Boss DD-2

The usual array of switches found on a digital pedal, including a hold function that loops the last note played in a phrase when the footswitch is held down. Easy to use if you're already familiar with digital delay.

An excellent sounding pedal. I'm a fan of digital delay and this is one of the nicest I've heard from a pedal. I will rate this in comparison to other digital delays I have used in the past, rather then in comparison to all delays I have used.

Beautifully clear and crisp sound from the higher range setting (200-800ms). Some surprisingly good slap-back sounds from the medium settings. Interesting but not so useful flanger-type sounds from the lowest setting. I generally use the higher range most often.

I've never heard self-oscillation from a digital delay pedal before. This one does but it's a much, much quieter effect than its analogue cousins and will not explode either your eardrums or the speaker cone when left alone.

What I really like about the sound (in the higher range) is that it is very musical. I love playing through this pedal for certain things and it always brings a smile to my face. I use it with a boss PSA into the front of my amp and there is no noise from the pedal.

Boss is well known for the reliability of its pedals. Pity this site is littered with tales of woe about their appalling so-called customer service.

This pedal has a blue made-in-Japan label. Early eighties, I understand, and this pedal works like new.

See above for the dove.

I'm really pleased with the sound of this pedal. It's very musical and a lot of fun to use.

I understand that the DD2 and early DD3 pedals used the Roland SDE3000 chip in them because it just happened to fit across the width of the pedal. Several months were spent designing the other components around the chip. Later DD3 pedals (I think those that were not Japanese-made) used and still use an entirely different chip. I think this accounts for the differences in sound as experienced by other users between the older dd2/dd3 and the newer versions.

Very Easy to use.If you know what kind of a sound you are after,no problem to dial it in.I dont really remember to much about the manual.Because I got this pedal new back around the time that they came out.Must have been around 1981 or 1982.I think the retail price was like 300$ plus.But I really wanted one.I got it for around two hundred and something.

I use it mainly on fender band master amps,old fender twin amps.I have also used on my modified fender hot rod deluxe.I have used it every way that it could be used through the years.Acoustic instruments,direct recording.It always sounds great.Always did from the first day I plugged it in.I heard chet atkins do delay things like snow bird and other things.And it was so cool to be able to do that as a kid back then.When I fisrt got it, I had a 63 fender band master head and a 1972 fender twin reverb amp.I had a 1969 gibson es 335, and a 1977 gretch super axe.I also had 1956 a gibson j45 with one of thoses 70s barcus berry hot dots in it.And the boss dd2 had a pretty good even on the hot dot.It dont seem to color the sound like some effects units do.Some will kill the sound before it reaches the amp.I have alot of other guitars now that I also have used with the dd2.But wont go into detail.

Have giged hard telling how many thousands of gigs since buying it new back in the early 80s.And never any problems.The only thing it is hard on bateries.It can eat up a battery within a half hour.From day one I had to use a power supply.And a cheap 9 volt power supply makes it noisy.So I used the boss power supply that was available at the time.

Never had to deal with them.I have bought several boss pedals since then.And they are the best in a compact size effects pedal.

I have been playing several years.Started as kid.I like to branch off into different styles.I am a huge chet atkins fan.But I like music in general when it is well played and in good taste.

This is a very pristine and natural sounding delay pedal. It has plenty of delay on tap (800ms) for 99% of your guitar delay needs.

Very clean and predictable. Easy to use and works very well with other brands of pedals.. (Electro Harmonix, Ibanez,etc)

BossArea.com says this pedal is exactly the same as the DD-3 that was realeased after the DD-2.

The only thing I noticed about this pedal that is diffent is that my old DD-3 would compress slightly when driven hard in an effects loop or with a distortion or overdrive pedal. This could've been a malfunction in the DD-3. Either way both pedals sound exactly alike.

Mine is a Made in Japan one. The label on the bottom is missing, but the cover plate is notched for the AC adapter and the Roland Japan sticker is in the battery compartment just like my other black label pedal. So I assume it's Japanese as well.

I use this in the effects loop of my Marshall 3203. I use it with a variety of guitars. Rickenbacker, Ibanez SZ320, Fender Fat Strat, Gibson ES-330, Gibson "The Paul". The pedal does not color the sound of these guitars at all. What you put in is what you get out.

I used it in a old Kustom 200 PA head and it sounded good there too!!!

It's a Boss. Yes you can depend on it.

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If it was stolen or lost I would be upset. I paid $130.00 + tax for this used pedal because I wanted a made in Japan delay and I wanted to have something that's different than what everyone else was using even though it sounds the same. I love it cuz it's different.

This is a great pedal. A great value. I was not dissapointed when I bought it. Well worth the money.

* only posting this comment for the reviewer below *

NOTE: the DD-2 has a delay upon power up where the effect/LED does not turn on for a few seconds. THIS IS A NORMAL EFFECT OF THE PEDAL. IT DOES NOT MEAN THE SWITCH IS BAD. the technology in 1984 was not what it is today, and there was a slight 2-3 second "warm-up" period for this pedal when powering it on. Hope that helps!

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Well lets see....4 Labeled dials, turn them to perfered settings plug in a guitar and press the foot pedal down, fairly easy!

After owning the DD2 for 10+ years and using it in the effects loop of an old mixer for vocal echo, I recently (2008) gave it a try with guitar.
I'm very picky about my tone, I've had the Digitech Digidelay..sold that, I have the Line 6 DL-4 Delay modeler keeping it for the looper, but after trying this I realized that I can use this thing with so many songs, its a very clear and transpart delay.
When on the DD2 does not colour or change your sound in the slightest.
My Rig consists of a 2004 Fender US Deluxe Strat (S-1 switching) or a 1988 Gibson Les Paul Custom, into =>Dunlop 535Q Wah >Ibanez TS808 >Boss CE2 Chorus > sometimes a MXR Phase 90 > Boss DD2 > Radial AB/Y > Fender 65 Twin Reverb RI + Mesa Nomad 45.
I gave it a 9.5 because the delay is very crystal clear, I tryed a Ibanez AD-9, being analog I thought I'd love it but the AD-9 colours the tone, your echo repeats become more muddy as the repeat, the DD2 stays crystal clear.

