Delay-ducation (2)

Analog delay 

There is a superficial understanding of the delay effect if we merely deem it as a programmed repeater. That's right, ladies & gentlemen, the delay effect today does something more than just repeat your input. The analog delay in this discussion for instance, has a deteriorating decay. This means, the repeated passages mutate perpetually & losing original details in the process, till they disappear into the background.

  

Analog delay has the best warmth ever. Yeah! 

You'll hear your friends who swear by the analog delay saying it has immaculate warmth. This is true for this delay type. As the passages get repeated, you will hear the top end being ironed out (the most obvious mutation, among others)- this is the reason. In fact, the treble bit gets progressively truncated as the signal repeats itself, it eventually ended up being a rather ill-defined sound but by then, it's already inaudible & had disappeared nicely. Awesome.

  

Analog is the best, yes? 

There is no best here. It's a matter of liking what you hear. Some of us want signal integrity throughout the repetition which the analog delay does not offer. Also, analog delay has the most limited delay interval compared to its other siblings simply because it's staying true to its roots- it's a direct outcome of the echo. The analog delay simply transistorized the tape echo unit, making it more palatable in terms of size mobility. 

Some recommendations, please. 

As seen in the previous entry, BOSS' DM-2 is the industry's standard. It's still around today & you'd do well to check out its latest manifestation, the WAZA version. Ibanez took this idea & did an AD9 (note the similar hue) which holds its own wonderful performance. Boutique references aside, do check out Seymour Duncan's Vapour Trail & MXR's Carbon Copy for some analog goodness without having to spend too much (but as it is, delay effects cost more than any other effects type out there).  

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