Zen Delay
by Ninja Tune
The Zen Delay is now available as a plugin, the Zen Delay Virtual aka ZDV.
"This is by far the best hands on delay unit I’ve ever used" - Adrian Sherwood
"We absolutely love this, and can't wait to start using this in our live show. It's super responsive and tight yet gnarly enough to cook things. The tape mode achieves everything we like about tape but allows us to take things further. Can't wait to really start to push things in our performances with this.” — Bicep
"The Zen delay is one of our favourite pedals. Its ability to feel modern and still maintain such analog warmth is hard to beat.” — ODESZA/BRONSON
"I have other delay pedals but none of them come close to the playability and analog sound of the Zen. It’s an instrument in itself and now has a permanent spot in my studio. I run my drum machines and synths straight into it.” — TSHA
"This is the kind of modern update I was looking for, and it's instantly replaced my older circuit boxes. It’s a black box and it sounds incredible.” — Actress
“It's a dangerous little tool. Fun to play with, nice feel. Really versatile and great sound.” — Helena Hauff
"Only had the Zen Delay for a week and keep reaching for it for my mixes. Great for giving life and another dimension to all sources. The build and sound quality is premium and is a joy to use. Highly recommend it to anyone looking for a high quality multi fx unit.” — Eric Lau
“As soon as I saw Erica Synths and Ninja Tune had built a delay unit, I bought it sight unseen. The Zen Delay is really an instrument disguised as an outboard unit - there's so much firepower between the insane feedback and tube distortion that you can play with it for days and still be discovering where it can take you. And the fat bakelite knobs are so satisfying to the touch. It's become a mainstay of my studio and you'll be hearing it across my records going forward.” — David Ansari (Vallis Alps)
“Delay pedal is sick, filter function is very helpful for what I use it for.” — Joe Armon-Jones
“The Zen Delay is the analogue delay unit I've been waiting for. Stereo warmth, tone and texture. Perfect for live abusage, and studio madness… love it.” — The Bug
1 minute video with The Bug
Indepth review by Rickey Tinez
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 analogue worlds, the Zen Delay is a BPM-synched 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 analogue 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 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 analogue and digital circuitry, breathing new life into iPad performances and giving traditional digital synths and drum machines a huge kick.
Ninja Tune artist The Bug praised the prototype, saying: “the Zen Delay is the analogue delay unit I've been waiting for. Stereo warmth, tone and texture. Perfect for live abusage, and studio madness… love it”. You can see him using it in this short video.
Commenting on the Zen Delay, Matt Black said: “The Zen excels at the sort of extreme dub possibilities Coldcut love. Feed it back!”
Dr Walker added: “For years I have dreamed of a state-of-the-art stereo valve dub delay for my MPC that perfectly masters all sound aesthetics from "badass" to "psychedelic hypnotically trashed" — and now, have a look! There it is... the Zen Delay! <3.”
Ģirts Ozoliņš, Visionary at Erica Synths noted: “The ZEN Delay is a product of our expertise on vacuum tube designs, our powerful, custom DSP platform and the great sound of our filter ICs made and developed in Latvia. It by far exceeded expectations in terms of how it sounds and feels when played.”
Technical Specifications
| Controls | delay time, feedback, delay mod (5 presets), tap button, dry/wet, 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 |
| Power | 12v (power supply for worldwide use is included) |
| In/Out levels | 3.2v peak to peak |
| Delay times | 1-5000ms with 1/8...x8 of clock/tap rate in beat mode (up to 50 sec) |
| Digital | 24bit, 48kHz |
| DAC | 114 dB dynamic range -100dB THD+N |
| ADC | 108 dB dynamic range -98 dB THD+N |
| Dimensions | 21 x 15 x 5 cm |
| Weight | 870g |
Zen Delay
by Ninja Tune
Digital |
|---|
|
Digital (ZDV)
The Zen Delay is now available as a plugin, the Zen Delay Virtual aka ZDV. ZDV is not simply a digital replica or replacement of the acclaimed original hardware, but an addition to it. It comes with an advanced Dual LFO section for versatile patching and extreme modulation possibilities. Plus the convenience of automation in your DAW. Intro price €99, get it at the Erica Synth Shop |
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 analogue worlds, the Zen Delay is a BPM-syn...
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 analogue worlds, the Zen Delay is a BPM-synched 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 analogue 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 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 analogue and digital circuitry, breathing new life into iPad performances and giving traditional digital synths and drum machines a huge kick.
Ninja Tune artist The Bug praised the prototype, saying: “the Zen Delay is the analogue delay unit I've been waiting for. Stereo warmth, tone and texture. Perfect for live abusage, and studio madness… love it”. You can see him using it in this short video.
Commenting on the Zen Delay, Matt Black said: “The Zen excels at the sort of extreme dub possibilities Coldcut love. Feed it back!”
Dr Walker added: “For years I have dreamed of a state-of-the-art stereo valve dub delay for my MPC that perfectly masters all sound aesthetics from "badass" to "psychedelic hypnotically trashed" — and now, have a look! There it is... the Zen Delay! <3.”
Ģirts Ozoliņš, Visionary at Erica Synths noted: “The ZEN Delay is a product of our expertise on vacuum tube designs, our powerful, custom DSP platform and the great sound of our filter ICs made and developed in Latvia. It by far exceeded expectations in terms of how it sounds and feels when played.”
Technical Specifications
| Controls | delay time, feedback, delay mod (5 presets), tap button, dry/wet, 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 |
| Power | 12v (power supply for worldwide use is included) |
| In/Out levels | 3.2v peak to peak |
| Delay times | 1-5000ms with 1/8...x8 of clock/tap rate in beat mode (up to 50 sec) |
| Digital | 24bit, 48kHz |
| DAC | 114 dB dynamic range -100dB THD+N |
| ADC | 108 dB dynamic range -98 dB THD+N |
| Dimensions | 21 x 15 x 5 cm |
| Weight | 870g |
