Strymon DIG

The Strymon DIG is a highly celebrated digital delay pedal and software plugin that specializes in recreating the distinct, shimmering, and often complex sounds of vintage rackmount delay units from the 1980s and 1990s.¹ Moving beyond simple clean echoes, DIG is engineered to combine two independent, synchronous delay lines with unique voicing and modulation characteristics, allowing users to build intricate, rhythmic, and wide stereo delay textures that defined the sound of post-punk, new wave, and ambient music.

The Dual-Delay Architecture

The core innovation of the DIG is its powerful dual-delay engine, allowing two separate delays to interact dynamically in the stereo field:

• Series, Parallel, and Ping-Pong: The user can configure the routing of the two delays in three primary modes:

  • Series: Delay 1 feeds directly into Delay 2, allowing Delay 2 to process the repeats of the first, building dense, cascading textures.

  • Parallel: Both delays run side-by-side, creating an ultra-wide stereo image where the echoes of each delay remain distinct.

  • Ping Pong: Creates classic stereo bouncing effects where the echoes alternate between the left and right channels.

Vintage Voicings and Modulation

To achieve authentic vintage character, the DIG offers three distinct digital delay voicings, each modeling the sonic imperfections of its era:

• 24/96 (Early '80s): This mode models early digital rack units, characterized by a cleaner, yet slightly thin, high-fidelity sound. The repeats are crisp and defined, ideal for creating rhythmic, cutting echoes.

• ADM (Adaptive Delta Modulation): This voicing models the grittier, lower-fidelity converters of some mid-80s units. This tone is more diffused and slightly darker, and its repeats break up beautifully under heavy feedback, adding warmth and saturation.

• DMM (Digital Multi-head Machine): This mode models bucket-brigade style analog delay with a digital twist, offering the warmest, darkest repeats with the most prominent low-pass filtering. It is ideal for adding ambiance and depth without cluttering the high frequencies.

The Flutter and Subdivisions

A key feature for injecting dynamic movement is the dedicated Modulation control. This adds subtle, desirable wow and flutter (pitch modulation) to the repeats, mimicking the subtle instability of vintage digital processing hardware. Furthermore, the Subdivision switch allows for immediate selection of rhythmic values (quarter notes, dotted eighths, triplets), making it seamless to lock complex rhythms to the song's tempo.

The Strymon DIG is the ultimate creative tool for harnessing the precise, rhythmic complexity and nostalgic, modulated tones of the golden age of digital delay.