Time Effect · v4.0.3

Independent stereo delay, locked to the host grid.

Tempo Delay runs two fully independent delay buffers, each with its own note division, cross-channel ping-pong routing that throws repeats across the stereo field, and filtered feedback that reshapes every pass on its way round the loop.

Download for macOS See the routing

AU · VST3 · AAX · StandaloneNotarized

Tempo DelayRelease 4.0.3

Signal pathin the order the audio takes

Tempo120.0Left1/8DRight1/8Tone80–8kFdbk40 %CharDigitalWidth100 %Mix35 %

Host grid120.0 BPML 1/8D · 375 msR 1/8 · 250 ms

Stereo echo fieldcorrelation +1.00100ms L / R

Hear it first

The same passage, dry and delayed

Two renders of one performance, switched instantly so the playhead never moves. Both are matched to −12 LUFS integrated, because at different levels the louder one always wins and the comparison tells you nothing.

Tempo Delay · 1/4 and 1/8D, ping-pongReal render · matched −12 LUFS

Output

Rendered through Tempo Delay 4.0.1 at 44.1 kHz. Both files measure −12.0 LUFS integrated with a −3.1 dBTP true peak, so the only difference you hear is the effect.

The interface

One window, nothing buried

The delay engine sits on the surface: sync, divisions, independent feedback per side, width and mix. Tone, modulation and routing are one tab away, never a nested page.

The Tempo Delay interface on the Default Stereo Delay preset with Tone and Filters open. The signal path shows 120 BPM with sync off, independent left and right divisions, 80 Hz to 8 kHz filtering, 45 per cent feedback, Digital character, 100 per cent width and 50 per cent mix, and both delay times at 100 milliseconds. Real audio is active in the input, wet and output meters. — The Default Stereo Delay preset, running in the standalone app with real audio driving the meters and tempo sync off, which is why both delays read in milliseconds. These are the preset's values; the plug-in's own defaults are listed in the parameter guide below. Cropped to the GUI only.

The Tempo Delay interface on the same Default Stereo Delay preset with Advanced and Routing open. Creative routing, ducking and input, wet and output gain controls are grouped below the delay engine while the live stereo meters and correlation display remain visible. — The same preset and the same audio-active session, with the complete routing and gain page visible.

Architecture

Six modules, one signal path

Every stage of the delay is addressable on its own, and every stage stays out of the way of the ones around it.

Sample accurate tempo sync

Locks to the DAW transport clock or a manual project BPM, with sixteen note subdivisions per channel including straight, dotted and triplet.

Independent dual L/R engine

Decoupled left and right delay lines. Run 1/4 on the left against 1/8D on the right, or free millisecond timing from 1 to 5000 ms.

Ping-pong routing matrix

One toggle swaps the feedback matrix from parallel repeats to cross-channel bounces travelling across the stereo field.

Analog modelled drive

A soft-clipping saturation stage sits inside the feedback path, moving from subtle harmonic warmth to hard analog crunch on the tails.

Tone shaping feedback filters

Dual 12 dB per octave high-pass and low-pass filters run inside the loop, so every repeat is carved again as it decays.

Mid/side stereo width

A width matrix from 0% mono collapse to 200% extra wide, for centred vocal throws or fully opened ambient tails.

Signal Flow Simulator

How the routing actually moves

Change the routing mode, tempo and note divisions to watch audio travel through both delay buffers, the cross-channel feedback matrix, the drive and tone stage, and the width matrix.

Educational interactive visualization

This diagram demonstrates DSP signal routing mechanics: ping-pong cross feedback, delay times and feedback filters. It is not the native plug-in interface.

Routing mode

Tempo120 BPM

Left division375 ms

Right division250 ms

Continuous impulseResting

At rest the diagram is still. Hold an impulse in the loop to watch the passes travel: while it runs the amplitude stays pinned, and once stopped each pass decays away until the loop is empty again.

Parameter reference · v4.0.3

Every parameter, documented

All 32 automatable APVTS parameters in Tempo Delay, with the purpose of each control and the note on how it behaves inside the engine. Ranges and defaults are read from the plug-in source, not transcribed.

Showing 32 / 32

Global & Sync

Power

master_enable

Default

Range

Off / On

Purpose

Master DSP processing toggle with click-free crossfaded bypass.

How it behaves

Executes realtime-safe crossfaded bypass without digital transients.

What makes it different

Two delays, not one delay with an offset

Most stereo delays compute a single time and derive the other channel from it. This one runs two independent buffers, which changes what you can write rather than just how it sounds.

You can move the delay time while it plays

Reads land between sample positions using Hermite interpolation rather than snapping to the nearest one, and the modulation LFO moves those same interpolation points. Dragging a delay control bends pitch the way tape does instead of tearing.

Reads: HERMITE FRACTIONAL · 64-BIT FLOAT

Character modes change the circuit, not a curve

Digital, Tape and Analog are three processing paths inside the feedback loop rather than three EQ presets on the output. Digital stays full bandwidth, Tape warms the top end as it saturates, and Analog is darker on every pass.

