Which delay pedal to get

A couple of months ago, JHS released a new series of affordable pedals. You can find anything you imagine, and they all look good. This, of course, means that you can get yourself a delay pedal as well. All models from this series are white, and this delay has three knobs. You can use them to adjust the level of reverb, EQ, and decay. There is also a pre-delay switch. The delay has a range of 80 ms to ms. The next delay on the list is a part of the Illuminated series by Ex-Gear, and it is quite good.

The pedal is compact in size, there are LEDs on the bottom of the switch, which means that you can see it on the stage as well.

When it comes to the controls, there are three main knobs for adjusting the type of delay and a Drama switch. By flipping the switch on, the user can control the delay using a footswitch, which gives you plenty of different options to create incredible sounds. All things considered, Ex-Gear pedals are great, and the price is not as high as some other models.

Joyo is another new name that quickly gained popularity due to the price-quality ratio. You can find numerous different Joyo pedals for such a low price, and they sound great. Here, we have Aquarius R Additionally, you can adjust the level, time, and feedback for each mode. The pedal is durable, sturdy, and it works with adapters. The only option is to connect it to the external power supply.

Flamma FS03 is a perfect blend of traditional and modern. You will get access to six different types of delay, and you can easily switch between them. There is also a looper included, but it allows you to record up to eighty seconds only. One of the best features is that the pedal allows you to create your own sound, and store it in the memory. While the brand is not as famous as others on the list, the pedal gives you plenty of options to mess around with the sound and try out different things.

Mooer is another excellent budget brand, and they offer a pedal for every occasion. You can use it as a looper, for tap tempo, and there are five knobs to adjust the delay. The great thing about it is that you also get a couple of presets, and you can save the modifications if you create something you like.

Mooer D7 is an excellent option for those that are looking for a delay pedal with additional features. Here, we will get some of the more popular brands, and the quality of each of these models is incredible. MXR is one of the biggest names in the world of guitar pedals, and many famous players use effects by this brand. Here, we have a delay pedal called Carbon Copy, and it is incredible. The first thing to mention is that Carbon Copy is completely digital, and it has true bypass.

There are three knobs you can use to shape the sound, and the pedal has a similar design to other MXR effects. The pedal allows you to choose up to ms of delay, and there are optional modulations as well. It works on a 9V power source, and there is a LED light to indicate if the pedal is turned on. Now, this model is a real treat for anyone who loves guitar pedals.

Duotime is a stereo delay pedal with tons of different effects and features. You have a level knob, five different types of delay, parameters for further adjustments, and two sets of controls for delays 1 and 2. All things considered, Nux is a great pedal that gives you a lot of space to experiment with it. Flamma FS22 is a pedal that is a mix of reverb and delay.

You get two sets of controls for each effect, and you can use a switch to select between the two. There are three positions on the switch, and each gives you an option to select a combination of effects. The first one is for the reverse delay and swell reverb.

The second one is for the analog echo and mod reverb, and the third one is for the analog delay and shimmer reverb. Another pedal from Nux, but this time, we have a combination of reverb and delay. When it comes to delay, there are three different modes you can choose.

You also get a set of controls to adjust the tone, and there are two separate switches for activating each of these effects. The final model in this category is Aqua Puss by Way Huge. If you are familiar with the brand, you probably know that they design incredible pedals. Aqua Puss is no exception. The delay gives you a true effect, and the entire pedal is analog. What is important is that those that are looking for a simple pedal will adore this model. There are no additional settings, no reverb, and there are three knobs to control the sound.

It is a simple yet effective way to approach the delay effect, and it sounds amazing. There are more than enough options for creating a perfect delay for your guitar. As you can probably guess, the quality of these pedals is incredible, and all brands are well-known manufacturers of guitar effects. Naturally, the price is a bit higher, but if you are looking for top-shelf models, these are the ones you should check out. It's so easy to use.

And, above all else, it's a great looking unit too. The footswitch is perfect proof of that hard-wearing, sturdy quality. This is undoubtedly a pedal that's designed for professional musicians, which is why many famous guitarists use it.

