Plug-In Power: The Two Modes of the BOSS CE-1 Chorus
By Dave Crane

With the release of UAD-1 version 3.9 software, the BOSS® CE-1 is now available for only $99. This is the first of three plug-ins we have announced in our partnership with Roland®. We invite you to download the UAD-1 v3.9 drivers and demo the CE-1. If you don't have a UAD-1, you can always listen to the online audio demos, or keep reading and check out the cool CE-1 movies!

Figure 1: It’s hard to resist the BOSS CE-1

In the May "Plug-In Power" article, we took a close look at the CE-1 and Dimension D and listened to each one in action. Since then, we have added a new feature that is not available on the hardware pedal version: a Stereo Mode switch that toggles between Classic and Dual modes. The Mode switch adds incredible flexibility to the CE-1 and greatly increases its sonic palette. In this article I will explain what is going on in each mode, and you can watch and listen to video and audio clips of the two modes in action.

When I wrote the first article on the CE-1 plug-in a few months back, what is now the Mode switch was an Input Gain switch. But during the CE-1's beta phase, we decided to replace the Input Gain switch with the Stereo Mode switch. The Stereo Mode switch determines the operating mode of CE-1 when the plug-in is used in a configuration with stereo input, such as a stereo audio-track insert or stereo effects bus. Since some applications handle mono and stereo tracks differently, we wanted all users on all applications to be able to use the plug-in with maximum flexibility, even if that meant enabling the plug-in to do something the pedal actually couldn't.

Figure 2: The Stereo Mode switch, shown here in Dual mode, is a new twist on an old classic.

In Classic mode, of course, the CE-1's behavior is very similar to the pedal's. The left and right channel inputs are mixed to mono, the dry signal (mixed left and right channels) appears at the left output, and the wet effect signal appears at the right output.

“The Mode switch adds incredible flexibility to the CE-1 and greatly increases its sonic pallet.”

In Dual mode, the CE-1 behaves as a dual-mono device, functioning as two independent CE-1s, each running in mono mode on one side of the stereo signal. The left output contains a mix of the dry left input signal and the processed left channel signal, while the right output contains a mix of the dry right input signal and the processed right channel signal. For maximum effect, the LFOs of the dual CE-1 channels are 90 degrees out of phase.

How does this affect you, the CE-1 user? First, we'll need to review a few things and learn a couple of new words.

The actual hardware pedal is a Mono Input/Stereo Output, or "MISO," device. It has only one input, and if you connect both of its outputs, the dry signal is on the left output and the affected signal is on the right.

Say you're using the CE-1 plug-in in Logic or Digital Performer. These applications can use plug-ins (like the CE-1) as MISO devises, changing a mono track to stereo. If the CE-1 is inserted in MISO mode, the dry signal appears on the left channel and the wet one on the right, just like the pedal. In this configuration, the Stereo Mode switch has no audible effect. If you want the chorus effect to spread across the stereo field, you need to insert the CE-1 on a stereo aux track and bus the output of the mono audio track to that aux.

Some applications, including Nuendo and Cubase, do not support MISO mode. If you insert a CE-1 on a mono track, the output will be mono. To get a true MISO chorus in this type of app, you have to insert the CE-1 on a effects track, bus the mono audio track to that effects track, and set the Mode switch to Classic. Using Dual mode yields some equally great-sounding results.

When used on a stereo track, the CE-1 is in Stereo In/Stereo Out, or "SISO," mode. It is impossible to use the pedal in SISO mode, because it has only one input. But in the world of software, almost nothing is impossible! In this case, you can still get the MISO effect by using Classic mode. Dual Mode also sounds great in this configuration.

Since talking about how a chorus sounds is, well, just a bunch of talk, I made these movies showing what I have been rambling about. I've also included downloadable 44.1k files so you can listen to uncompressed audio in your studio.

In the CE-1/MISO movie, I bus a mono guitar track to a stereo effects track with the CE-1 in Nuendo and switch back and forth between the Classic and Dual modes and between Chorus and Vibrato. A little Plate 140 is mixed in for ambience.

In the CE-1/SISO movie, I use a CE-1 on a stereo Fender Rhodes piano track in Nuendo and switch back and forth between the Classic and Dual modes as well as Chorus and Vibrato. A little Plate 140 is mixed in for ambience.

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