A delay that replays the bars you played
Delay has six echo models, up to 64 taps, pitch and reverse in the feedback loop, and a modulation matrix. Its Phrase section remembers the bars you just played and plays them back from a step grid, or as risers, rolls and fills that land on the drop.
Also in Nebula Complete and All Access.
Highlights
What sets it apart
Phrase
Memory records the input all the time. A trigger captures the last 1/4 to 4 bars and plays them from a step pattern with level, pitch, filter, pan, reverse, ratchet and chance per step.
Builds that land on the bar
Twelve build slots turn a captured window into a riser, roll, fill or brake of up to four sections, placed to land exactly on the next bar. Render to Steps makes any build editable.
Echoes in key
Key Focus pulls each pass into the chosen key so out-of-key notes fade within a few repeats, and Key Snap keeps loop pitch, steps and builds on the scale.
Features
Everything in Nebula Delay
Echo
- Six models: Clean, Tape, BBD, Vintage Digital, Lo-Fi, Multi-Head
- Two lines of up to 16 s each
- Stereo, Ping-Pong, Cross, Mono or up to 64 Taps
- Sync to 45 note values, with Swing and Push / Drag
In the loop
- Pitch ±24 semitones per pass
- Reverse echoes
- Loop FX: Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, frequency shift up or down
- Two LFOs and eight modulation slots
Phrase
- Six triggers, including MIDI, Audio Hit, Silence and Every N Bars
- Library of 32 patterns and 24 builds, plus your own
- Pin keeps a phrase in the session
Mix and control
- Duck from input, sidechain or Kick Link
- Freeze, Kill Input, Clear, Mix Lock and A/B
Nebula Link
Works with the rest of the range
Its ducker can follow Nebula Kick through Nebula Link: with Duck Source set to Kick Link, the echoes duck on every kick for as long as the kick sounds. Nebula Kick must have 'Publish this kick's handoff' ticked.
Claude
Claude can help
Connect Claude... in the panel's menu installs the nebula-delay connector (17 tools). Claude can read and change every setting, load and save presets, write Phrase step patterns, shape builds, fill slots from the library, render a build to steps, and measure level, echo times and tail. Its undo takes back only Claude's changes. Inside Nebula DAW the DAW's own tools do the same, including delay_get_pattern, delay_set_pattern, delay_set_build and delay_render_to_steps.
Measured
What the tests show
- Core suite 561 checks and plug-in suite 187 checks (latest count in docs/RESEARCH_AND_PLAN.md); 35 more checks for the DAW editor kit
- auval -strict and pluginval at strictness 10: ALL GREEN
- Twenty-nine rules broken on purpose in a copy, and each break was caught
- Identical output at block sizes of 1, 37, 480 and 1001 samples, in six configurations; nothing allocates
- Key Focus fades an out-of-key note by more than 25 dB against one in key
- CPU at 48 kHz, 512-sample blocks: 0.4 to 0.9% of one core per model, 4.9% with everything on
Questions
Nebula Delay FAQ
Why does it appear as a MIDI-controlled effect in Logic?
MIDI notes trigger Phrase (C1 to B1 pick a pattern, C2 to B2 a build), and velocity, note and mod wheel can modulate. Choose a MIDI track in the plug-in header's MIDI menu.
Will a bounce match playback?
Yes. A plain pattern is an exact delay of whole bars, synced LFOs follow the song position, and a pinned phrase is saved in the session.
Can feedback go over 100%?
Yes, up to 110%. The loop is held under 0 dBFS, and what you hear never passes +6 dBFS.
Is there a VST3?
Not yet. It is built as an Audio Unit; VST3 is planned after the owner signs off on the sound.
What does it need?
macOS 11 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. It loads as AU or VST3 in Logic, Ableton Live, Bitwig, Cubase, FL Studio, Reaper and Nebula DAW.
Try Nebula Delay free for 30 days
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