Its only real downside is its price. But it's worth it if you want profesional level quality. A delay pedal is one of the most commonly used effects pedals, along with distortion or overdrive pedals. It is used by almost every professional guitarist at some point in their career. The purpose is fairly simple. It takes the signal from the guitar, and then repeats it, almost like an echo.

Most delay pedals are the same as other effects pedals in that they are a fairly simple box that sits somewhere between your guitar and amplifier or studio input. You choose the settings on the box, hit the footswitch, and then the effect is produced. While you might think that adding a repeated signal would only be useful for specific types of songs, or certain bits of a song, the delay effect is in fact used much more often than you'd imagine.

This is because a relatively quiet delay used a short time after the actual note is played will give the sound more depth. You might not even realize that a delay effect has been applied.

This is why most guitarists will have a delay pedal. It isn't just for showy special effects. You can make a faint echo for an eerie feel. You can stretch the delay out for a progressive soundscape. An analog pedal will run the signal through a variety of pieces of hardware to achieve the delay effect.

The signal generally passes through a series of capacitors. This signal is simply being altered. This also slightly alters the tone of the input as the signal is slightly diffused as it gets repeatedly put through the effect pedal. Lots of people would describe this tone as being warm. A digital pedal, on the other hand, works quite differently.

The analog, electrical signal that comes through the chain to the delay is converted into a digital one. This means that the digital processing unit in the pedal can do whatever it likes with the sound it receives. A digital pedal by its very nature is much more flexible than an analog one. An analog pedal has physical limitations, such as how long it can sustain the delay and other special kinds of delay effects that it can implement. Ultimately, the decision is up to you.

If possible, you should experiment with both pedal types to see which one suits your style best. Delay pedals are straightforward to use, but they do take a little bit of tweaking to get them sounding as you want.

The first point to note is that delay pedals are usually the last, or nearly the last, pedal in the effects chain. This is because you want to delay the signal for the sound and tone that you've created with your other effects pedals. Placing further effects such as distortion on a delayed signal often sounds messy, muddy, and undesirable. The time dial will change the amount of time between the repetition of the signals.

Digital pedals will have much larger potential intervals, but a short interval on an analog can help create a nice deep sound. The feedback dial will alter the number of times that the signal is repeated, starting with just a single one. On some pedals, the maximum might be an infinite number of repeats. The level dial - the last of three knobs - changes how loud each subsequent signal is.

Cranked up to the max, then the repeated signal will be as loud as when you first struck the note. There will likely be other switches on the pedal that will allow you to do other things, such as add a modulation effect or reverb click here for pedals.

This pedal doesn't just have the best name. It's also the best delay pedal on the market, in our opinion, which is why it's our 'Top Choice'. But we think it does a great job at being versatile, feeling well-built, and ultimately giving you the best tone. Regardless of the setting, the Delay Lay Lay exudes quality to the level that it would be perfect for recording as well as being used live.

Well done Deadbeat. What an awesome pedal! We think it just has so much character to it. The sounds that it produced are unbeatable, and while it might not be as versatile as the DD-7, the Carbon Copy feels a bit more special. The knobs provide plenty of customization for the vast majority of sounds you might want to create. The chassis is one of the best of all the pedals on our list.

It looks gorgeous, thanks to the green metallic paint. But what stands out is the overwhelming sense of quality that the pedal exudes. The knobs and switches are tactile and robust. You get the feeling that this is a pedal that will last you decades. Our 'Great Value' pick is a true bypass, analog pedal. You could buy half a dozen of these pedals for the same price as the Carbon Copy.

The Blue Ocean sounds good. It does an impressive job of keeping your tone pretty much the same throughout. The bypass works perfectly too, and all of the knobs adjust linearly, making it easy to use. For jamming at home, this thing is perfect.

There is a lot of budget options out there, but none are quite as good as this one. Check each one out, and then add the finishing touches to your effects chain. Delay is not only for guitars. It is also used for pianos too - click here for the study. Digital Audio Effects can become confusing to understand, but we were helped along with the help of this study here.

