Boss DD-20

It is not an easy unit to edit the patches and get the right sound. But it has a very good manual and after some hours using it I know how to do most of the things in this machine.

There is no noise. I am using the following setup: Yamaha RGX121D -> Onerr Wah -> Boss DS1 -> GT2 -> AMP Send -> Danelectro chilidog -> Boss PS5 -> DOD FX75 -> Boss CE5 -> Boss DD20 -> AMP return. The amp I am using is a Warm Music 112gt.

There are some features that are completely useless, such as the WARP mode and TWIST. I think I will never need them, but if I need they will be right there waiting for me =P.

But overall, the delay modes sounds completely awesome and I can have any delay I want.

It looks very well built. No opinion because I have been using it for 5 days.

Never dealt

This is the best delay I have ever seen. It have many many features and the sound is really good. If I lose it I will buy another one ASAP.

The manual is not nearly as helpful as I'd like.

Today's peeve: I spent an hour trying to figure out how to re-start a loop I'd built with the Sound On Sound (SOS) function. The answer: you can't re-start it. If you stop the loop, it's lost. Which is completely idiotic. The Line 6 DL-4 does this effortlessly.

Also, on the SOS function, once the loop is built, it's not very easy to kick over to the delays. The ease depends heavily on which pedal function you choose, and the best one for the SOS messes up the rest of my usage.

On the dual delay, the short delay only goes up to 100 miliseconds - which basically creates a chorus effect, but no more.

The sounds themselves are pretty decent, though.

It's well built.

Very easy to get a good sound. Editing is done with knobs, not menus.
The manual spelled it all out. There is a data wheel-type knob for setting the delay time (besides a tap tempo), which might take a few tunes to get from a short delay to a long delay. The 'tempo' button selects whether the delayed notes are whole, half, quarter, or triplet value. It would be neat if you could change this with your feet as well.

I use it for electronic ambient music as well, and I loop audio sources, filters, guitars, and synthesizers with it. A great pedal.

I usually run a setup like this: 335, strat, or acoustic into a Dyna Comp (for strat or acoustic)-Keeley modded Blues Driver-Ernie Ball volume-DD-20-Fender Twin or Laney acoustic/electric amp.
It isn't noisy at all. I love using it to create a very subtle wash behind what I'm doing (low fx volume, higher amount of feedback). SOS (sound on sound) can actually be used to create rhythmic loops for live use, but it's a little nerve-racking.

Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie, Terje Rypdal, Robert Fripp: this unit let's you have as much fun as them!

The Twist and Warp settings are scary: you could blow your speakers with them. The tape delay is great: the echos darken over time, lending a complexity to your signal.

Very reliable, solid.

I play ECM style chamber jazz and ambient music. This pedal is a great deal, and has opened up the world of longer delays to me.

Chose it over the Line 6 DL4, the smaller boss delays, and many more pedals because of the different delay types, the delay time, and the control surface (real-time knob turning).

Sometimes I wish for more time in the sound on sound mode, but 20 seconds is beautiful.

I can intuit music with the DD-20.

A simple intuitive interface, easy to work with and equally easy to remember. If you are unable to work this stay off the fwy.

The sound quality is remarkable it accurately emulates the tape delay and the bucket brigade. I Ab'd this against a Maxon Ad999 and it is as good if not better. The maxon does not allow you to eq the repeats the DD20 does. I am using this with a Bassman LTD and a antiquity equipped telecaster custom. The sound is staggering try the rest and then buy this pedal. I bought the T-rex, it went back after two days. The brown button on the T rex does not even come close to a bucket brigade delay over priced over hyped, the controls do not even make sense the delay time seems to me to work backwards. That could just be me expecting the world to follow given interface rules. This pedal will do it all, it is rare that a pedal will improve your sound this will. Oh I know it is not true bypass, go to Loooper.com. Yes I agree the Maxon is great but who wants multiple delay pedals on the floor? Not me. The Maxon is just too limiting. Oh and to close, Pedal power 2+ is now available so no longer do you have to run away from this pedal because of the PSA requirements 200ma. Voodoo labs say they will mod a pedal power 2 for free if you need this requirement.

Has a boss pedal ever died? One day we may have to build houses out of them rather than send them to the landfill.

Some of the other roland websites can be more helpfull than the US one but I remain optimistic. Come on roland US you can do better.

