Enter your tempo and get every delay and reverb time in milliseconds. Straight, dotted and triplet values for whole notes down to 1/32, plus reverb pre-delay and tail. Free, instant, no signup.
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet |
|---|
Times are in milliseconds. Straight values sit on the grid, dotted values are 1.5× longer (wide, spacious echoes), and triplets are two-thirds the length (busy, rolling delays). Set your delay to the note value you want the echo to land on.
How to calculate delay time from BPM
The maths is simple once you know it. 60,000 divided by your tempo gives you one quarter note in milliseconds. At 120 BPM that is 500 ms. From there:
- Halve it for the next note down — 250 ms for an eighth, 125 ms for a sixteenth.
- Multiply by 1.5 for a dotted value — a dotted eighth at 120 BPM is 375 ms.
- Multiply by two-thirds for a triplet — an eighth triplet at 120 BPM is about 167 ms.
The calculator above does all of it at once so you can read the number straight off and type it into your delay plugin.
Common delay times at popular tempos
| Tempo | 1/4 | 1/8 | Dotted 1/8 | 1/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 BPM | 667 ms | 333 ms | 500 ms | 167 ms |
| 100 BPM | 600 ms | 300 ms | 450 ms | 150 ms |
| 120 BPM | 500 ms | 250 ms | 375 ms | 125 ms |
| 128 BPM | 469 ms | 234 ms | 352 ms | 117 ms |
| 140 BPM | 429 ms | 214 ms | 321 ms | 107 ms |
| 174 BPM | 345 ms | 172 ms | 259 ms | 86 ms |
Which delay time should you actually use?
Dotted eighth — the wide, rhythmic one
This is the sound on countless guitar and synth lead parts. Because a dotted eighth does not line up with the straight grid, the echoes land between the beats and create a rolling, syncopated pattern instead of just doubling what is already there. It fills space without cluttering the groove.
Quarter note — the obvious, safe one
Echoes land right on the beat. Easy to hear, easy to mix, but it reinforces the pulse rather than adding movement. Good on sparse arrangements, muddy on busy ones.
Sixteenth and triplets — the busy ones
Short, fast repeats that read more as thickening than as an audible echo. Sixteenth delay is common on vocals as a subtle slap; triplets add a shuffled feel that works well over straight drums.
Very short (under 40 ms) — not really delay
At these lengths you stop hearing repeats and start hearing comb filtering and width. This is the territory of doubling and haas-effect stereo tricks, not rhythmic delay.
Setting reverb to the tempo
Reverb has two tempo-relevant controls, and syncing them is what keeps a reverb from washing out a mix.
Pre-delay is the gap before the reverb starts. Setting it to a very short note value — a 1/64 or 1/32 — keeps the front of the sound clear and stops the reverb blurring the attack of a vocal or snare. That small gap is most of what makes a reverb sound “separate” from the source rather than smeared into it.
Decay time works well near a half note or a full bar, so the tail finishes just before the next chord change. If your reverb is still ringing when the harmony moves, it clashes. The calculator gives you both numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate delay time from BPM?
Divide 60,000 by the tempo in BPM to get one quarter note in milliseconds. At 120 BPM that is 500 ms. Halve it for eighth notes, halve again for sixteenths, multiply by 1.5 for dotted values and by two-thirds for triplets.
What delay time should I use at 120 BPM?
At 120 BPM a quarter note is 500 ms, an eighth is 250 ms, a dotted eighth is 375 ms and a sixteenth is 125 ms. Dotted eighth is the classic wide, rhythmic echo used on guitars and synth leads.
What is dotted eighth delay and why is it popular?
A dotted eighth is 1.5 times the length of an eighth note. Because it does not line up with the straight grid, the echoes fall between the beats and create a rolling, syncopated pattern rather than doubling what is already there.
Why not just use my DAW’s tempo sync button?
Tempo sync is fine when the delay is inside your project. You need the actual millisecond value when a plugin has no sync, when you are working with hardware, when the delay sits on a bus running at a different rate, or when you want to nudge slightly off the grid deliberately.
How do I set reverb pre-delay to the tempo?
Use a very short note value such as a 1/64 or 1/32 note. That small gap keeps the reverb from blurring the attack of the sound. Setting the decay near a half note lets the tail finish before the next chord change.
Is this delay calculator free?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser, needs no download or sign-up, and there is no limit on how often you use it.
Don’t know the tempo yet? Find it with the BPM tapper or detect it automatically from an audio file with the key and BPM finder. See all our free music tools.