Character: DIGITAL · TAPE · ANALOG

The repeats can stop behaving like repeats

Freeze locks the buffer and mutes new input so a tail sustains indefinitely. Reverse reads the same buffer backwards. Diffusion smears discrete taps through an all-pass network into an ambient wash, and ducking tracks the dry input envelope to pull the wet down while you are still playing.

Advanced: FREEZE · REVERSE · DIFFUSION · DUCK

The two modulators are deliberately out of phase

Left and right LFOs run at one rate with an adjustable phase angle between them, so the channels drift apart instead of wobbling together. Spread sets that angle: at 100 per cent the right channel runs ninety degrees behind the left, which is as far apart as they go, and the movement reads as width rather than as vibrato.

Stereo spread: 0 – 100% SPREAD · 90° AT FULL

Specification

What ships in the build

The numbers below are the ones the plug-in itself reports to the host.

Release: 4.0.3 (Schema 8)
Formats: Audio Unit (AUv2), VST3, AAX, Standalone
Price: Free
Platform: macOS 12+, Apple Silicon (arm64)
Windows: No build; none currently planned
Automatable parameters: 32 APVTS parameters
Sample rate: 44.1 – 192 kHz
Reported latency: 0 samples
Engine: 64-bit float
Delay time: 1 – 5000 ms per channel
Note divisions: 16 per channel, straight, dotted and triplet
Feedback filters: HPF and LPF, 20 Hz – 20 kHz each
Stereo width: 0 – 200% mid/side
Installer: 15.9 MB signed and notarized .pkg; 150 MB free disk space

OFFICIAL macOS INSTALLER

Tempo Delay 4.0.3

Version 4.0.3 · Audio Unit (AU) · VST3 · AAX · Standalone · Pro Tools verified

FreemacOS 12+arm64Available now

Free to download and use — a signed, notarized .pkg, with no licence key and no account. Free to use in personal and commercial music productions. The installer download is 15.9 MB and needs 150 MB of free disk space once installed. Check it against this SHA-256 before you open it.

Download for macOS Installation guide Parameter guide

Installer: StudioZIOTempoDelay-v4.0.3-macOS-arm64.pkg
Release record: tempo-delay-v4.0.3
SHA-256: 6ba310fadf4435a2929675035298b27da534d7215e2370c6b50075ab52d60330

Also from StudioZIO

Mastering Suite

The mastering chain that sits at the end of the same signal path.

Open Mastering Suite

Installation

Install Tempo Delay on macOS

One signed, notarized installer puts all four formats in the standard macOS plug-in folders. Tempo Delay 4.0.3 is built for Apple Silicon (arm64) only and needs macOS 12 or later.

01
Download the installer
Get StudioZIOTempoDelay-v4.0.3-macOS-arm64.pkg from the download panel above. It comes from the StudioZIO release registry, and the panel lists its SHA-256; to check your copy, run shasum -a 256 on the file in Terminal and compare the two.
02
Open the package
Double-click the .pkg. It is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple, so macOS Installer opens it as it is. No security setting needs to change.
03
Choose the formats
The Installation Type step lists four components: Audio Unit, VST3, AAX for Pro Tools, and the Standalone application. All four are selected; untick any format you do not use.
04
Install
Click Install and confirm with an administrator password. The components go into the shared system folders listed below, so every account on the Mac can use them.
05
Restart or rescan your host
Quit and reopen your DAW so it scans its plug-in folders again. Most hosts scan at launch; some also offer a manual rescan in their plug-in settings.
06
Find it in your host
Look for StudioZIO Tempo Delay under the manufacturer StudioZIO in the plug-in list. Without a host, open StudioZIOTempoDelay from Applications.

Where each format is installed

Audio Unit (AU): /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/StudioZIOTempoDelay.component
VST3: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/StudioZIOTempoDelay.vst3
AAX: /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/StudioZIOTempoDelay.aaxplugin
Standalone: /Applications/StudioZIOTempoDelay.app

Which format your host loads

Logic Pro: Audio Unit (AU); StudioZIO Verified
Pro Tools: AAX; StudioZIO Verified
REAPER: VST3 or AU; StudioZIO Verified
Elgato Wave Link: Audio Unit (AU), the format Wave Link loads on macOS; Format support only
Other macOS hosts: VST3 or AU, whichever the host supports; Format support only
No host: Standalone application; Runs on its own

StudioZIO Verified means direct test evidence for that host; format support only means the host loads the format, not that StudioZIO has tested it there. The current record is on the compatibility page.

Check that it appears

Logic Pro validates Audio Units when it starts; its Plug-in Manager shows the result. For a check outside any host, run auval -v aufx Tdel Szio in Terminal: it ends with AU VALIDATION SUCCEEDED when the Audio Unit is installed and loads. In Pro Tools, the plug-in appears in an insert slot's plug-in menu after the next launch.

If it does not appear

Check that the bundle is at the path listed above for your format, that the Mac runs macOS 12 or later, and that the host runs natively on Apple Silicon: a host opened with Rosetta cannot load an arm64-only plug-in. Then quit and reopen the host or rescan. If it is still missing, open an issue on StudioZIO Support or use the contact form, with your macOS version, host and version, and the format you tried.