From echo to texture: 4 delays at a glance

Bucket brigade devices are series circuits of chips that delay the incoming signal. Inspired by a series of water buckets that are passed from hand to hand to extinguish a fire, the delay is sometimes longer or shorter, which ultimately gives the delay its special „wild“character. Important to know: With longer delay times, BBD delays introduce a high-frequency clock whistling, which is typical but needs to be considered before making a purchase. BBD delays are therefore only suitable to a limited extent for long delay flags!

Analogue Solutions RS-650

Manufacturer:

Analogue Solutions

Web: analoguesystems.co.uk TE: 12

Price: 319 euros

Rating:

Analogue Solutions use this technique as a template for the „Echo Reverb“hybrid RS-650.

Effectively, the echo and reverb modes differ only in the delay time from 2.5 ms to around 200 ms, apart from that function and sound are identical. In addition to volume and wet portion of the effect, the delay time and feedback can be modulated. The basic sound is very typical for a BBD delay, i.e. metallic and also „noisy“when you use a lot of resonance or feedback. The reverb actually sounds like a signal is caught in a bucket, while the delay is reminiscent of tape echoes.

Doepfer A-188-1 BBD Module 2048

Manufacturer: Doepfer Web: www.doepfer.de TE: 14

Preis: 135 euros

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The Doepfer A-188-1 does not distinguish between delay and reverb, and in our present version with 2048 stages offers a delay time of 4.10 - 2048 ms. The features are otherwise comparable to the RS-650, although the polarity of the CV inputs can be reversed. The Doepfer module also offers a CV out so that you can change the cutoff of a filter when turning the delay time at the same time, which means that it follows and suppresses the typical whistling. With both modules, wild sound experiments are possible, so that any sound, no matter how dry or boring, can mutate into a monstrous wall of sound. From bitcrusher-like effects and hordes of „blips“reminiscent of a horde of chatting computers to metallic-sounding drum loops or pearly glittering artifacts, everything is possible.

Animal Factory Amps Coma Reactor

Manufacturer: Animal Factory Amplification

Web: animalfactoryamps.com TE: 10

Price: 180 euros

Rating:

Looking for a fat dirty sound generator for the rack? Then the

Animal Factory with its charmingly named „Coma Reactor“delay could well be on the short list. Similar to the RS-650, there‘s a toggle switch to switch from more reverb-like sounds to echo. The dirt typical for BBD delays comes into play at longer delay times, but unlike the previous candidates not with a whistling sound, but with a crispy sound reminiscent of a bitcrusher. If the feedback control is left at zero or turned up only minimally, relatively ordinary and spatial delays are created, although they cannot be synchronized to any clock.

The Coma Reactor definitely has its field of application in dense echo carpets. It‘s as if a whole stadium full of people would sing along with the sound. Mind you, thanks to Delay-Time, pitch and duration can be adjusted at any time. Quite a paradise for tinkerers. But two special features make this module a winner: on the one hand, the last quarter of the dry-out acts as an amplifier for looping through the original, which can easily saturate the sound, on the other hand there are dedicated ins and outs for the feedback path, which allows the echoes to be looped through any other module.

Verbos Electronics Multi delay processor

Manufacturer: Verbos Electronics Web: verboselectronics.com

TE: 28

Preis: 649 euros

Rating:

As the name suggests, the module is a multi-delay, but the name hardly does justice to the functionality offered. In addition to the eightfold delay, whose stages can be mixed and picked up separately - including a kind of envelope follower - there is also a reverb and a pitch shifter slumbering under the hood, which outputs the signal increased by one octave. Thanks to three audio inputs, both effects can be bypassed if desired. Feedback experiments are possible via separate outputs of the delay stages and the extra outputs for even and odd stages, if desired with further modules within the loop. Two modulation inputs are on board to vary the delay time.

So much for the technical part. What about the sound? It‘s bombastic! From simple delays to massive pads that never end and change permanently, everything is possible. Just feeding a short note is enough. In contrast to pure BBD delays, the original sound is always preserved - if you want it to be - and doesn‘t get lost in a tangled mess of overlapping echoes. The reverb is not a smooth noble reverb with cream and glitter on top, but it fits perfectly into the overall arrangement and provides a denser sound without smearing.

And for whom is the module best suited? Those who like rough techno or want to create gloomy drones will definitely get there quickly in three easy steps. But also sound designers, experimenters and hobbyists who want to have fun with a module for a long time are right here. It‘s just a pity that the pitch shifter and the reverb can‘t be modulated as well. That would have been the icing on the cake. Nevertheless: the module is highly priced, but worth every euro.

Verdict: Who are the winners?

Sonically, the RS-650 turns out to be much denser and more metallic than the A-188-1, while the module from Doepfer produces a much more filigree and transparent sound. Not least because of the significantly lower price, we would give preference to the Doepfer module for a pure BBD delay. If you like to create massive textures and still want to keep an eye on the price, you should be more than happy with Coma Reactor. And if you‘re willing to invest a little more, Verbos Electronics‘ Multi-Delay gives you the benefits of all modules under one hood.