Are Free Delay Plugins Any Good?
Before we get into the “Best Free Delay Plugins Worth Trying”, I’ll briefly discuss reasons for using them. Using free delay plugins can be a cost-effective and practical way to enhance your audio productions. While there are many premium options available, free delay plug-ins offer a range of features and capabilities that can help you achieve professional results without breaking the bank.
Free delay plug-ins also offer a variety of delay types and settings. From simple and straightforward delays to more complex and experimental effects, these plugins can cater to a wide range of creative needs. You can find options for tape delay emulation, analog-style delays, digital delays, modulated delays, and more. This versatility allows you to choose the right delay character and style for your specific project or musical genre.
While unpaid delay plug-ins may not always have the same level of sophistication and advanced features as their paid counterparts, they can still deliver excellent sound quality and performance. Many free plugins are developed by talented individuals or small teams who are passionate about audio production, ensuring that the plugins are well-crafted and capable of producing professional-grade results.
Moreover, zero-cost delay plugins often come with user-friendly interfaces that make them easy to use and navigate. The controls and parameters are usually intuitive and straightforward, allowing you to dial in the desired delay settings quickly. Some plugins even provide visual displays and real-time feedback, assisting you in visualizing the delay patterns and making precise adjustments.
Using free delay plugins can be a valuable and cost-effective solution for enhancing your audio productions. They offer accessibility, versatility, and decent sound quality while allowing you to experiment with various delay effects without the need for a significant financial investment. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, these delay plugins provide a range of options to explore and can help you achieve professional-sounding results in your music productions. Check our best free delay plug-in list below.
Best Free Delay Worth Trying List
1. HY-Plugins HY-Delay 4
Hy-Delay 4 Free by Hy-Plugins is a powerful and versatile delay plugin that offers a range of creative possibilities for musicians and producers. Despite being a free plugin, Hy-Delay Free delivers impressive sound quality and a variety of features that make it a valuable addition to any audio production toolkit.
One of the notable features of Hy-Delay Free is its intuitive user interface. The plugin offers a clean and straightforward design, allowing users to easily navigate and control the delay parameters. It provides controls for adjusting parameters such as delay time, feedback, and mix, giving users precise control over the delay effect. Additionally, it offers options for adjusting the stereo width and adding modulation to create movement and depth in the delayed signal.
Hy-Delay Free offers various delay modes, including mono, stereo, ping pong, and multitap, providing users with versatility in shaping the delay effect. Each mode offers unique characteristics and can be tailored to suit different musical styles and genres. The plugin also includes a high-pass and low-pass filter, allowing users to shape the frequency content of the delayed signal and create interesting tonal variations.
Despite its simplicity, Hy-Delay Free is capable of delivering rich and complex delay sounds. It can generate short and tight delays for adding subtle depth to instruments or create lush and spacious echoes for creating atmospheric textures. The plugin can be used on a wide range of audio sources, such as vocals, guitars, drums, and synths, allowing users to experiment and explore different creative possibilities.
Overall, Hy-Delay Free by Hy-Plugins is a valuable tool for musicians and producers looking to incorporate versatile delay effects into their audio productions. Its user-friendly interface, various delay modes, and high-quality sound make it an excellent choice for those seeking a free and reliable delay plugin that can enhance their tracks with depth, space, and creative possibilities.
Get HY-Delay free version at https://www.pluginboutique.com/products/7935-HY-Delay4-Free
2. Voxengo Tempo Delay
Voxengo Tempo Delay is a powerful and versatile delay plugin that offers precise control over delay timing and rhythmic patterns. Designed to provide users with flexible and creative delay effects, Tempo Delay is well-suited for musicians, producers, and sound designers looking to add depth, texture, and rhythmic interest to their audio productions.
One of the standout features of Tempo Delay is its ability to synchronize the delay time to the host tempo. This allows users to create rhythmic delay patterns that sync perfectly with the musical timing of their project. By setting the delay time in note values or milliseconds, users can easily create dotted or triplet delays, syncopated rhythms, or any custom rhythmic pattern they desire.
The plugin offers two independent delay lines, each with its own set of controls. This allows users to create complex delay patterns by setting different delay times, feedback levels, and panning positions for each delay line. The cross-feedback feature adds even more versatility, enabling the delayed signal from one line to feed into the other, creating intricate and evolving delay patterns.
Tempo Delay also provides a comprehensive set of parameters for fine-tuning the delay effect. Users can adjust parameters such as stereo width, filter cutoff, damping, and saturation, allowing them to shape the tonal characteristics and coloration of the delayed signal. The built-in filter section offers high-pass and low-pass filters, enabling users to control the frequency content of the delays.
With its clean and user-friendly interface, Tempo Delay makes it easy to navigate and control the various parameters. The plugin supports various common plugin formats, making it compatible with a wide range of digital audio workstations (DAWs) and operating systems.
