The Best Delay Sounds in H9 Harmonizer® Gen 2: Leon Todd’s Favorite Presets

A great delay pedal should cover the essentials. Pristine digital repeats. Warm tape echoes. Vintage modulation. Slapback. Reverse. Ping-pong.

The H9 Harmonizer® Gen 2 goes further. Its delay algorithms open up rhythmic MultiTap patterns, dense UltraTap textures, granular processing, pitch-shifted echoes, dynamic ducking, and hybrid effects that combine delay with reverb, modulation, and Harmonizer processing. It’s a collection that rewards quick inspiration just as much as deep exploration.

That breadth is exactly what stood out to Leon Todd, a Perth-based guitarist, gear expert, and founding member of the hard rock band Ragdoll. Having shared the stage with acts including Guns N’ Roses and Korn, Leon is also known among online tone chasers for his approachable, in-depth demos of guitar gear and effects. He brings that experience to 15 delay-focused presets for the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, each exploring a different side of its expansive delay engine.

“If all the H9 did was delay, it would be an absolute monster of a unit.”

Leon’s H9 presets highlight everything from everyday workhorse sounds to expansive ambient textures.

Explore Leon’s Presets

We’ve highlighted a selection of our favorites below to help you get started and maybe discover a few ideas of your own.

Circular Lead 

Built around the HeadSpace algorithm, Circular Lead combines four independent delay taps with feedback, modulation, and saturation controls. This adds movement and width to your lead tone while keeping your playing articulate. Try assigning saturation or feedback to a Perform control to create expressive transitions during solos.

Wide 12-Bit 

Vintage Delay captures the character of classic rack delays through bit reduction, filtering, and modulation. Wide 12-Bit offers spacious repeats that sit comfortably behind your dry signal. Tap Tempo keeps everything locked in, while the filter control makes it easy to move from bright digital repeats to darker, vintage-inspired echoes.

Golden Slap 

Tape Echo forms the foundation of this preset, using two short delays to create a wider, more dimensional slapback. Gentle tape saturation adds grit and compression like that associated with vintage echo preamps, making it an easy fit for roots rock, country, blues, or any part that could benefit from a little something extra.

Cosmic Web LT1 

Reverse delay, pitch shifting, granular processing, and reverb come together in Cosmic Web to create evolving ambient textures that encourage exploration. The assigned footswitches make it easy to freeze pads or extend repeats, opening the door to cinematic soundscapes and expressive sound-on-sound performance.

H3000 Delays 

Detuned delays became one of the signature sounds of the original H3000. This MicroPitch preset revisits that approach by blending rhythmic repeats with subtle detuning, creating width and depth without relying on traditional chorus. Try this one when you’ve got a dry mono part that could use some modulation and widening.

DEP-5 Nonlinear 

Leon created this preset as a tribute to the Roland DEP-5’s distinctive nonlinear reverb. Using the flexibility of MultiTap, the effect grows in volume over time instead of decaying naturally, while animated stereo movement adds a sense of width and momentum. Try it on volume swells, sustained chords, or atmospheric lead lines.

Hylian 

Built on Quadravox, Hylian transforms your playing into evolving rhythmic harmonies via four pitched delays. Adjust the key and mode to unlock unique melodic interactions, then experiment with tempo to discover novel patterns that respond to your playing in unexpected ways.

Delay Is Just the Beginning 

Alongside its extensive collection of delay algorithms, the H9 Harmonizer also brings together Eventide’s celebrated reverbs, pitch effects, modulation, distortion, granular and vocal algorithms, and more in a compact pedal. Leon’s presets offer an excellent starting point, but they’re only the beginning.

Load them up, turn some knobs, and push an algorithm somewhere it wasn’t meant to go. You might just discover your next favorite sound.