My Favorite Delay Pedal Ever!

I’ve either tried or or owned just about every major delay pedal out there. In fact, it would be easier to point out delay pedals I haven’t owned than to try and list every one delay I have tried or owned. I’m here to tell you about my favorite delay pedal ever.

Like I said, I’ve had the pleasure of owning or extensively playing so many delay pedals in the huge guitar effects space. This has brought me to the realization that the ideal delay pedal must not only sound good, but should have important features like tap tempo, easily accessible subdivisions and preferably also MIDI control. Those are standard features that can be found in my favorite delay pedal.

I’ll give you an example of some delay pedals I have yet to try. I haven’t had the pleasure of playing the small box Strymon Brig nor the latest Strymon EC-1 released… yet. That’s the keyword… YET! However, I’ve played or owned just about every big box delay out there.

I’ll mention my favorite right now (since you’re seeing it in the cover photo anyway.) It’s the Strymon Volante is my favorite delay pedal, ever.

However, read on because I need to tell you why.

Of all the delay pedals I’ve had the pleasure to own or play extensively, there are a number of awesome standouts. I’ll list those below before getting into the details about my favorite one. This will help set a basis for comparison.

My shortlist of favorite delay pedals

1. Strymon Timeline – This one can do everything and it can do it all extremely well. It’s definitely at the top 5 best delay pedals ever. Doesn’t make the cut as my ultimate favorite due to the size and the menu diving.
2. Empress Echosystem – As far as the big box delay pedals go, the Empress Echosystem to me is the BEST sounding of them all. I even prefer the sound of the Echosystem over the Volante. The reason it doesn’t make the final cut is simply because it’s a little tricky to use on a live board. I much prefer this one on the desk or in the studio when I feel like getting inspired.
3. Strymon El Capistan – This delay pedal, as a tape delay, technically sounds sweeter to my ears than the Volante. Yes, I know the Volante is multi-head drum delay, like an Echorec – But it still emulates tape to an extent. Not to mention, multi-heads and drum aside, the recordings in the original version it emulates go on TAPE. El Capistan also sounds better than the tape emulations on the Echosystem. In fact, in my opinion, there is no better tape emulation than the Strymon El Capistan and El Capistan V2. The only reason it doesn’t beat the Strymon Volante is because I use different subdivisions often, and those are much easier to dial in on the Volante. I understand that flicking a toggle switch on the El Cap is pretty easy, but I often forget which selection I need. On the Volante, I know that if I want a dotted-8th delay I simply need to have head 3 on only.
4. Meris LVX – This delay is truly inspiring and super fun. I could get lost for hours with this one. It sounds glorious and it’s probably the deepest pedal here… even more than the Timeline. But it doesn’t beat the Volante due to ease of use. You need to be on your game 100% to dial this guy out correctly.

As you have probably figured out by now, to me the perfect balance of sound quality and ease of use is the reason I love the Strymon Volante the most. That’s the entire reason why it’s my favorite from the bunch, including pedals that may perhaps sound marginally better.

I understand some people don’t think the Volante is easy to use. I assure you it is. You just need to spend a little time with it and it completely becomes second nature. I find that dialing subdivisions on it is extremely easy. The extra features such as onboard spring reverb and Sound on Sound (SOS) looping also make it ideal for when you want to explore deeper.

MIDI is important to me

Additionally, MIDI implementation is important to me. Notice all the pedals I mentioned above also include MIDI integration. Granted, for the El Capistan, you need a V2 version to get MIDI.

Yes, the Strymon Volante is still a rather big delay pedal. If I was in a pinch for space, my top choice would be the El Cap then. You could say that based on balancing size, sound and features, it would be my second favorite.

One thing I’d like to point out is that the standout pedals in this article are digital emulations of classic tape or multi-head delay units. That’s not to say that dedicated digital delay pedals aren’t great. No, they are excellent in many applications. You might want to read my story on why Digital Delay Pedals are Great next!