Announcing the Hilton Legend Pro-Delay

[Gary Sill]

In stock !
at
wwwsillmusicsupply.com

This is a new digital delay pedal from Keith Hilton of Hilton Electronics

It can be operated from a 9 volt battery or hooked up to the Hilton 9 volt regulated power adapter.

You get the best of both worlds----It is analog and digital

Reasonably priced call 217-433-7455--Sill Music Supply with questions and orders.
It is simple to operate and very high quality.

Another new addition to the Hilton line.

[Jim Palenscar]

Can you please explain how it is both analog and digital?

[Godfrey Arthur]

Can you please explain how it is both analog and digital?

Perhaps it uses BBD (bucket brigade device) to create the delay through caps.

These were the first technology used before digital stepped in to create delay other than tape delay systems like the Binson Echorec or the earlier Echosonic or the Copycat.

Les Paul fiddled initially with delay in 1951 using tape recorders.

Be interesting to hear how they used both technologies.

[Gary Sill]

It is called the Hilton Pro Legend Delay-------for a great reason


It is named "THE LEGEND" for a reason,

---Keith Hilton

[Jim Palenscar]

and that would be?

[Godfrey Arthur]

and that would be?

Lol...

[b0b]

It is called the Hilton Pro Legend Delay-------for a great reason


It is named "THE LEGEND" for a reason,

---Keith Hilton

Why does it say "The Legend Pro-Delay" if that's not its name?

And seriously, is it analog or digital? Also, is it "true bypass"?

[Keith Hilton]

I will try to answer questions. The guitar signal is processed in the analog audio bandwidth through a multiplexer. The signal is refined and processed through a state of the art DSP, digital signal processor. The audio bandwidth signal is then output from a analog demultiplexer. There is a true bypass foot switch.
It is not the old type BBD (bucket brigade capacitor delay)design. Hope this information helps.

[Keith Hilton]

Maybe this will help someone to understand analog and digital a little better. An analog circuit operates with currents and voltages that vary continuously with time. Digital circuits function though currents and voltages at one of a set of discrete levels-with all transitions between levels being ignored. Most physical quantities like velocity and temperature, vary continuously, as does audio. An analog circuit provides the best means of representing them. However, digital circuits are often preferred because of the ease with which their outputs can be manipulated, and because digital signals are more robust and less subject to transmission errors. There are special analog-to-digital, and digital-to-analog circuits to convert from one type of signal to the other. Hope this information helps.

[b0b]

Thanks for clearing that up, Keith.

[Godfrey Arthur]

Maybe this will help someone to understand analog and digital a little better. An analog circuit operates with currents and voltages that vary continuously with time. Digital circuits function though currents and voltages at one of a set of discrete levels-with all transitions between levels being ignored. Most physical quantities like velocity and temperature, vary continuously, as does audio. An analog circuit provides the best means of representing them. However, digital circuits are often preferred because of the ease with which their outputs can be manipulated, and because digital signals are more robust and less subject to transmission errors. There are special analog-to-digital, and digital-to-analog circuits to convert from one type of signal to the other. Hope this information helps.

An ADA (analog to digital to analog) circuit is a given. The initial post was confusing.

[Erv Niehaus]

I just ordered one from Gary. If it's from Hilton, it's got to be good!

[Keith Hilton]

Erv, thanks for trusting me. I remember what Hartley Peavey told me years ago. Hartley said:"It is easy to build something new, but it is not easy protecting against failure modes." In the last 20+ years building electronic guitar pedals I have seen a lot of things. Pedals that have been under water. Pedals dropped out of cars doing 70 miles per hour. Pedals plugged directly into 120 volts AC.
When a electronic device can be powered by more than a battery, a whole new set of protection modes must be addressed. Musicians are bad about grabbing up any old power supply and plugging it in. They never think about reverse polarity, or over voltage. Most effect boxes have protection against reverse polarity, but most do not protect against over voltage. Plugging in a over voltage wall wart is flirting with disaster! Few people understand regulated and un-regulated wall wart power supplies. I would advise any musician using wall warts to read up on regulated and un-regulated power supplies. About 10 years ago most wall warts were un-regulated power supplies. A 9 volt unregulated power supply would read on a meter around 18 to 19 volts. Why, because they expected it to be regulated down to 9 volts with a regulator on the circuit board. Everything has gone to regulated switching wall warts. This means a 9 volt switching wall wart will read 9 volts. This eliminates the need for a regulator on the circuit board. Yesterday I tried to buy a 12 volt unregulated wall wart power supply from the two largest supply houses, Digi Key and Mouser. All they had was the little switching regulated wall warts. I guess you can still buy unregulated wall warts from surplus suppliers. I suppose it is called "progress", and I suppose it is related to the cost of copper, plus the shipping weight of iron. Back to protection modes: I didn't get to sleep last-night until 2:00 in the morning. Kept experimenting with a SCR protection circuit. When a person plugs in 12 volts or over, a re-set-able fuse is triggered. While experimenting the fuse was getting warm and that worried me, until I read the data sheet. The fuse was rated at 60 volts, and 85 degrees Celsius. 85C is equal to 185F.

