet and dry signals. If the toggle is set to "Parallel" with the distortion engaged, the "dry" side will feature high-gain distortion.
Note on Parallel/Series Distortion Mode: In Parallel mode, the high-gain distortion circuit replaces the dry signal path, and the Mix knob blends between Soft Focus and distortion. In Series mode, the distortion circuit occurs before the Soft Focus, giving massive distorted reverb and modulation with a full wet-dry blend.
Notes and Quirks
Series Mode
The Mix control's dry signal originates after the input preamp, potentially causing a slight volume bump across the Mix control. The dry signal will not be quieter than the input signal but may experience a slight volume bump depending on settings, even in bypass.
Switch Pop
To accommodate bass players, some capacitor values were increased. After plugging in the Soft Focus Deluxe, these capacitors require a short charging time, which can introduce a slight switch pop. This effect typically stops after cycling the pedal on and off a couple of times.
Infinite Reverb and Buffered Bypass
Program 2 offers nearly infinite reverb. Due to the Soft Focus Deluxe's buffered bypass, this infinite reverb will remain active even after switching the pedal off. The reverb time must be adjusted to cease the reverb trail in bypass.
Technical Specifications
- Buffered bypass with trails
- Current draw: 120mA ⚡ 9V DC center-negative
- Input impedance: 1MΩ
- Output impedance: 300Ω
Power Supply
The Soft Focus Deluxe operates from 9 to 18 volts using a standard DC center-negative power supply for pedals. Ensure your supply provides at least 120mA. Running the pedal at 9V sounds great, but for more output, a dry signal boost, and increased headroom, try any voltage up to 18V. The Soft Focus Deluxe does not run on batteries.
