Delay & Reverb Time Calculator

Enter the tempo of your song and read the delay times, reverb pre-delays and decay times that fit its rhythm, in milliseconds or hertz.

Online Delay Time & Reverb Calculator

Delay and reverb sound tidier when their timing follows the tempo of the song. This calculator turns a tempo in BPM into the length of every note value, so that you can type the numbers into any delay or reverb.

What Does the Delay/Reverb Calculator Show?

  • Delay times: from a whole note to a 1/64 note, each as a straight, a dotted and a triplet value.
  • Milliseconds or hertz: switch the unit to get rates for tempo-synced LFOs, tremolo and other modulation.
  • Reverb starting points: a pre-delay and a decay time whose sum ends on a note boundary, for five reverb lengths.
  • Tap and copy: tap the tempo if you do not know it, and click any value to copy it.

How Are the Times Calculated?

One beat lasts 60,000 milliseconds divided by the tempo: at 120 BPM a quarter note is 500 ms. Every other value follows from it. A half note is twice as long and an eighth note half as long; a dotted note is one and a half times its straight value, and a triplet two thirds. A length in hertz is 1,000 divided by the milliseconds. The reverb values are a common starting point, not a rule: the pre-delay is a 1/64 note, and the decay is chosen so that the reverb has faded by the next beat, half bar or bar. Adjust by ear from there.

Who Is It For?

Producers and mixing engineers setting delays, reverbs and modulation by hand, guitarists and keyboard players programming pedals and hardware that have no tempo sync, and live sound engineers. If you do not know the tempo of a track, measure it with the BPM & Key Analyzer or tap it with the BPM Tapper. The reasoning behind the settings is in How to Calculate Delay and Reverb Times.

How to Use the Delay/Reverb Calculator in 3 Steps

Step 1

Enter the Tempo

Type the BPM of your song, or tap it with the Tap button.

Step 2

Choose the Unit

Keep milliseconds for delay and reverb times, or switch to hertz for LFO rates.

Step 3

Copy the Value

Click a value to copy it, then paste it into your plugin or type it into your hardware.

Delay and Reverb Times

Unit

Note value Straight (ms) Dotted (ms) Triplet (ms)
Straight values give clean echoes on the beat, dotted values a wider, rolling feel, and triplets a shuffle.

Reverb Starting Points

Reverb length Pre-delay (ms) Decay (ms) Total (ms)
The pre-delay keeps the reverb off the start of each word; the decay is how long the tail lasts. Treat these values as starting points, and shorten the decay if the mix gets cloudy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate delay time from BPM?
Divide 60,000 by the BPM to get the length of a quarter note in milliseconds. At 120 BPM that is 500 ms. Halve it for an eighth note, halve it again for a sixteenth, and double it for a half note.

What are dotted and triplet delays?
A dotted note lasts one and a half times its normal length, and a triplet two thirds. A dotted eighth delay is the classic rolling echo of many guitar parts; triplet delays give a swing feel.

What is reverb pre-delay?
It is the gap between the dry sound and the start of the reverb. A pre-delay of roughly 20 to 40 ms lets the first consonant of a word come through before the reverb sets in, which keeps vocals clear.