Vahlbruch SpaceTimeTap

The Vahlbruch SpaceTimeTap is a handmade delay pedal from German builder Vahlbruch FX that takes a hybrid approach: your straight guitar signal stays fully analog through the pedal, while the echoes are generated in a parallel digital signal path and added back in the analog world¹. The maker describes the result as "a warm and deep sounding delay pedal, easy to operate and able to create beloved analog delay typical self-oscillations"¹. Guitar World's reviewer Trevor Curwen characterized it the same way: "The SpaceTimeTap features digital repeats, while the dry signal remains resolutely analogue in a parallel path through the pedal"².

The design idea is shared by other hybrid delays, such as the Wampler Faux Tape Echo V2, which also keeps a pure analog dry path with only the delay line digital³. The appeal for players is that the untouched dry signal keeps its original character, while the repeats get the consistency and headroom of digital processing.

An analog dry path with digital repeats

The core of the SpaceTimeTap's design is signal routing. Your dry guitar signal is never digitized: it passes through the pedal in a fully analog path, and the echo is generated in a separate digital signal path that runs in parallel, then mixed back in¹. Vahlbruch says this combines "the advantages of analog and digital circuits in a unique way"⁴.

What that means in practice, according to reviewers, is a delay that behaves like an analog one. Pete Thorn, demoing the SpaceTime Tap V2 on his YouTube channel in May 2025, called it "a delay pedal that kind of blends the best that digital and analog have to offer" and described "a distinctly kind of analog dark voice to it, but you can vary the tone of the pedal, which is different from most"⁵. He summed up the repeats as sitting behind the main tone without overtaking it, with the high end rolled off enough that you can run quite a bit of delay⁵.

The controls

The V2's front panel keeps things simple, with three main knobs and a set of switches¹².

The Tone toggle is where the repeat character lives. Guitar World's reviewer found that "the Bright setting gives you the most clarity with repeats that naturally mimic your guitar tone, while the Mellow and Dark settings are progressively less bright and melt away really nicely into the ether"².

Internally, a DIP-switch selects between true bypass and buffered bypass, plus a kill-dry option and trails on or off¹. Spill over of the repeats is available in buffered bypass mode⁴.

Guitar World also highlighted the switching itself: the pedal's MagTraB magnetic switching "works brilliantly in a tap tempo context, delivering what might just be the smoothest we've seen in a delay pedal tap tempo footswitch"². The pedal is available with either creme or black knobs².

Power and connections

The SpaceTimeTap runs on an external regulated 9V power supply, which is not included with the pedal¹. Polarity is positive at the ring and negative at the tip, and current consumption is 60mA¹. Guitar World lists the same figures: 9V DC adaptor, not supplied, 60mA². There is no battery option, so it needs a spot on a power supply or an adapter.

Input impedance is 1.0M Ohms and output impedance is 100 Ohms¹. The enclosure measures 120mm x 100mm x 48mm and weighs 350g¹.

V2 and V3

The SpaceTime Tap V2 is itself an updated version of Vahlbruch's original SpaceTime, a delay plus reverb combo⁶. The V2 added features including the echo modulation with Rate and Depth controls and tap tempo with selectable subdivisions¹⁴.

In June 2026, Vahlbruch announced the SpaceTime Tap V3, which replaces the V2⁶. Delicious Audio reported that the V3 "shrinks the footprint dramatically" compared with the V2's chunky enclosure, and drops the V2's extra controls, including its active 3-band EQ, separate Rate and Depth knobs and subdivision toggle⁶. The V3's streamlined interface is three knobs, Time, Repeats and Mix-Level, plus a Tone toggle for bright, mellow or dark, and a Mod knob for adjustable delay time modulation⁶. Spillover remains available in buffered mode, and the internal true or buffered bypass switches carry over⁶. The 60mA current draw and handmade-in-Germany construction are unchanged⁶.

Delicious Audio framed the change as a correction: the V2 "required serious real estate, sported six knobs and multiple toggles, and had one fatal flaw: no tap tempo," and the V3 is "everything the V2 should have been"⁶. Pete Thorn's 2025 demo, though, shows the V2 did have tap tempo with a subdivision control, along with the three-band EQ he used to fine-tune the delay's tone⁵.

What reviewers said

Guitar World reviewed the SpaceTimeTap alongside Vahlbruch's Kaluna tube overdrive and Quantum compressor, and its standout impression was the tap tempo switching, "the smoothest we've seen in a delay pedal tap tempo footswitch"². Pete Thorn's verdict on the V2 was favorable on sound: an analog-style dark delay voice with adjustable tone, a big mix control "you could almost turn it with your foot," and repeats that sit behind the playing rather than over it⁵.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions