Delay block

Delay: in the owner's manual

• Axe-Fx II: 5.6 Delay [DLY]
• Axe-Fx II: 12 Tempo and Auto Delay
• Axe-Fx II: 16.9 Tempo Cross Reference
• Axe-Fx II: 16.14 Setting Up Spillover

Delay: in which products?

• Axe-Fx II: yes.
• FX8: yes.

Delay: delay time and tempo

• There are two ways to set the delay time:
  1. Enter a specific delay time in milliseconds.
  2. Set the tempo in relation to the global preset tempo (Tempo on front panel), say 1/8 or 1/8 Dot etc.
• Important: if you use the Tempo method the menu won't let you enter a delay time in milliseconds anymore. To do that, first set Tempo to None.

Delay: EQ-ing

• The Delay block contains a two-band parametric EQ for the wet signal with low cut and high cut with adjustable slopes for the cut filters. The EQ stuff is on a separate GUI page with a graphical display. source
• Tutorial on setting up an analog sounding delay

Delay: oscillating

• The Master feedback goes to 200% for oscillating delay effects. source

Delay: effect on delay trails only

• To add an effect to the delay trails only, not to the direct tone, place the delay in a parallel row and add the effect after it. See Effects: series or parallel routing.

Delay: auto-activating

• When the parameter Auto Delay in the Tempo menu is set to “ON,” any delay blocks that are bypassed will become active whenever a tempo is tapped in. This allows you to set the tempo and un-bypass your delay block(s) from a single footswitch. See Tempo and Metronome.

Delay: muting the delay with trails fading out

• By attaching an external controller (connected to a pedal or switch) to Input Gain, you're controlling the delay level at the input stage. This will make delay trails fade out nicely when muting the delay.

Delay: spillover

• See Spillover of reverb and delay.

Delay: maintaining unity gain

• Axe-Fx II firmware prior to v11: when using Mix to control the volume level of the delay, the volume level of the dry signal is affected also. In other words, when turning up the delay level, the dry signal's level decreases. To deal with this: turn up Mix to 50% and set Level to +6dB. Or put the Delay in a parallel row, see Effects: series or parallel routing.
• Axe-Fx II firmware 11 and later: the behavior described above has changed. Release notes: "Changed mix law for Delay block. The dry signal now stays constant at unity until Mix reaches 50% then decreases linearly to zero. Conversely the wet signal starts at zero and then increases linearly to unity when Mix reaches 50%. This eliminates having to compensate for decreased dry signal when increasing the mix".
• Recalculate your Delay Mix settings because of Axe-Fx II firmware 11

Delay: CPU usage

• The Tape and Ambient delay types require more CPU cycles than the other types.

Delay: True Tape Echo emulation

• Axe-Fx II firmware 4.00 added a "true" Tape Echo mode to the Delay and Multi Delay blocks. It's mono only (the Stereo Tape is the same one as in previous firmware). From the release notes: "Added Tape Echo algorithm to Delay and Multidelay blocks. This algorithm simulates a tape echo where modulation occurs due to tape speed variation. In the Delay block the algorithm is implemented as a two head monophonic tape “deck”. The Time/Tempo parameters set the distance between the record and first playback head. The Ratio parameter sets the relative distance between the record and second playback head as a percentage of the first playback head. The Multidelay block is implemented as a monophonic deck with four independent heads. See the updated manual for full details."
• Cliff: "The algorithm is a single tape with one record head and two playback heads. The signal from each head can be fed back (Feedback) and panned and leveled. Head 1 Time sets the delay time of head #1 when the Motor Speed is 1.0. This is analogous to the distance between the record head and the playback head in a tape deck. As you increase the time you move the heads apart and vice-versa. Whatever the time is set to is the delay time when the Motor Speed is 1.0. As you increase the Motor Speed the tape moves faster so the delay time decreases and vice-versa. The relative position of the heads do not change. Ratio sets the delay time of head #2 as a percentage of head #1. If you set Ratio to 50% then the delay time of head #2 will be half that of head #1. This is analogous to positioning head #2 exactly half the distance as head #1 from the record head. In brief: Delay Time = distance between heads, Motor Speed = tape speed. The LFOs modulate the motor speed. Modulating the motor speed (which changes the tape speed) is a very different effect than modulating the delay time. You can hear the difference between by varying the Motor Speed manually and the Head 1 Time manually. In a typical tape deck the tape speed is not constant. In the days of tape recorders much effort was expended on trying to keep the tape speed as constant as possible. This included periodic maintenance. However, when applied as a delay effect, the variation in tape speed could create a desirable modulation. Tape Echos, in particular, were built to cost points and suffered from considerable tape speed fluctuation. The two primary components of speed variation were termed "wow" and "flutter". Wow arises due to low-frequency variations in the tape speed. This is typically due to variation in the speed of the motor itself and/or eccentricity of the pulleys. Flutter is a high-frequency modulation and arises due to eccentricity of the capstan and pinch roller." source
• Cliff: "The LFOs actually modulate the tape speed. It’s the same as attaching a modifier to the tape speed. This is because in an actual tape deck the tape speed is what is typically subject to variation. Wow occurs due to variation in motor speed (or belt/pulley, etc.) and flutter is due to capstan and pinch roller. Wow varies the tape speed slowly, flutter is a high-frequency variation in speed. The actual delay time is very stable since the heads are stationary and the tape is taught between the heads. Delay modulation due to tape stretching is negligible."
• Cliff: "Originally all the delays "chirped" when changing the tempo (like many other effects processors). I rewrote the primary delay types so it cross-fades between tempos when you tap a new one to avoid this. The tape delay type doesn't do this so that you can use it as you would an actual tape delay and get all those cool effects by changing the head position or motor speed." source
• Want a cool effect? Crank the feedback first, then decrease Motor Speed.

Delay: before or after reverb

• Cliff: "If there isn't distortion or modulation in the delay/reverb then the order is irrelevant since they are then Linear Time Invariant (or shift invariant in digital parlance). If there is a small amount of distortion or modulation then the order is probably still irrelevant. If there is a lot of distortion or modulation then the order may make a difference. However, typically the biggest difference, as noted above, is series vs. parallel since h1(t)*h2(t) is not the same as h1(t)+h2(t). If LTI h1*h2 = h2*h1. It may seem counter-intuitive that the order doesn't matter but try it and you'll be surprised." source

Delay: widening the delay

• Axe-Fx II firmware 9: "Added Time Offset parameter to Delay block Mono Delay mode. This parameter allows adding up to 100ms of delay to the right wet signal which can be used for widening effects."

Delay: not hearing any delay (2290)

• The 2290/mod delay type has Phase Reverse set to Right. Because of this you'll hear no delay when the signal is summed to mono, due to phase cancellation.

Delay: fixed number of repeats

• Use Band Delay or Tap Ten Delay in the MultiDelay block.

Delay: reversed delay

• Also known as: backwards delay.
• It's a setting in the Delay and Multidelay blocks.
• You can also use Pitch Crystals or Plex Shift, with pitch set to 0.
• Check the Axe-Fx II stock presets "bass ackwards" and "regnalf esrever".

Delay: more information and tips

• FX8 and Axe-Fx II effects threads: Delays & Looping (DLY MTD MGT LPR)
• Scott Peterson's tutorial