Hornet Deelay is a digital dub delay with the option of a vintage button which gives the early 90s sound when digital was imperfect and had its own character. It’s available as 32 and 64 bit win / mac; VST 2.4, VST3, RTAS & AAX formats.
It’s basically a dual delay effect with a delay time up to 5000ms or alternatively a sync mode from 1/16th to 1 bar. Feedback can be panned per channel and there’s also output panning per channel. There are options to link feedback and/or delay time settings. There’s also an option to apply an LFO from 0.1Hz to 10Hz with a modulation setting to create those ‘wobble’ sounds.
In use it’s a very capable delay effect. It has a well designed interface which is clear and well laid out although it isn’t scalable. The sound quality is excellent, a very clean sound with a great presence and can create anything from metallic modulation to dub delays.
It comes with 15 presets and these are great starting points to explore and experiment with. As with any good delay effect you don’t tend to rely on presets, you’ll definitely get the most out of it by tweaking these to your own requirements which won’t take long because it’s very easy to use. What I really like is how it can be a workhorse delay for basic delay effects or you can create more extreme effects, especially when parameters are changed in real time.
The track embedded above is a good example of its versatility. It is a simple track comprised of a bass and chord loop with a percussive rhythm which Deelay is used on. The track was recorded live with parameters changed in real time, hopefully you can hear the movement between the ‘sweet spot’ and out of sync sound as the delay time is changed. The track shows the sort of range of effects that it can produce.
One comment I would make for a possible update would be changes to the LFO. It would be useful to have negative values so the sound can go also go down in pitch but this is quite a minor point and certainly doesn’t detract from the usability of the delay.
It is also very reasonably priced and offers more flexibility and control than very capable free options such as ValhallaFreqEcho, TAL Dub Delay III or Sanford Delay. For instance ValhallaFreqEcho is a mono delay with maximum delay time of 1000ms; Tal Dub Delay III is also mono with maximum delay time of 4000ms and Sanford Delay is a dual delay but has a maximum delay time of 1000ms.
Hornet Deelay is available from Hornet Plugins typically priced at 7.99 euros
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