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Delay

This is digital delay with a WaveBoy twist. It has feedback and dry/wet as expected, but also allows for changing the size of the sample buffer and includes a bit-crusher that can be applied to the input, delay, or output.

As with other WaveBoy modules, the delay uses variable clocking. This means the length of the delay and the sample-rate are related. So longer delays mean a lower sampling rate. The buffer size is a bit like a quality control where the delay time can be changed without affecting the sample-rate.

Longer buffer sizes mean the longer delays can have a higher sampling rate. A smaller buffer size good for very fast delays. Karplus-Strong may be possible though haven't been well explored yet.

External I/O

  • Pitch (Both V/Oct and Pitch Knob): Control the sample-rate
  • CV: Audio Input
  • Audio: Audio Output
  • Pressing left knob: Go back to main menu
  • Pressing right knob: Clear the buffer, resetting the delay. Or when the LFO option is selected, go to the LFO menu.
  • Turning left knob: Selects option
  • Turning right knob: Adjusts selected option
  • Size: Sets the size of the ring buffer (0xFF is max). The size of the buffer is one of two ways to control the delay time. The difference with changing the size is that it does not affect the sample-rate (and thus quality). Changing this value resets the delay.
  • Feedback: How much of the output to add back into the input. 0xFF is max and it can go into full feedback (feedbacking freely without any additional input)
  • Dry/Wet Mix: The mix of the input and output as a percentage. 50% is evenly split. 0% is full dry; 100% full-wet Full wet can be useful if you want to use the Delay as a send.
  • LFO Amount: If the LFO is enabled (from the Step menu), how much of the internal LFO to apply to the sample-rate/delay. This amount is independent of the attenuation setting in the LFO settings (that is only for the external output).
  • Bits: Set the bit-rate for the crusher mode (from 1 to 12)
  • Crush: Select where to apply the bitcrush - Off, Input, Delay, or Output

How To Use

Sample-Rate vs Delay Time

This delay works differently than a standard delay since the buffer size and sample-rate both correlate to the delay time. The buffer size raises or lowers the delay time range without affecting the sample rate. It does this by allocating more or less memory to store the delayed audio. Since the buffer is a ring buffer, this translates to shorter or longer delay times.

Both the incoming audio and the delay are impacted by the sample-rate.

This means if you want a high quality long delay, you would increase the Size parameter, and set the sample-rate (via the Tune knob or V/Oct) high. You do not necessarily need to set it to max. The highest sample-rate is around 65kHz. So there is a range in outputs which will still be high quality.

Similarly if you want a high quality slap-back delay, you can lower the Size parameter while keeping the sample-rate high. The range of the buffer size is fairly wide, meaning the small buffer sizes allow for very fast delays at a high quality.

The converse is true also. If you want a more gritty sound, you can lower the sampling rate to taste and then adjust the buffer to get close to the delay you want, and then can make a small change to the sample-rate to dial it in precisely.

Feedback

The feedback and dry/wet mix work generally as expected. The range of the feedback goes from 0x00-0xFF (0-255) and the mix is a percentage with 50% being roughly a 50/50 split between the dry signal and the delay. You can set the mix to full-dry (0x00) or full-wet (0xFF). Full-wet is useful when using the WaveBoy as a send effect rather than as an insert.

Sample-Rate Modulation

The sample-rate can be modulated via the V/Oct input or the internal LFO. This allows for making choruses along with interesting sounds and works similarly to other delay modules and pedals that include a chorus or LFO.

Each modulation source (Tune, V/Oct, and LFO) all have the ability to access the full range of the sample-rates. This means you could have the LFO run through the entire sample-rate range if you wanted. Each of the modulation sources are added to each other. That means if you want to increase the weight of, say, the V/Oct, you will want to turn the tune knob down.

Likewise, if you want the LFO to modulate up and down, you need to back off on the Tune knob (and/or V/Oct if that is being used as well).

You can think of the modulation sources as influenced a shared global volume.

Crushing

Much like Wesley, the bit-crusher reduces the bit-rate and operates on either the incoming audio signal, the delay, or the output. Setting it to Input will bitcrush the incoming signal before being fed into the delay buffer, however the mixing of the buffer would still be using the full range. While nuanced, this is different than bit-crushing the output.

The delay only affects the delay buffer meaning only the delay itself will be crushed.