Moogerfooger pedals are on a level of their own, taking industry-standard effects and driving them into an otherworldly plane of professionalism. The Moog 104M Analog Delay is no exception.
The Moogerfooger series of effects pedals have been a boon to studio and live performance aficionados. The sound (it’s Moog) is incredible, but that’s not the whole story with these stompboxes. Almost every pedal manufacturer has had a crack at the analog delay, or at least an emulation. Many function beautifully as pedals, and sound great too. What sets the Moog 104M Analog Delay apart is its flexibility and connectivity.
Grouping this device with other stompboxes drastically undersells the potential of this machine. It is a pedal, but also an instrument in its own right.
The top panel is divided into three columns, with typical Moogish attention to ergonomic ease. The delay controls are bewitchingly simple: a knob for time, a knob for feedback, and a short and long switch, which halves or doubles the delay time. That’s it.
The middle column features a drive knob for dialling in the dirt, output level and dry/wet mix. The right column is devoted to modulation of the delay, with six different waveshapes (sine, triangle, square, ramp, reverse ramp and random), a rate knob for control of the LFO frequency and an amount knob for overall modulation of the delay time.
Now it’s not often that people get excited over the rear panel. But this where the 104M elevates its game significantly. Aside from the audio in and out that you would expect, the feedback, delay time, LFO rate and amount and wet/dry mix can all be control separately through CV inputs.
This additional array of connections allows the player maximum control over each parameter of the pedal, or specific control of any one parameter with a device like an expression pedal for example. It also has a midi input for controlling all parameters with a MIDI controller.
Not all delay pedals are created equal. With this one, considering all it’s playability and versatility, one should expect a price tag more in keeping with professional studio outboard. This is one of the aforementioned problems with categorising this beast as a pedal. It’s obviously so much more.
It’s truly fascinating that while the 104M offers world-class analog delay and LFO that would be at home in the kit box of leading industry professionals, playing it brings to mind a sense of innocent experimentation – an incredibly inviting interface with sounds of unlimited potential. A pedal/piece of outboard/instrument to get lost in for all the right reasons.