The only improvement I would like is an easier latching tap pedal and a smaller case. Fantastic Value, T-rex=$400, Maxon Ad999=$350 or $250 from jp. The DD-20 $179+20 for the supply. The economics on the other pedals do not add up. I would buy this again in a heartbeat.

i found it easy to use but hey this isn't my first piece of FX gear. the manual is OK and though it breezes over everything far too briefly to call it great, it does the job. i guess i had to reference it a couple of times in the beginning but only for deeper control (i.e. changing the output settings, etc), and to be honest this is hardly a bad thing, the non-obvious 'extras' are actually the thoughtful touches that really make this more of a professional piece of gear, and far more flexible than your average stomp box. real thinking was obviously put into this thing and it pays off. to take full advantage of it, i guess you'll have to put some thought into it yourself as well, but it's still easy to plug and play, so EASE = 10.

i hate to throw around "10s" for sound, but at the very least i agree with whoever wrote it's a 9.5 for sure. nothing's perfect, but i was really addicted to it right out of the box, which is rare. it's just that nice. i had been a bit annoyed with my fussy (old) analog delays, but i felt good about the DD-20 right away, and the definite lack of 1s and 0s in the sound.

i was also nervous about all the 'modes' if only because the more variety they (boss or whoever) throw at one unit the worse they usually end up sounding , but each one is distinct, tweakable and usable (and for what it's worth, i like warp and twist, they might not be bread and butter delays but they're far from bad sounding or useless).

also, i. hate. HATE. shrill digitalizzzzzed delays. BUT still found plenty, surprisingly, to like here. really, the bottom line is that giving the options to bend, tweak and shape fabricated effects in an organic way is always attractive (and musical). the modulate, reverse, and dual are my favorites, and more than justify the pedal's value.

the SOS (sound-on-sound) function is fun, but little else. i would want more flexibility with this (rather limited) mode, though i guess that's where the boss looper (also a twin pedal) comes in. other guitar players i know LOVE the SOS so maybe i'm just being picky. glad it's there, so can't fault it too much. and they do give you more time than you will probably ever actually use (20 sec. long samples ...? er...ok...)

another big plus: i will usually get over a little 'atmosphere' in my signal if the overall sound is worth it, but this unit is thankfully noise-free in all applications.

it's incredibly heavy-duty, no concerns.

a "9" cause it's digital (and i've yet to meet a completely reliable computer....)

well i'm glad they're doing it right before the boxes even get to me. no experience beyond that.

i especially like this box for it's overall value. given it's great sound, programmable nature, heavy-duty build, studio-to-stage versatility, and variety of modes, it has become indispensable. i don't mean to go over-board, i just wish more FX units were built to these standards (so why they aren't?)

if i had my every wish, the SOS setting would be global, and operate more like a sampler... but that's asking a lot (like a 3rd foot switch built in?) so i'll leave it at that. if you're looking for looping and sampling, try before you buy. nevertheless, i imagine the boss loop station and DD-20 together have a lot of possibilities to offer.

between the tone and mode parameters, you can get a really good variety of very-analog-like textures. a resolution and/or decay and/or/plus grain controls would be welcome upgrades... but again, i'm not knocking, just thinking wishfully...

the REAL kicker for me (my "favorite feature") is it's studio compatibility. better than most racks and still on floor. i've also used it as an outboard delay when mixing, pretty great. i guess you could do the same with a DD-3 or something similar but hardly with the same usefulness. love the display, stereo I/O, no-noise, tap tempo, +4 leveling, phones out...

seriously, the thinking behind the twin pedals is smart. hope it continues, with even better products. huge step forward, good job boss.

It's easy to get basic delays and weird effects on the go, but it'll take a little while to master some of the other effects. A good read-through the manual will get you sorted on this though. The manual's fairly well-written and not in Japanese-English either!

Admittedly, I'm not using what you'd call 'pro' gear (An Ibanez Artcore into a Roland Cube Amp) but the sound of this pedal is wonderful. It's pretty much noise free and the delays are warm and analogue sounding. You can get some very spacey-sounding effects (one preset is a Roland Space Echo). You get all the usual boss effects from a DD-5 and more. I'm particularly partial to the SOS mode. I've found you can create some lush atmospherics and loop them back whilst playing a melody line on top - excellent stuff. Whilst others have slated the Twist and warp modes, I like them. True they're not the most useful thing but used in moderation than can be very dramatic or c4reate amazing ambience.

I haven't giged with it but me and a lot of my mates have used it and it shows no sign of giving up. It's a Boss afterall, it'll be there with the cockroaches and Volkswagens come doomsday! One word of caution though, it eats batteries like nothing else - get a separate PSU with it - mine was thrown in for free after some bartering!

Never needed to. Enough said.

I play all sorts of things, what ever I feel like at the time. My main influences are: At the Drive-in/Mars Volta, Radiohead, Led Zep. This pedal really suits me and allows me to indulge my Pink Floyd moments if I feel like it (need to fetch the phaser out to!) Overall, you'll be really impressed with the DD-20 it's a seriously powerful bit of kit. It's also great if you just fancy messing about creating weird loops - we're all kids at heart!

