What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Neeradj

New member
I'm orientating on my future pedal board (it's due to a couple of months), but since I've never gotten into pedals that much I don't have the slightest clue about good ones except wahs I suppose.

I don't care if it's boutique, maybe even regardless of price if it is in fact worth the money. Some of you guys might know my attitude towards gear shopping and that's pretty much never settling for second best, because I feel you'll never really appreciate a peace of equipment until you have that "end all" peace. So please help me out again guys
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Best delay??
There is no such thing as best, only what works with you and your setup, one delay is not going to make it in the long run, I have quite a few myself.
They are all very different and have their uses, but none are "best".
Only different when you hit a certain range.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Rid said:
They are all very different and have their uses, but none are "best".
Only different when you hit a certain range.

+1.

Some of the best delays are some of the cheapest, and some of the best at one application could be the worst in another.

I use a Digitech DigiDelay and a Boss DD-20.

The DigiDelay has a killer tape sim....for the cost it's worth it just for that sim.

The DD-20 is very versitile and has excellent sounding delays.

The DD-6 isn't as versitile, but still has excellent sounding delays.

The Ibanez DE-7 is capable of self oscilation.

The DOD PDS series is valued for low-fi, bit crushing type delays.

There's many more, but unless you know what type of delay you're looking for....
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Cool that was just the kind of reply I was looking for, always nice to learn something new. Well I basically want something versatile, I hardly know any differences in delay pedals so could you guys instruct me on that as well? I'm looking for something that'll accent my fast arpeggating and legato runs, that can do anything from a wonderful clean to brownish Classic Rock to today's Progressive Rock. Are my demands too much to fit into a pedal?
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

No not really, plenty of delays can do that.
The Line6 stuff can do that, but they have that something...hmm plastique sound to them somewhere?!?
Well that is just how I hear it.
Anyways, do you need tempo-tap?
Presets??
And all that.
Maybe you should get an old TC-2290?
They are clean and have a great delay sound and would work well in your loops.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Can an Echoczar do that?
I'm not sure what most of that means sorry, lol, up til now I didn't know the variety in Delays didn't just mean quality but variety as well
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Echozar...well don't know?
No tempotap if you want that, but lots of analouge vibe I guess.
Ed is a very nice man, and if you want that oldfashioned delay type, it is a very good bid on just that.
But mind you bloody expensive, and everything is manual in settings, so no quick changes or stuff like that.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

the line6 is my fave- lots of delays, as dirty or clean sounding as you want, plus 28 secs of looping time. my fav pedal of all time.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Yeah, +1 for that green line 6 doohicky - loads and loads of things you can do with it. Johnny in Coldplay uses one, too.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

i've had three delays lately..

boss DD3 - well built, reliable, but unspectacular in terms of features. a nice workman's digital delay. delayed signals stop when you disengage the effect.

Danelectro Dan Echo - acceptable build (plastic case), maximum delay time is slightly longer, and has a very useful hi-cut control (simulates tape degradation).. delayed signal stops when you kill the effect.

boss RV-3 - same build quality as the DD-3, but has a LONGER max delay time than either pedal! also has a nice selection of reverb models, and the delayed signals continue after you kill the effect. this is just what i was looking for :D

im playing kind of ambient stuff at the moment, lots of delay, flange, chorus and clean sounds.. the RV-3 suits me fine :D
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

The Echoczar is a really high end analog delay. It has some nice features, but it's not that versitile when compared to other delays, particularily other delays in that price range.

If you absolutely need a trophy to show off on your board, that's the one to get though.

P.S. - If you go over to www.thegearpage.net you'll find a bunch of guys that're big into really expensive gear. Most of them seem to be using Line6 DL4 & Echo Park, Boss DD-6 & DD-20s, and DigiDelays, even though they can afford better......
 
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Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Thanks guys, I'm not a show off I'd rather have something versatile and high quality rather than expensive and lacking. Another cool delay I saw, and I believe it's cheaper than the Echoczar but still really cool is the Diamond Memory Lane. A dutch dealer of boutique fx had recently posted something about it on a dutch forum and highly recommended it because of the specs and he seemed to be in close touch with the Diamond company.

I've heard lots of good things about the DL4, but I really don't want an artificial sound like Rid posted earlier. I do need something true bypass, are the Boss delays true bypass?
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Neeradj said:
I do need something true bypass, are the Boss delays true bypass?

No, but their buffers are generally considered to be high quality.

But consider this......true bypass delays kill the trails as soon as you bypass the delay. So you're setup for 650ms of delay and your killer solo comes to an end and *POP* there goes your delay trail......so much for sounding natural.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Perhaps another couple of dumb questions, but what does tempo tap do and what do the (m)s of delay really mean.

I'm glad I asked these questions here because you guys sure do know a lot, thanks!
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

Neeradj said:
Perhaps another couple of dumb questions, but what does tempo tap do and what do the (m)s of delay really mean.

The ms are milliseconds, and they're divisions of a full second (1000ms=1s). So, a 500ms delay will pulse twice a second, a 250ms delay will pulse four times, ect.

Tap tempo sets your delay to the tap. So, if you're playing a song you just tap your foot and the pulse will follow the songs beat......plus, if you're band speeds up/slows down, you can re-tap the time to get the delay back on the beat.

I'm glad I asked these questions here because you guys sure do know a lot, thanks!

It wasn't too long ago I didn't know this stuff either. I'm just trying to return the favor that others did for me. :)
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

the dl4 does not sound 'artificial' at all...clean or grungy repeats, its your choice.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

In my opinion, no digital delay will ever touch a true analog pedal in terms of a warm, natural sound. It's kind of like tube amps vs. solid state amps...there are some good SS amps out there, but the vast majority of players still feel that the best tones are found in tube amps.

My favorite is the Maxon AD-900 and AD-999. I believe the 999 adds true bypass, requires only 9 volts instead of 12, and also has a slightly longer delay time. But the 900 is great as well, and the buffer is designed very well, no need for true bypass. I also like the older Boss, Ibanez, and MXR analog delays, all though the MXR really needs to be modified for true bypass to avoid bleeding off the treble from your signal when not in use.

Ryan
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

I really like the DD20 alot. The tape and analog modes are very realistic All of the other modes sound great as well, esp the Warp and Reverse delays.
 
Re: What would you consider the best delay? Why?

For warm, transparent delay, nothing beats the AD900. IMO.
 
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