[Erv Niehaus]

Keith,
Would a regular Boss 9 volt wall wart work with this pedal?
Erv

[Keith Hilton]

Erv, excellent question. To answer your question: "Yes the 9 volt 'Boss' wall wart will work." The Boss wall wart is negative tip, 2.1X5.5 barrel size. Plus the Boss power supply is regulated. I don't think the Boss power supply is a switching power supply. It is the old type, copper and iron, but it has a voltage regulator built in. Voltage regulation makes it "OK".
Erv, please read my above post on regulated and un-regulated wall warts. Everyone needs to be aware of what they are plugging in. Otherwise they might smell smoke.

[Erv Niehaus]

Keith,
I read it but you have to cut a left-handed Norwegian some slack!

[Keith Hilton]

Erv, the "most" dangerous power supplies in the hands of musicians are the Voodoo power supplies. These are the popular multi-port power supplies used by stand up standard guitar players with pedal boards. These Voodoo power supplies have a lot of different voltage ports. A musician can plug into 9 volts, 12 volts, 18 volts, or 24 volts. These voltages can be selected to be either AC or DC. These voltages can be selected to be either regulated or un-regulated. The Voodoo comes with a instruction book that is about 3/4 of an inch thick. Now days "NO" musician in the world reads "ANY" instructions period! So most of these stand up guitar players with pedal boards just plug stuff in at random. I had one guy using a Voodoo power supply tell me he tried to see if my volume pedal would work and make funny noises when plugged into a higher voltage. I suppose he thought if he could get a funny noise on stage people would like his playing more. One other thing, these Voodoo power supplies will not produce accurate 24 volts DC. That is one reason I use a 9 volt DC power supply that will accept sloppy voltages on my pedals designed for stand up guitar players using pedal boards.

[b0b]

I use a 1SPOT 9v supply. Will that work?

[Keith Hilton]

b0b-- yes, the 1SPOT 9VDC power supply will work. I espically like the 1SPOT power supplies, because they have a really heavy cord. They are a quality power supply in my opinion.

[Godfrey Arthur]

Power supplies affect the performance and tone of the pedal. They are not all the same and do not yield the exact same result. Experimenting with different ones (under the correct voltage for your pedal) will show this.

Ace guitar twanger Eric Johnson is known for his use of 9 volt batteries in his pedals and goes through different batteries at differing states of voltage drain to use in his pedals to achieve his optimal tone.

That being said there used to be a pedal power supply maker that had a power supply that allowed adjustment to lower than 9 volts. But I think these are not available anymore.

This power supply has the adjustable power feature to simulate battery power. It's not a low cost alternative though.

[Cameron Kerby]

The simplicity of this pedal looks incredibly desirable. How does this delay compare with others on the market? and would the 1 spot with a multi-plug work?

[b0b]

The simplicity of this pedal looks incredibly desirable. How does this delay compare with others on the market? and would the 1 spot with a multi-plug work?

The 1SPOT multi-plug gives you up to 1700mA. Should be plenty. What's the current draw on this unit, Keith?

[Keith Hilton]

Godfrey, I am aware that some people like to experiment using lower and higher voltages on effect boxes. Normally IC circuits can accept a range of voltages. Permanent failure will happen if the upper voltage limit is exceeded. Most people experimenting with plugging in different voltage levels do not know the maximum allowable voltage for the unit they are experimenting on. If the designer has not installed voltage protection, the unit is ruined with over voltage. Most designers do not design for over voltage, I do. I personally think experimenting with voltages is a foolish useless way to try and find a unique tone or sound. Time would be better spent learning how to play the instrument better---just my opinion. Then again what do I know, I'm old school.
Now to answer b0b and Cameron. First, Cameron, I like simplicity. With music equipment, do you want to play guitar, or just play around adjusting electronics?
WAIT---The 1SPOT power supplies I am familiar with are not multi-plug. They are a fixed voltage with only one output. I am not familiar with the multi-plug 1SPOT. So I can't tell you if they produce accurate voltage with good filtration. In other words I don't know anything about the multi-port 1SPOT. Bob, the current draw of my delay is less than 60 mili-amps=.060. Most effect boxes draw very little current. Normally-the light on the box usually draws more current than the electronics inside the box. Here is my opinion on wall warts, for what it is worth: Before you plug in, check the required pin polarity. Know the voltage requirement of the unit: AC, DC, regulated, unregulated, and the recommended voltage number.

[Jerry Erickson]

I think that Cameron is asking about using a daisy chain cable with the 1spot. With your pedal drawing 60 milliamps of current and the 1spot being able to deliver 1700milliamps, I'd say that Keith's pedal would work, but then we'd need to know what other pedals he's using.

[b0b]

The multi-plug is just a wire with multiple plugs that extends the 1SPOT wire to supply multiple effect boxes. With 1700mA available, a single 1SPOT can usually power everything on the pedalboard.

In recent years, most stomp box makers have standardized on 9V, negative tip - the same as this Hilton Pro-Delay. 1SPOT also makes a polarity inverter adapter for the rare positive tip device. I bought one just in case - I doubt that I'll ever need it.

I agree with Keith, that messing with voltages to stress a device for a unique tone is a waste of time better spent practicing your instrument.