LEVEL controls the effect level and is basically like a volume control. Set it at the 12 o clock position and you get the same level as the input sound and it can be reduced or increased from here.

The second knob F. BACK is the feedback knob and this controls the number of time the delayed sound repeats itself. Keep in mind that this knob does not work when using the hold mode i. The third knob D. TIME is the one you will probably end up using a lot and it is the delay time knob, which unsurprisingly controls the amount of delay time.

The last knob MODE allows you to select the various modes such as modulate, analog, reverse, etc. No product can be perfect and as good as the DD-7 is, there are still some things it can do better:. Bottom Line: There is no doubt that this is a rock-solid choice for a delay pedal, especially at this price point.

It's that good and will last you for many years. Boss has a very long and rich history of delighting guitarists and the DD-7 proudly carries out that task with even more oomph. The debate of whether analog delay is better or digital delay is better will probably go on forever.

Eventide opted not to take a side in this dispute and instead has made a hybrid pedal that has the best of both worlds.

This approach has resulted in a pedal that is extremely versatile and capable of making a huge variety of sounds. The best way to describe the Eventide Rose is as a pedal that keeps the signal path analog while the digital delay is stacked on top of that. This digital line has five sources of modulation. Together, this setup can create some amazingly diverse types of sounds.

The delay has a very wide range starting from 10 milliseconds all the way up to 10 seconds. Using specific modulation settings, you can extend this to 50 seconds which is just mind-bending. The shortest delay times can be used to create comb filtering, chorus and flanging effects.

There are six knobs that help you take full command of this pedal. The delay knob is multifunctional. Press it and turn it to set a range and then turn it normally to fine tune the time within that range. The time multiplier does what it says. It multiplies the set time by a factor of between 2 and 5. The mix knob sets the percentage of wet signal going through and there is a standard feedback knob as well.

The properties of the modulation can be set by using the rate and depth knobs. You can store five banks with five presets, giving you a total of 25 sounds and you can instantly switch between the presets in a bank using the Hotswitch. You can also morph between presets using an expression pedal. In short, you can set it up to create everything from the simplest sound effects to mind-boggling ones.

The two footswitches along with the optional expression pedal allow you to use delay in ways that are alien to most guitarists.

It also works great with a bass guitar. The Rose is not inexpensive. If it is worth it totally depends on you. Do you like experimenting with your sound and want your pedalboard to have the sonic capabilities to constantly come up with new sounds then this is absolutely a pedal worth investing in. If on the other hand, you use delay sparingly then this pedal might be overkill for you.

However, if you want to own one of the most versatile delay pedals ever and do not mind the price tag we recommend this pedal. Bottom Line: The Eventide Rose is a worthy addition to any pedalboard.

It is the last modulated delay pedal you will ever need. It is an expensive pedal but consider it an investment in your music. It would have been the ultimate delay pedal had it been priced a bit more economically but apart from that, this is as good as a delay pedal can be. The first thing that will grab your attention rather forcefully is the aesthetics of the Empress Effects Echosystem.

It has gorgeous exterior that does justice to its insane capabilities. The light metallic color makes it look like an expensive piece of art rather than a piece of musical gear and for that matter. There is no screen but it is not much of an inhibition. The initial learning curve will feel a bit tricky but once you spend an hour or so with this unit, everything will be clear as the light of day.

The build quality is exceptional and this thing will withstand almost everything a guitarist will be able to throw at it in a regular use scenario. The Echosystem takes a more nuanced approach to the art of signal processing to give some of the best delay effects we have heard in sometime.

Instead of a single algorithm driving the entire unit, the Empress Effects Echosystem has 12 separate algorithms. This makes each type of delay have its own unique and specific character. Another advantage of this approach is that the sound quality is simply breathtaking. It is quite easy to get lost in the depth and elegance of each of the single type of delay.

Furthermore, it is quite customizable and flexible as well. Every parameter of the delay can be adjusted to a very fine degree and that allows you to create some really unique and personable sounds.

The sheer number of available delay effects is staggering too. Just to put this into perspective, there are 4 different tape delay effects alone.

