No matter which style of music you’re creating, a little delay can go a long way. We’re looking at some of the best delay plugins for music.
The use of delay is a powerful tool in the creation and mixing phases. It has a wide range of applications from being a technical tool for widening a stereo signal with the Haas effect to becoming its own instrument in the way delay and echo effects are used in Dub, Reggae, and various styles of electronic music.
Every DAW system is equipped with several delay effects, and you can further enhance these by adding bit reduction, saturation, and reverb to your effects chains. However, there are times when you want a specific delay sound according to the genre of music you’re working with.
Plug-ins have developed their own identities and become industry standards like their predecessors, the famous hardware units like the TC Electronic 2290 or the Roland Space Echo RE-201.
Whether you prefer vintage tape echo sounds or cleaner more modern delays, we’re checking out some of the most versatile and best-sounding delay plug-ins available.
Waves H-Delay
Although it’s been around for years, the Waves H-Delay is still an amazing delay plug-in for the price. From cleaner more digital-sounding delays to warmer degraded analogue tape echoes, the H-Delay has a range of colours you can dial in quickly.
There are dual and ping-pong stereo settings, with BPM, Host, and MS modes with tap tempo if you like to do things manually. Furthermore, there is a pitch modulation section with depth and rate control as well as high-pass and low-pass filters.
This means you can add colour and depth to any sound, and the LoFi mode and there are four analog modes with different sonic characteristics you can add to drums, vocals, synths, guitars, and more.
TAL-Dub-X
The TAL-Dub-X is a versatile tape-style delay with saturation and modulation capabilities. With the resonant low-pass filter, you can set the tonal range of your delay signal, and the extensive modulation controls allow you to add more expression.
Here, you have rate, phase, and width parameters, as well as LFO shapes, BPM sync, and the ability to delay and filter the LFO. If you want the authentic feel of tap tempo and precise manual controls or simply a DAW-synced delay, the TAL-Dub-X can do both.
In addition, the clever addition of a ducking control provides another tool to get the most cohesive and musical delay sound possible as you blend it with your original sound.
Valhalla Delay
Valhalla Delay is an extensive delay plug-in with 15 different modes including Tape, HiFi, BBD, Digital, Ghost, Pitch, Reverse Pitch BBD Duck, Clarity, DuckTape, PitchDuck, LoFi, Quartz, Phaser DDL, and RichPitch.
There are different Era settings for the delay algorithm emulation and you have EQ, modulation, diffusion, and color sections to shape the tonal aspects of each sound you work with.
In addition, you can set the style of the delay and choose between single, dual, ratio, ping pong, and quad. Overall, the range of precise controls and delay types covered by a single plug-in is impressive.
FabFilter Timeless 3
Using some of the technology we find in the other popular FabFilter plug-ins, Timeless 3 goes beyond emulating vintage delay and echo units and becomes a powerful effect capable of producing rhythmic textured sounds.
With an extensive modulation matrix and an envelope follower with transient detection, you can control up to 16 delay taps individually. In addition, you can add six filters including high-pass, low-pass, band-pass, bell, notch, and shelf.
Timeless also includes mid-side processing functionality, and the ability to switch from tape delay or time-stretching behaviour modes when adjusting the delay time.
Soundtoys EchoBoy
The popular EchoBoy plug-in can emulate the sound of a wide range of 30 classic echo and delay units, including the Echoplex EP-3, the Roland Space Echo, the EHX Memory Man, the BOSS DM-2, the Ampex ATR-102, and more.
There are two individual echo paths and extensive controls to adjust the tone with a 3-band EQ section and saturation. In addition, the controls you have to alter the rhythmic feel are equally as comprehensive.
Meanwhile, the ability to create your own unique echo patterns with vintage sounds makes the EchoBoy special. Above all, it just has its own warm sound, which is more than you can say for most plug-ins.
More Delay plug-ins worth checking out:
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