URSA Major Space Station SST-206
A faithful recreation of the legendary digital reverb.
The Sound of Deep Space
The original SST-282 Space Station was released in 1978 and quickly became a studio staple, defining the sound of artists like Depeche Mode, Tycho, and Hannes Bieger. Its unique time-modulated algorithm created a lush, dimensional space that remains instantly recognizable to this day.
In 2003, the SST-206 was released as a fully digital recreation, enhancing the original's 7kHz bandwidth to a full 22kHz while adding increased memory for longer delay times and a handheld form factor. Now you can have the exact sound of this legendary reverb in your DAW — without paying upwards of $4,000 for a used hardware unit.
Demo will output 3 seconds of silence every 30 seconds and cannot save presets. Purchase a license to upgrade the demo to a full copy.
Transmissions from the Space Station
These samples demonstrate the URSA Major Space Station SST-206 plugin. Every track plays the Dry (unprocessed) loop first, followed by the Wet (processed) version. In the filenames, "282" refers to Regular Mode and "206" refers to Plus Mode. Settings are listed in the format: Program-Delay-Echo/Reverb-Decay Time.
The History of the Space Station
Christopher Moore, founder of Ursa Major and Seven Woods Audio.
In 1977, Christopher Moore left his position as project engineer at Lexicon to found Ursa Major. Working from his cellar, Moore set out to create a high-quality digital reverb at an accessible price point. When the SST-282 Space Station debuted at the 1978 Los Angeles AES Convention, it offered studio-quality digital processing for around $2,000—a fraction of the $20,000 price tag on competitors like the EMT 250.
The Space Station wasn't a traditional reverb at all. It was a multi-tap delay unit using a "randomizing" algorithm with eight dedicated listening taps and additional taps for synthesizing reverberation. This unconventional approach produced sounds that didn't mimic real acoustic spaces; instead, they created entirely new ones. The resulting "space" became the sonic signature of countless recordings from the late 1970s through the 1980s, appearing on work by artists ranging from ABBA to Frank Zappa, and later embraced by producers like James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Adrian Utley (Portishead), and electronic artists including Tycho and Ulrich Schnauss.
Front panel view of the original Ursa Major Space Station SST-282. With only 1900 units ever manufactured, this device sells for upwards of $4000 on the secondary market.
With only 1,900 units ever manufactured, the SST-282 became increasingly rare and expensive. In 2003, Moore returned to the audio industry with Seven Woods Audio and released the SST-206—a complete recreation of the original algorithms running on modern hardware. The entire processor was miniaturized into a handheld form factor while expanding the frequency response from 7kHz to a full 22kHz and operating at 24-bit/48kHz. This plugin carries that legacy forward, bringing the authentic Space Station sound to your DAW without the vintage price tag.
The Innovation Behind the Legend
STANDARD TAPE ECHO
FIXED TAPS
URSA MAJOR SPACE STATION SST-206
MODULATED TAPS
Traditional Tape Delay
A conventional tape echo uses fixed playback heads positioned at set intervals along the tape path. As audio passes through, each head produces a distinct repeat at a predictable delay time. While this creates the classic slapback and rhythmic echo effects, the fixed nature of these taps produces repeating patterns that can become audible as flutter or ringing when fed back to create longer decay times.
The SST-206 Time Modulated Delay System
The Space Station employs a revolutionary approach: fifteen modulated taps that continuously shift position in complementary pairs. When one tap moves forward, its partner moves back, canceling out pitch artifacts while breaking up repeating patterns. Notice the uneven spacing — the taps cluster more densely at longer delay times, mimicking how echo density naturally increases in real acoustic spaces. This elegant design can produce everything from standard rooms and plates to long, ghostly tails — all without the instability of traditional feedback systems.
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