User reviews: MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay

04/27/12

hthomas's review "Cool delay"

The pedal is nice and compact...no bigger than a phase 90. Sound-wise it's not quite an echoplex...but does have warm tonal characteristics that remind me of the old school delay sounds. The modulation button is a nice touch and does sound similar to the tape warble heard on the echoplex. It basically varies the speed of the echo...creating a chorus effect when heard along with your original signal. This is a very subtle chorus sound...but that's how I remember (and like) it. The pedal will also self oscillate when the repeats are pushed to the max for some crazy sounds...just take care not to blow up your speakers. I did notice some very minor noise on the longer echos when playing clean bright tones, however, I've read that this is not an uncommon thing with analog pedals.

Utilization

It's very easy to set up and get a good delay at any point.

Sound Quality

I had the privilege of using an original Echoplex delay box that was lent to me years ago. After returning the Echoplex, I've relied on an inexpensive digital delay pedal that recently began to bomb out on me. After reading a lot of info and positive reviews on the MXR Carbon Copy Delay pedal, I decided to take the plunge and purchase it. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall Opinion

My only gripe with pedals like these are the internal controls. Personally, I think the whole trimpot concept is barbaric anymore. It just doesn't make sense to make the user disassemble an entire pedal to access additional controls. I doubt it would take much for Dunlop to drill an additional 2 holes into the housing to accommodate these features. Also, take care when disassembling these things. The jack threads are made of plastic...which can cross thread very easy if the metal nut fastener is tightened too much or incorrectly.

Overall a really nice pedal. I was initially concerned that the 600ms delay wouldn't be long enough...but as it turns out...it's actually a little more than I need. Sounds cool, looks cool, and not too pricey. I think most musicians will find this a valuable addition to their setup.

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02/23/12

yoTrakkz's review "very solid analog delay"

Characteristics

The MXR M169 is loaded with a wide variety of analog and digital delay models of famous pedals and devices . Also has basic sampling capabilities which I am not all that familiar with. It is a modeling device. You can use the knobs to tweak each delay to your needs but you can only store three of your settings at once. There is a toe tempo tap button. The pedal has stereo/mono inputs and stereo/mono outputs. The unit requires its own proprietary power adapter. The unit is very solidly built but has a very poor reputation for the reliability of its buttons.

Utilization

The setup of the pedal is kind of ergonomically ideal in some ways but you quickly wish you could store more than 3 user settings because there are lots of cool models. I greatly appreciate that there are user friendly knobs for quick tweaking and not digital menus which are time consuming and nightmarish.

The manual is very cool too with neat information about the original devices that the models are based on.

Sound Quality

The unit is very quiet and designed to be used on the front end between your guitar and amp and not in an effects loop where it apparently doesn't work well. The models are good and the pedal is fun fun fun. However it is important to realize that this is a modeling device and like all modeling devices it sounds cold, sterile, and artificial and will interject that sound into your chain.

Overall Opinion

It is definitely a cool pedal that has been around for a while and needs to be updated with the capability to hold more user settings and needs to have its reliability issues fixed.

However I refuse to use this delay as part of my main sound because of the sterile artificial sound that the modeling interjects even for some reason when the guitar is plugged in the unit but the effect is bypassed.

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12/23/11

Fireguy8402's review "Nice analog delay."

Characteristics

The MXR Carbon Copy has a completely analog audio path. This pedal has around 600ms of delay time with optional modulation. The pedal has a basic three knob setup for a delay pedal, Delay time (0ms up to 600ms), Mix (lets you adjust the amount of delay on the dry signal), and Regen (the amount of repeats after the original sound). The special thing about this delay is that they throw in a modulation button to allow chorus sounds on the delays. The width and rate are available for tweaking from inside the pedal via two user adjustable trim pots. The pedal is true hard-wire bypass so there is no tone sucking at all. The pedal runs off a single 9-volt, but it drains batteries like crazy so you’re better off using the 9 volt power supply. A bright blue LED lets you know if the pedal is on or off from a distance on a dark stage.

Utilization

The pedal is very easy to hone in, just set your amount of delay and how many repeats you want and how loud you want them compared to your original sound and that’s it. No need for a bunch of menus or useless functions. I would have liked for MXR to have put the rate and width adjustments for the modulation on the outside of the pedal. The on and off switch is big enough to tap with your toe if you are a sharp shooter, making this switch a little bigger would have been better, but at the cost of a larger size. This thing is only the size of a Phase 90 and that’s part of the charm. Solid feel and a solid switch on this pedal.

