GDelay

I've been using this for a while now, and it's nothing spectacular, but often you really don't NEED a delay to be spectacular, do you? One thing that IS great about this delay, and about all of GVST's products that I have tried so far, is their remarkably low CPU consumption. I have been searching, so far in vain, for a stereo delay (preferably free) that does not use an inordinate amount of CPU. This is not a stereo delay, but I have found that I can load TWO of these things and still get much lower CPU consumption than almost all other stereo delays! So I just create an FX (aux) channel, do a pre-fader send to it, pan the orignal hard L, and the FX/aux hard R. Splitting the signal to L/R also has a lot of other advantages as now you can apply different EQ settings to each, differing amounts of distortion, phasing etc.

Some people may look at this delay and be turned off by the fact that it has to be set in ms, rather than having tempo-synced beat choices. I get that. Tempo-synced beat choices are very convenient when that is exactly what you want. But being able to set in ms can also be a huge boon. First off, you should have an Excel spreadsheet already set up to perform beat/BPM calculations for you, so that does not become a barrier to creativity. The original calculation is simple: 60,000 / BPM = a quarter note in ms. So at 120 bpm, 60,000 / 120 = 500 ms. From there you just subdivide further to get the value of an 8th (250), 32nd (62.5), 128th (15.625) etc. And this is where there is real power in using ms instead of tempo-synced beat choices. Instead of a simple quarter note delay, why not try nine 32nds? Or thirteen 64ths! Part of the power of delays (and reverbs) can be in filling in the little "nooks and crannies" that lie between the "normal" note subdivisions. It's all still tempo-synced, but it sounds a LOT more interesting.

I was initially turned off by this delay not having a simple, single wet/dry knob. But what it has is actually better, if slightly more work to use sometimes. It has one knob dedicated to wet (effect), and one knob dedicated to dry (dry). So in the same way that a binaural pan plugin gives you more control over stereo placement than a simple pan pot, this delay acutally gives you more control over the wet/dry ratio. When you combine that with feedback modulation and other ways of differentially modifying the wet signal in relation to the dry (i.e. through signal routing + filters/EQ or other FX), it actually gives you great flexibility over the final sound.

Another great use of this is as a pre-delay, in conjunction with a reverb. I have a number of reverbs that I really liek the sound of, but that have no pre-delay. Annoying. Just throw GDelay on before the reverb and set it for about 4-8 ms and voila, perfect predelay with hardly a dent in your CPU.

GVST makes a lot of great, free plugins that are very understated in their features and especially their GUI. They don't look very appealing. But if you really learn how to be creative with them, they are great little plugins that are ever so kind to your CPU. Please also check out my review of GDuckDly, GFader, and GBand for more tips on getting the most out of these free plugins.