I'm on the hunt for an analogue delay that's not too dark-sounding. It can be either a pedal or a rack unit, mono or (ideally) stereo, and will mainly be used in the studio – both in front of guitar amps and as a send/return effect from a DAW.

I really like the Boss DM-101 for its range of modes and stereo capability – the core tone is very cool – but like most BBD delays, it's a bit darker than I'd prefer. I'm after something with more clarity in the repeats while still keeping that analogue character. That said, maybe it will work for me in front of an amp as the dark tone will be under the guitar tone, and the DM-101 can be brightened with EQ for send/return use.

The Echo Fix and old Roland units sound amazing, but they're a bit out of my allocated budget at the moment. I'm not after pristine digital clarity – I still want some warmth and movement – just hoping to find something that doesn’t lose too much top-end.

Open to vintage or modern options, and happy to hear left-field suggestions too. Bonus points for something with tap tempo, modulation, or expression options – but tone comes first.

Any recommendations welcome – thanks in advance!

Missing most of the features on your wish list, but I’m a fan of the bright version of the Carbon Copy

Thanks the CC, and particularly the CC Deluxe (with bright button) are defo on my radar.

I have a friend that loves the regular CC. I found it a nice delay, but artificially dark if you are already starting off with nice tone. So when the bright version came out I took a stab at it and it became one of my faves for a basic utilitarian analog delay.

And not as presumptuous as the options with bells and whistles that want to weigh five pounds and eat up obnoxious real estate.

All my fav analog delays seem to darken the signal, but I work the eq pretty hard before or after to compensate. That's what I'd suggest.

The delays I've used that don't dull the highs are digital, but as you say, if you run them through an amp or some other "analogizer" you can return them to a more mellow sound. But then you are back to the starting issue.

* My old memory man is pretty good at holding on to the highs.

J. Rockett Clockwork Delay, which was designed in conjunction with Howard Davis, creator of the original Memory Man. Original memory man analog sound with tap tempo...

Mythos Oracle is worth a shot as well.

Thanks, the J Rockett Clockwork sounds really good.

EP-4 (this has separate treble and bass controls on the front panel)

EP-3 can also be bright via some internal settings

Fulltone STTE (most recent w/ buffer switch) has a tone pot which can be set to 'bright'

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Tape delays sound more 'analog' to me then other types of delays...


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You can also put a hp filter before the delay and even say a Pulteq afterwards if you want to dial in a 'bright' delay

Agreed.

A classy BBD and a tape delay are awesome to have in the arsenal.

There's the Carbon Copy Deluxe with a bright switch and the Way Huge Supa Puss with its mini tone control that lets you get brighter repeats.

My favorite analog delays are the original Loft 450 rack unit -- but good luck finding a working one for anything remotely resembling "affordable" these days -- or the old MXR green stompbox, which has none of the additional features OP is looking for.

I would however implore anybody who gets the notion that they Must Have a genuine analog delay to do some extensive listening to any number of more modern digital delays that do emulation (or modelling, etc.) of analog delays before poo-pooing them as viable alternatives. I've got a couple of tc electronics Flashback delays on my pedalboards that do perfectly serviceable emulations of classic analog stompboxes, and while I've never auditioned them side-by-side with the analog gizmos they're ostensibly emulating, I've never dialed up a sound with one and thought "ugh, this sucks...because it sounds too digital!"

:shrugs:

The analog character pretty much tied to the fact that the repeats darken, so as you move toward a brighter tone you will definitely lose that vibe. That line between sweetness and brightness is something I fought with for a long time and I went through a lot of delays; tape, analog, and digital. The one keeper has been the Maxon AD900. It has a distinct analog sweetness in it's character, but retains enough shimmer to keep me happy. It's not incredibly versatile so it isn't my only delay. But, it's by far my favorite because of the tone. It has a special quality you can get lost in.

One thing that helped me was running parallel so I could adjust the main signal independent of the repeats. This really opens up the tonal options and also lets you stack delays without having them talk to each other.

Thanks, and it is the longer repeated, self oscillating tail of analogue delays that are hard to recreate in the digital world. With all the complexity of evolving darkening, resonance, dirt and noise etc.

Digital devices are great for general use, but there is still something to be said for the unpredictable nature of analogue delays.

A good Memory Man is glorious in this respect. All of the above with a brighter character and punch to the repeats. I’ve got a now discontinued 1000 TT on its way to check out.

It also has a loop for processing the feedback signal, EQ to brighten for example. Hopefully it is as functional as it seems, and nails a good MM sound.