In conclusion, Voxengo Tempo Delay is a free delay plugin that offers precise rhythmic control and creative possibilities. Its ability to sync to the host tempo, independent delay lines, comprehensive parameter control, and user-friendly interface make it an excellent choice for musicians and producers seeking to add rhythmic interest, depth, and texture to their audio productions.
Get Voxengo Tempo Delay at https://www.voxengo.com/product/tempodelay/
3. Kilohearts kHs Delay
Get Kilohearts kHs Delay at https://kilohearts.com/products/delay
4. Baby Audio Baby Comeback
Get Baby Comeback Delay at https://babyaud.io/freebies
6. LKJB Pitched Delay
Pitched Delay by LKJB is a creative and innovative delay plugin that offers unique pitch-shifting capabilities. Designed for musicians, producers, and sound designers, Pitched Delay allows users to create interesting and dynamic delay effects by shifting the pitch of the delayed signal.
One of the standout features of Pitched Delay is its ability to modulate the pitch of the delayed signal in real-time. Users can control the pitch modulation depth and rate to create subtle pitch variations or dramatic pitch sweeps. This feature adds movement and character to the delay effect, making it ideal for adding depth and interest to vocals, instruments, and other audio sources.
The plugin provides precise control over the delay parameters, including delay time, feedback, and mix. Users can adjust the delay time in milliseconds or sync it to the host tempo for rhythmic effects. The feedback control determines the number of repetitions and the decay of the delayed signal. With the mix control, users can blend the dry and wet signals to achieve the desired balance between the original sound and the delayed effect.
Pitched Delay also offers a filter section that allows users to shape the frequency content of the delayed signal. This feature enables users to create tonal variations and sculpt the sound of the delay effect. The plugin supports high-pass, low-pass, and band-pass filter modes, giving users flexibility in controlling the frequency range of the delays.
With its user-friendly interface, Pitched Delay makes it easy to navigate and control the various parameters. The plugin offers a resizable and scalable interface, allowing users to adjust the view according to their preferences and workflow. It is compatible with popular plugin formats, making it suitable for use in various digital audio workstations (DAWs) and setups.
In conclusion, Pitched Delay by LKJB is a versatile and creative delay plugin that offers unique pitch-shifting capabilities. Its real-time pitch modulation, precise parameter control, and filter options make it a powerful tool for musicians and producers looking to add depth, movement, and creative effects to their audio productions.
Get LKJB Pitched Delay https://www.kvraudio.com/product/pitcheddelay-by-lkjb
7. UrsaDSP Lagrange Delay
Lagrange by UrsaDSP is an innovative and versatile delay plugin that offers a wide range of creative possibilities for musicians, producers, and sound designers. This plugin stands out with its unique approach to delay processing, combining granular synthesis techniques with traditional delay effects to deliver complex and atmospheric textures.
One of the key features of Lagrange is its granular engine, which allows users to manipulate the delay signal at a microscopic level. Users can control parameters such as grain size, density, and pitch to create intricate and evolving delay patterns. The granular synthesis capabilities enable users to transform simple delay repetitions into lush and atmospheric soundscapes.
The plugin offers multiple delay lines, each with its own independent settings. Users can adjust the delay time, feedback, panning, and filtering for each delay line, allowing for precise control over the delay effect. The multi-tap functionality enables users to create rhythmic patterns and cascading delays for added depth and complexity.
Lagrange also provides a comprehensive modulation section, offering various modulation sources and targets. Users can apply modulation to parameters such as delay time, grain size, and pitch, adding movement and animation to the delay effect. The built-in LFOs and envelope followers allow for dynamic and expressive modulation possibilities.
With its intuitive user interface, Lagrange makes it easy to navigate and control the various parameters. The plugin offers a visual representation of the delay lines and granular engine, allowing users to visualize and shape the delay patterns in real-time. It is compatible with popular plugin formats, ensuring seamless integration into different digital audio workstations (DAWs) and workflows.
In summary, Lagrange by UrsaDSP is a free delay plugin that combines granular synthesis techniques with traditional delay effects. Its granular engine, multiple delay lines, modulation capabilities, and intuitive interface make it a valuable tool for musicians and producers seeking to add complex, atmospheric, and creative delay textures to their audio productions.
Get Lagrange Delay at https://ursadsp.com/
8. Valhalla FreqEcho Delay
FreqEcho by Valhalla DSP is a versatile and creative delay plugin that offers a unique approach to echo effects. Designed with simplicity and functionality in mind, FreqEcho provides musicians, producers, and sound designers with a powerful tool for shaping and manipulating delay-based effects.
One of the standout features of FreqEcho is its frequency-shifting capabilities. The plugin allows users to modulate the frequency of the delayed signal, creating interesting and complex sonic textures. By adjusting the Shift and Width parameters, users can control the pitch-shifting characteristics of the delayed signal, resulting in harmonic variations and unique tonal coloration.
