Is this the best delay money can buy!? - Walrus Audio Meraki Analog Delay

Walrus Audio went and did a wildly impressive thing releasing the Meraki Stereo Analog Delay. Quite an undertaking, considering the EIGHT MN3005 delay chips it takes to provide 1200ms of true stereo analog delay...but is it the BEST delay out there?
After hearing about it last year at NAMM, playing a prototype this summer, and now having it in the studio, I can safely say it's a magical, special BBD style delay. Tap tempo, independent control over left and right delays, lovely, lush modulation with waveforms, and multiple stereo routing options give you so much to play with to create your favorite analog delay experience. Plus, onboard tap tempo and MIDI in / out give you control over time and features.
Walrus knocked it out of the park with this new analog delay. It's not for everyone, and it's not cheap, but it should be in the conversation for the best analog delay on the market.
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GEAR
Heritage H-535
Jennings Voyager Deluxe
1981 Inventions LVL
Benson Germanium Boost
Walrus Audio Fable
Walrus Meraki
Universal Audio Golden Reverberator
Universal Audio Ruby
Fender Vintera II Mustang Bass
Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Bass
Origin Effects Bass Rig (64 Black Panel)
JHS Pedals Color Box v2
Soyuz 1973 Mic
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro Sketch
01:45 Welcome
03:04 Analog Delay Discussion
06:24 Control Set & Features
09:42 Signal Chain
10:05 Sound Samples
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Thanks to Walrus Audio for sending this pedal for demo, and THANK YOU for watching!
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[@d4r0xx0r]

YES - this IS the best analog delay money can buy. I am lucky enough to have one! I bought it for my synthesizers, and the sound of my Kiwitechnics "Matrix"-modded JX3P through the Meraki delay is, quite simply, the stuff of legend. Nothing can stand as a serious competitor here, the Meraki wins.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

It really is a fun one!

[@gair1944]

Sounds very organic and sweet! Nice demo. Thanks

[@AmbientEndeavors]

glad you dig - thanks for watching!

[@MrFuzzleupagus]

I am interested in this delay and may pull the trigger to purchase one soon. Thanks for the helpful demo!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Thanks for watching! Glad you found it helpful :)

[@stevestoutmusic]

Sounds awesome buddy!!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

thanks Steve!

[@rodd1000]

It’s definitely one of the most musical delays available. More so than the Boss DM imo. Really is lovely. Great demo.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

thanks for watching! I too fell in love with the lush repeats and modulation, and the way it stays fairly subtle and very musical like you say.

[@shaunmacey6137]

Another nice intro tune!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Thank you! :D

[@sons7429]

I wish I could afford one! It seems great

[@jtanaka2]

Sell anything you can to get this, worth every penny

[@yohnsvain9651]

Wonderful presentation, very well done, thank you. Not that it would have been my first choice, but wouldn’t have minded just 60 or 90 seconds of some gain traveling through it. Just to see if the repeats start to fizzle, etc. Man this thing sounds good, and I can see where the control layout would quickly become quite intuitive.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Hey thanks for the feedback - noted! Thanks for watching :)

[@kentonschroer2347]

I think chase bliss has this one. I am in love with stereo like everyone. But the tonal Recall and specifically the Thermae are the best analog nastiness I’ve ever heard.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

yeah I think if you're going for "nastiness" this probably isn't your bag. ha. The CBA stuff definitely brings its own unique quality. Thermae has some magic up its sleeve. But both are mono.

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

@@AmbientEndeavors my opinion, and I own several stereo delays honestly mono delays seem to sound better for ambient purposes cutting through stereo reverbs which is just allowing the reverb to breathe instead of absolutely everything being in stereo

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

Thermae is the absolute best in my opinion

[@FakeGlasses]

Chase bliss pedals always disappoint me, and the tonal recall is not stereo. The suhr discovery is a great monk analog delay. The strymon Brig is a great option for a more affordable stereo ‘analog’ voiced style delay, but it’s dsp based. For me, the meraki takes it. I wish it had midi presets is my only gripe.

[@OliverEvergreen]

I always preferred two separate mono delays for stereo setups. At this moment I use two rubbernecks which are extremely pleasant to play with. I also used two thermaes, always synced and subdiv'ed with external gear. You won't get ping-pong this way and you also won't get series mode, but you'll get much more tweakability for each side. And don't get me started about synced thermaes' sequencer in a parallel loop.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

I mean that does sound like a lot of fun. and a headache for us that aren't so technically inclined to set up all the external control and routing ha.

[@OliverEvergreen]

@@AmbientEndeavorsa piece of cake with devices like Disaster Area Smartclock Gen3 + two regular mono cables to send tap-tempo. Also a good investment to sync everything midi-capable up. I'm pretty sure you don't think it's that complicated as a gear channel owner :)

[@AmbientEndeavors]

@@OliverEvergreen ah yeah tempo syncing is simple enough. You'd be surprised how averse I am to midi tho ;-)

[@FakeGlasses]

I have the Meraki and the dig v2 and they’re a match made in heaven. Don’t even need a reverb.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

man I bet that pairing sounds fantastic!

