straight delay - the best/cheapest solution!

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psychicassault

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hello -

I'm working on a project that requires a straight delay without amplifying the original signal. I've had people suggest different solutions, and use terms such as wet / dry pedals...etc etc.

examples:
alesis-microverb-4

Electro harmonix memory man with hazari

but I'm wondering if these will do what I want, and also if there's a cheaper alternative!

Advice please!!
 
You didn't say what it was for:

Live use or recording, or with a guitar and amp and/or as a vocal effect, sound system alignment, etc.

You need to give more info.
 
no i don't need to tempo match. it's ambient sounds - i just need to delay them slightly for a sound piece in an exhibition.
 
If you are doing an exhibition, are you using some kind of sound system? If so, a lot of live mixers, even the little ones, have a built in cheap echo/delay you can send on each channel (so do toy karaoke machines for living room use). It really would help to know what this is all co-ordinating with.. so far we have a microphone going in. where is the sound going to come out of? If it is a sound to be recorded ahead of time and played back "live" its different than performing the delay live, etc.
 
Scratch the Roland. Prices on Ebay have really taken off on that little unit.

Look into the lower-end Lexicons.
 
yep the roland was out of my price range. any specific suggestions for lexicon?


the sound system is actually a radio broadcast. so essentially I'm recording the sound of a room, delaying it for a second or less, and then broadcasting live. the delay is only to make it easier for the viewer to realize the sound is that of the room they're in.
 
psychicassault said:
yep the roland was out of my price range. any specific suggestions for lexicon?


the sound system is actually a radio broadcast. so essentially I'm recording the sound of a room, delaying it for a second or less, and then broadcasting live. the delay is only to make it easier for the viewer to realize the sound is that of the room they're in.
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Many, many effects processors will have some sort of simple delay effect. Some of the early digital delay units, from MXR, DigiTech etc., would do it with simple controls and probably be cheap. Really, there are so many ways to do this that it's almost impossible and rather pointless to be specific. Look around the used market in your area, Craigslist or whatever, and come back with a list of available candidates and we can tell you after some quick research.
 
If you can find an old Alesis Nanoverb, despite being 18 bit, the quality is surprisingly good especially on voice. I used to use on, sometimes in preference to far more expensive name brands bought later. You should be able to pick one up dirt cheap.
 
can anyone tell me if this would work?

BEHRINGER: DSP2024P

just to reiterate: i'm looking for a slight delay without the original signal, and one playing the delayed sound once (no echos)

thanks!
 
The Behringer unit would do it, but it does a hundred other things and they're all hidden in arcane menus that will aggravate you. The mix knob controls the balance between the original signal and the delayed signal, so set it to 100% (delay only).

I was thinking that something like a DigiTech RDS3600 or similar would be ideal. All controls are simple knobs and buttons with one function each. You select the range, adjust the amount of delay in that range, turn repeats and modulation all the way down and the mix all the way up, adjust input and output levels and you're good to go.

Note that almost any unit you get will be designed for line level signals. You will need some sort of preamplifier to use them with a microphone, but that would have been true without the delay. What is the rest of your signal path (microphone -> ???)?


By the way, I'm no stranger to art installations. Can you tell me anything more about it?
 
Sure - It's a pirate radio station. so my signal path is vocal mic to feedback destroyer to mixer to transmitter. boundary mic to mixer to transmitter to aerial. in the same room will be a tuner, amp and multiple speakers. it's a small room. the vocal mic will be too close to the speakers, hence the feedback destroyer and need for delay. the boundary mic will not be generating feedback.

so essentially it's a radio that is attempting to listen to itself and generate noise as a broadcast. in a cyclical, futile, loop.

i'd like the delay to go between mixer and transmitter on both mics - right now the only way i can do it is with a computer and max msp - but a computer makes the piece look visually complex. although it's only doing something very small, to the viewer it looks like the whole thing could be programmed.
 
psychicassault said:
my signal path is vocal mic to feedback destroyer
Click to expand...

Unless the feedback destroyer is the SHARC it is in the wrong place in the signal path. All the other feedback destroyers I know of do not have mic preamps in them.
 
You could set up an audio stream on a laptop. The lag should be several seconds.
 
psychicassault said:
Sure - It's a pirate radio station. so my signal path is vocal mic to feedback destroyer to mixer to transmitter. boundary mic to mixer to transmitter to aerial. in the same room will be a tuner, amp and multiple speakers. it's a small room. the vocal mic will be too close to the speakers, hence the feedback destroyer and need for delay. the boundary mic will not be generating feedback.
Click to expand...

Put the feedback destroyer on the vocal mic's channel insert. Feedback destroyers are not set-and-forget, they require knowledgeable setup and operation.

psychicassault said:
so essentially it's a radio that is attempting to listen to itself and generate noise as a broadcast. in a cyclical, futile, loop.
Click to expand...

Is this the goal or something you're trying to prevent?

psychicassault said:
i'd like the delay to go between mixer and transmitter on both mics - right now the only way i can do it is with a computer and max msp - but a computer makes the piece look visually complex. although it's only doing something very small, to the viewer it looks like the whole thing could be programmed.
Click to expand...

Yep, just put the delay on the mixer's output, before the transmitter.
 
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