FreqEcho offers six control knobs to shape your delay effects. The plugin includes a mix knob, delay knob, shift knob, feedback knob, low cut knob, and high cut knob. Each of these parameters provides users with precise control over the delay effect. There’s also delay sync menu giving you the option to choose from quantize notes or free milliseconds control. The output can by switched between stereo and mono.
In conclusion, FreqEcho by Valhalla DSP is a simple yet creative delay plugin that offers unique frequency-shifting capabilities. Its various delay modes, precise parameter control, user-friendly interface, and high-quality sound make it a valuable tool for musicians and producers looking to add interesting and distinctive delay effects to their audio productions.
Get Valhalla FreqEcho at https://valhalladsp.com/shop/delay/valhalla-freq-echo/
9. GlitchMachines Histeresis Delay
Hysteresis Delay by Glitch Machines is a powerful and experimental delay plugin that pushes the boundaries of traditional delay effects. Designed for musicians, sound designers, and producers who crave unconventional and out-of-the-box sound manipulation, Hysteresis offers a wide range of possibilities for creating unique and atmospheric delay textures.
One of the defining features of Hysteresis is its granular engine, which allows users to transform their audio into granular particles that can be manipulated in real-time. This granular processing adds a surreal and ethereal quality to the delay effect, allowing users to create intricate and evolving soundscapes. The plugin offers extensive control over grain size, pitch, density, and randomization, giving users the ability to sculpt their delays with precision.
Hysteresis also provides a comprehensive set of delay parameters, including delay time, feedback, modulation, filtering, and distortion. Users can adjust these parameters to create anything from subtle and rhythmic delay patterns to chaotic and glitchy effects. The modulation options allow for dynamic and evolving delay movements, while the filtering and distortion options add character and coloration to the delayed signal.
The interface of Hysteresis is sleek and visually appealing, designed to facilitate intuitive navigation and sound shaping. The plugin offers a range of visual displays that provide real-time feedback on the granular processing and delay patterns, aiding in sound design and experimentation. It also includes a flexible modulation matrix, allowing users to assign modulation sources to various parameters for complex and evolving effects.
With its unconventional approach to delay processing, Hysteresis opens up a world of possibilities for creative sound design. It is well-suited for experimental music genres, cinematic soundscapes, and any production that seeks to push the boundaries of traditional delay effects. Hysteresis is compatible with major plugin formats, making it accessible to users across different digital audio workstations (DAWs) and setups.
In summary, Hysteresis delay by Glitch Machines is a free experimental delay plugin that offers unique granular processing capabilities. Its extensive parameter control, versatile modulation options, user-friendly interface, and unconventional sound manipulation make it an essential tool for musicians and sound designers looking to create immersive and otherworldly delay effects.
Get Hysteresis at https://glitchmachines.com/products/hysteresis/
10. SuperflyDSP Flying Delay
Flying Delay by SuperflyDsp is a free delay plugin that offers a range of creative possibilities for your audio effects. Flying Delay combines classic delay effects and lo-fi features to deliver unique and dynamic sound shaping delay effects.
Flying Delay minimalist interface provides two sections of easy to use parameters. In the top section, there are two control knobs for the decay and delay parameters. There’s a simple and irregular switch which alters the delay tone. This section also features an option to switch between stereo, left only, mid-side, mid only,and side only. Additionally you can switch on ping-pong mode in this section.
The bottom section consist of four parameters with control sliders that move from left to right. These parameters are the mix (dry/wet), tape (clean/dirty), low pass filter, and high pass filter. There’s also a sync switch in this section which can be linked with your DAW. The controls are laid out intuitively, making it easy to navigate and adjust the various parameters.
In conclusion, Flying Delay by SuperflyDsp is a simple delay plugin that offers a range of creative possibilities. Its straightforward delay parameters, stereo/side outputs, and tape option can give your audio diverse delay types effects. Home studio producers looking to add dark delay effects can get use out of this free plug-in.
Get SuperflyDSp Flying Delay at https://superflydsp.com/index.php/flying-delay-freeware/
11. Full Bucket Brigade Delay
Full Bucket Brigade Delay is a unique and versatile delay plugin that captures the essence of classic analog delay units. Developed by Full Bucket Music, this plugin emulates the distinctive sound and character of the famous bucket brigade devices (BBD) found in vintage analog delay units.
One of the standout features of Full Bucket Brigade Delay is its analog emulation. It recreates the warm and rich sound of analog delays, with all the subtle nuances and imperfections that give them their distinct character. The plugin utilizes the same principles as BBD circuits, including the multiple delay stages and feedback loops, resulting in smooth and organic delay effects.
