Find the right flavour of delay to suit your needs in this hand-picked plugin roundup.
Delay is one of the most versatile effects in music production. You can use it to create a variety of new dimensions for your sound, whether you want to add width and size, fill gaps and empty space with new textures and rhythms, develop atmospheres and reshape spatial contexts, or creatively reshape timbre. Simply put, delay allows you to transform simple sounds into something much more.
With such room for sonic interpretation, it’s no surprise that there is a wide array of delay plugin options in the market today. Some seek to emulate analogue delay units from bygone eras, and others introduce an entirely new set of creative time-based controls for you to apply to your sounds. Not all of these plugins are created equal, both in terms of their quality and their price points, which is why we’ve decided to round up six of the best delay plugins on Plugin Boutique.
Creative Intent Remnant
A digital grain delay effect that excels in creating dense, experimental soundscapes and stuttering glitches, Remnant is a low-cost experimental delay option that is perfect for ambient or cinematic compositions. The interface requires a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it you’ll be mangling your signal with echoes of sonic fragments and other creative delay effects in no time.
There are two main elements to Remnant: an analogue-inspired tape delay line, and two-grain engines. The two independent grain engines draw fragments of sound from the delay line, feeding back into themselves and each other. The results of this sonic exchange are concentrated and constantly varying patterns in time that range from smooth and ethereal to rhythmic and glitchy.
One of the best features of the plugin is the reactive freeze function, which is great for creating shifting drones and soundscapes. When enabled, Remnant freezes the signal in its delay line and infinitely draws and emits grains from the sound. If your input signal exceeds the envelope threshold, Remnant temporarily unlocks the delay line, allowing the signal to feed into the delay line and starting the process again.
Soundtoys EchoBoy
The team at Soundtoys’ goal during the development of EchoBoy was to create the ultimate classic echo unit emulator, a goal that they resoundingly achieved. On top of that though, SoundToys succeeded in creating a plugin that, while it certainly has a reverence for the years of echo device history that preceded it, also possesses its own unique character that you will find impossible not to fall in love with.
Opening up the plugin reveals a straightforward, hardware-inspired interface, with three sections for all your tempo tweaking and delay diddling needs. You can keep things simple with Single Echo mode, switch to Dual Echo or Ping-pong modes for stereo echo effects, or go further with the plugin’s powerful Rhythm mode and Echo Style editor. Rhythm Mode allows you to set the rhythmic timing of up to 16 repeats, which SoundToys say is “like having a tape echo with up to 16 read heads (or “taps”).
If you love vintage gear, or even if you don’t, you’ll be delighted with EchoBoy’s classic echo box tones, including EchoPlex, Space Echo, Memory Man, DM-2, and the TelRay oil can delay. Choose the amount and type of analog saturation to dial in the vibe, an easy way of completely freshening up the sound. You can also add realistic tape wobble or chorus with the wobble control, or soften the delay repeats with reverb-style diffusion.
D16 Group Repeater
If flexibility is what you’re after, then look no further than D16 Group's Repeater, which is brimming with 23 incredibly accurate re-creations of the industry’s most famous delays, from classic tape delays to studio-favourite digital units. D16 Group teamed up with Slate Digital to create the delay models for Repeater, and the result is a varied selection of delay effects that will cover you for pretty much anything.
There are four different tape delays on board, as well as a cassette tape delay modelled on a 1980s Japanese tape deck. Vintage digital delay units are represented as well, with classic Boss and Lexicon models cleverly renamed so as to avoid any legal hot water. You’ll also find vintage radio and telephone sounds, pitch modulation options and much more.
The interface is clean and easy to use, with what initially looks to be a typical stereo delay effect processing section with independent control of the processing path for the left and right channels. If you care to look a little closer though, you’ll see that Repeater features independent re-panning and dry/wet mixing for each of the two stereo channels, making it a versatile double delay line effect.
Audio Damage Other Desert Cities
Another delay plugin on our list that can do everything from granular effects to more conventional but still experimental repeating tricks is Audio Damage’s Other Desert Cities. Audio Damage are the ones responsible for unleashing Quanta upon the world, so it’s no surprise at all that Other Desert Cities is a similarly exciting and intuitive plugin, with six different types of delay algorithms to choose from.
Other Desert Cities is great for creating self-modulating delays, rhythmic effects, granular textures and sounds that are continually shifting and evolving. Where you land with this plugin is really up to you, whether it's in lush atmospheres and crystalline-type reflections or realms of interesting percussive elements.
The plugin boasts some useful tools for modulating each parameter of the delay, with two LFOs as well as an Envelope Follower and mixer section for fine-tuning the amount that the modulators will affect each part of the sound. Getting stuck in is quick and easy, as you can assign modulators to any knob with a click, and then simply dial in the amount. From here, you can use the Skew and Sense settings to mutate LFO wave shapes or route a sidechain input into the Envelope Follower to react to your track.
Surreal Machines Modnetic
Berlin-based Surreal Machines Modnetic is an analogue delay emulation with a few tasty digital twists. The plugin is part of Surreal Machines’ analog-inspired bundle set Dub Machines (the other plugin is Diffuse), and the developers say the plugins “take full advantage of their digital engines, but their sonic power stems from analog gear and the inspiration it provides.”
Modnetic emulates classic analog tape delay hardware from the 1970s, providing faithful vintage emulations and unusual sound design capabilities. In a nutshell, the plugin combines classic tape delay, saturation, versatile convolution reverb and amp modelling with analog-based modulation.
The plugin’s Echo section has three combinable virtual tape heads, two different reverse delay effects for creative processing and a hold mode for sustained delay action. As well as this, Modnetic offers 26 types of convolution-based reverbs grouped into springs, plates and halls, as well as a rich modulation section with chorus, phaser and flanger.
The real fun of the plugin comes in the ways you can characterise each of these effects, with nine colour options for the reverbs, and four different circuit models for each modulation option, which can vary from liquid to rigid, and blurry to clear.
Baby Audio Comeback Kid
Furthering their reputation for designing creative plugins that don’t get in the way of a good idea, Baby Audio Comeback Kid is a versatile delay with a retro character that may well become your go-to for any mix situation. Whether you want a tape delay vibe for your lead synth, a modern slap on your vocals or a crunchy lo-fi echo on your guitar, this kid can do it all and does so with pristine sound quality.
As with all of Baby Audio’s plugins, Comeback Kid’s interface is streamlined and intuitive, with no time-consuming submenus to tunnel through or awkward hidden features. Instead, there are 14 shaping knobs that allow you to instantly sculpt your wet signal.
The plugin’s Flavor section is where you zhuzh up your delay signal with some analogue-style colour, via four aptly-named features. Cheap pulls down the bit rate for some lo-fi fuzz, Tape adds some tape saturation breakage, Swirl coats the signal in a lavish phaser and Sauce drips it in reverb.
Aside from all this, the factory presets on this plugin sound fantastic, with 61 options created by engineers like Mick Schultz (Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Jeremih) and Anthony Saffery (Portugal. The Man, Dirty Vegas, Cornershop).
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