After Decades of Mono Only Analog Delays - we now all of a sudden have Stereo Varieties - including the similar recent Dual Analog Stereo Delays - Walrus Audio Meraki and Flower Pedals Dahlia
I recall back when Suhr released their Discovery Analog Delay a couple years back - I was momentarily very excited until I realised that despite appearances it was still just another mono delay - everything else about that device was brilliant. I was keeping my fingers crossed for the eventual arrival of a Stereo Analog Delay - and Boss was first out of the gate I believe with its superb DM-101 on June 22nd - a totally genius device which I still really love - although that is alas just a M.I.S.O. type - or Mono In Stereo Out - which limits its placement in the signal chain - and means that you can’t run stereo modulations into it unfortunately - which I like to do a lot!
So earlier this month - and as I covered in my November Blacked Out article - Walrus Audio launched the first full Stereo Analog Delay I believe on the 17th of this month - just fractionally ahead of the Flower Pedals Dahlia - which was announced on the 19th.
So much about those pedals is pretty similar - while Flower Pedals is slightly more cagey about the details and content of its pedal. The Dahlia’s Delay Time is rated at 60ms-770ms, with the 8 x MN3005 BBD chip Walrus Meraki delivering 80ms-1200ms. A single analog BBD chip typically holds about 300ms of delay - so the Walrus Meraki numbers make perfect sense - 8 chips in total - or 4 per each Stereo Channel - 4 x 300 = 1200ms. The Dahlia’s timing is less easy to decipher - that figure of 770ms is most likely achieved by overclocking a pair of BBD chips - so presumably 2 per channel, or half of the Meraki complement. While I think for a lot of players 770ms is going to be quite enough.
On first sight you clock that the Walrus Meraki has 2 sets of Left and Right channel controls. While on further inspection of the Flower Dahlia - the ’Control’ switch allows you to set 12 parameters agains Channel 1 or Channel 2, or both together, The 12 parameters covers Primary and Secondary parameter functions per each of the 6 knobs.
So in some ways each of these pedals shares the spoils - where on gut instinct the Dahlia is the one that appeals to me more. It actually has more granular controls, a more compact form factor and a significantly lower price - particularly if you buy one before the end of December. The Dahlias is reliant on TRS cables, and has some smart slider switches on the side of the pedal. By contrast the Meraki look slightly easier to get to grips with overall - and has the advantage of a significantly longer max delay time.
There are some obvious overlaps in function - and largely these are pretty similar pedals. Neither is quite so expansive as the DM-101 in terms of output patterns, but both of these have an advantage with their full stereo / Dual Channel capabilities - meaning they can pretty much be placed anywhere in the signal chain.
As this point in the proceedings I’m slightly leaning more towards the Dahlia - we’ll see where we’re at when I get to the end!
Flower Pedals Dahlia Dual Analog Stereo Delay - $499 ($424.15 to end of December)
Controls - MIX [ramp speed], TIME 60ms-770ms [ramp to], FEEBACK [ramp to], MODE : Series / Stereo / Parallel [mod shape : triangle / sine / random, CONTROL : 1 / 1+2 / 2 [time lock : width / independent / div], TONE / LPF [gain], DIV : quarter / dotted eighth / eighth / triplet / sixteenth [time lock], MOD [depth/speed], MIDI In, MIDI Thru, EXP/TAP slider switch, MONO/STERO slider switch.
9 - 18V DC [-] 350mA Current Draw
flower-pedals.com/product/dahlia/
I'm generally a significant fan of Matt Kauffman's Flower Pedals and so far own the Castilleja Phaser / Vibe, Hosta Filter, and Sunflower Harmonic Tremolo to date. I've always thought his manuals could be slightly better formatted, and that he could share a little more details on the circuit makeup - but overall his pedals are well engineered and appealingly put together. All the secondary features / control interface can get a little complicated on occasion - but there is a pattern there across most of his pedals - so once you master one - then the others are more straight forward.
The layout and look of the Dahlia is really very close to the previous Sunflower Harmonic Tremolo - the pedals are well labelled - but in practical terms all those labels are a touch small and illegible when the pedal is on the floor.
