2022 Best New Time-Based Effects Pedals of the Year

Controls - Param 1, Param 2, Param 3, Param 4 / Click for Next Page / Hold for Menu, Tap / CTRL / Ramp Footswitch, Bypass / Presets Footswitch.

The first of Alexander's Leap Series really set the mould for where pedal makers should be heading - that and the recent Screen display pedals from Free the Tone. This is fast becoming one of my favourite pedal designs. Both the Space Force Reverb and Rewind Echo pedals are top of the tree of compact pedal design building on the kind of interface design inspired by pedals like the Cooper FX Arcades. I will probably own both at some stage.

Controls -  MODE knob (11), REPEAT RATE knob, WOW & FLUTTER knob, INTENSITY knob, TONE knob, ECHO knob, REVERB knob, CARRYOVER switch (on rear), Main Pedal Footswitch.

Boss did a wonderful job of revamping its RE-20 Space Echo - where near enough all the features from the larger pedal are encompassed in this diminutive compact format - and improved DSP programming renders an even more vibrant and analog-sounding output.

Controls : ON/OFF switch (Hold for Warp effects), MEMORY switch (Hold for Reverb Deactivate / Reactivate), TAP switch (Hold for Twist effect), SATURATION knob, WOW & FLUTTER knob, MODE SELECTOR knob, BASS knob, TREBLE knob, REVERB VOL knob, REPEAT RATE knob, INTENSITY knob, ECHO VOL knob MEMORY.

And the larger Deluxe RE-202 significantly enhances and adds to where the RE-20 was at - now with a 4th Tape Record / Playback head - and a choice of 5 different Reverbs. This is so much about the saturating preamp with adds a wonderful dimension to the delay. The Strymon Volante might have the advantage in the variability of the delay intervals, while that never gets near how juicy and alive the RE-202 sounds. My single favourite delay voicing is Tape Echo, and in particular the Roland / Boss Space Echo variety of that.

Controls - Symph (Upper Octave Mix), Mod (Chorusing Rate), Verb (Reverb Decay Time), Mix (Dry>Wet), Volume (Output/Gain).

This is a perfect shimmery chorusey Shoegaze style Reverb - derived from the effortlessly cool Yamaha FX500 rack unit - shame it isn't stereo - while is certainly sounds the business with that elegant combination of 3 effects.

Controls - Wow, Volume (Ramp), Model x 12 (LP), Flutter, Saturate (Gen), Failure (HP), Aux : Stop / Filter / Fail, Dry : None / Small / Unity, Noise : None / Mild / Heavy, Aux Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch, 16 x Dip-Switches.

I'm so proud of my friend Tom Majeski - who's taken his Generation Loss format to such amazing heights. You have a choice of both MKII and Classic mode - where you now get 12 Tape types to play with - ranging from toys and dictaphones to the Classic VHS variety. And you have so many more artefacts in the mix with numerous new controls - including the Failure parameter. Chase Bliss describe it as unpredictability, which is another side to randmonized behaviour. The Generation Loss now cover near enough every Tape FX type there is - including some you weren't even aware of! Joel reported these were running ahead of production schedule - but that seems to be for American customers only - while we Europeans need to wait in line apparently!

Controls : Level (Wet Volume), Repeats Number, Size / Interval, Modify Degree, Spread (2nd Delay), Scan (Memory Position), Modifiers : 1 | 2 | 3, Modifier Bank : A | Off | B, Output Mode : In | Out | Feedback, Presets : 1 | Manual | 2, Left Footswitch : Tap Tempo / Interval / Hold for Max Scan Value, Right Footswitch : Engage Output / Hold to Loop. 16 x Dipswtiches.

A really cool Experimental Delay which is largely about the Spread and Scan controls - where you manipulate segments of the sampled signal - so a sort of combination of looper and delay in many regards. You can make this as simple and complicated as you want - and there is of course a certain amount of serendipity in its operation - as to finding musically usable snippets. In many ways this is more for the table-top brigade as you need proper hands-on here to get the most out of this pedal!

Controls - Delay Time, Mode : 0 (Latching) / + (Momentary), Mix, Regen / Feedback for Stock Mode, Regen+ / Feedback+ for Momentary Mode, Splash (Regenerative Feedback) Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch.

A really interesting PT2399 style Lo-Fi Delay with cool Momentary and Latching Functions with separate Regen controls for each. For the Latching Mode the Splash is a Regenerative Feedback, while for Momentary Mode - you simply punch it in occasionally.

Controls - Blend, Decay, Tone.

The enduring Brian Neunaber Belton Brick style Spring Reverb - made even more fabulous by AD Hauser via his extraordinary etched and enamel-filled enclosures. This and the Parasite Overdrive seem to be the most popular of Colortone pedals these days 

Controls - 3 x Time, F-back, Blend. (3 Heads).