Sound Quality

This thing sounds very great for a modulated delay, or for an analog delay sound. The repeats are very rich and warm, so if you are looking for an exact sounding repeat you might want to look at some Boss pedals from the DD line. This isn’t a digital sounding delay, and I think that’s a great thing. It’s very natural sounding and musical, it blends with your tone and adds ambience, it doesn’t just repeat it. There is also no annoying click when you turn the pedal on like there are with some delays. No tap tempo or presets, so it’s a one trick pony unless you are able to bend over and change the settings during a song. It does a great slapback to fatten your rhythm tone, or does a great “Gilmour” tone with the modulation on and can get rather spacey.

Overall Opinion

This is a great pedal for a basic straight up delay sound. The quality of tone is there for all your basic needs. It has great warm repeats that are in a very usable range, I don’t know who needs much more than 600ms of delay, but it’s plenty for my needs. Mixes very well with other pedals and is built to stand up to the test of time. I think there was a bad run of these when MXR put them out, but since then I have not heard of anyone saying anything but positive praise on these pedals. A great barebones delay for all users and at a fairly decent price for the quality you are getting.

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08/11/11

King Loudness's review "A great analog delay"

Characteristics

The MXR Carbon Copy analog delay is designed to be a pedal that can capture many of the vintage analog and echo type tones used by players from the sixties onward. It's a very simple pedal, with only three controls as well as a modulation switch. There is a control for the effect level, the length of the delay repeats and the amount of times that you hear the repeats. Hitting the modulation switch adds a bit of swirling, chorusing sound that harks back to the old tape Echoplex units with their modulating heads. It's finished in a really cool dark sparkle paint and has a plug for a DC adapter as well as a spot for a 9V battery. It doesn't have a lot of the other features of similar BOSS or TC Electronics units (IE: tap tempo) but it makes up for that with a pure and awesome analog bucket brigade delay tone.

Utilization

Setting up this pedal for use is extremely simple. As stated it only has three controls onboard. Mix controls how loud the effect is, Regen controls the time of the repeats, and Depth controls how many repeats you are hearing. The pedal goes from slapback type country delays to longer David Gilmour esque lead delays simply by turning the Regen knob clockwise to get a longer delay time. It's really quite versatile in that regard - you don't have to do too much as far as changing the pedal settings to get a wide variety of good and diverse tones.

Sound Quality

I've used the MXR Carbon Copy with various Mesa Boogie, Splawn, Orange and Peavey amps. I definitely preferred it in the effects loop of an amp as it sounds much clearer and crisper, especially with gain added. The tone of the pedal really doesn't cut into the natural sound of the amp being used, which is a great thing. The pedal works great for slightly trippy sixties style clean tones in conjunction with the modulation button. I found myself really loving that and the slapback type settings for when I wanted to use the pedal on clean settings. When it came to using the pedal with overdrive I definitely preferred using it as an enhancer for leads - using the longer Gilmour type delay times to really make the sound very smooth and liquid-y. Though it was definitely not quite as easy to balance the delay for clean and lead tones, once I figured it out I was contented to use the same settings for well over a year.

Overall Opinion

All in all I think the MXR Carbon Copy is a great analog delay that is priced reasonably and sounds very true to the units of old. It's about $150 new and is well worth it. The tones are very vintage, but they still sound clear and defined for the most part. I don't care for it as much in front of an amp as I find it gets a little bit fuzzy and diluted, especially with gain added. That all being said, if you're looking for a great and pure sounding analog delay pedal, you really can't go wrong with the MXR Carbon Copy.

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07/01/11

iamqman's review "Just amazing!"

Characteristics

There are so many delay pedals out there that claim to have the goods. Many of them get hyped up and then when the dust clears then people start the realize that is wasn't that great. I'm a big delay guy from digital to reverse to analog. I love the delay effect that can be achieve in rock n roll music. I have played a lot of delay units that are fantastic and then there are the elite delay pedals. The MXR Carbon Copy is an elite delay pedal. No matter how you push this pedal it will sound great for you.

