TLDR:

"Delay is like an echo - from short slapbacks to long, repeating trails, with types like tape, digital, and analog each adding their own vibe, many eurorack delays colour the repeats in ways that are controllable."

What Is a Delay?

A delay takes an audio signal, waits a set amount of time, and then plays it back. That’s the basic idea - but it’s wildly versatile. Delay can add depth, rhythm, texture, or total chaos depending on how it’s used.

There are many types of delay - some clean, some gritty, some weird - but all of them give your sounds a sense of space and motion.

Common Delay Types

• Digital Delay: Clean, crisp, often syncable to clock or tempo. Great for clean repeats.
• Analog/BBD (Bucket Brigade Device): Warm, dark, often a little noisy. Classic vibe.
• Tape Delay: Emulates reel-to-reel tape machines. Warbly, saturated, nostalgic.
• Karplus-Strong: A delay-based technique that generates plucky string-like tones.

Parameters to Play With

• Time: How long between repeats. Can be short (flanger/chorus) or long (echoes).
• Feedback: How much of the delayed signal gets sent back into the delay - controls number of repeats or how wild it gets.
• Mix: Blend of dry (original) and wet (delayed) signal.
• Modulation: Some delays can modulate the delay time or pitch, creating chorus or vibrato-like effects.

Creative Uses

• Add stereo width and depth
• Create rhythmic echoes in sync with a clock
• Use feedback loops for evolving textures
• Karplus-Strong for percussive tones and weird string sounds

Delay isn’t just an effect - it’s a composition tool. You can fill space, create groove, or get straight-up weird with it. And in modular? Feeding delay into itself is where the fun really starts.

Great Video