A-188-1A BBD Delay – 512 Stages

Doepfer A-188-1A

Doepfer’s A-188-1 is an analog delay classic in Eurorack format. Utilizing an internal bucket brigade device, the A-188-1 can be used for a variety of effects, including delay, Karplus/Strong synthesis, chorus, flanger, and more. The A-188-1 allows for standard warm analog delay and the monstrous self-oscillation often associated with BBDs, all under voltage control.

Let’s talk about delay time. In the A-188-1, a high frequency internal clock sent to the BBD tells the BBD how quickly to advance: higher clock rates mean shorter delay times. Doepfer made the decision to allow clock rates above and below the BBD’s “recommended” ranges for special audio effects from super-tight flanging to the weird world of sounds from BBD underclocking. Using an external oscillator at below 10kHz into the external clock input can yield particularly strange, noisy results. Perhaps more so than any other Eurorack BBD, the A-188-1 encourages experimentation and manipulation of BBD behavior, which can provide rewarding and often peculiar results. Exact “delay range” specs are hard to define: slower clocks = longer delays = more signal degradation.

Additionally, an external feedback input allows for signal processing of each delay repeat. Insert a pitch shifter between the BBD output and the external feedback input for gradually increasing or decreasing delay pitch, or a bitcrusher for delays that trail into digital noise, or a ring modulator, or a distortion, or…well, whatever you might want.

With extremely flexible clocking options and feedback routing, the A-188-1 is a workhorse module ready to take your sound from smooth repeats to crunchy noise to outer space.

A-188-1A Features

• Classic BBD analog delay
• A-188-1A features 512 delay stages
• Internal clock provides a minimum of 1.3mS delay time
• CV over delay clock rate (and as a result, delay time)
• Delay clock output and external delay clock input (for under and over-clocking madness)
• External feedback input (for per-repeat external processing)
• CV and feedback polarity switches on the front panel
• Summed CV output
• Mix and BBD outputs