Delay - How to choose?

I myself am not professional yet. I am working towards to become one though!

Anyway, if you are looking for a delay pedal and it is your first, maybe my "Journey of the Delays" will help you make your choices better. 

There are so many delays out there. So what I did what to get a piece of paper and ask myself a few questions. These are the ones I think are the most useful.

• What am I looking for in a delay?
• Digital or analog?
• Do I want a bright sounding delay or a darker tone?
• Am I looking for a delay with a looper?
• Is 400ms of delay enough? Or do I need more?
• WHAT IS MY BUDGET?

Yes, these are the questions. What exactly are you looking for in a delay? If you are looking to imitate some of your idol's delay tone, the best to do is to study their rigs. What delay did he use? For instance, you want that delay tone from U2. How is that achievable? In my opinion, original is the best but everyone has to start off from somewhere isn't?

The next question is: Are you looking for analog or digital delays? Now some of people will dismiss digital. Technophobes... They will say like "Oh digital sounds sterile. I want analog." And they will be worshiping at the altar of an idol who uses Boss DD-5. Most of them are what you called "Monkeys see monkeys do" in Singapore. They have no idea of what sounding 'sterile' and they are probably saying because all the rest are saying. 

Here is my view on digital and analog. I owned both kinds and tried many of them. Digital delays usually sounds brighter. Actually, it doesn't really make it sound brighter but I would say it preserves the tone of your guitar and do no colouration to your tone. Analog on the other hand 'decorates' your tone with a darker tone and warmer feel. 

I'll cover the rest of my questions right now. Analog delays usually have a shorter delay time than a digital delay. Analog has about 400-900ms of delay time while digital delays can go up to 10 seconds, 21 seconds or even a minute! Now usually those delays with such delay abilities usually comes with a looper function. I mean, who uses a 1 minute delay or 50 seconds delay in any song. Digital delays also will have many modes of delay like 'analog', 'modulated', 'reverse', 'momentary' etc... The analog there is actually a sound generated by the computer in it. Now they have quite awesome 'analog' tone in digital delays nowadays. Why am I not talking anything about analog delay? Because they don't usually have any additional features. They are just... straightforward delays. 

Delays are never cheap. You can find cheap delays of course, but majority of them are expensive (around SGD 150-200). If you are new on delays and do not wish to spend a hundred bucks, there are cheap delays. I don't know how much Behringer Stereo delay is but I think it's pretty cheap. Another digital delay is the new nuX TIME CORE delay (just for SGD80 at SV guitars). If you want an analog delay, Artec SE-ADL Analog delay is just SGD80 away from you. Of course it would be the best if you can save up and buy what you want at once. Then you wouldn't have to spend your precious money twice. 

My personal preference? Go digital. Get one with looper. It will come in handy. I am usually my delay on my ME-70 and I like the sound I am getting from it as well. 

All you have to do before getting a delay is to do your homework. You wouldn't want to buy a Nova System and then totally clueless of what feedback is even.