Delaylaylay

[lemming]

However I am not responsible for your impulse purchase behaviour or the lightening of your wallet.

Great. I love delay, dammit. To give you an idea of what a committed delay fan I am, these are the delay pedals I have right now:

1. Boss DD-3
2. Boss DD-7
3. Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail
4. MXR Carbon Copy
5. Electro-Harmonix Memory Man
6. Line 6 DL4
7. T-Rex Replicator

I don't like odd-numbered lists -- I've got to take a closer look at the Echo Fix.

Wishing you a pleasant lockdown...

[BlueSparkle]

You too!


I sort of went the other way with delay engines....

Maestro EP3 (sold - way too many failures, capstan, head(s) tapes always jamming and binding, a fickle disastrous monster of a box... I would still have it if it was somewhat useful, but I no longer own it... I did not know about Shane back then, possibly this story would have ended differently if he repaired it for me.) I do know where it is though... because prior to my purchase of the EchoFix I contacted the guy I sold it to, who kept it and hardly used it, then sold it only 9 months ago to a guy I used to work with! small world...!!!

RE-301 - Old, needed major overhaul, purchased about 5th or 6th hand possibly more, had never ever been serviced or tape replaced....
used it once. It broke. I swapped it for the Mistress.

deluxe elec mistress (79) Still have it. It's tempremental. I'm keeping it in the cupboard because it shares the same reticon SAD1024 bbd that my A/DA flanger has (spare parts are $$$).

DD-20 gigadelay - useful, but not my 'sound' - still have it, and like all my pedals, I'll quote Josh Scott's JHS Show "He's Got The Box" (I keep all my pedal boxes).
MXR Carbon Copy - best BBD for short repeats that I've found. GREAT rolloff. I love the way it's repeats darken. - got the box for that too
RE-20 space echo (cosm) wanted a 201 without all the problems. GREAT pedal. absolutely recommend it. has some similarities to a carbon copy as well, if you tweak the EQ. - yep, got the box still
Dawner Prince Boonar - because I couldn't get enough Gilmour in my noodling - and I love it. It is exceptional. AND I have the box
Empress echosystem - to date THE best stompbox for delay I have tried - especially because I run wet/dry/wet most of the time, the L/R dual engine setting for me is bliss. - I have the box for it, but I'll never need it. That pedal is going with me to the grave.

EchoFix - I'm not saying it will be my last Delay ever..... but I'm honestly feeling it covers almost everything the others were missing. The fidelity in the repeats is just insane, and my maestro never had that character, the 301 - I never got to experience properly and was burned as a result... hence the RE-20 as a 'return' to Roland...

Oh yeah, and the box for it is Frickin' huge. I might use it to put the boxes of all my other delays in it... and call it a shipping container.

I'd like to know how everyone else here who are delaylaylay fans started out and what you are using/used/liked/disliked...

Right now I'm also going through a transitional period with phasers.
I just purchased an Empress phaser, which is replacing my Walrus Lillian phaser, which replaced my MXR phase 100, which I bought because my Strymon mobius phaser wasn't 'enough' for me. (lacking something intangible, but sonically vacant).

All this additional restriction on movement sees an inordinate amount of Reverb.com and online pedal browsing as well.... It's going to create an unhealthy appetite for effects...

Some parts of the global economy are going to boom as a result of this....

Health and happiness to all. Please stay safe.

[somanytoys]

I like echos and delays, but I haven’t really had all that many (as probably compared to some others).
Here’s my list:

First was a Keeley modded DD-3, but because of the mod, it was really only slapback, but the freeze was awesome and why I kept it so long. Sold it years later.

Next was a DD-20, it did all kinds of stuff but I didn’t use most of it. I used it for a few years, it was pretty large and not awesome, so I sold it.

-Akai Headrush 2: it was pretty cool, loved the 4 outputs that sent each of the repeats to separate amps. But I eventually made myself sell it to try better ones.

-VFE Yodeler: pretty good, very straightforward, also has reverb. I really like VFE, so I won’t sell it.

-Keeley Caverns: was interesting, also had reverb, but it wasn’t what I wanted and it moved on kind of quickly.

-Keeley 30ms: it’s good for what it does, 30 ms delay with Abbey Road tuned reverb, or a slapback. I had it listed, but kept it to use with the Dr. Robert pedal when I got it. May seem cheesy, but they do sound really good together.

