A noteworthy breakthrough in analog audio technology has emerged with the introduction of the SSI2100, a revolutionary 512-stage Bucket Brigade Delay (BBD) integrated circuit that promises to transform the landscape of analog delay effects. This compact chip, housed in an SOP-8 surface-mount package, represents the first genuinely new BBD design in decades, addressing the growing scarcity of analog delay components in the music technology industry.
The SSI2100 supports an impressive clock frequency range from 1 kHz to over 2 MHz, enabling musicians and audio engineers to achieve a wide spectrum of delay times previously impossible with a single chip. Unlike legacy BBD chips that required external clock generators and dual power supplies, the SSI2100 incorporates an on-chip clock driver with anti-phase outputs that needs only a single 5V or 3.3V input. The team behind SSI2100 consists of dedicated musicians and technologists who understand the unique requirements of audio processing circuits.
Unprecedented frequency flexibility meets streamlined power requirements in a revolutionary analog delay architecture.
Perhaps most remarkably, the chip internally generates the legacy 14/15 VGG supply voltage essential for BBD operation, requiring just one external capacitor. The SSI2100 is the first BBD IC available in surface-mount form, making it compatible with modern manufacturing techniques. Sound designers can use this chip to create underwater ambiences by applying sweeping filters to achieve that characteristic muffled, submerged sound quality.
Manufacturing innovations have allowed the SSI2100 to be produced using modern CMOS processes, markedly reducing the die size compared to traditional BBD chips like the MN3005 variants commonly found in existing delay pedals. This miniaturization makes the chip ideal for modern compact music gear designs while maintaining what developers describe as the characteristic “mojo” of classic analog delay circuits. The chip’s simplified connectivity makes it particularly attractive for creating a home studio setup without requiring expensive professional equipment.
The SSI2100’s patent-pending noiseless gain circuit enables multiple chips to be chained together without recalibration of inputs or outputs, allowing for extended delay times and creative effects like reverb through intermediate feedback taps.
Priced competitively at approximately $1.08 per unit in volume, the chip lowers cost barriers for manufacturers while adapting BBD technology to modern PCB assembly methods.
With samples currently available to qualified OEMs, the SSI2100 is positioned to revitalize the analog delay effect market, potentially influencing everything from guitar pedals to synthesizer modules seeking authentic analog delay sounds without the technical limitations that have constrained designers for decades.
