Delay is a crucial audio effect for creating space while mixing music.
Alongside reverb, delay plugins are key tools for crafting the ambience of your songs.
But there are so many different delay plugins out there. Searching for the best one for your session can take you out of your creative flow pretty quick.
- Hysteresis is a free glitch delay vst plugin geared toward creating robotic artifacts and abstract musical malfunctions. Hysteresis features a delay effect with stutter, low pass filter and modulation effects thrown into the feedback signal path. Process anything from drums and percussion to synth lines and sound effects.
- Rough Rider is a compressor that has a little bit of a vintage vibe to it, giving.
Download the Best Free Delay Audio Plugins. Just click and download. Voxengo’s Tempo Delay is a stereo delay plugin intended for a wide variety of production applications. As the name implies, it is a tempo-based delay that enables the setting of delay times in musical values according to the specified BPM. It also has a tremolo and a filter section. Bizzare Delay: read more / download: 2 plug-ins in 1, the Bizzare Delay VST features a digital stereo delay unit as well as a saturating tape delay. Users have the ability to switch between each unit for each of the possible delay. Bizzare Delay - Delay Vst Plugin: Price: Free: 2 plug-ins in 1, the Bizzare Delay VST features a digital stereo delay unit as well as a saturating tape delay. Users have the ability to switch between each unit for each of the possible delay types, including; Ping Pong & Multitap with LP & HP filters, Pan, Wet/Dry & LFOs.
Luckily, If you know a bit about the different types of delay and the classic hardware that they’re modelled on, it’s much easier to choose the right one at the right time.
In this article I’ll go through the 4 main types of delay, where to use them in your mix and the best delay plugins for every mix scenario.
But first…
How does delay work?
All delay effects are based on the same time-based principle.
The input of a delay effect goes to a recording medium that makes a copy of the signal. That signal is then played back later in time after a variable duration or delay time.
A portion of the delayed signal is routed back to the input (feedback) and the two signals are blended together (wet/dry mix) to create the illusion of cascading echoes.
No matter how complex a modern delay plugin might be, all delay effects are based on this simple concept.
Here are the 4 main delay types:
Tape Delay
Engineers realized early on that tape based recording systems could be adapted into echo units.
Delay was originally intended to mimic the natural reflections of acoustic echo. But tape delay effects didn’t exactly get it right.
To save space, the tape passed by the heads in a closed loop instead of spooling on a reel. That left limited delay time available and caused the tape to wear out faster.
The “wow and flutter” or subtle speed fluctuations of the tape caused the delayed signal to have a subtle, natural modulation.
The “wow and flutter” or subtle speed fluctuations of the tape caused the delayed signal to have a subtle, natural modulation.
Worn tape and improper biasing added saturation and blurred the repeats together slightly.
What were considered imperfections at the time are highly sought-after today. Engineers jealously covet tape delays for their warm, musical repeats.
Free Stereo Digital Delay Vst Plug Input
Tape Delay Uses
Tape delay is perfect wherever you need a warm but detailed delay with subtle modulation.
There’s something magical about the way a great tape delay sits in a mix. Try out hi-fi studio tape models on vocals and grittier, worn tape styles on electric guitar.
Best Tape Delay VSTs
Free Plugin: E-phonic Tape Delay
E-phonic Tape Delay is a simple but effective plugin for getting started with the sound of analog tape.
Cheap Plugin: IK Multimedia Tape Echo
Tape delay is perfect wherever you need a warm but detailed delay with subtle modulation.
IK Multimedia’s Tape Echo is a quality tape emulation from a respected brand.
It’s a great option If you’re looking for a simple, good-sounding tape echo at an affordable price
Pro Plugin: Soundtoys EchoBoy
Soundtoys EchoBoy is an industry-standard delay for classic tape sounds. It’s a super versatile and incredible sounding delay.
The various tape models are spot on in terms of accuracy and sound—great in any mix.
Analog Delay
As analog technology advanced in the mid-seventies, non-tape based delay alternatives began to appear.
Tape delay units sounded good but they were bulky, impractical and required lots of maintenance.
Musicians wanted a compact delay solution that was consistent and easy to work with live…
So engineers pioneered electronic delay with BBD chips.
The dark, murky repeats of analog delays were an instant hit and the much smaller form allowed delay to make it into guitar pedal format.
A “bucket brigade device” works exactly how you’d imagine. A voltage is passed along a series of capacitance sections like a line of people dumping water into the bucket of the person next to them.
Just like in the analogy, the process works well enough, but there’s inevitably some loss down the line.
The repeats of an analog delay are already fairly dark and indistinct. But each successive feedback pass further degrades the integrity of the signal until it blurs into feedback.
The dark, murky repeats of analog delays were an instant hit and the much smaller form allowed delay to make it into guitar pedal format.
