Valhalla Delay released

[Sonik31]

So there's no stereo width control in the new LoFi mode?

There are two things that bug me about Valhalla Delay:

1) The ducker replaces the width control
2) The ducker has no fine-tuning controls, unlike PSP Echo for example

The width thing can easily be fixed by putting it on a send instead of an insert and controlling it that way. The ducking however can't be fixed, unless you also put it on a send and duck it using traditional methods, which makes the function redundant.

That said, this is the first delay I reach for now. It's not just a good delay but a really fun sound design tool.

I think that too. I would love to have the width control separated to always use it...

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I think that too. I would love to have the width control separated to always use it...

Yeah, but then someone else will say, "what? No ducking on this mode!" There's just no pleasing everyone unfortunately. And yeah, maybe if there was just one more knob on the GUI...but then someone else would want to adjust the release time of the ducking and that's just one more knob, and it goes on forever.

[bleen]

I think that too. I would love to have the width control separated to always use it...

Yeah, but then someone else will say, "what? No ducking on this mode!" There's just no pleasing everyone unfortunately. And yeah, maybe if there was just one more knob on the GUI...but then someone else would want to adjust the release time of the ducking and that's just one more knob, and it goes on forever.

PREACH!

[Dalle]

I think generally Valhalla Delay has a good balance of simplicity and control, but I do think the width/ducking thing isn’t a good design. It’s not minimal, it’s unintuitive and the selection of which modes have ducking and which have width control feels random.

EDIT What if every mode had both width and ducking? Well it might look a little something like this... Humor me while I pretend to be a plugin designer

[audiouser720]

That’s a nice design but where would they put the ‘MODE’ description? Currently it appears at the bottom where you have put MODE and STYLE.

[Dalle]

That’s a nice design but where would they put the ‘MODE’ description? Currently it appears at the bottom where you have put MODE and STYLE.

The description is underneath : ) I cropped the bottom too much

[audiouser720]

Yeah I like it.

Edit: It does make sense (always) having the Mix and the Width control in the same section as they are mix parameters at the end whereas the Mode/Style/Duck etc is more like design. Poor Valhalla developers. Dealing with all the never ending requests and moaning must be real PITA haha.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

EDIT What if every mode had both width and ducking? Well it might look a little something like this... Humor me while I pretend to be a plugin designer

Personally, I'd have flipped the two but it would be a cleaner solution than flipping back and forth based on modes. Unlikely to happen I'd wager, but interesting nonetheless.

[3ee]

What if every mode had both width and ducking? Well it might look a little something like this...

That would probably be an instant buy for me as I like the overall 'elegance' of this plugin!

But I doubt it'll happen :/ .. it would render the current ducking modes kinda obsolete?! ..and Sean would be very concerned about changing anything in regards to backward compatibility or same for obsolescence I guess.

For a modern delay release, having stereo width and sidechain ducking is essential if you ask me, even if the ducking part is smaller on the GUI or hidden somewhere as not all people will use it.. but anyway, even if all modes will have ducking it will still be missing an important/essential parameter... and that would be the compression release time.

My guess is that Sean omitted ducking from the start because he didn't understand it's importance and how/where it'll be used, that's why even after implementing within the ducking modes people who use ducking often aren't satisfied... I for one am totally unsatisfied with it's implementation, so much so that it is a deal breaker for me... I'm sorry tho... the plug is cool like the other Valhalla plugs.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

My guess is that Sean omitted ducking from the start because he didn't understand it's importance and how/where it'll be used, that's why even after implementing within the ducking modes people who use ducking often aren't satisfied... I for one am totally unsatisfied with it's implementation, so much so that it is a deal breaker for me... I'm sorry tho... the plug is cool like the other Valhalla plugs.

I think Sean figured if ducking was critical, people would use busses and do it the old fashioned way that offers more control. But I agree there's a strong use-case for just wanting to use it as an insert effect and having ducking built in.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I would much rather see it like above. I don't like how the controls change too much based on the mode. It's ok if one or two parameters change to be labeled as something else depending on the algorithm, like taps for the multi-tap modes, but functions like ducking would be better to keep across modes and have less parameters changing.

[dermage]

Yep, It's a bit too much omitted in the DuckModes. No good compromise he went for unfortunately.

[ScrLk]

It wasn't made with ducking in mind originally so it's tacked on in a way that is a little unnatural.

[Echoes in the Attic]

It wasn't made with ducking in mind originally so it's tacked on in a way that is a little unnatural.

Yeah it felt forced in there, trying to keep the knob layout the same.

But this screen shot of having the style in the bottom and the width permanently below the mix seems like a perfect design to me. I wonder if Sean might consider listening to us on this. I don't want to guess at how much work it would be, but it doesn't seem like it would be too crazy to allow the width to be modified since it does for all other algorithms. And I can't see that little bit of GUI redesign being that major. It would reduce the modes and keep all functionality which would be nice.

[ScrLk]

Yes it makes sense that the Style doesn't need to be a knob in the first place.