-Polymoon: bought one, then quickly bought a second one. No sell. It’s on both my large and small boards.

-Belle Epoch Deluxe: a very faithful re-creation with other extras, I love it. No sell and would buy another.

Not sure if it’s exactly considered a delay, but the Count to 5 will never escape.

The Zoom CDR has a grab bag of delays that it emulates, among many, many other things. The Swiss Army knife stays.

I think that’s my entire echo & delay ownership experience (and they all have or were sold with their boxes).

One day I will finish building my tube reverb, and would love to eventually buy something nice like your delay to go with it. My big board and big amps will probably never get moved much anyway, so why not have some giant, awesome effects for them?!?

[BlueSparkle]

You're right.
both my 1960a 4x12's no longer move, they're parked beside each other and heads on top... quad reverb, twin reverb and JC120 on the other side of the room... Right now the echofix is on a barstool, only because I want to be next to it for tweaking. I'm still enamoured with it.
I'm pretty sure it will find it's way on top of one of the 4x12's. The maestro used to live on top of the plexi, it looked nice up there.

The older I get, the less inclined I am to move 4x12's and twins around without some serious prior planning.... and a hand trolley

[fuzzjunkie]

My early delay acquisitions were digital rack mounts.

Roland DEP-5: I was trying to decide between this and a Korg SDD-3000. I liked the Korg, very easy interface and sounds great. If I had known at the time it was “the Edge” delay, I would have bought it, but I also wanted reverb, because I loved the sound of Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. The DEP-5 had reverb and was $50-100 cheaper (I can’t remember how much cheaper but I was broke in those days and this was a big spend), so essentially 2 for 1. It was my secret weapon for years, several studios tried to buy it off me. It’s not really a studio quality unit, unless you like a little grime, but into an AC-30 it sounds glorious. One of the Edge’s secrets was to boost the front end of his amp with the SDD-3000. You can do the same with the DEP-5.

Yamaha SPX-900: the follow up to the SPX-90. Higher fidelity and some extra parameters. Does that thing. I actually like the DEP-5 version of that effect better. Maybe because I discovered it before Kevin Shields, but unlike him, I did not think anyone else would enjoy that sound. I thought it was just me. Oh, so wrong! I mostly use if for Symphonic and a couple other settings.

Yamaha E-1010: I wanted an analog delay, but couldn’t find a Memory Man anywhere! (Pre-internet) and since I had 2 rack units, why not one more. This is like a Memory Man on steroids. A bit more headroom and fidelity too. Maxes out at 350ms, so no long repeats. Does some crazy flangers too.

Finally a Memory Man: a beat up box, but it worked, replaced it with a re-issue Deluxe when EHx put them out a year later.

Roland RE-301: I wanted a Space Echo for a while I had played a few Echoplex, but a Space Echo seemed extra. I probably should have got the RE-201 I went bin for, but the RE-301 was in better condition (still had plastic on the knobs) and it has Chorus. Sounds amazing even though I don’t use the Chorus or Sound-On-Sound very often.

Eventide Time Factor: I got tired of lugging a rack and midi controller around. The Eventide does everything my rack units can do. Everything.

Strymon El Capistan : The Roland RE-301 is temperamental now and studio only. I needed that sound on my pedalboard and the Eventide is okay at tape simulation, but the decay isn’t quite right. The Strymon is closer. Not perfect, but close enough. I also like being able to run 2 delays together. It does a decent Echoplex too with a booster after it.

-As for phasers, I had a Boss and an Ibanez. The Ibanez was in the EU-400 analog rack unit. Both were ok, nothing special. The special one is the AD/A Final Phase. If you like the Flanger, check out the Final Phase. The new ones sound good. They changed the overdrive, and I don’t think the range is as big, (Rayguns and Flying Saucers arent really there) but the negative feedback that makes it sound like a Bi-Phase is there.

[somanytoys]

One day I need to try the Empress, Eventide and Strymon delays. Maybe their other things as well. There’s just SO much out there.

Interesting about the SPX900. I looked at a few of those when I was buying my SPX90 II’s, but since I research everything, I read where some people didn’t like the 900’s as much as the earlier 90 versions, for whatever reasons. Having no experience with any of them, I went with the 90 II’s that were in the middle - no regrets. Haven’t done that much with them, programmed 2 MBV reverse sounds and (I think) a slightly modified symphonic.
I’d be curious to know about some of your other good settings on it. I should really play around with them more. At least one of them. I mean, shit...

