Recording - April 2016 - 46

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

New Jersey's Eventide Incorporated is one
of the world's premier digital effects companies. Eventide introduced the 1745 Digital
Delay Line in 1971, the H910 (possibly the
world's first true multi-effects unit including
both pitch shifting and delay) in 1975, and
the H3000 in 1986-a ubiquitous studio
workhorse throughout the next three decades.
Today the company is home to the juggernaut
that is the H8000FW, arguably the highest
end multi-effects device money can buy.
All this history hopefully gives our readers
the impression that Eventide understands a
thing or two about digital delay! In this review,
we're taking a look and listen to the company's
latest delay innovation, which is also their first
entry into the world of 500 Series modules.

In default mode the unit offers delay times of
0.11ms up to 10 seconds. Pressing the Dly
Mult button doubles this time to a maximum of
20 seconds, while changing the unit's sample
rate to 96 kHz. Holding down said button and
turning the encoder increases the multiplier
from 2x up to 16x at 12 kHz. You can do the
math for all of the in-between sample rates,
but know that with each step down the sound
degrades and noise is introduced into the signal. Keeping the multiplier between 2x and 5x
(20 to 50 seconds) offered little noticeable signal degradation, but beyond that the changes
become more and more apparent. Not that it's
not usable or even cool, but it gets into lo-fi
sound design territory pretty quick!
The DDL-500's delay controls are a curious
mixture of old and new. There are the usual suspects of Delay Time, Feedback and Mix, as well
as buttons for Feedback Invert and Infinity
Repeat, which infinitely loops whatever is currently in the delay signal buffer. There is also a Kill

DDL-500
The DDL-500 is a single-slot 500 Series box that will be
at home in any compliant API-style 500 Series enclosure. For
this review I tried it in API's own 8-Slot Lunchbox (reviewed in

Eventide DDL-500
The Eventide delay magic-now in 500 Series format
our December 2014 Gift guide), as well as the stalwart Radial
Workhorse (reviewed in October 2011), both without issues.
The unit's black brushed aluminum faceplate is jampacked
with knobs, encoders, and buttons galore. All of the unit's pots
are smooth as silk and all of the latching and momentary buttons are nicely backlit. At the top of the unit is an old school
red LED display similar to those found on the earliest Eventide
boxes, along with a pair of LED lights for signal and peak indication.
Digital and analog in one box
Eventide's tagline for the DDL-500 is "A Digital Delay Line
with an Analog Soul". While all of the delay functions happen
in glorious 24-bit/192 kHz digital, the rest of the DDL-500 signal path is pure analog, including the ability to drive the unit
into soft saturation prior to the delay chain.
The unit offers 24 dBu input level at an 18 kΩ impedance
and an output level of 24 dBu at a 50Ω impedance. There are
controls for Input and Output as well as a +20 dB input boost.
There is also a post-delay 12 dB/octave lowpass filter, with
sweepable corner frequency from 400 Hz to 20 kHz, that
helps add a touch of pillowy vintage rounding to the sound.
As mentioned, all digital processing happens at 24/192.
However, the unit has a trick to lengthen delay times while
simultaneously reducing the unit's sample rate to a lo-fi 12 kHz.
Note this is 12 kHz, not 12 bits-the sample rate changes, but
the resolution remains 24-bit at all times. This is done with the
Delay Multiplier (Dly Mult) button, which (as it says on the
label) multiplies the delay signal by a chosen multiplier.
46

RECORDING April 2016

switch that keeps any delay signal in the feedback path active, but
stops incoming signal from entering the delay lines. Both this and
the Infinity Repeat are a lot of fun in dub styles and remixes.
Back to the Delay Time: this function is handled by a
stepped multi-function semi-rotary encoder. It operates in seconds or milliseconds. Pressing in and turning said knob offers
a fast coarse control of this parameter.
You can also set the DDL-500 to beats per minute (BPM) complete with a tap tempo button. You can even select note divisions
from Quarter notes all the way to Whole Note Triplets. Both BPM
and straight time settings can be done with great precision.
Those two little jacks
At the bottom of front panel are a pair of 1/4" TRS inputs.
The first one is an insert, which makes use of a standard YCable (Tip-Send / Ring-Return). Just like on a microphone preamp or channel strip, you can add in external processing. This
insert is post delay, but pre LPF and feedback.
The second TRS input is a multi-function Remote jack. Using
the rotary encoder and alternative button presses enters into
System Mode, where you can select what functions this jack
will perform and what kind of pedal or input you will use.
Some examples would be: a momentary footswitch for tap
tempo; a variable VCA-style pedal (like a keyboard volume
pedal) which can sweep delay times and delay glide; or an
external control voltage signal. CV input lets you connect an
external LFO to modulate delay times and sweeps, or you can
use a MIDI-to-CV converter to sync the DDL-500 with tempos
from your DAW, drum machine, or keyboard.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - April 2016