Urei Cooper Time Cube

Developed in 1971 by Duane H. Cooper and Bill Putnam, the Cooper Time Cube is one of the strangest delays ever to reach serious studio use. Instead of tape, BBDs, or digital memory, it creates delay acoustically by sending audio through long coiled tubes and capturing the result at the far end.

The original hardware only produced very short delays - roughly 14 ms on one line and 16 ms on the other - so it was not about obvious repeats. Its real magic lives in doubling, Haas widening, spatial thickening, and the slightly filtered, phasey character that comes from physically pushing sound through air inside a coil. That oddball design is exactly why engineers still remember it.

Plugin Emulations

How It Works

  • Audio is converted to acoustic energy, sent through long coiled tubing, then captured again as audio
  • Two short delay paths create classic 14 ms / 16 ms-style doubling and width effects
  • The tubing and transducers naturally filter the sound, adding combing and tonal color

Legacy & Evolution

Only around a thousand units were made, but the Time Cube earned a permanent place in studio history because it did something neither tape nor later digital systems quite reproduced. It sits in a sweet spot between delay, doubling, room simulation, and phase coloration, which is why modern recreations still feel special rather than merely nostalgic.

Key Specs

  • Release Year: 1971
  • Designers: Duane H. Cooper and Bill Putnam
  • Delay Type: Acoustic tube delay
  • Delay Times: Approximately 14 ms and 16 ms
  • Known For: Doubling, Haas widening, filtered spatial character