Analog Delay VSTs
Free Plugin: Smartelectronix AnalogDelay
Smartelectronix AnalogDelay is a simple, no-nonsense analog delay plugin.
It’s a great way to get started with analog style delay.
Cheap Plugin: Waves H-Delay
Waves H-Delay is a great workhorse delay that features highly tweakable analog styles great for getting the characteristic murk and feedback of BBD delay.
Pro Plugin: Soundtoys EchoBoy
Soundtoys EchoBoy wins again here for its fantastic analog models. With presets for specific classic units like the Boss DM-2 and EHX Deluxe Memory Man, you can’t go wrong with EchoBoy.
Analog styles can work great for gritty distorted vocals or dirty percussion sounds.
Analog Delay Uses
Use analog delay wherever you need a stylish lo-fi delay with lots of character. Analog styles work great for gritty distorted vocals or dirty percussion sounds.
Digital Delay
You’ve arrived at digital delay—sounds like the end of the line right?
While modern digital delays are nothing short of pristine, it hasn’t always been this way. The first digital delays had severe limitations due to the high cost of processing power in the early digital era.
Effects designers had to resort to programming tricks to cram everything in, giving early digital delays a distinct character.
The first digital delays delivered a character that’s especially evocative of classic records from the 1980s.
The subtle compression and artifacts of the early AD/DA converters used in the first digital delays delivered a character heard often on classic records from the 1980s.
Best Digital Delay VSTs
(Almost) Free Plugin: HoRNet Deelay
HoRNet Deelay is fully functional delay plugin with a satisfying model of the early digital units. At 4,95 € it’s not quite free, but it’s close enough to make it to our list.
Cheap Plugin: Native Instruments Replika
The Native Instruments Replika series is new to the delay plugin scene.
The basic (and most affordable) version of the plugin packs some powerful features including a great vintage digital model.
Pro Plugin: D16 Repeater
D16 Repeater is another fantastic full-featured delay plugin.
It has two separate stereo delay lines for interesting multi-tap effects and has convincing emulations of early digital designs.
Digital Delay Uses
Use digital styles when you want a clear, realistic delay that fits nicely into a mix but still has recognizable character.
The modulation parameters on these types of delays can help you create a depth-enhancing, slightly chorused sound that’ll take you straight back to the best sounds of the 80’s.
Plugin Delay
In today’s DAW era, hardware effects units aren’t the only option anymore. There are a staggering amount of delays that aren’t based on any classic gear at all.
The best thing about pure plugin delays is how powerful and flexible they are. Plugins are capable of creating almost any kind of delay you can imagine—and some that you can’t!
Here’s the best ones…
Best Plugin Delay VSTs
Free Plugin: ValhallaDSP FreqEcho
ValhallaDSP FreqEcho is a simple but powerful free tool for creating off-kilter delay sounds.
With just high/low cut filters and a pitch-shifter on the repeats, the FreqEcho can conjure a inspiring amount of delay weirdness.
Cheap Plugin: ValhallaDSP UberMod
ValhallaDSP UberMod is the full realization of the FreqEcho (see above).
With 32 modulated delay taps and extensive modulation and diffusion options, there’s no shortage of interesting textures you can create with UberMod.
Pro Plugin: FabFilter Timeless 2
FabFilter—The reigning champs of modern DSP engineering—are back with this sophisticated plugin delay.
The filter and modulation options available in Fabfilter Timeless 2 are incredibly versatile and creative.
Plugin Delay Uses
The sky’s the limit for how to use plugin delay. Modern delay plugins are outstanding sound design tools. So get creative and come up with something new and exciting.
Delay time is a flat circle
Delay is an incredibly musical effect for creating atmospheres and ambience. It’s an essential mixing tool for every engineer.
Picking the right delay plugin out of sea of options can be a daunting task. But knowing a bit about the kinds of delay that are out there will help you get there faster.
So, to recap:
The 11 Best Delay VSTs
Now that you know a little bit about the different kinds of delay and how to use them, go try out some the different styles on your own tracks.
Article Content
A lot of credit goes to reverb for creating a sense of space, depth, and width for your vocals, but proper use of delay can handle these tasks as well. Delay is an extremely versatile effect — it can be used subtly to add a three-dimensional quality, or pushed to the extreme and used to create wild, distorted feedback. Here are my favorite delay plugins for mixing vocals.
1. Soundtoys Echoboy
The King. Get it now! Not only does it work on virtually everything you throw at it — it’s a history lesson on delay.
The many different styles provide a great idea of how delay units through the years behaved and sounded. I use Echoboy on vocals for everything: vintage tape slapback, telephone-sounding quarter-note throw, smooth ping-pong and virtually every other type of delay you’d want use on vocals. Echoboy goes super deep; I’ve been using it for years and still achieving interesting new sounds with it on each and every mix.
