Surreal Machines is offering the Diffuse Delay effect ($49 retail price) in VST/AU plugin formats for PC and Mac as a completely free download from their website until June 8th.
Diffuse Delay is one of the two plugins included in the newly released Dub Machines bundle by Surreal Machines, focused on emulating the sound characteristics of classic hardware delay and reverb units of the 1970s and 1980s. Described by the developers as an analog/digital hybrid, Diffuse Delay allows the users to morph between different vintage delay and reverb flavors. The delay module is modeled after classic hardware gear, transferring their non-linear behavior and other peculiarities into the digital domain.
The interface is organized into three control groups. The knobs on the left control the volume and the stereo width, the centrally positioned knobs control the delay time, feedback, and diffusion parameters, whereas the knobs on the right control the tone, modulation, and mix level. It is also possible to A/B test different settings, lock the mix level parameter (probably intended for live performances), and save presets internally for later use. The plugin includes a decent selection of factory presets to help new users get started.
And now for the most important bit. Diffuse Delay sounds absolutely stunning. Browsing through the presets I was instantly reminded of an old Dynacord tape delay unit which I still tend to use from time to time, mainly for resampling. The virtual delay by Surreal Machines comes pretty close to that type of sound, with the added benefit of providing plenty of different flavors on the side. One drawback I noticed is that the CPU usage is somewhat higher than expected (around 9% on a single core of my laptop’s i7 CPU), but it’s not too bad considering the sound quality on offer.
To download your free copy of Diffuse Delay, simply complete the checkout process on the product page linked below. Your serial number will be delivered via email as soon as you register. To activate the plugin, copy your serial number and click the plugin’s user interface on first startup (it will detect the serial number and activate your license automatically).
Diffuse Delay is available for free download via Surreal Machines (2.42 MB download size, ZIP archive containing EXE installer, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plug-in formats for Windows & Mac OS).