Overall, there are more than 36 types of delays in all which would take a lifetime to get through. You also have the option of saving 35 presets so that once you have a sound dialed in just right, you can save it for future use. The one thing that the Echosystem offers that no one else is offering currently is constant firmware updates.

Empress are very active on their forums and always lend an open ear to their users. In the rare occurrence of you finding an issue, chances are pretty high that it will be quickly fixed.

Bottom line: With highly convincing analog delay effects and some of the best digital delay effects, this pedal truly shines like a bright star. The Empress Effects Echosystem is innovative and highly dependable and its flexible features make it a bonafide winner.

Max Delay Time: ms Looper: No. You won't believe how good the Donner Yellow Fall Delay sounds, especially when you see the price. Despite this claim, some users reported a slight bit of coloration, which we were not able to detect ourselves. Some users have reported that this is not a true analog delay pedal, but rather a digital recreation. Still, it has drawn some comparisons to the analog tone of the MXR Carbon Copy, which is very high praise considering you can buy 4 of these for the price of one of those!

Coming in at the lowest price and sporting a killer sound in a robust enclosure, we think this makes the perfect budget choice.

The majority opinion is that the Line 6 DL4 is a fantastic sounding delay unit, and does justice to the delays it attempts to replicate. For instance, you can record a rhythm part, and play lead over it as it loops. You can continue to overdub more and more on your original loop, essentially becoming a one-man-band. To address some of the negative feedback we uncovered, some users complain that the stomp switches are not the most sturdy.

Another gripe is the price, which some users feel is a bit on the high end. Its ability to model a host of vintage delays is second to none, and the 14 second looper is a pleasure to use. The great thing about modern electronics is that they can pack in hundreds of features in a tiny form factor and the Eventide TimeFactor Twin Delay Pedal is a great example of that.

It is feature rich and has the ability to do some great delay effects right out of the box. Its biggest strength is the degree to which it can allow you to tweak and customize the sound without degrading the quality. There are two independent delays hence the name Twin that can each be up to 3 seconds. Each delay can further be chosen from 10 awesome presets that are all very usable and can be used in stereo or mono mode.

A second looper, rugged build quality, true bypass, and the ability to connect to a computer via a USB port sweeten the deal even further. It is no doubt on the expensive side but well worth each penny if you crave the most tweakable digital delay out there.

The Electro-Harmonix Stereo Memory Man is a cool device that combines a capable delay pedal and a lengthy looper in a seamless manner and at a pretty decent price. The sounds you can get out of this pedal is matchless. The reverse echo is a really cool feature which in combination with the 30 second looper can produce some really amazing sounds.

The eight presets are programmable which allows you a great degree of tweaking. It is a digital pedal which can be a sore point for analog enthusiasts, but this is one of the warmest sounding digital pedals and your audience will not have the slightest clue anyways.

The sturdy metal construction, stereo operation, and true bypass complete this sweet package. The brushed steel appearance gives this pedal a very distinguished and high end look. The layout is neat and the use of green LEDs is a genius move. This makes selecting effects easy even in dim lighting conditions. The exquisite build quality and its air of exclusivity makes it stand out from the crowd of delay pedals out there. Using the Strymon Timeline Delay was very easy it was with no effort at all that I was able to make in-depth changes to the sound to get it to sound just right.

The layout and the old-school LCD screen help immensely but it is the way everything is structured that anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of how delay works will be able to make this pedal to sing to their tunes.

There are at least 8 parameters that you can tweak for each effect to a very minute degree and then save it on one of the memory locations to call it back when needed. There are so many possibilities with the sound that your own creativity will be what ultimately puts any obstacles in front of you. Its connectivity options are great too including MIDI capabilities. You can connect a MIDI controller to it to make switching between the presets quite easy.

An expression pedal can also be connected to precisely control certain parameters while playing live. Overall, this is one of the most intuitive and easy to use feature-loaded delay pedals that we came across. The analog sounds that the Strymon Timeline Delay produces puts it into the upper echelon of delay pedals on sale right now.

It is a solidly built unit and even the most enthusiastic guitarist will have a tough time putting a dent into this beauty.