Mantic Effects Isaiah Delay

The Isaiah Delay is a delay pedal from Mantic Effects, a small builder better known for plain silver boxes. This one departs from that look with what Pedal of the Day calls a "funky enclosure," a rarity for the company. It was developed with Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, the keyboardist, prolific producer and two-time Grammy winner, who has since passed away.¹

Pedal of the Day describes it as "a classic sounding PT-based digital/analog hybrid delay," meaning it uses a PT chip for the echo repeats while keeping part of the signal path analog. The preamp section is completely analog and uses the 4558 IC, which the reviewer calls "infamously tasteful." The result, in the reviewer's words, "offers warm characteristics and subtle artifacts of analog and tape with the consistency and diversity of digital."¹

What it does

The Isaiah Delay keeps things simple: three knobs, no menus, no tap tempo. Pedal of the Day summed it up as "a free-wheeling, guns-blazing, balls-to-the-wall delay pedal, with only 3 controls, not encountered often overall."¹

• Mix: kept fairly conservative to avoid oversaturation and "muddying" of the original signal, so the dry tone stays intact under the repeats¹
• Analog preamp: entirely analog, built around the 4558 IC¹
• Hybrid echo engine: PT-based digital/analog hybrid design, aiming for analog and tape character with digital consistency¹

For players comparing hybrid designs against straight digital or full analog units, the Isaiah sits between the two camps: it is a PT-based digital/analog hybrid, with a completely analog preamp section built around the 4558 IC, and its repeats offer warm characteristics and subtle artifacts of analog and tape alongside the consistency and diversity of digital. If you are weighing it against other options, the delay pedals page covers the wider field¹.

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