Analog Man ARDX20

The Analog Man ARDX20 Dual Analog Delay is a two-channel, handwired analog delay pedal that gives you two completely independent echo settings in one box. Each channel has its own delay time, feedback, and delay level knobs, and a footswitch toggles between them, so you can move from a short slapback to a long, lush repeat without bending down. It uses bucket brigade devices for a purely analog delay path, with over 600ms of delay time¹.

It was designed by Ohbayashi San of Analog Man Asia in Japan, with help from AnalogMike, and takes the sound of Analog Man's earlier AR20DL single analog delay and adds more features¹. Premier Guitar described it as "a two-channel, handwired delay pedal" housed in a rugged, red metal case, at a street price of $265². Guitar World noted it has been used onstage by Gary Clark Jr.³

The controls: two channels, three knobs each

The ARDX20's front panel holds six knobs, three per channel. The upper three knobs, delay time, feedback, and delay level, control the Yellow channel, and the lower three provide the same controls for the Red channel². The left footswitch turns the pedal on and off, and the right footswitch toggles between the two channels⁵.

Below the knobs are two small LEDs that alternately blink, speeding up or slowing down as you adjust the delay time, a handy visual reference for where each channel's repeat sits².

The flat case version of the pedal adds an internal DARK switch, a miniature sliding toggle on the back side of the board. It slightly reduces the high end on the repeats only; the dry signal is not changed¹. Pedal of the Day noted that the older rounded model differs from the current one, which uses a flat box enclosure and a couple of internal upgrades⁶.

Power and connections

Jacks are on the top of the pedal for efficient layout on pedalboards¹. The input jack is on the right, and unplugging it disconnects the battery; the output jack is on the far left¹. The battery compartment is on the underside of the pedal².

Beyond input and output, there are two more jacks:

• Effects loop jack, next to the input. With a Y-cable (insert cable) you can run through another effect only when the delay is on, and only on the delayed sound. Modulation pedals, a volume pedal, or an expression pedal can go there to control delay level or feedback¹. A wet-only signal is also available from this jack⁵.
• Delay time expression jack. A normal Boss EV5-type expression pedal controls the delay time of the Red channel¹.

Power comes from a 9-volt battery or a normal Boss-type 9V power supply, and the manual is explicit: do not use higher voltage². Current draw is a low 15mA, so an alkaline battery should last about 30 hours¹.

Where it came from

The ARDX20 builds on Analog Man's previous AR20DL single analog delay, which offered about 300ms of delay time and is no longer available⁸. The ARDX20 keeps what the maker calls the same great tone while adding many more features, including the second channel⁸. Gearnews noted in 2017 that Analog Man had been making the ARDX20 for quite a few years by then⁹.

The pedals are hand soldered, with no machine soldering or surface mount parts, and assembled to Analog Man's specs in China. They are then calibrated and tuned in Japan at the Analog Man Asia shop¹. Delicious Audio described the build as "handsoldered in China, before heading to Japan where pedal designer Ohbayashi San and his team calibrate, tune and engrave" each pedal⁵.

An expansion called AMAZE0 gives the pedal external tap tempo, modulation, and presets¹⁰. External tap tempo is also available as an add-on on its own⁵.

What reviewers said

Reviewers agreed the ARDX20 is not a clean, neutral delay, and mostly found that to be its appeal. Premier Guitar's reviewer wrote²⁵:

and noted that "it's not a transparent delay," suggesting its sonic coloration could become addictive². Delicious Audio reached a similar conclusion: "A/B'd against other delays, the ARDX20 definitely colors the sound, but that color is awesome"⁵.

Pedal of the Day highlighted the noise floor, writing that "Analog Man has found some magical way to reduce the noise significantly in the ARDX20" compared with older analog delays⁶. The same review flagged the practical limit: the delay time "ranges from 36ms up to the 600/650ms mark," which Delicious Audio summed up as "only got a hair over half a second of delay"⁵⁶.

On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick used the ARDX20 in their delay basics episode and in a dedicated analog delay demo, where Dan described it as "purely analog" and noted that its preamp circuit is already very cool, so an EP Booster in front makes less of a difference than with other pedals⁴.

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