JMG Continuum

Available from United Plugins and supporting all the common macOS and Windows plug‑in formats, including AAX, JMG’s Continuum is a dual‑engine delay plug‑in in which each delay section can be set independently to Tape, BBD or Digital emulation modes, with the delay panel knobs changing colour to reflect the delay type. Authorisation is via a personal licence that allows the plug‑in to be installed on any number of the owner’s machines. The GUI is resizeable and all the controls are on a single screen, with help for any control only a right‑click away. The full manual can also be accessed from within the plug‑in.

Unusually, the designers have included a master Diffuse control. This introduces all‑pass filters into the crossfeed feedback path to smear the delays into more reverb‑like textures. The two delays can be connected by this crossfeed network at the push of a button, and there are separate bypass buttons for each delay stage. With crossfeed off, the two delay lines run in parallel. The two modules have independent stereo panning controls and pitch modulation, with a choice of panning and modulation styles. There are also slider‑controlled high‑ and low‑pass filters with a choice of Pre, Feed(back) or Post placement.

Mojo

A key control found in each delay section is Mojo, which has a different function depending on the selected delay type. For example, in Digital mode it can introduce bit reduction for a more lo‑fi sound, though it never seems to get excessive. Generally, Mojo brings in more of the artefacts associated with the selected delay type. Further character control can be achieved by adjusting the input control for each delay section, where increasing the input level beyond midway brings in a little emulated preamp saturation with level compensation. Feedback works conventionally: the level of signal fed back to the delay input determines the number of repeats.

That might seem like enough to be getting on with, but even the delay time has options beyond the usual straight, dotted and triplet note values, with eight further patterns that are sync’ed but with different time offsets, and you can of course use old‑school freely adjustable time too. With a maximum delay time of 10 seconds, you could also indulge in a little Frippertronics if that takes your fancy.

Click the small window below the pan knob and you’ll see a list of 12 panning modes: Left/Right, Mid/Sides, Offset, Ping Pong L/R, Ping Pong Mid/Sides, Orbit (which seems to exploit the Haas effect), Balanced, Focused, Converse, Diverge, Fade Out and Fade In. The Fade options relate to the way the delays move across the stereo field, rather than any change in the envelope. Rhythmic feel can be adjusted by adding shuffle to the delays, but there are eight further options that affect the timing or groove of the delays. Modulation adds sine‑wave LFO motion, analogue drift with a choice of three speeds, or smooth, random pitch modulation, also with a choice of three speeds.

The centre section applies only when crossfeed is engaged, and in addition to the aforementioned Diffuse control, there’s a Level control that adjusts the strength of signal sent to the crossfeed path. Depending on the settings of the two delay sections, turning this up too far may create a runaway feedback build‑up (whether that’s fun or annoying depends on your point of view!). When turned on, crossfeed sends the output of delay two back to delay one and the output of delay one into delay two, which adds noticeably to the complexity of the repeat patterns. Mod is a separate modulation control that affects the delay times at the inputs to the delay stages, while Damp adjusts filtering within the overall feedback path such that successive delays become more indistinct.

The separate master controls for the wet and dry levels can be linked, and a ducker can dip the delay level when a signal is present, and then cause it to swell at the end of a note or phrase. There’s no external side‑chain input, but in most instances the way it works is the way you’d want to use it. At the top right of the GUI are an output level meter and four buttons for Rest, Bypass, Oversampling, and engaging the output Limiter. Top left are all the familiar United Plugins preset‑handling buttons.

Good Presets

There’s a good selection of factory presets that demonstrates Continuum’s capabilities, as well as a random button, should you be in search of inspiration and fancy letting chance take over. In my experience, it’s not entirely random, which is a good thing — it comes up with something usable every few tries, and if you hear an effect you like, you can just save it. It soon becomes clear that there are lots of unconventional delay effects available here, especially when you start using the Pattern delays. All the classic tape, BBD and digital delays are there too of course, but add in some modulation, filtering and diffusion and you’ll find some dramatic hybrid ‘not quite reverb’ effects and quirky modulations. Set the delay feedbacks close to running away and the addition of modulation can create some very trippy repeat effects.

If you like your delay effects to be able to wander into strange places, without sacrificing the more conventional delays, Continuum is well worth exploring.

I like that Continuum provides plenty of scope for experimentation yet still presents to the user a very straightforward interface that encourages diving in rather than relying on presets. If you like your delay effects to be able to wander into strange places, without sacrificing the more conventional delays, Continuum is well worth exploring. There’s a generous demo period too, so it’s easy to try properly before you buy.