[@eyesintheskies]

2x original roland space echos would be the ultimate😮, but the meraki is pretty special!

[@eyesintheskies]

Trying to decide between this & just sticking with my stereo digital delay & getting the analoger adg-1 🤔

[@andreaberlin-fish9419]

ayy fellow Minnesota resident 🤝

[@AmbientEndeavors]

hey! thanks for stopping by :)

[@oneandonlyarajivp]

This is such a cool video. Once it goes to your Ruby in stereo, how are you listening to it after that? Does that go to your mixer, panned left and right? Or headphones somehow? I'm trying to figure out how to be abel to listen in stereo. Thanks

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Thanks ! So , it is going out of the Ruby in stereo to my interface (now a UA Apollo Twin) and being captured in my DAW Reaper. From there I monitor it with L and R hard panned on studio monitors. For listening you'd just need headphones or stereo speakers attached to your computer.

[@oneandonlyarajivp]

@@AmbientEndeavors Thanks for the response. Makes sense. I am hoping to simply listen to L and R in my studio monitors without going through the computer - trying to away from the computer as much as possible. Thanks

[@AmbientEndeavors]

@@oneandonlyarajivp ahh I see, yeah air pods / headphones or somehow connecting your phone to speakers would work. Usually you need at least an interface or mixer to get you from pedals to speakers.

[@oneandonlyarajivp]

Fair enough. Can I ask you about the Ruby in stereo. Is it true stereo? Is it not just the same amp and reverb ran on each side? So why run that in stereo?

[@starshineraiser6729]

The price is fair. However, is there anything that sounds close to the fidelity level but with less features? I want the sound but I don’t need all the studio tech.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

if you need stereo, there really aren't *many* to choose from. If you can deal with mono, check out (or hang tight for) the Bondi Art Van - it'll be out..soon? ...and sounds fantastic as a longer-delay time analog delay with modulation.

[@starshineraiser6729]

@@AmbientEndeavors I don’t use stereo. I’m two pedals in front of my Princeton, that’s it.

[@athomeontwo]

The DM101 is great especially in Dual Mod stereo. The Walrus has some interesting differences. The DM101 can do multi head style though, if you want mojo and Binsonesque sounds in an analog delay that is hard to beat. In any case, too bad, the Joshua came out I’m not really interested in my analog delays at the moment

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Haha totally - I have a Joshua coming and am quite excited for that one, although admittedly not really an avid digital user. Gonna need to deep dive the compare/contrast with my DM101 & Meraki sometime soon.

[@dingbatjack1234]

@@AmbientEndeavorsI want to see this comparison! Also can the Meraki do line level signal? I can’t find that anywhere

[@Grant_Ferstat]

So, I'm wondering about mono applications. Is there still value in this delay for folks like me who are pretty much always using a single amp live?

[@pigonthewing1]

I asked Walrus Audio if both delays sum to mono and here was their answer: "No, they are true stereo so they are totally independent. For mono, you’d just run into the left channel."

[@AmbientEndeavors]

thanks for chiming in! Yeah it would seem overkill to *me* to spring for this if you're not using stereo; there are a few more mono analog delay options out there that are great and some with unique feature sets too that might get a look along with or instead of Meraki.

[@onenotesolo256]

If you have a box like the Goodwood Audio Output, you can sum to mono for one amp and still get both delay lines, albeit slightly diminished in impact. I use this as a ‘Plan B’ for gigs where I can’t use stereo, or when I want to run wet/dry.

[@davidcunetta4081]

I’m sure this in stereo into the CXM1978 would be glorious!!!’

[@onenotesolo256]

Can confirm that to be the case. Also utterly epic in stereo into the Poly Verbs.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

wow yeah I bet that's fantastic. Trying to get my hands on a Poly.

[@josephballew]

At this price point, there should be 4 presets.

[@HardyNahtal]

Try the flower pedals stereo delay!! It's coming out in February

[@AmbientEndeavors]

yep! I have that one in the studio already :x

[@HardyNahtal]

how? Are you friends with Matt?@@AmbientEndeavors

[@AmbientEndeavors]

@@HardyNahtalhe’s has some out to demo folk like myself :)

[@HardyNahtal]

Are you in NYC? @@AmbientEndeavors

[@tacdoc8736]

It sounds good, looks great, and seems well featured. I just don't know that you're getting anything of substance here that makes it worth $100 more than the Boss DM-101, which is also stereo with 8 BB chips and has a really well done WYSIWYG UI for a great variety of sounds without tons of tinkering... while it still gives folks who are into MIDI and presets all the options they want.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

totally. I think that's the ONE (correct me if I'm wrong) comparable in the market. I have that one too, both were comp'd by the companies (full disclosure) ...the DM101 is MONO in, which is a knock IMO. Both sound really good, although I'd give the edge to the Meraki in true analog warmth and character. I also think the stereo dimension and what you can do with unique modulation control of both sides is a cool perk of the Walrus. I do not believe the Boss unit runs MN3005 chips, fwiw. Both fantastic options, and as you note, there's a price trade-off as well.

