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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Maxon AD10 Analog Delay

GEAR IN REVIEW  - MAXON AD10



600 millisecond analog delay
Warm, organic delay tone with low noise
Delay Time, Blend and Repeat controls
Proprietary noise filtering circuit for delay repeats
Capable of self-oscillation effects
Works in FX loop or front-end of amp
MSRP: $299, Street Price: $249





In a market full of tap tempo , digital converted who ha , mega knob and multiple setting delay pedals the Maxon AD10 is a breath of analog fresh air.

No tricks here just simple analog bucket brigade driven tone. As with all Maxon pedals the build quality is top of the heap. A solid heavy little delay pedal. Very compact and pedalboard friendly. The AD10 carries on a long tradition of true analog delay creations from Maxon who gave us some amazing analog delays not to mention the TS808 circuit. There are some great designers and pioneers in the industry behind these pedals.

 While most delay pedals out there need to be run into an effects loop the AD10 shines in front of the amp just as well. Warm analog delay is easily dialed up in FRONT of the amp. I have always preferred pedals that sound great out front and there is not a bad setting to be found here. The Maxon without question falls into this category. A lot of pedals on the market give you uber choices on settings. The problem is you have to find the ones that sound good. Not always an easy task. Again every setting on the AD10 sounds amazing. Simplicity in design IS more.

 The simple layout and large time knob lends itself to being able to adjust delay time with your foot. Very practical and a favorite feature of mine personally on a delay.

The delay knob goes from warm vintage rockabilly slap back to space oscillation to infinity and beyond. While a lot of other analog delays top out at 400ms the AD10 rocks the analog time continuum up to 600ms. Which for me personally is a must. I love 440-450 ms to get my Cathedral on. This pedal sounds amazing playing this Van Halen classic which predates the cold digital delay simulations and sounds astonishing with the AD10s analog vintage warmth. 

Bucket Brigade chip analog tone is what this pedal is about. True analog. It is in a very compact and very simple package that any musician can use no manual required. In my opinion every pedal should try to attain what Maxon has accomplished here. Not a bad sound or setting to be found. Less is truly more.

The tone of the delay repeats is just amazing. Warm and lush delay in spades with no digital fizz. The thing that really blew me away is how quiet this pedal is. Maxon uses special noise canceling trickery inside and it is very apparent. Dead quiet and full of tone.




To break it down we have ....

Simple 3 knob layout - there simply is not a setting that sounds bad 
Dead quiet
Vintage warm delay tone
Works amazingly well in front of an amp 
Up to 600ms of delay time  - 400 is just not enough for me
Able to adjust delay time easily on the fly with your foot

The AD10 hit all of my wish list wants in a delay pedal. Stellar showing Maxon!

Available in the USA at Godlyke.com