# Questions about the Hydra delay



## Boba7 (Oct 25, 2019)

Hey guys!

New here, I've been building for a few years, posting mostly on the madbean forums.

For those of you who built a Hydra delay, how do you like it?

My question is about the Age pot. Does it act as a high cut and modulation pot? If so, how is the modulation? Like a standard slow lfo, or more random slopes?

I would love to hear a quick demo of that function, say with only one head activated and just a few repeats, Age pot at min, noon and max. Anyone be willing to do it? 
I can pretty much imagine the rest of the functions, but I would love to have a better idea of the base tone and the Age pot.

Also, I would love to get the schematics before building it, any chance to see them soon? 

Also noting the few slight mods people have been reporting doing (Mix 10kA instead of 10kB, 50kC for repeats), and wondering about putting a Jfet buffer in front, or even an echoplex preamp, to get the full tape echo thing going on. 

Thanks for the answers, if any!

Cheers


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## Boba7 (Oct 26, 2019)

Oh and also, what’s the maximum delay time?

Thanks a lot!


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## twebb6778 (Oct 27, 2019)

I'm not sure exactly what it does, but to my ears it sounds mostly like a low pass filter. Repeats get much darker and less prominent as the age knob goes clockwise.

From what I can tell there doesn't seem to be any modulation. I would have liked this, but it's still a fantastic delay.


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## Robert (Oct 27, 2019)

The Age control does bring in some subtle modulation, but it's part of the degradation, not a controllable "chorus" type effect.


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## phi1 (Oct 27, 2019)

Since it’s fv1 using the 32khz crystal, my guess is max 1 second (that’s the limit of the fv1 delay memory at the 32khz clock speed).


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## Boba7 (Oct 28, 2019)

Thanks a lot for the replies guys! 

A tiny bit of modulation might just suit me. Otherwise Im wondering if I could just modulate the time pot wiper with an lfo (either directly or with an ldr)

Hmmm first build the delay see how i like it 

Thanks!


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## Robert (Oct 28, 2019)

Boba7 said:


> Otherwise Im wondering if I could just modulate the time pot wiper with an lfo (either directly or with an ldr)



That generally doesn't work so well with a lot of FV-1 delays, there is a bit of crackle (due to memory addressing) when you modulate the time pot.

However, you _could _use an FV-1 Clock Module and modulate the trim adjustment there.    In fact, I should probably work up a modulated clock module....


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## Boba7 (Oct 28, 2019)

Robert said:


> That generally doesn't work so well with a lot of FV-1 delays, there is a bit of crackle (due to memory addressing) when you modulate the time pot.
> 
> However, you _could _use an FV-1 Clock Module and modulate the trim adjustment there. In fact, I should probably work up a modulated clock module....



That sounds very interesting! 
I almost put one in my cart, but didnt. I’ll build the Hydra first and then see if modulation would be a nice add on
Modulating the clock sounds real promising...


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## twebb6778 (Oct 28, 2019)

If you try this I'd be very interested to see how it goes. I'd love a bit more modulation in the repeats.


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## Boba7 (Oct 30, 2019)

If I do it it mignt take some time but I will definitely let you know!


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## Marko (Apr 12, 2021)

I just built the hydra, idk why it sounds crunchy. 😥


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