aXDelay is an Ambisonic delay effect with five individually placeable, rotatable delay taps, tempo sync, feedback, and support for high-resolution immersive audio up to tenth-order.
Spatial Delay Design
aXDelay places echoes anywhere in the three-dimensional sound field. Each of its five delay modules can be positioned independently relative to the source, so one echo might arrive from the left while another appears on the right or overhead. This placement freedom turns a simple delay into a tool for sculpting the immersive scene, from subtle room-like reflections to extreme, psychedelic motion.
Beyond positioning, each tap includes yaw, pitch, and roll rotation controls. These let you spin the delayed signal’s direction around the listener, so echoes sweep across the sphere. Combined with individual bypass and dry/wet level controls, the plugin gives precise command over how much of the original signal and each echoed component contribute to the mix.
Timing and Feedback Control
For each of the five delays, you can set the delay time manually or sync it to the DAW tempo. This ensures echoes lock to the rhythmic grid, making it easy to create spatial repeats that match the track’s pulse. The delay gain adjusts the loudness of each echo relative to the dry input, while feedback gain controls how much of the delayed signal feeds back.
Lower feedback values produce quicker decays, fading echoes rapidly, while higher values sustain them for longer, building dense textures. This combination of tempo-synced timing and adjustable feedback lets you create anything from tight, rhythmic reverb-like effects to sprawling, evolving soundscapes.
High-Resolution Immersive Processing
aXDelay works with AmbiX (ACN/SN3D) format Ambisonics and can handle signals up to tenth order, the highest spatial resolution currently available. This is only possible in Reaper 7 or later, which supports 128-channel tracks. Other DAWs have lower limits: Pro Tools Ultimate supports seventh order, while Cubase is limited to third order. The plugin automatically detects the order of the input signal and adjusts processing to optimize CPU usage, so you don’t need to set the order manually.
This automatic detection ensures efficient performance at lower orders while retaining the ability to work with high-resolution material when needed. By matching the processing to the input, aXDelay avoids unnecessary overhead, allowing the spatial effects to run smoothly even in complex immersive sessions.
Workflow and Practical Applications
In a mixing workflow, aXDelay can be inserted on an Ambisonic track or bus where it processes the entire spatial audio scene. You can begin with a single delay tap placed subtly behind the listener to add depth, then add additional taps for wider effects. The individual bypass and level controls make it easy to audition each delay in isolation, and the tempo sync ensures rhythmic consistency across the mix.
For sound design, the rotation and feedback capabilities enable evolving movements, such as echoes swirling around the listener, ideal for cinematic moments or immersive music. The plugin excels at transforming simple source material into complex, spatially distributed textures, whether you need subtle ambience or overtly surreal effects.
Key features
- Five independent delay modules with adjustable time, gain, feedback, and 3D placement
- Yaw, pitch, and roll rotation of each delay signal direction
- Delay time syncable to DAW tempo
- Individual tap bypass and separate dry/wet level controls
- Automatic ambisonic order detection for CPU optimization
- Processes up to tenth-order Ambisonics in AmbiX format
Best for
aXDelay is best for sound designers and immersive audio engineers working in Ambisonic formats, especially those using Reaper 7 or higher, who need creative spatial delay effects with precise placement and rotation for music production, film, VR, or live performance.