Boss DD-20

Okay, I'll preface this by telling you that I have very little experience with stand-alone delay pedals, and I don't usually play with delay. That said, I have a bit of trouble using this thing - but maybe that's because I haven't put in enough time with it. I've tinkered with it while soling (using my toes to twist knobs, etc.). I guess that's not the best time to figure out how to use a pedal. At home, I really only use the SOS (sound on sound) feature so I can practice improvisation. It is easy to get a good sound; all of the echos, slapbacks, etc. have a good sound. It all depends on your playing.

When I think delay, I of course think of The Edge. I haven't figured out how to sound like him, but I really don't want to, either. I'll use delay to add some airiness or extra sustain to solos, but I use it very sparingly. My favorite setting is the SOS.

It's a Boss. A big reason for choosing this was because it seems that the Line 6 DL4's don't last very long.

No experience with Boss.

I've been playing for 11 years, and this is my first dedicated delay pedal, although I've got some multi-effect processors that have some delays. I wanted some delay to use with my stomp boxes, but as far as delay goes, I only need the most basic of units (just for the extra sustain and air delay can provide). I also wanted something to loop riffs so I can practice at home. A Loop Station or Jam Man cost $250, and they only do loops (albeit they loop much more than the DD-20). This pedal does both for $180 brand new. It gives you about 16 seconds to record a riff, and that's plenty to jam with. It certainly does what I want it to. For people who use a ton of delay, this thing has a lot of versatility for both standard delay and tripped-out effects. I would certainly recommend it.

Easy to use. Four knobs on the right side: Effect Level, Feed Back, Tone, and Mode. Knob on the right adjusts the delay time. Push knob in while turning allows for faster scrolling through the delay time. This thing does it all folks. Write and select buttons underneath that for the memory settings.
The manual is pretty cool. Very helpful in explaining how to set the memory and tap functions.

You can get pretty much any delay sound you want out of this thing. Slap-back to phsycadelic and back. It does a good job of emulating analog delay. I also have a Morley ECV Pedal, which is analog, and I can almost duplicate that analog sound on the DD-20. I place the E. Level @ 3 o'clock, F. Back @ 12:00, Tone @ 10:00 and the mode on the Analog setting. I set the Delay Time at 300 ms. Almost spot on. Pretty impressive for a digital pedal. I actually run my Morley into the DD-20 and play 'em both together as if I had two Morley's even though the DD-20 has a dual setting that emulates that. I don't have a problem with noise since I power it from the adapter through a power conditioner. My set up is as follows: 2003 Highway One Strat with Fender Vintage Noiseless P/U's-Boss TU12 Tuner-Crybaby Classic- Crybaby Bass Wah-Digitech Whammy Wah4-Boss SD-1(MIJ '85)-Big Muff Pi R.I.-Boss CE-3(Soon to be Modded)-Ibanez FL9 R.I.-Voodoo Lab Tremolo-MXR Phase 90(R28 Mod)-Morley ECV(Chrome '97 R.I.)-Boss DD-20-Fender Blues Deluxe.

Boss makes some good shit.

Never dealt with them but I hear that they are great.

I've been playing for about 10 yrs now. I started out playing classic rock. Zepplin, Hendrix, Beatles. I play a mix of blues, rock, jazz, and latin. I also like to create sound effects and this works great with the twist and warp features paired with the Whammy Wah. I use delay almost all the time so I would definitely replace this if I lost it or if it was stolen because delay is an integral part of my sound and this does everything I need it to do. Still need how to figure out how to use the reverse mode though. All in all, a great pedal.

This pedal is pretty simple, even for all the knobs... It may take some searching through the manual to figure out *SPECIFICLY* what sound you want, though...
I like that it lets me save settings (and the settings don't get wiped when it's unplugged)... I haven't looked at the manual to comment on it.

It's a delay pedal and has a great range of delay types... I mainly use it for ambient/noise and beefing up sounds... it can do everything from short slight reverb and slapping echo to ridiculously long, never-ending whale-sized delays... I am pretty poor and only have a few other pedals (cheap ones at that) and I play through my PC's speakers because I can't afford an amp... so I can't really comment on "noise" because Playing through PC Speakers kind of MAKES it noisy... I have noticed that it can sort of flatten the sound, and when I use the Sound On Sound function, the volume of the play back is quiter than the original sound (which is sort of annoying)

It's a Boss and so it's obviously reliable... But honestly, tt actually seems more likely to break than Boss's smaller pedals if I dropped it pretty hard... I am very gentle with it and always carry it in it's box though...
I would gig without a back up because I treat this pedal with care... I doubt I could afford to buy another one. Never had a problem yet, though... probably should use it with an adaptor though.