[@SoulGook]

I think being able to go stereo in might be worth the $100 difference in certain signal chains. The other comparable unit is the upcoming Flower Pedals Dahlia. Analog delay, stereo in and out, fully MIDI controlled (unlike Meraki's partial MIDI), normal pedal footprint, but probably only 4 BBD chips (they haven't released specs, but delay time is ~half that of Meraki).

[@AmbientEndeavors]

@@SoulGook Demo forthcoming for the Flower too - I have that in. I'll try and delineate it eloquently in the video, but yes there are some noticeable contrasts between the Flower and the Meraki (including max delay time) ; the Meraki IMO warrants the uncharge. I think there are perhaps contextual advantages for the Dahlia, but there's a good bit that Meraki excels in that I think makes Meraki an "if money is no object, go with this one" pick.

[@SoulGook]

@@AmbientEndeavors I mean, you made it sound good enough that I’m tempted even though money is very much an object 😂

[@joseph_lacy]

could you compare it to a Keeley Halo?

[@AmbientEndeavors]

never played the Halo - looks cool! I think it's quite a different beast in terms of circuitry and design. Almost certain it's not analog. Might have to track one down !

[@onenotesolo256]

Halo amazing but more pristine / digital sounding (not a criticism), has presets (Meraki doesn’t); Halo a bit fiddly for tap tempo unless you use remote tap…..which unfortunately means you can’t use the remote jack for EXP wet mix is a v useful feature of the Halo that the Meraki can’t do. Meraki sounds sensational in stereo, quite nice mono. Halo happy either way.

[@kentrey]

I guess it comes down to me selling my LVX for this?

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Maybe! Pretty different beasts, but both pretty impressive. I know I’d pick Meraki in that showdown.

[@kentrey]

@@AmbientEndeavors good to hear. I have the Sloer and Cloudburst to fill the ambient gap without the LVX

[@rgoring81]

That graphic almost looks like a bit of a nod to the analogman ardx20..? maybe just coincidence.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

some similarities in color and layout yea, interesting observation!

[@onenotesolo256]

Good shout! Especially as one of that delay’s selling points, with the Amazeo, was tap tempo for analog delay. I never bonded with the ARD but the Meraki has been on the board since it arrived

[@O.W_Films]

But does it oscillate?

[@lapk78]

Yes, it oscillates.

[@middle_pickup]

Bruh how can you afford all this gear? I count at least 12 amps in that room, and all those pedals. wtf

[@AmbientEndeavors]

I got rich day trading bitcoin a few years back. 📈 No but for real, it’s been slowly amassed over the last 15 years, and much of it comes in in exchange for video content work these days.

[@svenrustempasic8332]

If outputs do not have their own independent dry/wet pots going from KILL DRY to FULL DRY gradually, than this is NOT a Stereo pedal. And these outputs do not have that very important option. This pedal is going to put the DRY signal always on BOTH outputs, Left and Right, meaning that DRY sound is going to be in the CENTER. For example, guitar amplifier is going to always be infront of a kick drum, center. This is done by designers who are not musicians who actually play on live stages with a band, so they do not know how STEREO FIELD is created.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Can definitely confirm it WAS designed by musicians.

[@signalpath]

Nothing about this makes sense. First, to say that the recorded guitar would come through center assumes 2 important things. 1, that the guitar is hard panned, and 2. that both channels are set perfectly equal in both dynamics and volume. Rarely, if ever, does guitar remain hard panned and even volume in live or studio environments. Demos and gear videos are an interesting microcosm for this, but rare in the broader world. Second, if you need to place your stereo guitar in a psychoacoustic space, there are many, many methods for preventing that 'down the center' perception you're describing. Bring the pan in a bit, lower one side or the other, EQ one side differently to the other to create differences in perceived dynamics, compress differently to create real differences in dynamics. Just because you, the musician, can't control the end result of how your performance will be captured, interpreted and reproduced, does not mean that the features you're describing are necessary or even relevant to the idea of something existing as a "stereo" device. If the first place you're going is to your pedalboard to manipulate the sense of space in your mix, it's probably worth spending time understanding the art and science of mixing deeper

[@joeymc5272]

Hey man you do some the best stereo mixing ive heard from content creators. Mark johnston next. I don’t want to ask for all your secrets but i have a similar rig to yours but dream instead of ruby. Do you mind if i ask what kind of post processing your doing for your mixes or these videos? I assume uad plugins if your using an apollo. Any plugins in general that help you get that really wide stereo field by chance lol?