Carbon Copy Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

* Analog audio path

* Extremely compact

* 600ms delay time

* Controls: Mod switch, Delay time, Mix, Regen

* True hard-wire bypass

* 9-volt operation

* Blue LEDs

Utilization

This pedal sounds great in front of a clean amp, in front of a dirty amp, and amazing in the effects loop if you got one. This pedal is about the same size as a Phase 90 pedal. The Mix adds wet/dry to the tone, while the Regen controls the effect repeats,, and the Delay Time is the delay time. It has the mod switch that allows you to add an extra bit of color to our tone. It also has switch inside that allow you to pinpoint the range you want your modulation to float around. There is quiet a bit of options with controlling this unit while being very compact.

Sound Quality

The sound of this unit is awesome. One of the best delay pedal on the market. I love the way the delay tone sits right in there with your guitar string attack. It doesn't jump ahead and it doesn't fall behind. It especially sound very good in front of an overdriven amp which a lot of delays pedal won't do. I prefer this pedal to sit right in the effects loop for easily operation.

The way I have used this pedal in the past was with a Peavey Blues amp and a MXR OD pedal and a Strat. I got some good classic rock tones that were very lead and smooth like. Great for rhythm and lead tones. Dial this pedal all the way up to get long delays customary of Pink Floyd delays or dial the regen down for some slap back delay times.

Overall Opinion

I gave this unit a great because I wish it was true bypass. It seems MXR picks and chooses which pedal are going to have it. MXR says this pedal is true hardwired which I am still trying to figure out what that means. If it is the same as true bypass then sweet. So that kind of bugs me that they would do that, but hey you can always get it modified. The pedal sounds so good in all situations. It fills in the gap very well in a live situation and adds a great tonal range to carry your guitar tone from one transition to another.

I would recommend this pedal to any gigging guitar player in need of a little delay warmth to add to your signal. It comes in new at around $150 which is a great price for a delay unit.

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05/30/11

tjon901's review "A benchmark delay pedal"

Characteristics

MXR is one of the most popular guitar effects makers on the market. That being said they are not really known for their delay pedals. In fact they did not make one for nearly two decades until this one came out. The MXR Carbon Copy delay pedal is modern analog delay pedal. The pedal comes in a subtle green case. It can be powered by an AC adapter or a single nine volt battery. It features a true bypass circuit to it wont color your tone when it isnt on. It has 3 knobs. It has a Regen knob a Mix knob and a Delay knob. It has a tiny button near the top labeled mod. This button when switched on adds a little tremolo effect to the delay sound. The level of tremolo effect can only be adjusted internally. It has two LED lights one indicating when the delay is switched on and the other indicating when the mod button is switched on.

Utilization

The MXR Carbon Copy has 3 knobs and one button. The first knob is the Regen knob. This knob controls the number of repeats you will get with your delay sound. The second knob is the Mix knob. The Mix knob controls the saturation of the delay effect. If the Mix knob is cranked the delay sound will be as loud as the guitars real sound. The third knob is the Delay knob. This knob controls how long a time period you will get between delay pulses. This pedal offers up to a 600ms delay. This is not much by todays standards but it is much more than any real analog delay pedal will give you. If you want more delay you should consider getting a rack unit. The mod button adds an extra tremolo effect to the sound. There is knob external knob for adjusting this effect. To adjust this effect you have to open the pedal up and adjust it from the inside.

Sound Quality

This is your typical analog delay. It does not exactly replicate your sound. Analog delays usually play back a darker version of the original sound. This makes the sound pretty cool but may not be right for some people. Using the mod button to add a tremolo effect to the sound is also cool. The tremolo effect adds an extra layer to your sound and adds more versatility to the pedal. The pedal is useful if you are looking for a short pulse delay sound.

Overall Opinion

Everyone should have a delay pedal. Not only for the delay effect but for the unique tone it can give to your sound. A delay pedal can instantly thicken up your sound and give you more layers to your tone. The MXR Carbon Copy is a good simple analog delay with an extra added twist. If you are looking for a good analog delay this could be your choice.

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04/12/11

ibanez4life SZ!'s review "Analog Delay at a silly cost!"

Characteristics

The carbon copy from MXR is a great new analog delay to the market, featuring

-Regen, mix, and delay knobs for fine tuning

-Analog modulation that can be switched in and out via small switch

-Internal trim pot to adjust level of modulation

-Green sparkle paint job!

