Ninja Tune – an English independent record label based in London and Erica Synths have teamed up to create a custom dub delay effects unit, the Zen Delay. Erica Synths Zen Delay is an upcoming delay unit blends deformity and filtering characters in one tool.
Inspired by a trip to Berlin’s trailblazing music hardware trade show Superbooth, Coldcut’s Matt Black and longtime friend Dr Walker (Liquid Sky artist collective / Air Liquide) envisaged the exciting possibilities of a custom hardware effects unit. The result is the creation of the Zen Delay — the first-ever hardware effects unit produced in collaboration with an electronic music label.
Bringing together the best of the digital and analog worlds, the Zen Delay is a BPM-synced stereo delay line, combining extreme feedback ranges for dub and experimental lo-fi effects with a multi-mode 24 dB synth filter and valve overdrive.
Created and manufactured by Erica Synths, the unit is housed in a metal case with Erica Synths’ signature bakelite knobs and a valve circuit for extra analog warmth. While sonically versatile, it is incredibly easy to use — each function has a physical knob that you can play around with without diving into manuals or scrolling through menus on a tiny screen.
Crafted in close collaboration with DJs and producers, the Zen Delay was uniquely developed with both live and studio use in mind and is suitable for many different performance situations, musical styles, and instruments. While most delay devices are designed as ‘stomp boxes’ for guitarists, the device is equally powerful in the hands of electronic music producers, artists, and DJs, adding a unique, warm and powerful sonic character to drum machines, loops, vocals, synths, samples or any other source. Even full tracks or a live stereo mix can be enhanced by the combination of analog and digital circuitry, breathing new life into iPad performances and giving traditional digital synths and drum machines a huge kick.
Zen Delay Features
- Delay times: 1-5000ms with 1/8…x8 of clock/tap rate in beat mode (up to 50 sec)
- Controls
delay time, feedback, delay mod (5 presets), tap button, dry/wet, the bypass switch, filter cutoff, resonance, drive, input level, filter mode - Inputs
Stereo In: 2x standard jack
MIDI In: standard MIDI socket
CV In: standard jack - Outputs
Stereo Out: 2 x standard jack
Availability
The estimated shipping is targeting December 04, 2019. You can pre-order now the upcoming Zen Delay.
