Okay — I will freely admit it. There are some processors from my real-world rack of outboard gear that I have been missing since adopting the Avid VENUE mixing platform and then choosing to fully embrace the digital domain by relying exclusively on plugins rather than hardware. One absent, and very much missed unit, was an easy-to-use, musical-sounding tap delay. For years, I had been accustomed to having to having one and, quite often, two tc electronic 2290 delay units that I dedicated to lead vocal effects. One would be set for a fairly tight delay time in the 160ms range and returned at a low level to add just a bit of resonant depth to a vocal. The other 2290 was customarily designated for longer delays, utilizing programmed special effects presets that I would change with a remote MIDI keypad.
So there I was, digitally pining, until I discovered Waves H-Delay. Other delay plugins I have previously tried out were too sterile or too glitchy or too unnatural to really feature prominently in a mix. Another operational obstacle I encountered was trying to navigate interfaces that present an environment in which it is difficult to locate parameters and enter the necessary data.
Intuitive Interface
I am pleased to say that these particular issues are definitely not the case with H-Delay. As can be seen in the screenshot, each parameter control knob on the display screen is really big and very easy to find. Small movements of the mouse on individual controls do not result in vast, unwanted changes. The amber and black interface is easy to read in the dark. The extremely large size of the Tap Pad ensures that small movements of the cursor as one is tapping in time values do not result in inadvertently jumping off the button.
As the first day of rehearsal for this fall’s Joe Walsh solo tour approached, I knew I would need to employ a device that would recreate the vocal delay effects that are present on many of Joe’s recordings. Joe himself reinforced that requirement on the first day of rehearsal when he requested that I have delay on his vocal for every song. In my preprogramming for the show, I had loaded H-Delay into my virtual rack and set it up for a medium delay time with 2-3 repeats in descending volume.
The rest of the programming process was extremely easy. The H-Delay plugin was set to change delay time, feedback level, modulation depth, modulation rate, high pass filter and low pass filter with each different song snapshot saved on my VENUE Profile desk. All I had to do was click the desired beat on the Tap Pad for each of the songs, round up just a bit for better definition and then adjust the remaining parameters for the specific needs of the song. These tasks were very simple to perform on the fly because the interface is so well thought out and accessible. The Avid VENUE platform makes it easy to link plugin settings to individual snapshots so that editing and saving setting changes on the fly is a simple, step by step process.
I know I barely scratched the surface of H-Delay’s capabilities, but I was extremely pleased with the way the plugin performed in this particular task. Typical delay times varied from 160ms to 380ms. The display can be set to read out in Milliseconds or BPM. There is a Host option that allows BPM to be set by an external source. LFO settings were either off or set to a subtle depth at a slow rate. Feedback was maintained at 2-3 repeats with a naturally diminishing volume.
I set the level on the effects return fader by listening to the point at which I heard the first repeat distinctly and then pulled the fader down a few dB to make the effect less obvious. On the song, “Rocky Mountain Way,” I did use the option of linking the high pass and low pass filters creating a band pass filter that made the delay effect more distinctly “mid-rangy.” However, that was as tricky as I got.
Old-School Effects
I did not audition the Lo-Fi effect that emulates the original 8k bandwidth devices from the late 1970s and early 1980s, nor did I try out the ping-pong stereo function that is also available. I checked out, but did not employ, the feedback settings from 100-200 that create repetitions that increase in level over time. I did use the Analog function and settled on “2,” the default setting. That choice just seemed to bring everything together in a way that worked for me.
In my world, H-Delay represents the latest step in a long and distinguished line of delay tools that began with the Lexicon Prime Time and progressed through the Super Prime Time, PCM 42 and the tc 2290. The effect that H-Delay produces is both musically pleasing and properly present in the mix. The operation is instantly familiar; the settings are well-defined and comfortably responsive. H-Delay is definitely a valued member of the Hybrid family and will become a necessary component of my touring effects package.
The H-Delay user guide offers this description on page 1: From slap-back echo, ping-pong delay and tempo-sync with modulation, to filtering, flanging, phasing and more, H-Delay delivers real old-school effects, controlled by a super-intuitive interface.
Yessir! That’s just the device I was looking for.
