NAMM 2026: Knif Audio BBD is a new hardware analog bucket-brigade delay with a large, self-adjusting anti-aliasing and reconstruction filter.
Bucket Brigade (BBD) technology is often used to create characterful analog delays. Good examples include the Boss DM-101 and the Walrus Audio Meraki, both of which use eight BBD chips. But you can also elevate a Bucket Brigade delay to a high-end level.
Ahead of NAMM 2026, Knif Audio, maker of the Knifonium Synthesizer, has introduced BBD, a new high-end analog bucket-brigade delay processor.
Knif Audio BBD
BBD is the latest developer from Jonte Knif and his small team of engineers at Knif Audio. The Knif Audio BBD is not a guitar pedal, nor is it a 500 module, but rather in a cabinet that we would expect from a small PA system.
It is housed in a lovely monolithic oiled walnut cabinet with an engraved front plate that finishes the design with Finnish finesse. The core is also anything but ordinary, unlike anything you’d find on the shelf of a music store.
Inside the Knif BBD, you can find a unique design of six 4096-step bucket brigade circuits, giving you up to 600 ms of stereo delay time and 1200 ms of mono delay time.
Is aliasing possible? No! BBD features adaptive anti-aliasing and reconstruction filters that prevent aliasing and allow it to reproduce a super-wide range of delay times.
Shaping Options
You read it right. You can use it as a mono or stereo delay. There are seven distinct operating modes available, giving you various delay effects: stereo delay (short/long), ping-pong delay (short/long), mono offset delay (short/long), and long serial mono delay.
Three main parameters: delay time, time division 1, time division 2, and feedback, which give you the basics to set up your delay.
There is also a range of options to alter the signal. This includes a lowpass filter, a multi-wave LFO, and CV inputs for controlling delay time, sync, and feedback level.
To top it all off, Kniff also added a tube stage to the BBD hardware, positioned before the delay circuits. It consists of four NOS tubes with a dedicated control of the distortion. In addition, there is a switch for even or odd harmonics.
The BBD delay clock is also syncable, and there is a unique tap-tempo button. Both are linked to a microcontroller that enables relay switching and clock generation while the signal patch remains 100% analog.
First Impression
The new BBD delay looks absolutely beautiful and elegant. It would certainly be a great addition to any studio.
However, given the asking high price, one has to wonder whether a Boss DM-101 or a Walrus Meraki wouldn’t do the job just as well for a fraction of the cost. Nevertheless, it’s a lovely piece that you’ll certainly see in one studio or another.
The Knif BBD is available now for $3995/3500€ (excl. VAT, duties, and shipping)
More information here: Kiff Audio
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