Digital Delays

[FleshOnGear]

Ok, I'm hoping you guys can shed some light on delays for me. I'm one of those weirdos who prefers digital delay, and I picked up a Boss DD7 because it has a decent feature set for a modest amount of dough.

But, running it in front of the amp, it's way too hissy. I'm talking about twice as much hiss compared to taking it out of the chain. I don't mind upgrading to something a bit pricier if it's quieter, and can do smooth pitch bends on the repeats when you turn the time knob.

I was looking at a DD-500 mainly to compare noise levels with the DD7, and I found that it was much quieter. When I turned the time knob, though, I didn't get the bending effect I wanted. Later on I discovered that you can make large changes in delay time if you press down the knob when you turn it, and that you can assign the time parameter to an expression pedal. It might be able to do what I want, but I don't know when I will get an opportunity to test it again.

So, do any of you have any experience with the DD-500, or any other delays that will do what I need? What other suggestions do you have? I'm not especially interested in emulations of esoteric analog delays, I just want clean clear sound and smooth manipulation of time and feedback. Thanks!

[afjungemann]

What if you run it in the loop?

[joeminer]

I have an Alexander delay that I really like. It's pricier than Boss, but not Strymon pricey.

https://reverb.com/item/3659091-alexand ... AN_Q&pla=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FleshOnGear]

What if you run it in the loop?

That's a fair point. I was really trying to keep my setup as simple as possible, and just go straight into the amp. Certainly the pedal will sound much quieter AFTER the amp's gain rather than before. At this point, after hearing the quietness of the DD500 compared to the DD7, going into distortion, it's hard not to feel like the DD7 is coloring my tone and raising the noise floor no matter where it is in the chain.

I just scoured YouTube for videos of the DD500, and after scanning videos for over an hour I finally saw a clip where somebody twisted the time control while the delay fed back on itself. It glitched and clicked. Not what I hoped to see, but that still leaves me wondering if a smooth glide is possible with an expression pedal.

I'm also curious about the Korg SDD-3000...

[Boy_Narf]

Don't even mess around with other digital delays. Just get a Strymon. Buy once cry once. The El Cap can actually be had for fairly cheap second hand.

[FleshOnGear]

I have an Alexander delay that I really like. It's pricier than Boss, but not Strymon pricey.

https://reverb.com/item/3659091-alexand ... AN_Q&pla=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the description it says they've removed the "rubber band" effect while adjusting the delay time. That sounds like the opposite of what I want. I always liked that sound on the old Boss digital delay pedals when you twisted the time knob.

[afjungemann]

Don't even mess around with other digital delays. Just get a Strymon. Buy once cry once. The El Cap can actually be had for fairly cheap second hand.

Best reply... The El Cap is great but I have a Brigadier and it usually goes for even cheaper. It is an awesome delay as well. I also have the Dig and if dual delay is your thing, it is cool... turns out it isn't my thing so it will be moving along shortly.

[joeminer]

I have an Alexander delay that I really like. It's pricier than Boss, but not Strymon pricey.

https://reverb.com/item/3659091-alexand ... AN_Q&pla=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the description it says they've removed the "rubber band" effect while adjusting the delay time. That sounds like the opposite of what I want. I always liked that sound on the old Boss digital delay pedals when you twisted the time knob.

I must have a previous version because it does make an interesting noise when I quickly adjust the time. Even if I tap tempo it in. Not really a big deal to me - if you don't want to hear that noise, set your speed, then turn it on. The only thing I don't like about the pedal is I can't hardly tell the difference between the orange and red LEDs. I do like the tap tempo and small package.

[thejay]

Go Strymon, destroys most pedals. I have also borrowed friends pedals and found settings I liked that I ended up programming on to the timeline for future use. Can't beat them, great pedals!

[Les Paul Lover]

I have the Vox Time Machine - it's a very reasonnably priced digital delay that I would recommend to anyone.
When you twist the time knob, it does that wonderful crazy "bending" effect which I think you want.

It sounds great - though it won't have as much variety as strymons, but they cost around £100 new, not £250 or £400. You can set it digital clean, digital "analog", and can set a little modulation on the repeats.

The tap tempa is great too, you can easily set it up on the fly, you can tap the tempo before you engage it too, and you can get up to 6 sec delay with the tap tempo. Changing tempo mid song is seemless.... unless you use the time knob, and then it goes crazy in a really fun way!

I bought mine for £70 2nd hand. It's the pedal I use the most too.

[FleshOnGear]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Really, if I could lay out the cash, I would get a Strymon Timeline. I have particular constraints on what I can afford, and how I can pay.

Ant, I'm curious about the Time Machine. It seems to tick the important boxes, but I have two more questions about it. Does it do subdivisions off of your tap tempo? On the Boss DD7 the tap tempo yields different note values depending on where the mode dial is set. Does the TM do this? How is the noise floor on it? Based on your amps, I assume you run the delay into the input of overdriven amps rather than in an effects loop. Any hiss issues?

[Les Paul Lover]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Really, if I could lay out the cash, I would get a Strymon Timeline. I have particular constraints on what I can afford, and how I can pay.

Ant, I'm curious about the Time Machine. It seems to tick the important boxes, but I have two more questions about it. Does it do subdivisions off of your tap tempo? On the Boss DD7 the tap tempo yields different note values depending on where the mode dial is set. Does the TM do this? How is the noise floor on it? Based on your amps, I assume you run the delay into the input of overdriven amps rather than in an effects loop. Any hiss issues?

Yes, there's a sub division knob, but it's mislabelled - it's called D (for delay) Range. The video below will show you what it can do - nothing fancy, it's the bog standard pro guitar shop demo, though I quite like them.

It's dead silent. Either in front of my AD15, or my rocker 30, or in the loop of my RV50, it's silent. Note that I run my AD15 on the dirty side of clean, so I can pick lightly and have a pretty clean tone, and dig in and have some nice break up. But even with the amp set for full crunch, with moderate delay and decay, it still sounds really good (usually on leads, I use delay on cleanish tones mainly - very few parts with heavy OD/fuzz beside leads).

https://youtu.be/BuAoXyzad-4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JRogero]

I am not a fan of Line 6's amp modeling stuff but their delays are great. There is a reason the DL4 is so popular and on so many pro boards. I upgraded to the M9 just because I like the fact that it can be midi synced or tap tempo'd.

[FleshOnGear]

Ok, yesterday I got a chance to test the DD500 again. It will so smooth pitch bends in analog mode only. For me, this is not sufficient. Worse yet, the delay can only be adjusted in 1 ms increments, so any on-the-fly adjustments below around 30 ms will cause audible jumps in pitch.

The DD500 is not going to cut it. Too bad, because it really sounds nice. The Time Machine seems like a solid, affordable option. I can probably return my DD7 and get a used Time Machine without any additional cash. I'm left with questions about Strymon pedals, though. I'm thinking about saving for a Timeline or a DIG, but I need to be sure that I can get smooth time adjustment out of them before I take the plunge. I can't seem to find any demos online that show these pedals being used in such a way - only the El Capistan is ever shown doing this. Can the Strymon pedals that aren't geared specifically toward analog emulation do this?

[Jondog]

Time Machine is a great delay pedal, does a good analog sound too. One I wish I kept.