The moment they dropped the "analog delay bomb" upon us, Suhr had our full and utmost attention. We love analog delays here at Klundert's guitar department and we're just suckers for the unmistakable character these little mojo-machines produce! So obviously, we have a lot to say about this jem!
Let's start with the facts. Suhr's Discovery delay is a bucket brigade delay with a full analog signal path and runs on the iconic MN3005 BBD chip. In fact, four of them. And before you get all nerdy on it; nope, they are not NOS vintage parts, they're new reissues. BBD based delay devices like these have a very specific character and produce dark, mellow and warm echo's. A sound that is perfect, whether you're into dreamy soundscapes or furious lead tones without "drowning" your guitarlicks in a never-ending waterfall of repeats.
This concept on itself is of course not new. Many other delays have been build like this; EHX Memory Man, Boss DM2 or the Supro Analog Delay to name a few. HOWEVER...-like we expected- Suhr has taken the concept to a whole new level! Please read on to learn all about the features this pedal has to offer and find out why this is a unique pedal.
Let's talk about the sound, which is just gorgeous; bucket brigade delay the way it should sound. The reason why the Discovery is worth every penny though, is because of the endless control over...well, pretty much every aspect of the sound and practical use.
In regards to sound, the Discovery has all the controls you have been missing out on until now. Let's just sum 'm up:
- Mix; from 100% dry, to 100% kill dry. At 12 o'clock, the dry / wet mix is exactly 50/50.
- Time (40-1100ms); dail in the delay time in either BPM or ms, using the (huge) pot, or by tapping, or with the up/down buttons one BPM/ms at a time.
- In addition to the time setting, you can alter the subdivision of the time you've set; quarter notes, dotted 8's, 8's, triplets or 16th.
- Regen; repeats. Set to max and it will self-oscilate.
- Lo Cut / Hi Cut; part of the magic! If you're familiar with analog BBD delays, you are familiar with the hiss these chips can give. This is caused by hi frequency information passing through the capasitors of the BBD chip and this is why a classic bucket brigade schematic (should) features a low pass / hi cut filter. Suhr made these filters controlable which allows you to drastically change and accurately dail in the character of the delay (set the hi cut filter to minimum and yes, it will hiss!).
- Speed & depth. Hell yes it features modulation! You can even alter the sine wave in three modes; sinewave, triangle and square.
In regards to "secundary" and practical features, Suhr has filled this pedal up with unbelievable controllabillity that is unique for a BBD based delay pedal; 128 programmable and midi accessible preset (midi in and out/thru), footswitch tap tempo or by external switch, external program up / down connection, switchable true bypass or buffered bypass, expression pedal connection to control the time parameter...it's all on board of this compact "Strymon" sized pedal, making it the ultimate device in it's kind and the only analog delay you'll even need in your life, ever again.
The Discovery runs on a 18vDC (centre negative) powersupply, which is included with the pedal.
- All-new revolutionary design
- Engineered on four re-issued versions of the renowned MN3005 bucket-brigade analog-delay chips
- 127 programmable presets
- Delay times of 40ms-1100ms, expandable to 17ms-2000ms & beyond with up/down & division buttons
- Subdivisions include quarter, dotted-eighth, eighth note triplet, eighth note and sixteenth note
- 7-segment display for BPM, milliseconds or preset number
- Classic analog delay warmth with the control to make it your own
- Studio quality tone & features
- Built-in smart Tap-Tempo giving you the ability to nail the tempo
- High & Lo Cut controls to shape the sound of your delay
- Modulation with speed & depth controls
- 3 modulation waveforms to choose from: Triangle, Sine and Square
- Fully programmable digital-control
- Use in ANY set-up with MIDI In & Out/Thru
- Every knob is mappable to an expression pedal
- Custom expression pedal mapping, savable to each preset
- Every parameter can be controlled by MIDI
- Can be used to send patch changes to your other MIDI devices
- Save all of your presets to a SysEx file for back-up or to share
- Switchable true-bypass or buffered-bypass
- Soft clipping limiter for infinite feedback and oscillations
- Kill dry mode for parallel effects loops
- Includes an 18V DC power supply
- Assembled in the USA