🎚️ Delay Time Calculator
Enter your tempo to get tempo-synced delay times in milliseconds — and their matching frequencies in Hz — for straight, dotted, and triplet note values.
🎶 Calculate Delay Times
What is a Delay Time Calculator?
A delay time calculator converts your song's tempo into the exact echo lengths that lock to the beat. Instead of nudging a delay knob until it sounds close, you read off the millisecond value for a quarter, eighth, sixteenth, dotted, or triplet note and dial it in precisely.
It's essential for tempo-syncing delay plugins that don't talk to your DAW, for hardware units, and for matching modulation effects by their Hz equivalents — the foundation of tight, musical rhythmic effects.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate delay time from BPM?
Start with the quarter-note length: 60,000 divided by the tempo gives milliseconds per beat. An eighth note is half of that and a sixteenth a quarter. For tempo-synced echoes you set your delay's time to one of these values, and the repeats fall neatly on the grid.
What's the difference between straight, dotted, and triplet delays?
A straight note sits on the beat. A dotted note is one-and-a-half times longer (multiply by 1.5) and gives that wide, off-grid bounce heard in a lot of pop and EDM. A triplet is two-thirds the length (multiply by 2/3) for a rolling, swung feel. This tool prints all three so you can audition each.
Why does the calculator also show frequencies in Hz?
Modulation effects like tremolo, auto-pan, and many LFOs are set in Hz (cycles per second) rather than milliseconds. Converting a delay time to its frequency — 1,000 divided by the milliseconds — lets you tempo-sync those effects too, so everything pulses together.
When should I use a dotted-eighth delay?
A dotted-eighth delay is the classic guitar and synth-lead sound: at most tempos it weaves between your straight eighth notes for a rhythmic, ear-catching pattern without muddying the groove. Grab the 1/8 dotted value from the results and set your delay to it.