Help me with choosing a delay!

The only area with the DD500 that I'm not totally sold on is when you want to do out of control chaotic oscillations - ie; crank the feedback right up to max, and let that pupper squeal.

I don't think it sounds as good as a lot of the competition. The DD500 doesn't seem to soft-clip the output, so what you end up with is a really harsh horrible sounding hard clipped mess. I'm not sure if it is the DAC clipping or what, but it isn't pleasant.

So if you wanna do those kinds of sounds, you need to be really careful, and I'd probably recommend another delay.

But, for most of your bread and butter delay sounds, the DD500 still to this day punches well above its weight. The ability to put a 4 band EQ in the feedback-path of any delay model is a tweaker paradise. The only other device that gives you that much control are the Fractal units - at least, the Axe3/FM3/FM9/VP4 generation.

DD500 can also run two presets at once, which is really really cool.

The TC Flashback stuff is quite nice. You do get a lot of control via the Toneprint editor, but it isn't the nicest thing to use, and dealing with banks and patches kinda sucks. The Plethora is a really cool (and quite cheap when it is all said and done) Swiss Army Knife of a pedal. The pitch effects blow chunks.... but the delays are great. Really good in fact.

I don't like the analog algorithm on the Timeline very much. It just doesn't do that nice crisp analog delay sound, and it won't brighten up, and the oscillations turn into muddy terror (that one is for you @Cirrus ) but the other modes are quite good.

Line6 have some fantastic delays, but strangely, I am not a fan of their bog standard digital delay. It doesn't echo away enough and the parameters are tricky to balance. Like, 12 o'clock on the feedback knob on the DD500, and you get around 14 echoes. But 12 o'clock or rather 50% on the Helix Simple Delay, you get about 5 or 6. When I was using Helix as my primary effects platform, this was always a big battle for me.

Source Audio... let me pimp my video:


I still think those tones are some of the best you can get from a guitar pedal. What lets Source Audio stuff down (and you might not care) is the preset spillover and midi switching side of things.
 
Orvillain said:
The only area with the DD500 that I'm not totally sold on is when you want to do out of control chaotic oscillations - ie; crank the feedback right up to max, and let that pupper squeal.

I don't think it sounds as good as a lot of the competition. The DD500 doesn't seem to soft-clip the output, so what you end up with is a really harsh horrible sounding hard clipped mess. I'm not sure if it is the DAC clipping or what, but it isn't pleasant.

So if you wanna do those kinds of sounds, you need to be really careful, and I'd probably recommend another delay.

But, for most of your bread and butter delay sounds, the DD500 still to this day punches well above its weight. The ability to put a 4 band EQ in the feedback-path of any delay model is a tweaker paradise. The only other device that gives you that much control are the Fractal units - at least, the Axe3/FM3/FM9/VP4 generation.

DD500 can also run two presets at once, which is really really cool.

The TC Flashback stuff is quite nice. You do get a lot of control via the Toneprint editor, but it isn't the nicest thing to use, and dealing with banks and patches kinda sucks. The Plethora is a really cool (and quite cheap when it is all said and done) Swiss Army Knife of a pedal. The pitch effects blow chunks.... but the delays are great. Really good in fact.

I don't like the analog algorithm on the Timeline very much. It just doesn't do that nice crisp analog delay sound, and it won't brighten up, and the oscillations turn into muddy terror (that one is for you @Cirrus ) but the other modes are quite good.

Line6 have some fantastic delays, but strangely, I am not a fan of their bog standard digital delay. It doesn't echo away enough and the parameters are tricky to balance. Like, 12 o'clock on the feedback knob on the DD500, and you get around 14 echoes. But 12 o'clock or rather 50% on the Helix Simple Delay, you get about 5 or 6. When I was using Helix as my primary effects platform, this was always a big battle for me.

Source Audio... let me pimp my video:


I still think those tones are some of the best you can get from a guitar pedal. What lets Source Audio stuff down (and you might not care) is the preset spillover and midi switching side of things.
Click to expand...

Wow! Your posts are always super interesting and informative for me!
You've almost completely convinced me to seriously consider the Source Audio stuff!
And most of all, kudos for the video - Excellent!
 
Mechanize said:
Hey guys!
After all the help you guys have given me, I think it's only fair to let you know my choice.
The winner is... Drum roll...
Free The Tone FT-2Y
It absolutely blew me away.
Thanks so much again to all of you for your help!
Click to expand...

Great choice! About as dang close in today's world where you can get to a decent 2290 in a pedal format. :beer
 
Tight unit for sure! And Dual Delay Paths?? Yes! :banana

I have the Future Factory, which brings some added Modulation to the Party! :stirthepot


Congrats again!

:cheers
 
Boss DD-3T. Straightforward, intuitive, easy to get a sound, plug and play, but has tap-tempo for those times you may want it. Built like a brick shit house, sturdy, durable, reliable and will take thousands of stomps and dozens of drops.

BossDD3Pedo.jpg
 
Last edited:
maguchi said:
Boss DD-3T straightforward, intuitive, easy to get a sound, plug and play, but has tap-tempo for those times you may want it. Built like a brick shit house, sturdy durable, reliable and will take thousands of stomps and dozens of drops.

View attachment 42364
Click to expand...

Boss fangirl here. I love this pedal.

However, I have noticed that it is more useful when a guitarist intends to use a delay pedal as an effect.

If someone would like to use a delay pedal for slapback or just "bubbling in the background", " thickener" etc. usually an analog delay is better in this application as the repeats are darker and less obtrusive.

My ears may have deceived me, but still the DD-3t algorithm is darker compared to some other digital delays.

Some people use the DD-3 (older model without the tap tempo). I think Analog man or many others offer a high cut mod on it to make it more versatile. But prices for these on the used gear marketplaces have gone quite upwards.

Some call the DD-3T lo-fi, but it is an enjoyable pedal absolutely. It comes with boss tank-like build quality.
 
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