IBANEZ ANALOGUE DELAY MINI

RRP: $229

Type: Analogue delay Bypass: True

PROS

• Great analogue delay tones

• Tiny form factor

CONS

• Not as versatile as a digital delay

Digital delays are reliable and produce pristine, accurate delays, but that might not be desirable. For some types of music, a bit of darkness and dirt can add character, and this is why the technologies that preceded the digital delay have never quite gone out of fashion.

One of these was the tape delay, exemplified by the Echoplex and Roland Space Echo, but these vintage units are expensive and difficult to maintain. The other technology was analogue delay. This relied on arrays of capacitors to delay the sound, and came with its own artefacts – a certain degree of grit, and roll-off of higher frequencies. Not only do these qualities have some aesthetic value, but they’re also reasons that analogue delays often bed better into a mix.

However, because of the chips used being comparatively expensive, analogue delays were for a while out of the reach of budget-conscious players, whereas now there’s a variety of options, like this great mini unit from Ibanez, or other pedals like the EHX Memory Toy. We’ve chosen this for the warm character of its repeats and great form factor.