In commemoration of A Place to Bury Strangers 2009 Album of the same name - the Exploding Head delay gives you exactly that kind of feedback saturated delay which is such a memorable sound on the album. This was released as a limited bundle with reissued gateway vinyl album and some other merchandise - and of course these sold out pretty quickly. Cool and effective - while I tend to shy away from Time-Based effects which are not full stereo.

Controls - Delay (Rate), Repeats, Tone, Mix, Mod Depth, Mod Rate, Volume.

An extended and enhanced compact revival of one of Dr Scientist's first effects pedal - the PT2399 based Modulated Delays - with the brightest and sparkliest repeats around. If any delay could claim to have sweet repeats - then this is surely it - for that matter why has no one brought out a delay called 'Sweet Repeats!!!'

Controls - Mix, Feedback, Tone, Save Button, Home Button, Page Left Button, Page Right Button, Delay Time / PARAM / Global Settings, On/Off Footswitch, Tap-Tempo Footswitch / Hold for 0.5s to toggle between Preset O1 and O2.

Sharing the same sort of compact format as the previous Motion Loop Sample-Repeater-Shifter - this actually significantly improves the display's function - bringing that more into line with how Alexander Pedals do things. This is a pretty unique and distinct kind of delay - very much does its own thing - while Alexander's recent Rewind Echo is overall somewhat more capable - and comes with no less than 10 Algorithms onboard.

Controls - Level, Delay Time, Repeats, Divisions : Eighths / Quarters / Dotted Eighths, Bypass Footswitch, Tap Tempo / Hold (Oscillation) Footswitch. Upper central Internal Trimmer (Square) set the trails’ fade out time, Lower central Internal Trimmer (Vertical Rectangle) sets Max number of repeats.

The Compact Delay Llama gets 2nd Tap Tempo Footswitch and 3-way sub-divisons toggle-switch - Eighth, Quarter, and Dotted Eighth. Just a great and simple proper analog delay machine - without modulation.

Controls - Time / HPF, Level / Saturate, Feedback / Press for Alt, Rate / Tone, Depth / Rhythm : Halo Effect, Dotted Eighth, Analog Rack Delay, Quarter, Multi-Head Tape Delay, Settings : A / B / Status, Presets : 1 - 4 (A + B), A Footswitch, B Footswitch, Hold for Tap Tempo per side, Hold on Opposite Side for Infinite / Freeze Effect.

Andy Timmons is a rare noise-maker and uses his pedals in the most precise fashion. One of the things he was accustomed to doing was using 2 EHX Memory Man Delay in combination with a Reverb and a few extras - where each Memory Man is set to a different value - so you get very organic Tape Echo style repeats. Andy has replicated this setup in various ways over the years - and it was suggested that Robert Keeley take the best of those combinations and make a single pedal capable of producing that fantastic Andy Timmons Halo Echo Sound - hence the Halo signature pedal - which also has a few more modes for further versatility - for most though it is all about that beautiful organic analog tape-like Halo echo algorithm,

Controls - CTRL1 (LP•WD•DD•RM), CTRL 2 (HP•WF•DF•RD), CTRL 3 (MX•FD•CR•T1), CTRL 4 (CP•FF•NO•T2), Modes / Page : 1 Mix / Utility, 2 Wow and Flutter, 3 Degradation, 4 Reverb & Touch, Touch Footswitch (Magnetic Dance / Tape Stop / Broken Machine / Repeater), Bypass / Engage, Press Both Footswitches to scroll through 8 presets.

The Kinotone Ribbons is a bonafide oddity - kind of masquerading as a Lo-Fi Tape FX unit crossed with Multi-FX - which also delivers a Reverb, Looper Mode, and Synth Voicing. The controls look fairly simple - but you soon get lost across different pages and different effects. It's a really cool Multi-FX Unit - while over all it is still somewhat specialised in that it delivers - and relies on quite a few hidden options and modes.

Controls - Colour (Modulation), Mix, Tone, Repeats / Feedback, Edit / Rotary Encoder, Menu Button, Mode Button, On / Bank Down Footswitch, Tap / Freeze (Hold) / Bank Up Footswitch. Press and hold both Footswitches to switch between Live Mode (On + Tap / Freeze), or Preset Mode (Bank Down + Bank Up).

The first proper Laney Delay Workstation is a really decent step - with cool intuitive screen and some smart functions. I fear though it will be overly overshadowed by its more illustrious competitors - including of course the Line 6 DL4 MKII which delivers a whole lot more for around the same price. It's an interesting and distinct take for sure - but it really has its work cut out for it in the face of overhelming odds!