Pretty interesting that the Timeline can do the same things that your various rack units can, and that the El Capistan is better at the RE-301. The only complaint I’ve read about those brands is that they tend to be a bit sterile, but there are ways around that.

My main phase & flange right now are Keeley Bubbletrons. They do the dynamics on both the phaser and the flanger side (like Zappa), and also has a bubble-like, adjustable filter.

Other phasers are the VFE Tractor Beam (very versatile); an old, beat up, orange Ibanez phaser (forget the name, PT-2 maybe?) that sounds pretty damn good; and a TC Nova Mod for those and all kinds of other stuff, with dual engines, for 2 different effects or 2 of 1 the same one, independently controlled & activated. I have a real hard time bringing myself to sell the Nova Mod very time I try. It may not be the greatest, but it does A LOT, and pretty well, plus stereo ins & outs.

No standalone flangers that I can think of right now.
Haha - I do have a couple of the Digitech EX-7 Expression Factories, one setting on it is an A/DA flanger. I’m sure it’s nothing quite like the real deal (the same as all of the other pedals it emulates), but it might get in the ballpark.
I actually pulled one out in the last couple of days, to use the SP-300 Space Station setting with my PS-3. I’ll need to play with the flanger on it a bit.

[fuzzjunkie]

I think the algorithms on the SPX-90 are the same on the SPX-900, but I think the 90 is 12-bit and the 900 is 16-bit? The 900 is mono in stereo out and the 90 is mono-mono?

The 900 is probably a bit more hi-fi and not as grainy as the 90, which is some of its charm. The DEP-5 sounds warmer and not as hi-fi, not quite “analog” but more than the SPX-900, which definitely sounds like a digital delay. Yamaha touted it as “studio quality.”

The Eventide tape delay sounds fine. Some people complain that it’s too clean, but those people don’t know what a proper tape delay sounds like and want all the “dirt and artifacts “ that they think tape sounds like. Listen to the OP’s Echo Fix though. Clarity. That’s missing a bit from the Strymon, the repeats wash out a bit. The Eventide does not roll off the low end like real tape does, only the high end “to sound analog” and it doesn’t get a smeared sound like the Strymon does, the repeat stays clear, it doesn’t sound exactly like tape either. It’s subtle but the Strymon is closer even with the short comings.

[somanytoys]

I don’t have the actual manual for my models, but I found one for the original SPX-90 online, along with a program chart.

According to the specs in it, the conversion is 16 bit linear, and it’s mono in/stereo out, so it seems to be the same as mine. I’d have to research more to see what the differences were between the original and the II.

It also has switches for both in and out, to choose between -20 dbm or +4 dbm. What setting would be best for using it into my pedalboard? I think I’ve been using it at +4 on both - it sounds good that way, but I thought I’d ask. I’m going to have each out plugged into a controller, so it shouldn’t affect my overall sound when it’s not active in the chain.

I need to play with some of the settings more, I know that thing can do a lot. It’s still got a lot of programs from the person that owned it before I did.

Those sound nice. I’ve read a lot of good things about the Strymon, and I see that Eventide on pix of people’s boards everywhere.

[BlueSparkle]

Whichever sounds best to you would be my response - but anecdotally, -20dBm would be unbuffered and +4dBm would be buffered.

[Jaguar018]

I had a few delays before I really understood what I wanted/needed.

Eventually I realized I needed tap tempo and liked RE-201 sounds. Bought a RE-20.

That was nice, but the sweeping LED created this annoying noise.

Empress Super Delay--nice pedal, didn't like the tap tempo.

Strymon El Capistan V1 -- like this pedal a lot, but the clicky switches were annoying

Empress Vintage Tape Delay -- liked this for the stripped down features, but not enough.

Strymon Timeline-- too much pedal for my tastes, as much as I liked a few of the features.

DOD 680-- great murky analog delay. Found my tastes starting to appreciate things like this more, but there was a noticeable volume drop that irked me.

Boss DM2

RE-201 -- finally got one! Awesome! Yay! Inconsistent. Sometimes it sounded amazing. Other Realized I wasn't into the maintenance, or at least worrying about it.

MoogerFooger 104M -- love this thing.

Maxon AD-900 Like it for my 'other' delay.

Might have to save up for that Echo Fix unit.

