The Steel Guitar Forum

what to get for a good digital Delay. anyone want to recommend one?

Guyatone MD-3!

You will see many suggest the Boss DD-3, but I have used the Boss delays as well as many others. IMHO the Guyatone beats them all.
Dave

I realy like the Line 6 Echopark for stomp box delay and it dosn't mess your tone, but every one hears things differently so you allmost got to trust your own ears on what sounds good to you. I think personaly that analog sounds warmer than digital and the Line 6 gives you 3 choices, analog, digital and tape. So this is just another one to think about.

I used a Boss DD-5 digital delay for a long time (until I got a POD XT). It is a great delay and it will not "color" your guitar tone like some will. e.g. the popular RV-3 unit will tend to change the tone slighly, even in bypass.

The DD-5 has been discontinued and replaced by the DD-6. I haven't tried one of those so I don't know anything about it.

I use the DD-6 and I love it! It has a tap function that allows you to simply tap in the time value 'on the fly', as the song is playing.

Below is my reply from another post about this:

I'm using a BOSS DD-6 with the tap function. There is no need to compute anything. You use the pedal 'on the fly'. As the song is playing, step on the pedal and hold it down for 2 or 3 seconds (a light starts flashing), then just tap on the pedal in time with the music (3 stomps of the foot) and start picking! It couldn't be much easier. You can set the repeats at 1/4 notes, dotted 1/4 notes (a beat and a half), etc.

I use the DD-6 on all of my gigs, for both guitar and steel guitar. For Albert Lee style speedpicking: the repeat should be a beat and a half (dotted 1/4 note), 1 repeat, with the repeat set as loud as the original note. Pick single note scale patterns, and don't stop picking!

For slow stuff: 2 or 3 repeats, set back to about 30% of the volume of the original note. For this type of delay it's not as critical to set the time value for every song IMHO, because the delayed notes are not as present. I use one basic setting for most of the slow stuff. For the fast Albert Lee style it is very important to get the right tempo, or you can make a fool of yourself very quickly! I know, I've done it. But not since I got the DD-6

My only complaint about the DD-6: to get Out of the delay mode (back to normal) you have to step on the pedal and hold it down for 2 or 3 seconds. That seems like an enernity when you're on stage and the song is under way.

I've had a DD-3 since 1999 or so. Loved it with the Nashville 400. The level out of the pre effects loop on the 112 was too hot for it. The pedal would clip before the amp would. I quit using it. The only time I've used delay since then was for some fills in a rock song. It was not good then because I needed the tap. Find a delay that has a way to do both tap and manual timing.

I borrowed a friend's Line 6 DL-4 for a gig and loved the sound. Storage was an issue, though.

I now run with a rackmount effects unit with a very small (40 ms) delay before my reverb.

My main gripe with the Boss pedals is that the echo they create is too high fidelity. Most of the time I like for my echoes to have some kind of darkened or dirtied up sound. Just like with old tape echoes or analog delays you can blend a good amount of delay into the sound without getting the clutter of having the repeats being so clean and clear. The Boss DD pedals are pretty good about not messing with the dry tone. I agree with Jack on that PodXT delay factor. When I used a PodXT as an effects unit, that was one of my favorite delays ever. As far as pedals go, I like the DLS Echotap. It allows for two different delays that you can toggle between. One of the delays has its time set by a selector knob. The other delay is set by tapping the tempo. It also has a tone control for the echoes, which I think is critical in a musical delay pedal. That pedal is pretty expensive though, and my wife has "adopted" it from me.

Currently, I'm using the Line6 Echo Park pedal. That is really a fantastic pedal. It has 3 tone modes. One emulates a tape echo, one is clean digital like a Boss, and the third mode is like an analog delay. Its a very good pedal to use on the fly. Doug mentioned that on the DD6 you have to hold the button down for a few seconds to bypass it. The Echo Park simply has a two-function button. If you tap on the thing firmly, it sets the tempo of the delay. If you press real hard, it goes one extra click and bypasses, no waiting. It also has some real neat triplet timing, ducking, and other variations. For a pedal that's barely over a hundred bucks, it's pretty amazing.

Brad

I guess it’s a matter of preference, but I like the clean repeats of the BOSS delay. Back in the 1970s I had an original Echoplex and an original Memory Man. I always thought the repeats were too muddy, and when the BOSS pedals came along I was blown away by the clarity of the repeats. Oh well, to each his own.

Doug, I like that clean option too in the Line6 Echo Park, but only sometimes. There's something forgiving about a darkened repeat in that you can get away with lots of delay sometimes, and it still stays "behind" the dry sound. It almost works like a reverb in a way. I find that with clean repeats that the timing becomes even more critical. But a well timed clean delay is super cool.

Brad

ok, I'll play.

Way too subjective as you can see.

I bought an Ibanez DE 7 for $25 at a Pawn Shop, has Echo and Delay settings, not sure what the difference is. I used it for about a year, then decided batteries and a floor thing wasn't cutting it so I stepped up to an OLD Peavey Profex, paid $60 for it. It is a single space rack mount with Headphones out...stereo out all that stuff. And you plug it in, no more batteries ! Yeay !

I have written Delay patches, chorus patches and yes even the Overdrive patch , this is a great unit and has been part of my thing'y for 3 years now.

If I can find another ( cheap) I would buy it in a NY minute.

All of the above mentioned devices are fine, the Pods, the stomp boxes etc, they all do there thing and well. I still can't figure out why they invented an effects unit that looks like a kidney .

DigiTech DigiDelay is good and and not too expensive. Tap tempo, tape echo , modulation delay,4 second looper. Under 100 usd and solidly built. The "tape" delay is especially good .

I have a Boss DD-5 I use with my NV112 and nothing else.
I love it. I had a DD-3 before that and found that to be an excellent delay pedal as well. They are still available for sale.
Don

I also had issues with the super clean repeats of the DD3 but I had AnalogMan put in a high repeat cut switch on it. Wow. Big difference. Sweet analog like repeats (two settings depending on how much high you want out). It cost about 25 bucks quick turn around time.Highly recommended for DD3 users if you don't want to part with the pedal!I use the switch for my tele DD3 too!It should be stock on all DD3's!

Brad, I am reading a great book: "Digital Guitar Power!" by Marc Schonbrun. I suggest you get a copy.
Good reviews of the Line 6 products.

Since I sold my AD-9 analog delay with the old style chips in it, I have never been happy with any digital delay. This includes the Boss DD-20 and the Lexicon MPX1. I liked the way that the echo of the AD-9 just seemed to be a natural extension of the original sound, not a discrete repeat. I just ordered a Guyatone MD-3 on ebay, new for $75. Although the reliablility of this unit appears to be pretty bad, I think it will survive my home use for recording. Reviewers of this unit seem to think it has the smoothness of the old analog delays. If this doesn't work out I'll try the Line 6 Echo Park.

I don't have a problem setting the delay time as I have gotten used to hearing when the delays are timed right by adjusting the delay value manually.

Greg

Was there ever a DD-4?

I use a DD-20 and it performs well.

Howz about this fine looking new addition to the bunch?


http://www.tcelectronic.com/NovaDelay.asp

Brad

The DigiTech RP-150 gives you the option of using digital, analog, or tape delay. The analog delays are very smooth and subtle, and work well mixed with a little Hall (Lexicon) reverb. There are times, though, when a little bit of sharp, digital delay can sound very nice.