Horse Parade (Flora Creative Ltd.) has released DAHLIA Tape Delay, a focused organic tape echo plugin built natively as an AUv3 for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. The developer has a long history with the Dahlia name — the original Dahlia Delay has been a staple on the iOS AUv3 list since 2016 — and this is a fully rebuilt, redesigned release under the new Horse Parade brand with a fresh App Store listing. The focus hasn’t changed: a tape delay that sounds like working hardware rather than a digital approximation, kept lightweight enough to run multiple instances without pressing the CPU.
The Sound: A Delay That Breathes
Unlike digital delays that copy and paste the input signal cleanly, tape delays are defined by their physical imperfections. DAHLIA is built around three specific behaviors that capture that character. The first is wow and flutter — as the virtual tape moves, pitch bends and warbles naturally, creating a chorusing effect on the delay tails that adds width and movement to synth pads, guitars, and almost anything else. The second is filtered feedback: tape loses high-end fidelity with each repeat, and DAHLIA models this so the echoes sink naturally into the background of a mix without muddying the low end or competing with the dry signal. The third is self-oscillation — push the feedback to the edge and DAHLIA tips into the classic dub-siren shrieks and ambient washes of vintage Space Echo units. That threshold behavior is harder to control predictably in digital delays and it’s one of the things the community historically valued in the original Dahlia.
The workflow advantage is the universal purchase. One buy covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac (M-series). Start a session in AUM or Loopy Pro on iPad, dial in the degraded tape character on a vocal chop or drum bus, and open the same project on Mac without any preset migration. The DSP footprint is consistently described as light — consistent with what Flora Creative built in the original — which means it holds up in dense sessions where most analog-modeled delays start to show their cost.
Key features:
- Tape Wow and Flutter Modeling: Natural pitch warble and chorusing on delay tails — lush movement on sustained material
- Filtered Feedback: Each repeat loses high-end fidelity naturally, sinking into the mix without clashing with the dry signal
- Self-Oscillation: Push feedback into Space Echo-style dub sirens and ambient washes with controlled threshold behavior
- Universal AUv3: One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac (M-series) — full parameter automation in any AUv3-compatible host
- Lightweight DSP: Designed for multiple instances in complex sessions without CPU overhead
- Standalone and AUv3 on iPhone, iPad, and macOS (Apple M1 or later)
App price: Check App Store for current pricing.
No in-app purchases.
Original release: 2026 | Latest update: 2026
