Cableguys TimeStop is a single-purpose tape-stop effect, released on October 13, 2026 by the team behind ShaperBox, HalfTime and Kickstart. Its idea is simple: map the slowdown to one large, fully automatable Pitch knob so you draw the tape-stop as a DAW automation curve instead of riding varispeed or printing it to audio.
Three modes cover the common uses. Classic drops pitch and time together for the familiar vinyl-slowing effect, Modern drops pitch while keeping the beat on the grid so vocals and drums stay in time, and Loop folds in stutter fills for build-ups and DJ-style transitions. It works on any source, including the master bus.
Against its siblings, TimeStop is the focused, cheap option. ShaperBox 3 covers the same tape-stop inside its TimeShaper module but costs far more and adds ten other effects, while HalfTime handles half-speed downpitching rather than a true stop. Choose TimeStop if a tape-stop is the specific move you keep reaching for. Our TimeStop first look has the full spec and comparison tables.