No longer in production
This type of delay unit is quite a rarity these days, as it uses old technology (by today's standards, anyway) that is no longer in production -- namely 'bucket-brigade' integrated circuits. Big Briar have managed to track down the last remaining stocks of these special but once common items and are producing a limited edition run of just 1000 Analogue Delay processors. Coupled with the Moog name, this pretty well guarantees that the MF104 will become a collectable item.
The top panel layout is the same as the other Moogers, but instead we have controls for Delay Time, Feedback, Mix, Drive (input level with tri-coloured LED) and Output Level. Also included is a Loop Gain control and LED (of which more in a moment) and an Internal/External Loop rocker switch.
One drawback with analogue delays is that they have a much lower audio bandwidth compared to digital delays (often less than half). To most modern ears, they are therefore an acquired taste, and can sound muffled and decidedly low-tech. However, with the right kind of music, and in the right situation, such as when playing live or adding 'warmth' to digital instruments, they can be just what the doctor ordered.
Voltage control of many parameters is offered, including external control over mix, feedback and delay time. If you've not played with an analogue delay before, you might find tricks like sweeping the delay time on the fly without digital noise or stepping artefacts a real revelation. It may not be an effect that suits all types of music, but it's great for dub and experimental electronica. Used at the minimum delay time settings, the MF104 will produce flanging, while at the mid settings you can get it to simulate 'boingy' spring reverb-type sounds. The maximum delay is a respectable 800mS, and is eminently suitable for spacey Robert Fripp-type effects.
The Loop option is nothing to do with sampling and breakbeats, but allows you to re-route the delay feedback signal out of the audio chain and into an external processor, after which you can insert the effected signal back into the feedback path. If you use the Loop Gain control carefully (to set the gain of the signal sent to the loop) and choose the right kind of external processing, the results can be quite unusual. For instance, if the Loop option is used to send to and return from the Ring Modulator, and a sound is played into the Delay processor, the original signal is heard as it should be, but the delayed echoes are increasingly ring-modulated with each repeat. The Loop feature works best with an external effect that has a pronounced effect on the sound, such as the phaser or ring modulator, but it doesn't work so well if you use the low-pass filter.
