Soundtoys EchoBoy - Manual (Page 7)

to the next at a particular rate. Put a number of these chips together with and input control,
feedback and mixing (along with a clock and bunch of other circuits) and analog delays were
born.
The problem, or great thing about analog delays (depending on how you look at it) was that
analog delays had in most cases severely limited bandwidth with the top end lopped off around
2k (or lower), limited low end, noise and grunge. The output of an analog delay for sure
sounded a lot different than the input signal even in the top end units like the amazing Marshall
Time Modulator. But these devices did not need to have their tapes changed, heads cleaned or
have their motors wear out. They could be run on batteries and put into little pedals so that
every Tom, Dick and David Gilmore could have multiple echoes at their feet. A few higher end
units were made like the previously mentioned Marshall unit and the MXR Flanger Doubler,
which became staples in studios for a short period of time. As mentioned they had some funky
side effects but as they were analog they still sounded cool and had real character.
Other classic analog delays like the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (think Andy
Summers of the Police), MXR Analog Delay and the up and coming Boss and Ibanez units
provided instrumentalists individual control over their delay sound in compact analog delay
pedals. To this day there are still many manufacturers making analog delay devices for their
characteristic sound, limited frequency response and less than crispy frequency response. They
provide great echo that is warm and dull and are found all over top end guitar pedal boards.
Next came the digital revolution and everything changed. Digital delays were all the rage with
every manufacturer and their uncle making a digital delay device. Some sounded REALLY bad
and had a really brittle, grainy sound. However others like the Lexicon Prime Time, PCM 41 / 42
sounded amazing and are still in high demand for the quality and character of the sound. The
sound of these units was not exactly true to life. In fact they had quite a bit of compression and
pre/de-emphasis that altered the sound of the signal but they provided some of the best
sounding, warm (again), clear and full sounding delays that money could buy. Other units from
TC, AMS in particular were also quite popular but they tended to have a more “high fidelity”
sound. You’ll still find all of these units all over top studios.
As for the creating good sounding delay, it is commonly accepted that echoes sound “better”
when the repeat does NOT sound exactly like the input signal. Of course there are times when
you DO want the delay to sound exactly like the input but in many cases the best sounding
effect is when there are analog-like anomalies in the delay and echo along with limited
frequency response. This is especially true on things like vocals and to this day many top artists
still use tape slap or specific delay devices like the PCM 42 each of which have a less than linear
or flat response. But the bottom line is they just SOUND really good.