Original Message 1/8                 Date: 05-Feb-00  @  02:05 PM   -   which delay unit should i get?

dsb

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so i want to get a delay unit, looking for suggestions as i know nothing about fx boxes. it should be easily tempo syncable, either by midi, tap tempo, or bpm (or all of the above) long delay times are a plus for that friptronics type of stuff, though mainly it will be used for beats. should be rack mounted, quiet(not noisy) and cheap!

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Message 2/8                 Date: 07-Feb-00  @  06:45 AM   -   RE: which delay unit should i get?

digiphallus

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Roland has a new one out I believe. A multifx box, unless it's a mid or high priced one, is going to be super-stingy on the delay times...usually no more than 900 milliseconds or so.
You can get some of the Roland SDE and related units for pretty decent prices, and they usually have a good amount of delay time on them.

There's also the Alesis Wedge, which has tons of delay times, as well as reverbs and modulation effects. I wouldn't mind having one, but they're not available often...when they are, expect around $150.

And one that I rarely see mentioned is the Zoom 508 stompbox/tabletop delay. It givves 4 seconds maximum time I think, plus has some other verb and mod effects. It can do tap tempo I believe...though, if you have a time/tempo map for delay (there's one on Dancetech here I think) you can set your times according to bpm manually quite easily with any delay with a numerical display. The 508 has an led display and digital increment buttons, so you can press in the delay time right down to the millisecond. Only thing is no individual l/r outs, you have to use a y type adapter from a stereo line/headphone out. But at a used price of around $60 to $70u.s., noone can complain too much.

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Message 3/8                 Date: 08-Feb-00  @  02:44 PM   -   RE: which delay unit should i get?

Albert

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I checked out the new TC Electronics D-Two delay at the NAMM show, and I liked it a lot. It is easy to use, thanks to the well organized display, and definitely sounds clean and professional. It also has up to 10 seconds of delay in mono and 5 seconds per side in stereo.

As far as using the Wedge as a delay, I wouldn't want it to be my primary delay. I have two Wedges and have spent some time with the delays in them. They sound okay, but are a bit limited in terms of the delay algorithms. These boxes are intended as reverb boxes, remember. Again, the delays are okay, but not particularily exciting.

I also own the Roland SDE-330 Dimensional Space Delay, and like it. It has a nice smooth sound and is fairly easy to use. I would describe the sound as a bit dark but smooth and clean sounding. I personally don't think the 3D effect is very noticable except on headphones, but as a plain delay it works well.

Another delay I own is the Korg DL8000R. This is a great sounding delay, and has some very nice algorithms that are a bit unusual, like delays that speed up and slow down. It also has a front panel knob for real-time control of an assignable parameter. It has 10 seconds total of delay time in mono, and you can set it to program delay time by millisecond or musical beats/tempos. The front panel WARP knob does sometimes create artifacts, if you are doing drastic speedups and slowdowns of delay times. I think the DL8000R is an exciting delay, but the interface is a bit eccentric. It takes some getting used to, and adjusting left and right delay can be cumbersome due to flipping back and forth in the menus. I got mine for $300, and they've been discontinued so you might also be able to get one cheap. Definitely one to consider.

Between the four delays I've mentioned, I think the TC Electronics D-Two combines the best ease of use with nice clean audio. I liked it very much, and I'd probably recommend that as the best of the budget delays out now. That's my opinion, anyway!

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Message 4/8                 Date: 29-Feb-00  @  11:49 AM   -   RE: which delay unit should i get?

tommij

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I don't now how long the delay times are but if you want cheap (releatively) and quiet look for the Lexicon MPX-100. It has several sync options (MIDI, tap-tempo) and is rackmounted. It only has 32 user banks and doesn't have extensive editing capabilites, but it has several delay types and a great reverb to boot.

If you don't mind programming in delays by miliseconds (get a delay/bpm chart) look for a Boss SE-50. They are pretty cheap and I like the fact that you can have several delays at a time each with their own times, volumes and pan positions. I have two and I love them for their great panning multi-delays. Plus it has other effects and many user banks.

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Message 5/8                 Date: 01-Mar-00  @  05:43 PM   -   RE: which delay unit should i get?

k

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in the file section or in PC-WARE / UTILITIES there is an app called ECHOVIEW which does those calculations etc

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Message 6/8                 Date: 01-Mar-00  @  09:51 PM   -   RE: which delay unit should i get?

damballah

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In my live rack, I have an SDE-1000 & love it. Put a momentary switch in the jack marked "Playmate" and just bang in the delay you want. I hate using multi-fx boxes as delays. Haven't had to deal with the MPX-100 yet, but with it's big brother, the MPX-1, if you set the data entry wheel as a feedback control, you gotta spin it forever to turn it up and down. On the SDEs, you just go a little past 12 O'Clock to get those regenerating dub echoes, and you can quickly back out again.

Do any of the newer dedicated delay boxes have a filter in the regeneration loop to give it more of that analog delay sound? I think some of the stomp boxes do that, but a rack unit would be nice.

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Message 7/8                 Date: 11-Mar-00  @  07:44 PM   -   RE: which delay unit should i get?

opus636

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if i remember right the lexicon mpx100 has a delay up to 5.7 seconds. i see them on Ebay all the time for less than $200 ! i wont part with mine unless i get the mpx500 witch sells for less than $500 but only has a 5.6 second delay

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Message 8/8                 Date: 12-Mar-00  @  07:07 PM   -   RE: which delay unit should i get?

Jasper

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Alesis midiverb 4 is a great reverb/delay box, plus you get all the other stuff as well like chorus/flanger/phaser and various configurations of reverb/delay, bpm delay, chorus/reverb, etc, etc.

About 160ukp new, you'll spot one in most peoples studios.

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