I've long desired a proper full-stereo Analog Delay - and was very excited by the Boss DM-101 - but then disappointed a touch with only mono input. Boss occasionally does that to me - gives so generously with one hand, but then takes back a little with the other. The DM-101 is definitely still a magnificent achievement - but it's a little over-shadowed to a degree by this pair for their full stereo capabilities.
I will likely continue to run my DM-101 for a while - as I'm so enamoured by so many of its algorithms - while it does exile so many of stereo modulations from the chain. I've been running the JA New Wave Chorus after it - and that works pretty well - while there are a few scores of pedals that I really would want to be able to run in-front. Knowing Boss as well as I do, I know it's going to be quite a wait before Boss does finally go the full stereo route. Boss actually often take a smart solution to a generic challenge - while often when I want to do things my way - then there is frequently not the flexibility to support slightly more freer thinking.
So it's likely I will still persevere with the DM-101 before picking up one of these two - where the Dahlia still seems the more likely for me. And now that we've had 2 stereo analog delays in quick succession - surely there are more just around the corner - so I will probably adopt a more circumspect outlook for a while and review in the first or second quarter of next year and then make a decision as to what my best options are. As I said - there are things that the Boss DM-101 can do that these don't come close to - but these both have a very clever - and indeed fairly similar take on the same Stereo Dual Channel Delay concept!
Walrus Audio Meraki Stereo Analog Dual Delay - $599
Controls - Feedback Left, Mix (Repeats Level), Feedback Right, Mod Depth (+Bypass is Mod Rate), Time : 80ms - 1200ms, Tone (Tilt EQ), Divisions Left : Quarter / Dotted Eighth / Eighth | Mod Shape (+Bypass) : Sine / Square / Random, Feedback Path : Parallel / Ping-Pong / Series, Mod//Time : Sync / Left / Right, Divisions Right : Quarter / Dotted Eighth / Eighth | Phase (+Bypass) : 0 / 90 / 180, Bypass Footswitch, Tap/Oscillation Footswitch, MIDI In, MIDI Out.
9V DC [-] 500mA Current Draw, Center-Negative Required. True-Bypass or Buffered Bypass for Trail
8 x MN3005 chips
reverb.com/item/75547326-walrus-audio-meraki-stereo-analog-delay-2023-limited-blacked-out-exclusive
So the Meraki is pricier, but justified by having more BBD Chips onboard - and where the individual L&R input / output jacks - and simpler navigation give it something of an operational advantage.
I was able to discern very quickly - and just at a glance exactly how the Meraki functioned. While for the Dahlia - I did need to dip into its manual. The Meraki was obviously released in tandem with Reverb.com's Blacked Out project - and is only available on that store. So it will be interesting to see if we eventually get a more standardised non-blacked-out version of this - available at the usual dealers.
Obviously there is a $100 premium here vs the Dahlia but that's not unusual when you're paying for an additional set of BBD chips. I actually don't mind either format of pedal featured here - both have side-mounted jacks - where I feel that more clever engineering of the Meraki could surely have delivered top-mounted varieties to some degree - again especially if the TRS jack methodology was adopted,
I have no doubts that both of these are well engineered - nor that they won't both do the job I would want them to. It seems the Dahlia has slightly more granularity - but the Meraki has some unique strengths too - like its right-hand secondary phase switch.
When you see two such similar devices launched so quickly within one another - you do wonder whether they both shared some sort of same or similar origin or catalyst point - or whether it's just another one of those pedal coincidences you see every now and again - when several similar pedals get releases very close to each other.
I like the sound of both of the the pedal demos - and I like that Walrus have told me the type and number of BBD's - don't get why Flower Pedals doesn't offer up the same details.
I think if both of these were at the same $499 price point then this would be an almost impossibly decision - while on balance - and based on what I've seen and heard so far - I'm still leaning into the Dahlia a little more - for a number of reasons / criteria that one speaks to me a little more than the Meraki - at least right now.
What say all of you - have any of you delved into Stereo Analog Delays already? Are any you on the cusp of getting either one of these? Which one of the two do you generally favour and why? Answers in the comments below!
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