[somanytoys]

I always thought about the RE-20, but never tried it. Interesting that the LED would make a noticeable sound line that. Congratulations on getting a 201, shame it isn’t more consistent.

I’ve heard a couple of Empress delays, they seem really nice, and very powerful. El Capistan & Timeline seem impressive, I’d like to see how similar the EC is to the Belle Epoch Deluxe and its various settings.

I noticed you said nothing about the Boss DM-2, but I assume after your experience with the RE-20 and a lack of comment, it wasn’t very impressive.

It’s a confusing world of delays out there, not only what sounds good, but what your tastes are. I imagine that next to fuzz & distortion, delays are probably about the biggest nuance driven effect, between people’s tastes and the pedal’s abilities.

[tdbajus]

Boom.

https://expeditionelectronics.com/Index/Product/index

So much friggin fun I can barely stand it.

[Jaguar018]

I always thought about the RE-20, but never tried it. Interesting that the LED would make a noticeable sound line that. Congratulations on getting a 201, shame it isn’t more consistent.

That RE-20 was weird. I'm not sure if it was that one pedal, or my power supply (though I did try isolating it). I thought it was a great pedal; it was the first time I felt like I had what I needed and understood from a delay pedal. The RE-201 was so cool, but the one I bought needed some TLC. I took it to the 'the place' that fixes things like that in my neck of the woods, and while it was working fine I was never fully convinced that it was as good as it can be. It was like taking your car to the reliable, but slightly cheaper mechanic instead of taking it to the really really good mechanic that costs way more-- if that makes any sense (and the really really good mechanic would involve shipping it out of state/country...).

I’ve heard a couple of Empress delays, they seem really nice, and very powerful. El Capistan & Timeline seem impressive, I’d like to see how similar the EC is to the Belle Epoch Deluxe and its various settings.

Yeah, this is one of those endless debates. Throw Eventide pedals in there too. It just becomes a matter of personal preference with menus and the sound engine.

I noticed you said nothing about the Boss DM-2, but I assume after your experience with the RE-20 and a lack of comment, it wasn’t very impressive.

I think I got that pedal around the same time as the DOD 680-- so I had two old school murky analog delay pedals to compare. As you surmised, the DM2 never made much of an impression. It can do slap back and you can get it to do weird stuff, but the 680 (despite the terrible volume drop) did all of that better.

It’s a confusing world of delays out there, not only what sounds good, but what your tastes are. I imagine that next to fuzz & distortion, delays are probably about the biggest nuance driven effect, between people’s tastes and the pedal’s abilities.

Indeed. And just when you think you've kind of figured out what you want and need out of delay pedals, some jerk comes along, or two or three or four jerk builders-- and they make some cool new delays that you find yourself lusting after.

[BlueSparkle]

FWIW my RE-20 doesn't make any noise unless it's engaged. Then it's instrument noise and not phase noise or RF or some kind of weird emi.

It's either in your power supply unit, or there is something going on internally on that pedal.

One of the reason I went with the EchoFix was simply because of all the issues with old tape units - they all suffer from tape issues, mostly because people actually use the wrong tape loops.
On the space echo unit, the capstan roller pinch roller, felt guides and the motor bearings all needed replacing - the cost in parts was about ⅓ the cost of an EF-X2 and then the labour to do it all, as well as rebalance the motor and new bearings - just not worth it. Replacement motor is about 400 bucks alone.

So the factor of economics has to come into it. the Echoplex is just a disaster waiting to happen, but the EP3's pre is nice. the EF-X2 is a lot like the EP and the RE-201 pre, there is adjustability with the motor off and the gain / input selection.

The unity gain on the EF-X2 is only at about 1 o'clock, and then there's another 40% gain on top of that available... unlike the space echo or the echoplex.
The motor control is so precise, that you can actually stall the repeats and make them endless, without it going into self oscillation, without any loss of clarity in the repeat.
That is some seriously cool (and difficult to achieve) shit.

I'm not going to get rid of any of my other delays. I run stereo wet/dry a lot of the time, and I also use delay on my synth a lot, so it's not like I won't use other delay... it just won't get as much use as the echofix.
What still blows me away about the EF-X2 is the massive difference in the level of fidelity and the range of adjustment that you have access to for each of the features, compared to the other delay units.

I think I might still buy other analog BBD's but it would only be for the specific character the BBD adds.

[marqueemoon]

That thing looks awesome. I’ve never had a tape delay. Always seemed like maintenance nightmare.