The Polarbear Effects Raposa is a psych delay pedal built around the PT2399 chip, designed to behave like an old tape echo machine. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as a noteworthy tape echo-style addition to the PT2399 family, a chip he called a source of never-ending inspiration for creative boutique pedal companies interested in delay circuits1. As he put it:
"The Raposa delivers repeats as an old tape echo machine would, letting you decide how poorly maintained it is and how old the tape is."
What it does to your sound
The Raposa's character comes from two modulation systems running at once. The first is a slow modulation meant to reproduce the wow and flutter of tape machines; the second is a more erratic system that generates random signal dropouts, simulating a failing machine. Together they let the player dial in how degraded the "tape" sounds, from a gently worn echo to one on its last legs1.
Controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Delay | Sets the delay's timing1 |
| Repeats | Sets the feedback1 |
| Mix | Sets the amount of delay signal1 |
| Warp | Sets the depth of the slow modulation, simulating classic tape wow and flutter1 |
| Failure | Generates random signal dropouts of the delay, simulating a failing machine1 |
| Rate | Linked to Failure, part of the erratic modulation system1 |
| Waveform toggle | Switches between softer triangle wave and choppier square wave failures1 |
| LPF | A low-pass filter that can make repeats darker; it also interacts with the volume of the delay signal and the oscillation intensity1 |
Footswitches and self-oscillation
The left footswitch turns the pedal on and off. The right footswitch triggers tap tempo, and holding it down engages oscillation and infinite repeats. The oscillation intensity can be adjusted to taste via two internal trimpots, so you can set how far the repeats run away when you hold the switch1.
The oscillation trimpots are internal, so changing the self-oscillation intensity means opening the pedal, not turning an external knob.
How it compares
The Raposa sits in a busy corner of the delay world: PT2399 delays are known for a lush, analog-voiced character. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson has noted that PT2399 delays can be so lush and magical, pointing to examples like the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay2, and described the Benson Amps PT2399 delay as an excellent analog-voiced PT2399 delay with LFO flutter and tap tempo3. The Hello Sailor Effects SeaWolf is another PT2399 delay in this territory, with a delay time range of 25ms to 425ms4. What sets the Raposa apart within that family is its focus on tape degradation: the Warp, Failure and Rate controls are built specifically to imitate a worn or failing tape machine rather than a clean echo1.
The Raposa is built on the PT2399 chip, a part Polarbear Effects describes as a "source of never ending inspiration for creative boutique pedal companies interested in delay circuit"5. Its character is deliberately lo-fi: the company says the Raposa "delivers repeats as an old tape echo machine would, letting you decide how poorly maintained it is and how old the tape is"5. For more pedals in this category, see the Delay Pedals page.
Videos
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Sources (5)
- Polarbear Effects Raposa Psych Delay, Delicious Audio, 2024-02-15
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2025-09-11
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-12-20
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2025-03-11
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X