Never dealt with them.

I play just about everything BUT traditional butt rock tone-fetish music, so just about any effect is fun and cool for me... I play varying styles of music from 80's Indie to pure noise, and I can find a use for this pedal in nearly all styles I play. I seriously think a kill switch would have been a useful feature, because it might get a little crazy with extreme amounts of distortion before it, set on a long delay... and then you can't stop it unless you switch through other settings really quickly or something... Just try to avoid lots of distortion and high volume before the pedal... it's fine if you can have a distortion after it, and just switch it off to stop it... I suppse I can't really complain, seeing as how I use it for noise more than anything else though!

This is just a response to users experiencing noise problems. I've tried with several adapters and this has in all cases. I'm using a VisualSound 1-Spot. Place the DD-20 first in the chain!!!
- buffers are improved
- ticking with blue tempo led is gone

This thing likes it's power clean. Note: using a PedalPowerII, I had to use a separate adapter.

It is very easy to get a good sound out of this thing, just twist the knobs till you find a setting you like. Editing and saving a patches are a breeze and shouldn't require that you read the manul but good for you if you did. The manual is pretty good, it explains the basics but doesn't go into great detail. I think it does the job though. This pedal really isn't that hard to operate, you might need to read the manual for some of the stranger effects but not for basic stuff.

This is where this thing shines. you can get anywhere from short delays to long crazy delays. A very versatile machine here. I love the sound of this thing-you get a different type of delay tone depending on the type of delay you choose. I notice no tone loss from my amp and I'm pretty picky. I'm running this in the effects loop of my Peavey triple XXX. My favorite short settings are the analog, standard, and smooth, while my favorite long delay settings are smooth and pan. Excellent for crazy deep sounding solo's or just making the rhythm parts sound bigger.

come on it's a boss

I hopefully will never have to deal with them.

I'm really shocked by this pedal. I never was a huge fan of delay until I bought this thing.

I have 2 small problems with this thing though.

first the batteries were dead when I opened the box.

and secondly I wish that in the preset mode it would display what type of delay your using. They could have put it right there on the LCD screen. This is really anoying cause you have to write down your settings to remember what your using. Sounds great though.

The DD-20 is easy enough to use but read the Manual for hidden tricks on some of the functions.

I gave this unit a 4 for the sound quality since I noticed this thing amplifies noise in the signal chain. This unit adds white noise and a pulsing sound from the tempo indicator,to your guitar signal, I heard the noise quite clearly in my non master volume Plexi with no guitar signal. I tried the Boss PSA adapter and the Voodoo Pedal power II+ and got the same noise....... This pedal does alter the tone of your guitar, it was very apperent to me after I put the DD-20 in its own loop. I spent as much as the DD-20 on a Keeley Looper and a Radial PB-1. to get rid of the extra noise this pedal adds to the signal path. I created a loop in which I put the PB-1 before the DD-20. The Class A buffer and the adjustibility if the PB-1 eliminated the pop from the hardwire bypass switch and matched the tone and volume level of my other 2 pedals so when I switch the DD-20 into my signal path I cannot hear any audible difference in tone or additional noise.
I found that Analog, Tape, Smooth and Modulate are very usable, I mostly use tape or analog, I am 45 years old and play classic rock blues and funk.... warp and twist come on Boss

This is my second Boss pedal, the first was the TU-2 It seems built well
at around $180,00 I doubt I would purchase a backup

I sent my DD-20 back for service, They returned my pedal in the same condition in which I sent it in, They stated that my Pedal met factory specfications... Roland USA was very professional in responding to my problem, they were truely professional and very responsive to getting my issue solved however the were not able to recoginize my problem at the factory

Overall for a Digital Delay, the units Delays sound good. I was not too happy with the coloration of my guitar tone by adding this pedal into my signal path but with the PB-1 buffer and the DD-20 in its own loop I was able to fix the tone sucking..... I like the memory features and find them very useful, I can truely say I like this pedal but due to the hassle and expense of the additional gear to make the DD-20 work for me, I would probably not look at purchasing additional Boss pedals. With the money I spent on this project, I could have upgraded to something like a Diamond Memory Lane... Oh well once bitten twice shy.

It simple you turn the knobs how you want the delay set, what type of delay, then settings..Simple.