Mix Tip:
Push the saturation and input; dial back the output. Echoboy would fare well if you used it specifically as a saturator. I’ve only dispatched it for this purpose a handful of times, but it’s truly impressive. As I mentioned, each of the styles has their own tone and behavior, so Echoboy becomes a unique and colorful sculpting tool as you push the styles to their limits.
EchoBoy Jr: Vocal Processing
A lot of credit goes to reverb for creating a sense of space, depth, and width for your vocals, but proper use of delay can handle these tasks as well. Delay is an extremely versatile effect — it can be used subtly to add a three-dimensional quality, or pushed to the extreme and used to create wild,
2. Softube Tube Delay
Tube Delay is hands down the easiest to use Delay plugin I’ve come across. The GUI is cute and the controls are simple. It feels like a small piece of hardware, which is always fun when you need to feel inspired. When I want to create a really overdriven, almost out of control vocal delay sound, I often reach for Tube Delay. It’s also easy to dial in a nice, crunchy single-repeat slap sound almost instantly.
Tube Delay Tutorial – Softube
A lot of credit goes to reverb for creating a sense of space, depth, and width for your vocals, but proper use of delay can handle these tasks as well. Delay is an extremely versatile effect — it can be used subtly to add a three-dimensional quality, or pushed to the extreme and used to create wild,
Mix Tip:
Embrace the unpredictability of Tube Delay. More so than the others on this list, it’s hard to tell when this thing is about to go from warm and polite, to gnarly and squealy. Sometimes I’ll have the feedback set just right, but then boost a little bit of high end with the plugin’s EQ section, and Tube Delay starts to sing (or scream, depending on how long you let the feedback continue). This unpredictability makes Tube Delay feel like a musical instrument and makes it one of my favorite plugins to noodle around with.
3. Waves H-Delay
H-Delay is a lot of fun. It’s got a nice gritty sound to it, and is equipped with a modulation section that can create warbled and weird repeats that I sometimes use subtly on lead vocals, but gets more action on stacked backup vocals. H-Delay is pretty deep, but I find myself achieving the desired result very quickly when using it. Each and every delay plugin does something unique when you really push the feedback to the point where it starts ringing, and I often find myself using H-Delay if I want to create an “infinite” repeat delay for transitions (which I control with volume automation.)
Mix Tip:
Stereo Vst Plugin Free
The LoFi Setting. I actually use H-Delay with this setting turned on most of the time, in conjunction with the feedback turned all the way down, generating only a single repeat. It’s a very specific sound — dull and grainy, and perfect for when a vintage slapback vocal sound is needed.
4. UAD Galaxy Tape Echo
This emulation of the classic and ingeniously-designed Roland Space Echo finds its way onto a lot of tracks when I’m mixing. It’s sort of lo-fi, cloudy and harsh sounding, but for a colorful, ethereal, dramatic vocal sound — no plugin I’ve come across can do exactly what the Galaxy Tape Echo does. This is in part because it also has a built-in reverb, but the delay itself is one-of-a-kind. It also has a lovely user interface that feels very much like the hardware, so it can take some time to dial in the exact sound you’re hunting for, but it’s completely worth it when you do.
UAD Classic FX Plug-Ins Bundle Trailer
Free Tape Delay Vst
A lot of credit goes to reverb for creating a sense of space, depth, and width for your vocals, but proper use of delay can handle these tasks as well. Delay is an extremely versatile effect — it can be used subtly to add a three-dimensional quality, or pushed to the extreme and used to create wild,
Mix Tip:
I’ve mentioned my adoration of driving delay plugins to the point of saturation numerous times already, but the Tape Echo really has a unique vibe when pushed. It’s fluttery, dark and gritty — perfect for adding character to a howling lead vocal.
5. Soundtoys PrimalTap
Initially, I wondered why Soundtoys would even bother creating another delay plugin alongside Echoboy, but this emulation of the Lexicon Prime Time 93 Digital Delay unit has a completely different vibe. The controls are funky when you compare them to what you’ll find on most delay plugins, but that’s part of what makes PrimalTap so much fun. I reach for many of the other plugins on this list when I have an idea of what kind of sound I’m after, but I often insert PrimalTap when I want to experiment and take some chances. It feels very much like a digital delay unit, so for vocal slap backs that need more of an expensive 80’s sheen to them, the PrimalTap is perfect.
Soundtoys PrimalTap – Over The Top Product Video
A lot of credit goes to reverb for creating a sense of space, depth, and width for your vocals, but proper use of delay can handle these tasks as well. Delay is an extremely versatile effect — it can be used subtly to add a three-dimensional quality, or pushed to the extreme and used to create wild,
Mix Tip:
The “freeze” function. It’s totally bizarre and works great when creating strange, stuttery, glitchy vocal transitions, making it a perfect choice when mixing EDM. It’s fun to turn on “freeze” when you’ve got some space to work with and experiment with the delay time, which will then alter the pitch of the frozen delay.
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