-Power via 9 V battery of AC adapter

Utilization

For anyone familiar with any other delay pedal, settings the MXR Carbon Copy will be no problem in the slightest. Tweak the mix knob to adjust the amount of wet signal blended with your dry. Additionally, the regen knob governs the amount of repeats in your delay, and the delay knob controls the amount of time between repeats. Switching in the modulation offers a new variant on the delay, but adjusting it is a bit of a hassle, since the trim pot is internal. It would be nice to have this adjustment on the exterior of the pedal.

Sound Quality

For the price, the Carbon Copy offers one of the best delay tones available. Being an analog delay, the pedal offers sweeter and warmer repeats than your typical digital delay. It works great for smoothing out a high gain solo tone. Overall, it is great at adding some more ambience and space to a guitar tone, since the repeats blend very well into the background rather than cutting through with the original signal. The modulation also sounds great, though wasn’t a big concern to me due to my usually high gain applications.

Overall Opinion

I am pleasantly surprised by this pedal, especially at its price point. It became a key point in my lead sounds, and made them much more pleasant than previously. Though it doesn’t retain the clarity of digital delay, the warmer repeats offer a great tone if you’re willing to make the sacrifice.

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03/24/11

iamqman's review "Killer Delay pedal"

Characteristics

There are so many delay pedals out there that claim to have the goods. Many of them get hyped up and then when the dust clears then people start the realize that is wasn't that great. I'm a big delay guy from digital to reverse to analog. I love the delay effect that can be achieve in rock n roll music. I have played a lot of delay units that are fantastic and then there are the elite delay pedals. The MXR Carbon Copy is an elite delay pedal. No matter how you push this pedal it will sound great for you.

MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

* Analog audio path

* Extremely compact

* 600ms delay time

* Controls: Mod switch, Delay time, Mix, Regen

* True hard-wire bypass

* 9-volt operation

* Blue LEDs

Utilization

This pedal sounds great in front of a clean amp, in front of a dirty amp, and amazing in the effects loop if you got one. This pedal is about the same size as a Phase 90 pedal. The Mix adds wet/dry to the tone, while the Regen controls the effect repeats,, and the Delay Time is the delay time. It has the mod switch that allows you to add an extra bit of color to our tone. It also has switch inside that allow you to pinpoint the range you want your modulation to float around. There is quiet a bit of options with controlling this unit while being very compact.

Sound Quality

The sound of this unit is awesome. One of the best delay pedal on the market. I love the way the delay tone sits right in there with your guitar string attack. It doesn't jump ahead and it doesn't fall behind. It especially sound very good in front of an overdriven amp which a lot of delays pedal won't do. I prefer this pedal to sit right in the effects loop for easily operation.

The way I have used this pedal in the past was with a Peavey Blues amp and a MXR OD pedal and a Strat. I got some good classic rock tones that were very lead and smooth like. Great for rhythm and lead tones. Dial this pedal all the way up to get long delays customary of Pink Floyd delays or dial the regen down for some slap back delay times.

Overall Opinion

I gave this unit a great because I wish it was true bypass. It seems MXR picks and chooses which pedal are going to have it. MXR says this pedal is true hardwired which I am still trying to figure out what that means. If it is the same as true bypass then sweet. So that kind of bugs me that they would do that, but hey you can always get it modified. The pedal sounds so good in all situations. It fills in the gap very well in a live situation and adds a great tonal range to carry your guitar tone from one transition to another.

I would recommend this pedal to any gigging guitar player in need of a little delay warmth to add to your signal. It comes in new at around $150 which is a great price for a delay unit.

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03/21/11

glassjaw7's review "Classic, warm delay"

Characteristics

MXR's M-169 Carbon Copy delivers warm analog delay in a sexy little green-sparkle box. It also has an extremely bright blue led to indicate when the effect is turned on.

Controls are simple; regen, which sets the amount of repeats, mix for how much of the delay sound is mixed into your signal, and Delay, which sets the length of the repeat.