I’ve thought about running a delay in parallel with an EQ in circuit. This might open up the Boss DM-101 for example, but it seems overly complicated where a single unit is a slicker solution.

+1 to the Clockwork

The best value in Carbon Copy pedals is the Mini version IMO… has the bright switch! Is smol! Sounds great! Would happily do that if you don’t want to shell out for the Clockwork which is significantly pricier.

Malekko 616 mk1, - one of my favourite analog delays, probably because it is just so bright.

- It can also handle line level via Aux Sends, without use of reamp, etc, - if careful.

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My other BBD units are,
- Doepfer A-188 (4096) version, - pick your own filter, but limited range, it's a lot of fun manipulating it with CV though.

- Boss DM-2w - everyone knows that sound.

- Malekko ID300 (Bright) version, - but honestly, not much brighter than the DM-2

Dreadbox WL-Echo, - yeah it uses the PT2399 chip, but still, I like the sound, and simplicity, for when I just need some BBD-like magic in my modular system, - gets relatively noisy with long delay times, - brighter than the DM-2 in my opinion, but let's face it, that ain't difficult.

- Personally, once I get a few big purchases out of the way, I'll probably grab the Strymon Brig, - I'm not a fan of Strymon reverbs, but I really enjoy their delay pedals.

- As always, I ain't no professional, just another old idiot with enough money to spend on toys that feed my autistic need for sonic manipulation.

- god bless -

Not sure what your budget is, but you could find a Korg or Evans echo for less than a Roland. The Boss RE-202 pedal is also cool and ticks all your boxes except for the Analog one (stereo, tempo sync, guitar or line level, etc) - they're about £200 used. I've not used one but an OTO BIM might also be worth a look!
Another more fiddly and potentially expensive option is using a reel to reel for echo (as long as it has 3 heads).

just an opinion I had the brig by strymon and did not like it much, I ended up replacing it with the el capistan and it's much better sounding, the brig could actually be a bit harsh on the wrong settings, I was really dissapointed with it, in comparison for example the EHX memory toy sounded much better and it actually a real analog delay.

Cheers appreciate the input, perhaps I'll give it a miss then.
- And yeah, I have the El Cap v2 and Volante, - El Cap is superb at Dub delays imo, and the Volante is just insane, especially when one drives the Rec Level hard, while in Drum mode, - things get very textural.

* Just noticed, I should have mentioned above, the 616 doesn't go full wet, when I use it on an Aux Send I remove the channel's dry signal from the main mix. Also if I was to buy it again today, I'd probably get the mkII, - many had issues with the mk1, iirc, but I'm not using it as a guitarist, and I'm most certainly not a purest, - personally, whatever it is that's apparently wrong with it, I just obviously really like.

- god bless - and thanks, - you've probably just saved me £250.

Moog MF-104M or MF104Z.
They have 5 CV (footpedal) controls for: feedback, time, LFO rate, mix, LFO amount.
Having instant control of these parameters in realtime makes these extremely versatile for live playing and just plain fun to play with.
They are a bit pricey now, but still worth it (to me), since nobody else makes one with all the CV controls.

The 500 Series Analog Delay Module is also excellent,
but without the CV control jacks.

MF-104M is amazing if you have the do-re-mi. I put that $hit on everything!

Then you need a MIDI MuRF or a MF-103 phaser...

Asheville Music Tools ADG-1 may be worth a close look. Priced a little bit closer to earth. CV control of LFO rate.

Aria ad-10 pedal.. not as Muddy as boss DM pedals. Google it for specs.

Just to check back in on this - I got a new EHX Memory Man 1100 TT, which is now discontinued but there a few around new.

It is dark, for sure. However, a very cool dark sound In front of an amp, and has a very cool tone. Dark, but voiced in a way that sits beautifully behind the guitar and feels incredibly lush, especially with modulation. It's a joy to play and easy to get lost in.

For mixing, I've been using it on vocals in the mix (and plan to try it on other sources soon). It has a lovely character. I've done some blind comparisons (using AB Assist 2) with several of the most popular delay plugins, and those seem static and a bit uninspiring by comparison - especially when pushing the feedback for longer repeats.

Initially, I thought it might be a little too dark - and it definitely leans that way - but after trying some EQ to tame the low-mids and add a bit of upper-mid presence, I ended up preferring the raw tone. It just seems to work so far.

Of course, it's still early days, and I’ll probably pick up a few other analogue delays to compare (Rubberneck, Carbon Copy, Clockwork etc.), but so far, I'm really enjoying it.