Delay Time Calculator — Sync Delays and Reverb to Any Tempo

A delay effect set to a random millisecond value can muddy a mix. The same delay set to match the song's tempo sits inside the groove, adds depth, and feels intentional. Syncing your delays to the track is one of those small things that separates polished production from amateur recordings.

Get all your delay times at once with the delay time calculator on CalcHub — enter your BPM, get every note subdivision in milliseconds.

The Core Formula

Delay time (ms) = 60,000 ÷ BPM

At 120 BPM: one quarter note = 500ms. Everything else is a multiple or fraction of that number.

Delay Times at Common Tempos

Note Value	80 BPM	100 BPM	120 BPM	140 BPM
Whole note	3000 ms	2400 ms	2000 ms	1714 ms
Half note	1500 ms	1200 ms	1000 ms	857 ms
Quarter note	750 ms	600 ms	500 ms	429 ms
Dotted quarter	1125 ms	900 ms	750 ms	643 ms
Quarter triplet	500 ms	400 ms	333 ms	286 ms
8th note	375 ms	300 ms	250 ms	214 ms
Dotted 8th	562 ms	450 ms	375 ms	321 ms
8th triplet	250 ms	200 ms	167 ms	143 ms
16th note	187 ms	150 ms	125 ms	107 ms
16th triplet	125 ms	100 ms	83 ms	71 ms

How to Use the Calculator

1. Enter your song's BPM (use the BPM tap calculator if you don't know it)
2. Get a full table of all note values in milliseconds
3. Copy the value you need into your delay plugin

The CalcHub calculator also shows dotted notes and triplet subdivisions — the ones most delay plugins don't show directly.

Choosing the Right Note Value

Dotted eighth note delay is the most famous effect in all of pop/rock production — the Edge from U2 basically built a career on it. It gives a syncopated, cascading feel that fills space between guitar notes beautifully. At 120 BPM that's 375ms. Quarter note delay is the standard slapback: one echo that lines up with the beat, used heavily in country, rockabilly, and vintage rock. 16th note delay on a hi-hat or synth creates a machine-gun rapid-fire effect at high feedback settings — standard in electronic and dance music. Half note delay on a lead vocal in the chorus creates a spacious, ethereal doubling effect when the mix is less dense.

Reverb Pre-Delay

Pre-delay is the time between the dry signal and when reverb begins. Setting it to a short note value — 16th or 32nd note — separates the initial transient from the reverb tail, keeping the lead element present while still sounding lush. At 120 BPM: a 32nd note pre-delay is 62.5ms. This one technique does more for vocal presence in a reverb-heavy mix than most other adjustments.

Should I use tempo sync in my delay plugin instead of entering ms manually?

If your DAW project has a stable BPM and your plugin supports MIDI clock sync, tempo sync is more convenient. But entered ms values are more reliable if your project has tempo automation, if you're using hardware units, or if the sync introduces timing artifacts. Knowing the ms values also helps you understand what your synced plugin is actually doing.

My delay sounds out of time even at the right ms value — why?

Most likely you have a time signature or tempo issue. Confirm your project BPM exactly matches the song (not an approximation). Also check your delay plugin's "time" parameter — some use samples instead of milliseconds, and conversion depends on your project sample rate.

What's the difference between delay and reverb in terms of timing?

Both are time-based effects. Delay creates distinct, repeated copies of the signal. Reverb simulates acoustic space — many reflections arrive so close together they blend into a continuous tail. The principles overlap: reverb pre-delay is set with the same ms calculation, and early reflections in a reverb algorithm are essentially very short, densely packed delays.

Related Calculators

• BPM Calculator — find the tempo of any song by tapping
• Metronome Calculator — tempo subdivisions for practice
• Sample Rate Calculator — audio specifications for recording