New Music Gear Monday: TC Electronic TC-2290-DT Delay Plugin And Desktop Controller

For a good part of the analog audio hardware years of the 80s and 90s, the TC Electronic TC-2290 delay was a standard in every studio. It offered excellent quality delays coupled with some amazing modulation effects to take it leaps and bounds beyond anything else on the market at the time. Since we’ve hit the DAW age though, the 2290 seemed to fall by the wayside, a victim of new capabilities in software that almost matched the hardware unit for a lot less money. Pristine delays with great modulation could be had with most native delays, even though the sound wasn’t quite the same.

But it looks like there’s still life in the 2290 concept, as TC Electronic has reintroduced the delay as a plugin with the new TC-2290-DT, but it’s connected to a very unique desktop hardware controller that sets it apart from just about anything else on the market.

This hardware-controlled plugin puts all the features of the hardware unit inside your DAW but keeps the authentic look and feel of the real thing via the desktop interface.

It turns out that the original 2290 wasn’t any easy thing to emulate. Even though it was labeled as a “digital delay” it was basically an analog piece of gear that was controlled by a microprocessor. Unfortunately the code for the processor was lost somewhere in the sands of time, so TC had to go back and measure everything about the units (like most analog gear, they all sound a little different) from scratch in order to model the distinct sound of the unit.

All plugins and hardware units come with presets to get you started but here the 2290-DT beats the rest. Over the years, a veritable who’s who of amazing bands, producers and artists including David Gilmour, Dream Theater, U2’s The Edge and guitar virtuoso Robben Ford have utilized the beautiful delays of the original 2290, and many still do. The 2290-DT features presets imported directly from the actual rack units of those artists so you can nail the sound that you been hearing all these years for yourself.

Considering that the original 2290 sold for more than $5,000 back in 1985, the new 2290-DT is a bargain at just $349, which includes the hardware controller! The unit works on just about all DAWs on both Mac and PC, and will be shipping in June. You can find out more here, or watch the video below.