Controls - Mode : 15 Core Delays / 15 Extra Delays / 15 Extra Reverbs / Looper, Alt / Legacy Button, Time / Subdivision, Repeats, Tweak, Tweeze, Mix, A Footswitch / Record / Dub, B Footswitch / Play / Stop, C Footswitch / Play Once, D Footswitch / Tap / 1/2 Speed / Reverse.

If it weren't quite so large I would surely consider it for my own rig - but its elongated proportions makes it a very difficult fit for most rigs. They've obviously catered for the loyal fans of this device's predecessor - as the new one is just a slightly sleeker version of that with more features and flavours onboard - but still essentially the same challenging footprint. You also have a real difficulty with the Tweak and Tweeze across 2 x 15 delays and a further 15 reverbs - very few brains can retain 45 different parameter values at one time!

Controls - Time, Feedback, Mix, Mod, C1, C2, C3 : Preset / Pages + Hold for Save, Footswitches 1-3 + Tap, Hold Tap for Looper - which has Rec / Overdub, Play / Stop, Loop FX 1, and Loop FX 2, combine pairs of footswitches for Bank Down / Up, and Tuner.

The most impressive of all Delay Workstations this year - this is more of a Multi-FX Sound Designer as you can do so much with it. What looked good in early overviews doesn't necessarily match user experience - as the screen really is to small to read from a standing vantage point, and the pedal is not quite as intuitive as it would like you to think it is. I think table-top experimentalists will get the most out of it - you really need it at arms length at all times to be fully usable. Presets are great - and this is capable of some amazing tones - it's just not all that practical from a hands-on floor-based perspective. I still really like it, but there are delay machines that are far easier to handle and are capable of some equally extraordinary outputs. This is still a hugely impressive and capable machine - but I find it almost as hard to get along with as the Zoia. My point being that to get the most of the unit with all the know-twiddling refinements that are possible - you can't really do all that on the floor - on your knees - just not that practical in the context! I will of course keep the unit, while I feel I won't get as much use our of it as one of those table-top based knob twiddlers.

Controls - Rate, Mix, Octave : Up / Down, Feedback.

This is the simplest of delays to operate - a Reverse Delay - with a choice of upper or lower octave. Incredibly efficient and easy to deploy and delivers a really cool simple effect. Of course would be better in stereo!

CONTROLS :

SCREEN Modulation Side - Mix : Dry>Wet [mono] / Stereo Width [stereo], Screen : Variable knob taking you from Slow Chorus / Pitch Vibrato [max Mix] > Doubler > Slapback Delay > Multi-Tap Reverb > Almost ∞ Tails / Smear, Screen Engage Footswitch.

VIOLENCE Saturation Side - Voice [Tone], Volume, Gain : High / Low, Violence : Saturation > Overdrive > Distortion control, Violence Engage Footswitch, Press Screen + Violence Footswitches together to Engage Stacked Distortion Mode (mono only).

UNIVERSAL - Mode : 1] Sum > Stereo / 2] True Through Stereo, First : Violence > Screen / Screen > Violence.

I tend to use this most as a sort of Smearing Shoegazer Style Reverb / Modulation with or without the Saturation half of the pedals. This very cleverly combines different Reverb paths of different lengths - for an incredible sustaining textured reverb. The main Screen knob in conjunction with the Mix knob takes you through some amazing blends of chorus, pitch-vibrato, slap-delay, multi-tap and smearing reverb. The only downside really is how large this pedal is - I feel it would be much better served in a vertical BB enclosure - this one was a real challenge to accommodate in the rig - but once it was in I found myself returning to it again and again - the fact that all this is Stereo too makes it just a wonderful pedal - whose features and functions are exactly what I look for - while the larger than necessary enclosure does loose a point or two in the final judgment.

Controls - Sub Divisions : 1 / 3/4 / Golden, Mod Type : Speed / Depth / Tone, Time, Mix, Repeats, Mod Degree, Special FX : Tap / Reverse / Jump / Pong, Preset Select 1-4, Tap Tempo Footswitch, Engage Footswitch.

I'm very familiar with the Echolution 2 - and I really like its display - where everything is really strongly accentuated. The follow-up 3 version is more stealthy and streamlined - and not quite as visually appealing - while it is more pedalboard-friendly and actually has some really smart controls. It just doesn't come across as instantly arresting as its predecessor - while it's a lot more compact nowadays and obviously significantly evolved. I'm not sure the Echolution 3 will be as strong a candidate as its predecessor was - and in the meantime the competition has gotten to be a lot tougher!

Controls - Mix, Repeats, Delay, Switches 1-4 : Delay Time Division / Sequencer Step, Switch 5 : Number of Steps - 3 / 4 / Shuffle/Random, Switch 6 : Quarter Note Duration - 2 / 1 / 4, Bypass Footswitch, Tap Tempo Footswitch.

I have Darko's superb Young Hearts Lo-Fi Delay - while have not got around to acquiring his follow-up Petrichor variety - which I believe uses the same chip, but takes thinks in a slightly different direction - with a whole different set of controls. All of Dark's output is typically very forward-thinking and fairly unique and unusual - so for sure I will look to explore the Petrichor more once more batches are made available.

Controls - Decay, Level (Wet Signal), Tank : Small / Surf Rock / Flappier Springs, Dwell (Liveliness) / Modulation Speed, Body (Fatness) / Modulation Depth. Engage Footswitch - Hold for Flutter / Modulation. Internal dip-switches to set Momentary to Latching function of Footswitch, and True Bypass or Buffered Bypass with Trails.

The Drippiest of Reverbs gets 3 different Tank Types, and a cool Flutter effect by holding down the main footswitch. Just a really smart and simple surfy reverb. Simple but elegantly textured.

Controls - Saturation, Voice : Classic / Casette, Type : Sum / Invert Ø / Bounce, Lag Time, Volume, Tone, Blend, Wobble, Tape Saturation Fooswitch, Doubletracker Footswitch.

6 of Strymon's best mid-size boxes got recently update with additional controls - and all benefit from JFET Input, a Mono/Stereo Switch, TRS Midi Jacks, and USB-C Port. The Deco gets a new Voice switch, and added Tone knob - giving you even great granularity and versatility in output.

Controls - Time, Mod : Off / Light / Deep, Type : 24/96 / ADM / 12 Bit, Mix, Time 2 / Tap Divisions, Tone, Repeats, Mix 2, Tap Tempo Footswitch, On Footswitch.

Strymon's Pristine Digital Delay so beloved by many as the digital delay of choice with the sweetest of repeats gets a new Tone knob to make those repeats sound even sweeter.

Controls - Time, Tape Head : Fixed / Multi / Single, Mode : A / B / C, Mix, Wow & Flutter, Tape Age, Repeats, Spring, Tap Tempo Footswitch, On Footswitch.

And the El Capistan gets a new Spring (Reverb) knob - so it's even closer to the Volante. While many prefer the output of the El Capistan which is a little juicier than on the Volante. Obviously the Volante has more fearues and more about it overall - while the El Capistan is still incredibly capable and many a player's first choice over the Volante.

Controls - Feedback, Regen, Modulation Depth / Rate, Mix, X Variable per I-V Program, Time, Tone, Program / Mode : I / II / III / IV / V, Bypass / Hold for Mod Rate Footswitch, Tap Tempo / Hold for Clock Rise / Dive Footswitch.

I love everything about this pedal - apart for the fact that it is mono only output. For me all time-based effects need stereo output to render a proper spatial effect. Mono varieties are really rather more texturises and simulators. You cannot 3-dimensionally echolocate without having some sort of stereo signal to gauge distance. A mono delay or reverb - much like a mono Movie can never match the immersive experience of a full surround stereo signal! Other than that everything about this is great. The last 1/3rd of my own pedal chain is in stereo - including modulations, multi-modulators, delays, reverbs and a looper - so to fit anything logically into that part of the rig - it has to be stereo for me. OBNE got is spot on with their Screen Violent - but this one's unfortunately a miss for me.

Controls - Mode : 1 > 11, Delay, Mod, Feedback, Mix, Tone, Bypass Footswitch, Preset / Save : 1-8, Tap Tempo Footswitch.

Brian's Metaverse Delay Workstation is built on the same platform has his Terraform Multi-Modulator, and has a similarly well selected collection of algorithms. Again what looks good in a picture - doesn't necessarily translate to usability, and I find the pedal legends are just too small to be gleaned from a standing perspective. I actually really like this pedal - and may well get one as my experience with the Terraform has been so positive. I have several more capable delay units - but this one is undeniably neat!

Controls - Decay, Ctrl 1, Ctrl 2, Tone, Level, Mix, Program 1-8, Tap Tempo / Max Decay Footswitch, Kill Dry Footswitch, Preset 1-5 Footswitch, Engage / Bypass Type Footswitch. Indicators for Kill Dry, and Short / Medium / Long Reverbs.

Zander's workstation pedals are at a slight disadvantage as they look bigger than they actually are. Obviously the chip Alex uses is limited to 8 algorithms where most competitors have 11 or 12 - so all that needs to be weighed up into the mix. Alex's algorithms always sound great and distinct - while you could get more variety and versatility elsewhere. I actually quite like the Zander workstations, while there are still some perception challenges involved - real and imagined.