Delay pedals

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:19 pm

What's your choice? Sorry if this was already covered somewhere.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:30 pm

You just after what pedals we like or are you looking to buy one and want advice? If so I need info about what sound you're after and your budget.

Personally I currently use the following:

Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man - Analogue Delay, ~500 ms max time, very musical repeats and chorus/vibrato functionality - pretty much all my clean delay is produced by this kooky machine
Vestax MDX Digital Delay with Modulation - A lively digital delay which is not hi-fi by any stretch of the imagination but cuts through an overdriven signal like butter and has the most wacky modulation section. Can create wonderful wide chorus and flange sounds also.

I've also used:

Boss DD-20 Giga Delay - Awesome pedal, tap tempo on board, 5 programmable presets, great Tape and Analog models, a cool modulation section which can be used to get chorus and leslie speaker sounds, pristine repeats and some vibey settings. Smooth (delay with reverb) and Warp (constant repeats when the pedal is heard) settings are very cool. Nice looper also for practise - sound on sound etc.

Boss DD-5 Digital Delay - My favourite boss compact delay, sold after the DD-20 was bought though as it was superceded - a great buy though, external tap tempo, some great noises. Good workhorse.

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:41 pm

I'm looking for one to buy. Clean delay, external tap, true bypass, cost is no object.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:45 pm

It has to be true bypass? a DD-5 has clean delays, external tap tempo input and a very good bypass though it is buffered. You realise true bypass doesn't always = good, right?

Other options if you want to spend A LOT of money are:

Diamond Memory Lane
DLS Echo Tap

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:48 pm

good point, true bypass is not neccesary.

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:50 pm

Akai Headrush. I really like that pedal.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:51 pm

I'd say Boss DD-5 or Marshall Echohead off the top of my head.

Also the Akai E2 Headrush I think has tap tempo too?

The pedal crew should be in soon to help you...

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:52 pm

Yeah the E2 does had a tap tempo.

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:56 pm

have you tried this one?

The TC Electronic Vintage Delay Pedal will instantly bring you back to the days of warm, lush, all-tube echoes, and at the same time it connects you to the state-of-the-art digital delays of today.
It builds on the legacy of the classic TC 2290, the holy grail of delays. Resurrect the tape echo of the 60?ies, recreate the analog temperate sound of the tubes, or be cool with the studio quality delays. Tap-tempo lets you set the pace, and several control knobs gives you the power to be delayed, but not late.

TC Electronic Vintage Delay Pedal Features

Delay time: Sets the delay time. The delay time can be set from approx. 10ms to 1500ms.
Feedback Level: Sets the amount of signal that is fed back to the input of the delay line. The higher setting the more delay repeats.
Delay Level: Controls the level of the delay repeats.
Output Level: Output level for the effect.
Filter: To reproduce the slight deterioration of the delay repeats that was significant to old tape echoes the Filter can be switched on. This function gives a warmer sound on the delay repeats that allows long relatively loud delay repeats to blend much better in your overall sound.
Triplets: In off position (up), the tapped tempo equals the delay time between the repeats. If you e.g. tap quarter notes at tempo 120BPM, the delay will repeat times 2 per second. When the triplet function is activated: the delay repeats will play quarter note triplets according to the tapped tempo. That means 6 repeats per bar.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:59 pm

Chico Malo wrote:have you tried this one?

The TC Electronic Vintage Delay Pedal will instantly bring you back to the days of warm, lush, all-tube echoes, and at the same time it connects you to the state-of-the-art digital delays of today.
It builds on the legacy of the classic TC 2290, the holy grail of delays. Resurrect the tape echo of the 60?ies, recreate the analog temperate sound of the tubes, or be cool with the studio quality delays. Tap-tempo lets you set the pace, and several control knobs gives you the power to be delayed, but not late.

TC Electronic Vintage Delay Pedal Features

Delay time: Sets the delay time. The delay time can be set from approx. 10ms to 1500ms.
Feedback Level: Sets the amount of signal that is fed back to the input of the delay line. The higher setting the more delay repeats.
Delay Level: Controls the level of the delay repeats.
Output Level: Output level for the effect.
Filter: To reproduce the slight deterioration of the delay repeats that was significant to old tape echoes the Filter can be switched on. This function gives a warmer sound on the delay repeats that allows long relatively loud delay repeats to blend much better in your overall sound.
Triplets: In off position (up), the tapped tempo equals the delay time between the repeats. If you e.g. tap quarter notes at tempo 120BPM, the delay will repeat times 2 per second. When the triplet function is activated: the delay repeats will play quarter note triplets according to the tapped tempo. That means 6 repeats per bar.

lol..

you're INTENT on spending a lot of money aren't you?

Buy a T-Rex Replica - exactly the same pedal - less $

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:02 pm

I have a DD-5 very good + tap tempo
Also have the Headrush 2 which also has tap tempo/loop/tape echo ala copikat

& I also have an old DOD/Digitech PDS delay from the 80's, which has a nice analog delay sound & short loop function. It was one of the first looper delay pedals on the market.

I guess from what you say your best off with the Boss.

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:04 pm

mike, i was just wondering what you thought of it. money really isn't an issue.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:06 pm

What I think of it is that's it's an overpriced digital delay branded as Vintage which means it has a high freq roll off (resistor and cap as lowpass filter) and a silly price tag

Chico Malo · Post by **Chico Malo** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:08 pm

ok, thanks for steering me away from that one.

inscho · Post by **inscho** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:39 pm

for analog voiced digital delay I like the ibanez de-7...very good digital oscillation

dark, nasty lofi analog I like the dod fx90 or the mxr analog delay...both oscillate nicely

modulated analog I like the DMM...good oscillation, I like its quirkiness

modulated digital I like the Line 6 Echo Park...but you need to run an isolated power source to keep it from being noisey.

I never reallly wanted clean digital repeats, but I like the boss dd-3 alright

the dd-20 covers a lot of ground from analog voiced, modulated, tape, etc...its a good sounding solid unit, but pretty uninspiring...no real oscillation

the dl4 doesn't sound quite as good as the dd-20 (althought the modulation was better IMO), and isn't as reliable...but it has a lot of character and was more fun to me...hated the way this unit oscillated

the delay with the best tone to me is the boss dm-3...its terrific, but short delay times...its a little dark, but not as dark as the dm-2...I've been told the maxon delays sound better, but I have no experience with any of them.

best sounding analog delay with long delay time I've owned is the moog delay and has a lot of options that most analog delays don't offer except the memory lane and the quicksilver if you wanted to go digital...which I don't have experience with either...all come with hefty price tags.

the only delay I've owned that I really didn't like was the boss rv-3 it was pretty sterile sounding and pingy.

[/.02]

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:41 pm

He asked for a delay with external tap tempo.

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:42 pm

+1 on the akai for clean delays .

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:43 pm

i reckon headrush too, because it does that sexy multihead tape sim and I reckon Chico has a few amps.

AM I RIGHT?

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:44 pm

i get the impression chico has amps a plenty.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:46 pm

He needs to arrange them in a circle and stand in the middle and connect all the head taps to them and then go MENTAL