The only issue I've had with this is the switch sometimes dosn't engage when you first power the unit on, but after hit it 10 times it comes on.
I'd still gig with this without a back up.
Never failed me as a vocal echo.
I gave it a 8 for working when I step on it, but loss of 2 for not working right away on power up.

Never had to deal with boss.

For a basic delay pedal, no tap tempo, just basic controls you get a great little package. It has a Stereo output, I tryed getting the same delay sound on my line 6 DL-4 since the DL-4 has tap tempo, and always came up thin, I tryed for hours, the Line6 Digital Delay dosn't come close to the DD2.
I listen to many styles of music from Zeppelin to Hendrix to SRV, Pink Floyd to Chili Peppers and Tool, get this if you want a transparent crystal clear delay.
I have not compared the DD2 to the DD3, but keep in mind that many electric guitar effect makers have gone to super small components for PCB mounting and cost, I've always found that th ebigger components used the better the sound. So if you see the old Boss, Ibanez Pedals for sale for a good deal pick them up. They are all solid, effects are going way too digital lately to save costs and many companys are selling pedals that do everything and more, if you buy effects pedals; buy based on quality not quantity, then you won't kick your self for spending so much money in the past.

It's easy to get what you want of it, just few turns.

My rig: Ibanez GRX20 (strongly modified)=> Turbo RAT=> Cry Baby=> Boss DD-2. I use it in effect loop of H&K Attax 100. This pedal sounds very analog, warm with nice low end, I love it :) Very versalite.

It's Boss.

Love it just one thing could be better the hold time.

This pedal is very easy to use. I bought it used and don't have the manual. It only took about five seconds to set up.

I run this pedal last and it sounds very good. I had the big Maxon analog delay and a boss analog delay as well as a Memory man. The DD-2 is the one I settled on. The Memory Man was great but to big and the delay was shorter.

Boss pedals are usally very dependable

Customer support if you can get to the right person when they are in.

I've been playing professionally for a living for over thirty years. I've owned a lot of different amps guitars and pedals. I've got an Echo- plex and a Roland Space Echo. The Boss is a great unit in a small unit. You can find better but probably not in this small of a unit. For live playing this is a great route to go unless you want to haul around a lot of equipment.

Took me about 20 minutes to get it set.

The sound of this pedal is great! It's not noisy, easy to use, and other than the delay chip this thing could pass for an analog delay. I run this pedal through a Marshall 9004 preamp, and i get all the tones I'm looking for. I can get dave gilmore, ken hickey (Type O Negative), The Edge... and lots of other ppl. This pedal can have anything run through it and it always sounds good.

I can depend on it.

Ok ppl, here's the thing i have a Blue label MIJ DD-2. I also have a blue label MIJ DD-3, and you want to know what the difference is?..... The model designation! the DD-2 and the early DD-3's are THE SAME PEDAL! the DD-2 was re-released as the DD-3 because there was a drop in D-ram chips and insted of droping the price Boss decided to Re-release it at a lower price. So all of you saying that there is a difference in sound is full of it (the later DD-3's do sound different, the delay chips have been changed, and some stuff on the circut has been changed) But this is a good pedal and I wouldn't give it up for nothing.

Exactly the same setup as the DD-3. Takes a little bit of time to find the settings that you prefer, but all in all, its not that hard to configure.

The DD-2 has a reputation for having warmer sounding delays that do not affect your tone which is why i purchased the pedal. After A-B'ing it with a DD-3, i must say the reputation is well founded. The delays are warm and identical to your original tone. However, the difference in quality in comparison to the DD-3 is quite minimal in my opinion. Tone heads will definitely think that the DD-2 is a better sounding pedal, but the average listener may not be able to even tell the difference.
As for me, since the two function exactly the same, i went with the DD-2 on my pedal board since i figured why not have just a little bit better sound?? Plus, most of my board has older Boss models, so this one fits right in.

Its a Boss, nuff said, blah blah blah

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If you need 800ms of delay or under, this pedal will do you just fine. The delays are warm and rich, and do not affect your tone.
If you can find one, go for it. The DD-3 is functionally identical, but the delays are a little less warm and more digital sounding.

very easy to get a good sound out of it. sounds good in almost all settings, but I don't like the extremely short delay times (flanger-y).

sounds amazing. I haven't compared it to a DD-3, but I'd rather not, because if they sound the same, I'll be dissapointed because I paid too much! But these have a much bigger chip in them (1st generation), and I hear it contributes to the warm sound. It IS very warm like others here said. It blows away my old DD-5. Rockabilly slapback, ambient Neil Young, and experimental loops (with the repeat almost cranked and the level down a bit). It self-oscillates easy, and that feature can be fun to play with. I like this pedal better than analog delays I've tried because it has a clearer sound, but remains warm.

***the only thing I don't like about the pedal is that when you step on it to turn it off, the repeats don't continue, they end abruptly. My old dd-5 didn't do this, and maybe the dd-3's don't either.***


keep it in mind, it kind of sucks

I've never had a problem with Boss pedals, but this one's switch isn't totally reliable. Might have to gut another Boss and yank the switch for the DD2.

I've been searching for a quality delay pedal for a while and almost disregarded Boss until I picked this one up. If you can find one, definitely pick it up. But try the DD-3 first, it might sound the same and you could get it for much cheaper.