The plugin offers various control parameters that allow users to shape their delay sound precisely. Users can adjust the delay time, feedback, modulation, and filtering to create a wide range of delay effects, from short slap-back echoes to long and lush repeats. The modulation options, such as chorus and vibrato, add depth and movement to the delayed signal, enhancing the overall character of the sound.
Full Bucket Brigade Delay features a user-friendly interface that resembles the layout of vintage hardware units. The controls are straightforward and easy to navigate, allowing users to dial in their desired delay settings quickly. The interface also includes visual feedback, displaying the delay time and modulation waveform, providing real-time information and aiding in sound shaping.
With its low CPU usage and compact design, Full Bucket Brigade Delay is a versatile plugin suitable for various musical applications. It can be used in recording studios, live performances, and home studios to add vintage analog charm and character to vocals, instruments, and even entire mixes. The plugin supports multiple plugin formats, ensuring compatibility with various digital audio workstations (DAWs) and setups.
In summary, Full Bucket Brigade Delay is a free delay plugin that faithfully emulates the character and sound of vintage bucket brigade devices. Its accurate analog emulation, versatile control parameters, user-friendly interface, and low CPU usage make it a valuable tool for musicians and producers seeking to incorporate the warmth and charm of classic analog delay effects into their audio productions.
Get Full Bucket Brigade Delay at https://www.fullbucket.de/music/fbdelay.html
12. Valhalla Super Massive
Valhalla Supermassive is a popular reverb and delay plugin developed by ValhallaDSP that pushes the boundaries of traditional spatial effects. It includes a plethora of immersive reverb and expansive delay effects that can transform your audio into spacious sonic landscapes.
When you hear about Valhalla Supermassive popularity it’s mostly reverb. It’s most notable characteristics is its ability to generate massive and ethereal reverberation. It provides a diverse range of reverb algorithms, from subtle room ambience to epic, cathedral-like spaces. With decay, size, modulation, and density controls, you can shape the reverb to fit any musical style or sound design requirement.
However, Valhalla Supermassive offers rich and dynamic delay effects in addition to reverb. It includes delay, feedback, warp, modulation, density, width, depth, and Eq. All of these parameters have control knobs There’s also a quantize note and milliseconds option allowing you to create rhythmic patterns, lush echoes, and intricate textures. The plugin gives you complete control over the delay’s character and behavior.
Overall, Valhalla Supermassive is a versatile reverb/delay plugin with a wide range of atmospheric and immersive effects. Its high-quality sound, extensive parameter control, and user-friendly interface make it a must-have for musicians, producers, and sound designers looking to add depth, dimension, and textures to their audio recordings.
Features: Supermassive has 18 reverb/delay modes too extensive to describe here 🙂
Get Valhalla Super Massive at https://valhalladsp.com/shop/reverb/valhalla-supermassive/
12. ChowDsp Chow Matrix Delay
Chow Matrix delay is a unique and innovative audio effect developed by Chowdury DSP. It is a powerful tool that allows musicians, producers, and sound engineers to add depth, dimension, and creative expression to their audio productions. The Chow Matrix delay stands out from other delay plugins due to its complex and versatile matrix architecture.
At the heart of the Chow Matrix delay is a customizable 16×16 matrix that allows for intricate routing and manipulation of audio signals. This matrix design gives users the freedom to create intricate delay patterns and unique spatial effects. Each cell in the matrix represents a point in the audio signal flow, enabling precise control over the delay time, feedback, filtering, panning, and modulation of each individual delay tap.
One of the most remarkable features of the Chow Matrix delay is its extensive modulation capabilities. It offers various modulation sources, including LFOs, envelope followers, and step sequencers, which can be assigned to any parameter within the matrix. This opens up a world of possibilities for creating evolving and dynamic delay effects. Users can generate anything from subtle rhythmic patterns to complex, evolving textures that add movement and interest to their audio tracks.
Moreover, the Chow Matrix delay provides a range of additional features, such as high-quality filtering, saturation, and diffusion controls. These allow users to shape the character and tone of the delayed signals, adding warmth, color, and depth to their audio. The plugin also offers an intuitive and visually appealing interface, making it easy to navigate and experiment with the various parameters.
In summary, the Chow Matrix delay by Chowdury DSP is a free audio effect plugin that offers creative control over delay effects. Its customizable matrix architecture, extensive modulation capabilities, and additional processing features make it a versatile tool for music production.
Get Chow Matrix Delay at https://chowdsp.com/products.htmlConclusion: Free Delay Plug-ins
In conclusion, free delay plugins are an excellent resource for musicians and producers looking to add depth, texture, and creative effects to their audio productions without incurring any additional costs. These plugins offer a wide range of delay types, settings, and modulation options, allowing for versatile sound manipulation. While they may not always offer the same level of sophistication as paid plugins, they still deliver impressive sound quality and performance.
