Maneco Labs 16 Seconds Delay Vintage Compact Pedal
The Maneco Labs 16 Seconds Delay Vintage Compact Pedal is a looping delay device that draws inspiration from the original 1983 model. The device's topology remains the same as the first digital delays from that era, boasting an all-analog signal path, pre-emphasis and de-emphasis, compression and expansion, anti-aliasing, reconstruction filtering, and input/output buffering and mixing. The digital processing is limited to only the analog-to-digital conversion, memory management, storage, and digital-to-analog conversion, all in glorious eight bits.
The device includes an analog triangle Low Frequency Oscillator which is used to modulate delay time and pitch. Additionally, there is a click metronome generator which is also analog and driven by the memory read circuit. The metronome generator has independent output and level control. The maximum delay time is 16 seconds, which is the same as the original unit. There are toggle switches provided for slow/fast speed/pitch and reverse playback.
The onboard footswitches of this unit enable control of the infinite/freeze feature from the delay buffer, as well as bypass for the entire unit. The slider illuminated controls include delay time coarse, delay time fine, sweep rate and depth, feedback, and mix. This device is proudly hand-built in Uruguay by Manecolabs, who are also the creators of the Grone Drone machine Eurorack, Tabletop, and Pedal drone generators, among others.
Maneco Labs 16 Seconds Delay Vintage Compact Pedal Controls
- Delay Coarse slider: Controls the size of memory block used for the delay to a maximum of 16 seconds in FAST setting and 32 seconds in SLOW, approximately. values due to the tolerances involved in clock circuit control.
- Delay Fine slider: This control allows for smooth time and pitch changes by adjusting the sampling rate from highest to lowest pitch.
- Speed slider: Sets the speed for the triangle waveform low-frequency oscillator (LFO) used to modulate the sampling rate, with a LED indicator for visual feedback.
- Depth slider: Controls the amount of LFO modulation that affects the sampling rate, ranging from subtle pitch fluctuations to deep and dramatic dives and rises.
- Feedback slider: This is a regeneration control that manages the amount of output signal from the delay line that is sent back to the input of the memory. This enables the creation of echo and overdub effects. When set to its maximum level, it can cause oscillation or what is commonly known as "runaway feedback".
- Blend slider: It is possible to adjust the mix between the dry signal and delay signal, ranging from 0% to 100%.
- Slow/fast switch: By changing the sampling rate to half or double, the time and pitch can be adjusted to be longest, one octave down (slow), or fastest/one octave up (fast).
- Reverse Switch: To change the direction of playback of memory content, you can use the reverse function. However, please note that this is not the same as a "reverse delay" effect, since the audio input is not continuously reversed like in the Danelectro Back Talk Echo. What's interesting about using the reverse function while overdubbing is that a new layer recorded over a reversed one will play forward. If you then switch back to reverse mode, the previous layer will play backwards while the new one will be reversed. It's actually much easier to try this out yourself than for me to try to explain it in words.
- Infinite footswitch: When you engage the "freeze" or "hold" control, the recording function will stop, and the existing memory will play continuously. If you use the bypass footswitch, it will mute the delay signal output, but it won't stop the delay from recording. This means that you can continuously record while in bypass mode.
- Power: Any standard pedal power with center negative polarity will work. Just ensure it can provide at least 150 milliamps of current to have a margin. There are no fancy requirements.
