New Delay help

ibanez_dude · 11-14-2009, 05:39 PM

Hey, I'm looking at getting at getting a delay for christmas, and I need some help on identifying some options. Here's the backstory/what I am looking for.
I've been playing for 6-7 years, I have a lot of experience tweaking tone/delays/whatever else, and I owned a DD-5 for a long time, I just haven't been able to afford to own a delay for a while. I'd like to say I have a pretty picky and well-trained ear, I'm a recording engineer and live sound tech as well a serious guitarist. Anyhows, I'm looking for a really flexible digital delay including these features, all of which are a must for me:
Tap tempo (preferably internal without the tap and hold for 3 secs, but I can live with external)
Memory (absolute must!)
Flexible different modes, like analog, tape echo, etc.
Dual delays (including the ability to stack like a digital and an analog type sound)

I think $250 is about my price range for this. My current options include a Boss DD20 mostly. I guess a DL4 is a possibility, but I really want the dual delay mode. My concern with the DD20 is that I would like tap tempo to be integrated into the pedal without having to hold something down for like 3 seconds, and I've also heard that its dual mode restricts the shorter of the two delays to like 100ms . Any ideas for me? I would love some feedback on some others models, and also from any DD20 users and their experience.

**Wesley7777** · 11-14-2009, 05:41 PM

T.C. Nova delay. Everything you want and price.

relient nelson · 11-14-2009, 06:33 PM

eh, the nova delays preset system is not that great, but it's better than the DD-20s. However, with either of those pedals you're not going to be able to stack analog and digital or digital and tape or whatever. I don't know of a pedal for under $300 new that does that.

But I have a Nova Delay, the sounds are great, the tap is flawless and built in, 3 really nice multi-delay settings, simple to use, a lot smaller and better looking than the DD-20 too. See if you can find one used on Craigslist.

I've used both the DD-20 and the NovaDelay, and the Nova is leaps and bounds ahead of the DD-20.

LWatford · 11-14-2009, 07:26 PM

you can set the right pedal on the DD-20 to be tap tempo. Its dual delay setup isn't like most of the other pedals, more like a quick predelay.

For the price you gave, I'd look into the Nova Delay.

**bread man** · 11-14-2009, 08:52 PM

With that budget, why not just get two delay pedals?

relient nelson · 11-14-2009, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bread man

With that budget, why not just get two delay pedals?

eh, but then you've got two tap tempos... and it sounds like being able to lock in a tempo quickly and accurately is pretty important to the OP.

ibanez_dude · 11-14-2009, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by relient nelson

eh, the nova delays preset system is not that great, but it's better than the DD-20s. However, with either of those pedals you're not going to be able to stack analog and digital or digital and tape or whatever. I don't know of a pedal for under $300 new that does that.

But I have a Nova Delay, the sounds are great, the tap is flawless and built in, 3 really nice multi-delay settings, simple to use, a lot smaller and better looking than the DD-20 too. See if you can find one used on Craigslist.

I've used both the DD-20 and the NovaDelay, and the Nova is leaps and bounds ahead of the DD-20.

so what is it that you don't like about the preset system on the DD-20?

Quote:

Originally Posted by LWatford

you can set the right pedal on the DD-20 to be tap tempo. Its dual delay setup isn't like most of the other pedals, more like a quick predelay.

For the price you gave, I'd look into the Nova Delay.

Can you set it to always be tap tempo? I don't want to have to hold the pedal for like 3 secs before tapping the tempo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bread man

With that budget, why not just get two delay pedals?

Quote:

Originally Posted by relient nelson

eh, but then you've got two tap tempos... and it sounds like being able to lock in a tempo quickly and accurately is pretty important to the OP.

Well, that can be taken care of with a Y cable, but I really need memory/presets, and so to buy two delays with that functionality would be really expensive.

relient nelson · 11-14-2009, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibanez_dude

so what is it that you don't like about the preset system on the DD-20?

Can you set it to always be tap tempo? I don't want to have to hold the pedal for like 3 secs before tapping the tempo.

Eh, I just never found it easy enough to use for my taste. Not very intuitive.. of course, the Nova's isn't really either.

And if I remember correctly, yes you can dedicate the right switch on the DD-20 to be tap.

thinbishop · 11-15-2009, 07:37 AM

If you had a much larger budget, I'd look at the eventide time factor ... I'm pretty sure it has everything you described ... But it's almost double your budget ... The trade off becomes functionality vs. pricetag ...

LWatford · 11-15-2009, 04:00 PM

yes, you can set the right pedal of the DD-20 to always be tap tempo.

ibanez_dude · 11-18-2009, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LWatford

yes, you can set the right pedal of the DD-20 to always be tap tempo.

Are you sure? I've heard that isn't possible for it to consistently be tap tempo without holding for 2 secs.

**jamforchrist123** · 11-18-2009, 09:59 AM

It can remain as the tap tempo, but that takes away the feature of switching delays as that is the pedal used to switch channels as well.

ibanez_dude · 11-18-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamforchrist123

It can remain as the tap tempo, but that takes away the feature of switching delays as that is the pedal used to switch channels as well.

hmmmm. I think I really need to try one of these out...

**jamforchrist123** · 11-18-2009, 10:21 AM

I think you can probably get some really good results if you get an external tap tempo, as then you can switch channels and tap tempo however much your little heart desires, without having to hold it down for 2 seconds.

ibanez_dude · 11-20-2009, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamforchrist123

I think you can probably get some really good results if you get an external tap tempo, as then you can switch channels and tap tempo however much your little heart desires, without having to hold it down for 2 seconds.

Yeh, I might have to do that, cause the memory functionality is really important to what I need. Does anyone know how the memory switching works on the Nova? It's the same footswitch as the on/off, right?