new board - need some hints

[phantasmagorovich]

This will become my new board. I will have to update to a bigger size (PT-One), buy a Polytune Mini and I want a Digital Delay for the crisp decays. Also some utility shit is in order: Power Supply and decent cables. Then it will be done.

Some questions:



Pedaltrain PT-1, anything to say against that shizz?

Power Supply: I've been eyeing the CIOKS offerings. Anything that should prevent me from getting f.i. a Big John?

Cables: George L vs Lava vs. Diago. Which ones should I get? I'm not good at soldering cables, so while I did use home-made stuff it was a pain.

Digital Delays: school me on the BOSS offerings. I am looking to get something cheap off of eBay, but I want it to be awesome too. So out of the various DD versions there are, which are the main differences? I would look for crisp repeats, long delay time, some sort of Tap possibility. Maybe a modulated delay for giggles, nothing special.

[rfurtkamp]

Cables, use what makes you happy. Unless there's something wrong with a cable physically, or my sound isn't where I want it to be (usually one and the same), cheapies work just fine, especially pseudo-permanent board-type setups.

Power supplies I'm no help on, I've used extension cables off of a Dano or Boss adapter for years without problem.

For clean digidelay, and if you want longer time, DD-20 would be the way I'd go in their lineup. Not exciting, won't win you many friends, but 20-some seconds in a box with your other options would be my first stop.

[phantasmagorovich]

Cables, use what makes you happy. Unless there's something wrong with a cable physically, or my sound isn't where I want it to be (usually one and the same), cheapies work just fine, especially pseudo-permanent board-type setups.

Power supplies I'm no help on, I've used extension cables off of a Dano or Boss adapter for years without problem.

For clean digidelay, and if you want longer time, DD-20 would be the way I'd go in their lineup. Not exciting, won't win you many friends, but 20-some seconds in a box with your other options would be my first stop.

Hm, DD-20 is an option. But I wonder if there is no smaller option. (Even if that means sacrificing easy tap function.)
I've been going with the wallwart and multi-extension solution so far too, but with a couple of effects I'm using now it is getting faulty.

[kbit]

Can't really help you on the other fronts, but Boss' DD7 is pretty good. It has the ability to do tap tempo via an external button, or you can hold down the foot switch for a couple of seconds, tap in your temp, then hold the switch again to exit tapping. Depending on the mode you are in it will do subdivisions, too. Also has a decent modulated delay.

[backwardsvoyager]

- Pedaltrains are great, the angle is good and you can tuck your cables underneath to keep things neat. Can't go wrong there.

- Cioks stuff is absolutely top quality. If you can afford it just get the one best suited to your power needs. I have a Ciokolate and it's solved my power issues indefinitely.

- As rfurtkamp said, nothing wrong with cheap cables. I mainly use a mix of Hosa patch cables and homemade pancake ones.

- The ibanez DE7 is cool for a cheap digital delay. No tap or modulation though.

[Jero]

DD2: see dd3.
DD3: 12.5ms-800ms over 3 time modes. Also Hold. Stereo Out.
DD5: 1ms-2000ms over 4 modes. Also Reverse, Hold, E/D. Quarter/dotted/eighth/quarter triplet. Stereo out. Tempo footswitch out.
DD6: 1ms-5.2sec over 4 modes. Also, Reverse, Hold, Warp. Stereo In/out. Tempo without needing extra footswitch.
DD7: 1ms-6.4sec over 4 modes. Also, Reverse, Hold (40sec!), Analog, Modulate. Stereo In/out. Tempo/Expression out.

[phantasmagorovich]

DD2: see dd3.
DD3: 12.5ms-800ms over 3 time modes. Also Hold. Stereo Out.
DD5: 1ms-2000ms over 4 modes. Also Reverse, Hold, E/D. Quarter/dotted/eighth/quarter triplet. Stereo out. Tempo footswitch out.
DD6: 1ms-5.2sec over 4 modes. Also, Reverse, Hold, Warp. Stereo In/out. Tempo without needing extra footswitch.
DD7: 1ms-6.4sec over 4 modes. Also, Reverse, Hold (40sec!), Analog, Modulate. Stereo In/out. Tempo/Expression out.

Great info, thanks!
When you say Tempo switch out, that means it needs external tap, right? Can all of those also be used like Kbit was writing about the DD7?

[retinal orbita]

I have a DD5 that I really like - I have a Malekko 616 for more analo sounding delay and the DD5 has joined as a constant board member as of late and it's a pretty great pedal, plus you can snag them super duper cheap, I paid $40 for mine from a guy on craigslist, while the DD3 and DD7 seem to go for $100-150 around here.... I'd really like to get a DD7 though, it looks like tons of fun....

[skullservant]

I've had 4 DD7's now. Each time I have one I off it to raise money to buy something big but IMMEDIATELY regret selling it afterwards. It's such a Swiss Army Knife that I really can't live or record without one

[breitnersn]

I had a DD20 before. I'd say it's not too sparkly actually. Had the tone knob always fully open and it was still not clear enough for me. At the end I bought a Quantum Leap (which is actually a pretty dark tapish delay). I get a far more pronounced tone now. I think the DD20 kind of sucks in sampling quality (?). As mentioned before, it is quite big, kind of pricy and you get a lot of modes that (at least for me) were not really useful. I haven't tried another digital delay yet. But I would rather go with one of the smaller BOSS DDs or a TC. By the way, I had the same experience comparing RC loopers and the Ditto. Don't like the BOSS buttons for tapping as well.

Pedaltrains are rock solid. Especially for mounting power supplies. I think they have mounting kits for Cioks and Voodoo Lab. But there are also some Pedaltrain pimping manuals on the web. You can adjust a lot of things with a few technical skills.

[phantasmagorovich]

Sounds like TC Alter Ego vs Boss DD-7 to me.

I only just found out the Alter Ego and Trinity thingies are available over here as well, so that would be an option. I kinda liked the X4, but it was just big and unwieldy. Also I could not wrap my head aroud the fact that you had no independent bypass button, only presets. Both those problems would be remedied with the Alter Ego. And I could put the Lee Ranaldo toneprint on there that made me go all NYC Ghosts & Flowers in my manparts when I tried it.

Anyone tried both of these? Skully?

[skullservant]

Never tried the Alter Ego before, but I've hung out with Grrface several times who has a regular Flashback and the TonePrint editor is just nuts. Like you said, if you wanted a regular mode you could go to it, or you could load up a tone print. The only negitive I've heard about the Flashback is when you are in loop mode, the effect volume is active even when bypassed, and sets the level for your chain which seems like it could be a pain. But if you're not looking to use it heavily for looping, I really say you can't beat TC stuff.

I had the Trinity for a LONG time and I loved it, foolishly got rid of it and immediately got a Hall of Fame to replace it. As far as the special reverb modes on the Trinity go, I wasn't a super huge fan and could live without them, although I liked the color scheme more instead of the bright red HoF. I LOVE the Hall of Fame though. Easy to dial in, lush, cheap, and that tone print editor, again, is awesome

[breitnersn]

Off topic alert: How's that Goodbye 24 actually? It fascinates me although/because I don't know what it does.

Edit: ...and it looks so pretty.

[skullservant]

Goodbye 24 rules. It can do a LOT. Pitch shifted delay, general pitch shifting, chorus, flange, trem, rainbow machine stuff, lofi looping. It's just a really wide range pitch shifter

[breitnersn]

Cool. And I just send the guy an email and he sends me one for 125$ plus shipping? Sounds good.