There is also a small push button on the upper left side of the face of the pedal that engages a subtle modulation effect when pushed in. There is another bright blue led to indicate when this is turned on. What the button does, is add a modulated effect to the signal, but only to the repeats. I've heard it described as a tape echo simulation, which adds a warble effect to the repeats of the delayed signal, but the mod effect in this unit is nothing like that. It's basically just a very nice, lush chorus effect that is used very sparingly.

Also, there is an internal trim pot that allows the user to set the depth of the modulation. In my personal opinion, it is dialed in perfectly right from the factory.

IMPORTANT: If you do want to experiment with the trim pot settings, it is my strong recommendation that you mark the factory position before turning the knob. It can be difficult returning to the stock position if you desire to do so.

The unit runs on a 9 volt battery or AC power supply.

Utilization

The Carbon Copy's layout is simple and effective. Unless you've never used a delay unit before, you'll have no trouble dialing in specific sounds you're after with this pedal.

An included product "manual" (which is actually a description card) gives a couple useful presets.

Sound Quality

The delay effect in this unit is classic and warm sounding. It's a very high quality delay effect which is produced by a "bucket-brigade" circuit. In this type of circuit, the analog signal is moved along the line of several capacitors. How does this create the warm, gooey liquid tones in this pedal? I have no idea! I'm no engineer after all. I just know that the delay sounds in this pedal are heavenly!

I currently use this pedal at the end of my pedal chain in front of my Dual Rectifier. I only use it after other dirt pedals into the Clean channel of the Mesa, as delay units usually sound pretty bad before distortion sounds.

(I have used the pedal in the fx loops of other amps after the amps' distortion and the sound was wonderful. I don't use it like this with the Mesa due to the poor quality of the Mesa's parallel fx loop.)

I use this pedal for two different sounds. One is a long delay with several repeats for a singing David Gilmour lead sound. This setting makes playing leads a joy. Plug in a Fuzz Face or Big Muff and set the mix level about halfway, and the delay maxed, and it singing sustain for days! Beautiful!

The other sound I typically dial in is a shorter 1/4 note or dotted 8th note delay. This is more like what The Edge uses in U2, and is very fun and sparks a lot of creative playing. Using this setting, you can play less and the delay does a lot of the work and fills out your sound with well timed slapback delays.

The Mod effect is a beautiful and lush, yet subtle chorus effect that I find sounds great on clean tones. I prefer to use gain and play leads without it as I've never been a huge chorus fan. On clean tones however, the effect is subtle enough to add a nice spacious fullness to the tone without taking over. Perfectly dialed in by MXR at the factory, at least in my opinion. There's nothing worse than a guitarist who uses too much chorus!

Overall Opinion

Considering the quality of the tone and craftsmanship of the M-169, you get a lot of pedal for the price. Any guitarist, bassist, key player, or even vocalist seeking a high quality, warm sounding analog delay should check out the Carbon Copy. One of MXR's best offerings in years!

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10/17/09

moosers's review

Characteristics

The MXR M-169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay is an effects pedal designed for use with electric guitar but suitable for use with any electronic instrument. The pedal has 1/4 inch connections and is powered by a nine volt power supply. This isn't a rack mountable piece of gear as it is a stomp box.

Utilization

The configuration of the MXR M-169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay is easy to understand. The pedal has parameters for regen, mix, and delay and a mod button. This is just about as easy as it gets to control a delay pedal as even those without any experience with delay pedals will be able to use this pretty easily. A manual probably isn't necessary, but since I haven't seen the manual I can't speak to how helpful it would be.

Sound Quality

The sound quality of the MXR M-169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay is quite impressive overall. You can get up to 600 ms of delay providing more than enough to get that classic analog delay sound. I use the pedal with a '76 Fender Twin Reverb and a Fender Strat most of the time and I find this to be a pretty great combination. While it does have a vintage sound, at the same time it is a pretty clean delay tone. This isn't the best analog delay pedal that I have heard, but it does sound pretty awesome overall.

Overall Opinion

I've been using the MXR M-169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay for about a year and I definitely like everything that this pedal brings to the table. It is easy to use overall and is capable of getting a wide array of nice analog delay tones. The price is reasonable for sure but it isn't the cheapest delay pedal out there for the reason that it is a true analog pedal made of great parts. If you are looking for a good pedal for analog delay, the MXR M-169 should definitely be in the conversation.

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MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay

MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay user reviews ( 9/10) - 32 user reviews