Features you'd like to see on a delay?

[hazelwould]

I was thinking of what cool features I'd like to see. Here are a couple:

A smear/fidelity knob: Something that can go from really crisp and digitally to really smeared and ambient.

A repeat strength/fade knob: something that affects how your delay trails, or the strength of the delayed repeat. So on the SMMH you can get this cool stuttery sound that repeats your signal at the same volume until its done repeating.

What say you?

[sonidero]

A combined pedal of my El Cap, Cloudbuster and Flashback... Tape smear with Sequencing and Multi Styles that I can edit on my own...

[jreeves47]

Tap tempo
Subdivisions
Effects loop
Sounds good

[rfurtkamp]

A tape echo that actually sounds like a tape echo, not some warbling shitstain of a mechanical failure waiting to happen. I would honestly swear that most of the designers (and the vast, vast majority of buyers) haven't ever heard a real one, and the stuff that masquerades as 'tape delay' is more accurately described as delay with long-sweep LFO. If I want a "broken" delay, I can dial that in on a variety of devices - don't get me wrong, I love the sound of breaking stuff (and fake breaking stuff) but adding some crappy warble does not a tape delay make.

In the above vein, a switchable 'modeler' of various tape delays that allows for head selection,degredation of tape/heads/mechanism in a discrete manner, switchable preamps and EQ responses (so I can make the mother of all Echoplexes, with 6 tape heads as an example, where the middle heads are smeared but not the first and last), and that has discrete outs for each faux head. Actual programming space/presets. High enough headroom to fake the preamps properly. Thinking Timebender meets Headrush on crack. Would also need a tape saturation sim/compressor included that was scalable from minimal to obscene blown tape.

In other words, a step up from the modelling devices of 2005, actual control/librarian software, features commensurate with modern processing power, and not just another 'sounds like a tape echo' piece of work that makes me wonder if I dropped a Space Echo on somebody's head during samping if it'd improve their ability to understand how the damn device works.

[backwardsvoyager]

A momentary switch that ramps up/down the current delay time to double/half (select via toggle) when you're holding it, with a knob that controls how long it takes to get there and return (like the hold knob on the Tremolessence).

SOON

[ChetMagongalo]

Some features I've liked on pedals, although I don't think all delays need these features to be "good" delay pedals
-Tap Tempo
-Modulation WITH more controls than modulation volume (depth, speed)
-Effects loop
-A switch to make oscillations go bonkers
-toggleable trails
-exp. out to be able to work with any parameter
-knob to make delay darker or brighter
-I'd like a delay with a switch to put feedback at 100% or more instantly

A momentary switch that ramps up/down the current delay time to double/half (select via toggle) when you're holding it, with a knob that controls how long it takes to get there and return (like the hold knob on the Tremolessence).

SOON

That would be cool! The hold feature is a really creative feature on the tremo, love it

[rfurtkamp]

Most of what you're describing can be dialed in with a Time Bender for cheap with an expression pedal.

It lacks the effects loop, and trails I have no idea if they're switchable off or not, I've never cared.

The rest is there, can set it so toe down is 100% repeat or whatever else you desire, modulation isn't as controllable as I'd like but has sets of ranges that do different things.

Most builders these days doing a delay for you will include a warp/oscillation switch as well, I have one in my custom multiwacko 3 in 1 pedal.

[ChetMagongalo]

What do you guys think about this? Besides sound, is there a functional difference between putting a modulation pedal after a delay and having modulation turned on inside the delay pedal?

[rfurtkamp]

Inside a pedal, especially one with multi-tap capacity, you get modulation + delay summed with more delay, etc. depending on where the modulation is in the circuit.

In a perfect world, I'd want modulation switchable between pre-delay and after the first tap (so if only one tap/head was running, it'd modulate the entire thing, if not, it'd be delayed delay+modulation from then on out).

It's basically a sound thing, although what I'm describing here is probably best served in a device with discrete circuits (or else lots of very flexible DSP).

[Ghost Hip]

What do you guys think about this? Besides sound, is there a functional difference between putting a modulation pedal after a delay and having modulation turned on inside the delay pedal?

Yes. If you have a modulation pedal after the delay pedal, it will modulate both your clean and delay'd sound. Having modulation built in keeps your clean tone intact allowing for a more subtle wackiness that allows you to control how much the wackiness overwhelms the music you are playing.

For me all I ask for on delay pedals is an output knob, some delays quiet down certain fuzzes. I love the pre amp in the Deluxe Memory Man, keeps things nice and loud. Also, effect loops are super fun. I remembering putting a hardwire delay set to reverse (which is always 100% wet) in to the effects loop of my Deluxe Memory Boy... so it was reverse delaying the repeats. I also used the Devi LP in the loop too to give an overdriven skipping effect.

[777mick777]

Destroyer part of the Mobius with a smooth delay, voiced warm and a bit dark or cold ass fuck to get that fucking spooky feeling.

[Twangasaurus]

For me all I ask for on delay pedals is an output knob, some delays quiet down certain fuzzes. I love the pre amp in the Deluxe Memory Man, keeps things nice and loud. Also, effect loops are super fun. I remembering putting a hardwire delay set to reverse (which is always 100% wet) in to the effects loop of my Deluxe Memory Boy... so it was reverse delaying the repeats. I also used the Devi LP in the loop too to give an overdriven skipping effect.

Pretty much this. Delays are one of the effects that almost have too many features these day, the market is a proper smorgasbord right now if you have the money. One thing I will say that I do appreciate is having a high and low pass filter option on the repeats.

[Casavettes]

like to see a delay focusing on stuttering effects (similar to the SMMH or even the MASF Possessed) with the ability to play it back in reverse.

[backwardsvoyager]

like to see a delay focusing on stuttering effects (similar to the SMMH or even the MASF Possessed) with the ability to play it back in reverse.

Hexe Revolver has reverse mode that does exactly what you're talking about. It is VERY expensive to buy just for that though, haha.
I'd be pretty happy with just a SMMH that didn't have a volume drop and didn't require bending over to change presets. Most promising yet most disappointing delay I've ever owned..

[Casavettes]

i was actually just watching a demo of the hexe a few days ago
would love to get my hands on that thing (TWSS)