Great sound quality never had a problem with it. I have 3 of these little guys in my setup, one with each amp i use. i have them runing through the effets loops in my amps. i run a Carvin V3, Peavey JSX, and a Roland JC-120. I run the jsx and v3 with different distortions and the delays sound so rich through all of them.

Ive been using the DD-20 for some time now and every one i have is very dependable never had a problem them.

never had to deal with the company on this product

I recommend if your searching for a delay get this one cause theres so many different possibilities of delays and sounds, I have 3 of these and love them all.

This is just an extra detail to my review below:

The 'modulate' mode gives one of the sweetest, subtlest chorus chimes I've ever heard. Luscious. And I never even liked chorus! Even back in the '80s I thought it was a cheap, cheesy and synthetic effect. I have tried other Boss choruses, Yamaha, and heard the supposed top of the range TC Electronic, etc. But the sounds in the DD-20 stand up to any of them and it's not even a dedicated chorus pedal.

So I'm selling my old analog Boss CE-3, which I kept for (very) occasional use. There's more room on my board now, and even though I'm still not completely sold on chorus, I can understand why it is such a ubiquitous effect.

After about 3 months of use, if anything I am even happier with this pedal. A very strong 9.5 rating

i am not a techy, but i got the dd20, out it uot of the box and started right away playing with my band. i have NEVER used a delay before, but it took me hardly 5 minutes to get very nice and useful delay effects out of the thing! now that i??ve read the manual, i can handle it much better of course, but it was very easy from the beginning on.

i use the dd20 in chain with a boss chorus. thats my whole setup. i??m having no noise probs.
the sounds are all really good, i first bought the dd20, then checked some other delays like the digitech , ibanez and the line6. none of them sounds as good as the boss (the dd6 is just as good, but has much lesser features). i??m really glad with the sound. i use the crazy effects warp and twist often, too, playing in fusion and pop bands. it really inspired me tu play with these sounds.

i owned several other boss pedals, and just like them, the dd20 is built like a rock. no way to wreck it.

never dealt with them.

this is not the cheapest, but by far the best and most versatile delay unit on the market, i??m very happy i got it and i would buy it again in a heartbeat.

There's a lot going on, so you have to read the manual. Things have moved along quite a bit since my last delay, an ancient Boss DD-2. Still, it is easy to program and the controls are set out very intuitively. The factory presets are all pretty usable, and the manual has some good suggested settings - the slap-back echo for instance, was more or less identical to the rockabilly sound I worked out for myself.

Eleven settings cover most of the bases. Surely nobody uses all of them. Some I use more than others: Twist and Warp I never use and I agree with some other reviewers that the Standard delay mode sounds kind of cold and clunky. I prefer the Tape and Analog settings, or Smooth for a nice even decay. I also agree with those who say it picks up some noise, especially if it is last in your signal chain. Works quietly on its own (with a Diago Powerstation), but put overdrive and compression in front of it and you get tiny hiss and the faint sound of the flashing indicator light. But on the whole, the sounds are fantastic. You can emulate pretty much anything you want, from a shimmering wall of sound to just a subtle thickening up of your lead tone. Even the sampler 'SOS' mode is good fun: some people say 23 seconds of delay is overkill, but it is just long enough to record a medium-tempo 12-bar progression to jam along with... Four programmable presets is plenty: one short, one medium and one long delay, plus the aforementioned slapback Sun-Sessions echo. Then there is the manual mode, which you can adjust on the fly - plenty, plenty. Very good.

Usually, you take Boss's reliability for granted, but this was the specific reason why I chose this unit over the (more expensive) Line 6 DL4. I don't pay much attention to any one single review, but the overwhelming number of people on Harmony Central saying their DL4s were flimsy and temperamental hit home.

Bomb-proof construction, 5-year warranty - the usual hallmarks. A comfortable 9.5.

Btw - My DD-2 was the only Boss pedal that has ever crapped out on me (20+ years old) - the rubber lining around the battery compartment screw wore out, which meant the latch mechanism wouldn't work.

Never dealt with them. They are prolly alright if you manage to get through, but I always find their website a bit intimidating. That's the problem with huge corporations. Still, reliability's so good, hopefully never need it.

A programmable Delay pedal, with or without tap-tempo, is a must for me. I run up to 8 pedals on my board, but if I could only have one, it would be this one. Throws up all sorts of possibilities, and I am nowere near exploring its whole scope. It scores over the DL4 in its number of presets, price, size, and reliability, plus the delay doesn't cut off abruptly when you stomp it off. Lots of name players use the Line 6, but something about the DD-20 just seems much sturdier and more professional.