Five Free Delay Plug-ins to Spice Up Your Productions

03/17/2022
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Five Free Delay Plug-ins to Spice Up Your Productions

Delay is an effect we cannot live without. We are always surrounded by echoes, and sounds without echoes (delay and reverb) often sound unnatural to us, since they don’t have a sense of space. In the world of production and audio engineering, delay can be used to provide a sense of space to a sound source, as well as a creative tool to add interesting effects that grab the listeners’ attention.

The first delay sounds were created by using tape loops with two or more heads. The first tape head acted as a record head, and the subsequent heads were playback heads, that played the recorded signal back after a certain time interval. The longer the distance between the record and playback heads, the longer the delay time. With the advent of the Bucket Brigade chip, analogue delays became more prominent, since they offered more control over delay time and the general tone of the repeats. They were also smaller in size, and more portable and easy to maintain. Nowadays, digital delays and digital emulations of analogue and tape units are the most prominent form of the effect. Plug-in delays have become extremely prominent, since their tone-shaping capabilities, convenience and ease of use are second to none.

Another advantage of software delays is price. Delay plug-ins are only a tiny fraction of the cost of their hardware counterparts, and there is now a wealth of free delay effects available to everyone, in formats compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. This article will take a brief look at ten free delay plug-ins from various manufacturers (in no particular order), that can be used as utility plug-ins, space emulators, and creative effects that can be used in production and sound design.

1. TAL-Dub Series

series consists of three delay plug-ins. Dub 1 and Dub 3 are designed with ease of use, and quality sound in mind, whereas Dub 2 is an extended version of Dub 1, with a redesigned sound engine and a few useful, advanced features for more experienced engineers. Tonally, the principle behind the design of these plug-ins is vintage analogue warmth, and complex harmonic saturation. All three delays feature delay time, feedback and mix controls, and high and low pass filters to shape the intensity, length and tone of the repeats. Dub 1 features a separate resonance control for the high and low pass filters, and a switch to swap the left and right sides of the repeats, which is very convenient and time-saving while mixing. Dub 2 features an independent 4x oversampled drive control to introduce saturation into the repeats, a resonance control for the filters, a master pan control, and a modulation section to modulate the pitch and stereo width of the repeats. The modulation section contains its own filter as well. Dub 3 features a master input drive as well as independent saturation controls for the left and right channels. Every parameter and switch in all three plug-ins is automatable, and they all feature a handy MIDI learn button to map various parameters to hardware MIDI controllers as well.

The TAL-Dub series is available in VST, and AU formats for Windows, and Mac.

2. Chow Matrix

Chow Matrix, from Chowdhury DSP, is a delay plug-in with a slight learning curve. It visualises and conceptualises delay in a very unique way. Each playback head is looked at as a node, which can have one or more nodes drawn from it, creating an ‘infinitely growable’ tree of parallel and serial delay heads, all of which can be manipulated and modified individually. While this may not be the simplest, quickest plug-in to work with when one needs simple delay effects, this plug-in is a sound designer’s dream. The flexibility and control on tap here is second to none, and the possibilities of finding unique, textural sounds are literally infinite. The plug-in features delay, pan, feedback, gain, filter, pitch, diffusion and distortion controls for each node, as well as an ‘Insanity’ slider, that modulates all the notes simultaneously, creating interesting, textured ambiences. It features global dry and wet levels, and nine selectable modes of delay line interpolation. It even has a randomise button in the bottom right corner to generate random sounds that can be tweaked later on. The plug-in also features a fairly comprehensive collection of presets, which can be studied in order to learn the various functions of each of the controls, or serve as a solid starting point that can be tweaked to taste.

Chow Matrix is available in various formats for Windows, Mac, Linux, and iOS.

3. Baby Comeback

Baby Comeback by Baby Audio and Computer Music is the free version of their popular Comeback Kid delay plug-in. This plug-in has been created with ease of use in mind, and the control set and layout is extremely straightforward and simple. It offers four flavours of delay, namely Wide, Analog, Saucey, and Cheap. The Wide flavour is the cleanest, most modern sounding setting, and along with delay, it provides stereo widening to the wet signal. Analog, as the name suggests, sounds more vintage, almost like a tape echo unit. Saucey is the most dense, diffused flavour on offer here, and fits in perfectly with ambient background parts, while the Cheap flavour emulates inexpensive hardware delay units from the eighties. The time control can either be free, or synced to the project tempo, and the feedback control goes from a single repeat to infinitely long, progressively degrading delay trails. The ping pong switch is a useful option to create movement in the repeats. A rather unique feature of this plug-in, especially considering the price (or lack thereof), is the ducking feature, which ducks down the level of the repets while the dry signal goes through the plug-in. This can be extremely useful in cleaning up a mix and avoiding clutter and mud in the mix. Finally, the plug-in features a dry/wet mix control, as well as a wet signal only output control.

Baby Comeback is available in various formats for Windows and Mac.

4. WatKat


The GSI WatKat is a tribute to Charlie Watkins, inventor of one of (if not) the most famous tape echo units in the world, the Copicat. The plug-in has three playback heads, and allows for control over each of them. Staying fairly true to the original unit it sets out to emulate, the plug-in sounds warm, slightly deteriorated, and slightly noisy. While not the most ‘bread and butter’ delay out there, this plug-in can definitely be used as a character effect, especially in situations where large amounts of delay are required, without the repeats clashing and fighting with the dry signal. Of course, this plug-in would be right at home in the LoFi world, as well. The panel controls include Swell, referring to the volume of the repeats, Sustain, ranging from a single repeat to an infinite feedback loop, and Gains 1 and 2 for the left and right channels, respectively. Driving the input by turning up the gain controls leads to complex and interesting saturation. The plug-in also features the original unit’s three heads, which can be selected individually, or in combination with one another. Each head corresponds to a different delay time.

The GSI WatKat is available in VST and AU formats for Windows and Mac.

5. Delay by Kilohearts

The Kilohearts delay is a snapin plug-in for its modular snapin hosts, and is free of cost. While all the other delay plug-ins in this list have been focused on character and adding modulation or saturation, sometimes, we need a simple, clean digital delay sound to fit our productions, and this plug-in is a great choice for that. It has a simple, clean interface, and its layout is extremely easy to understand. Delay time can either be free, or synced to the host tempo. Right clicking on the time value will let you type in the exact millisecond value of the delay time. The feedback knob controls the number of repeats. There is a ping-pong switch on this delay plug-in as well, along with a ducking function, a pan control for the repeats, and a dry/wet mix control.

The Kilohearts Delay plug-in is available in VST, VST3, AAX, and AU formats for Windows and Mac.


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