Pretty easy to use.There's a small LCD and plenty of LED's to stay oriented.Mine came w-out a manual but there's a permanate foil sticker on the bottom that shows the more complicated functions.
Straight forward....easy.

I won't ramble too much about my set-up,,but it is "true stereo" using two amps... and all my equipment is pro.I run a line-out or slave-out of each amp into the DD-20 then to a stereo power amp.I've heard people complain about noise w/these units but mine is dead quiet.(bought the suggested psa adapter)

The reproduction of the delays is very pleasing.Yeah,its a digital unit but sweet and warm.But keep in mind that I don't run the DD-20 in front of my amp(s).The only complaint I might have would be that it has no wet/dry mix knob..just "level."...so I use the panning mode to get a spacious/dimensional effect...pedal sounds awesome and is alot of fun.(I usually shun digital stuff,but I'm hangin' on to this one!!)

Boss has a good rep

Hey,if your in need of a great delay pedal,buy the DD-20...20+ sec.'s of loop,5 total pre-sets,easy to use.
I like all types of music but favour 80's rock and lickety split leads,this pedal allows a person to express some serious creativity.
I would buy another if lost or stolen...and I would also PASS UP the Line-6 DL-4 again because the DL-4 ...IS...unreliable.(Apollogies to those of you that have a "good" dl-4)

If you read the manual, you'll be fine. The only thing that takes some slight playing around with is the SOS function (getting it to loop smoothly without any pops or clicks) Apart from that, it's a breeze.

The delays on this are some of the best I've ever heard. You can go from Radiohead to U2 to Sigur Ros or any other band that's ever used delay for their signature sounds. The only setting I'm not too excited about is the "Standard" delay...a little too cold sounding, but some people might like that.

It has never failed me and if I had to choose one pedal in my setup, this would be it.

Haven't had to call them.

I play stuff like Radiohead, Broken Social Scene, Flaming Lips...etc. It is an EXTREMELY versatile pedal and if you are in the market for a high-end delay, this is it.

bought it on my lunch break at work and read through the manual. came home, plugged it in and already knew what to do. if you read the manual, it all makes sense. As far as features go, I give this a 10 based on the fact that it has/does everything I wanted from this type of pedal at a price point that makes it more appealing than the Line 6 DL-4. (which I wisely returned???read on.) I wanted basic looping capabilities, reverse/backwards delay, and an analog sounding delay that has more delay time than a real (only 400-ish msec) analog delay pedal would have. With a 23 second delay time, I think I?m covered here! And of course, ANY delay pedal made in this day and age MUST feature tap tempo, and a spillover feature to preserve the delay tails when the unit gets bypassed. The DD-20 delivers on all of these. Unlike the Line 6?s 3 memory locations, this pedal has 4 memory locations and a Manual mode that can double as a 5th memory location. The Line 6 has NO manual mode. Shame. The DD-20 also has a nice backlit readout/display for a visual as to what?s going on within a given patch. The Line 6 does not. Double shame! To top it all off, the DD-20 is smaller than the Line 6.

This is REALLY close to a 10. more like 9.5. I still like, and use digital delay but I really wanted to have the option of the lo-fi-ness sound of an old analog pedal. I was looking for an old analog pedal on ebay but there would be too many sacrifices- no spillover, no tap temp/programmability, and most of all- not enough delay time. There?s only so much you can do w/330msec! The DD-20 can?t get as lo-fi as my Korg dl 301 pedal, but it comes close. Plus the Korg is a bit on the noisy side at times and offers none of the features mentioned above. I would say that this is on par w/the Line 6 DL-4 sound-wise. It does not have as many models as the Line 6, but again, I wasn?t looking for models galore. Just a good analog-ish sounding delay with digital performance. The looper sounds great and does everything I need. If looping is your ?thing? you?d be better served by a Boomerang, or Boss?s own RC-20XL. The reverse/backwards delay also kicks ass- just as good as on my Boomerang. It also has a modulated setting that allows you to modulate the delay repeats, which I think is along the lines of what the EH Memory Man does.

Time will tell. Like people say, ?no worries, it?s a Boss!? It has a 5 year warranty whereas the Line 6 has only 1 year. While Boss is no longer made in Japan, it is still WAY apparent that it is built better than the Line 6. Before I knew about this pedal, I bought the Line 6 DL-4 and it was dead right out of the box! Line 6 even seems to try and keep the origin of its pedal a secret. Taking off the back cover revealed that it was made in Malaysia and that all the footswitches were mounted to the PC board. Smell disaster yet? Also- all the knobs ?float? on the PC board as well. A ticking time bomb folks. The Boss on the other hand uses actual metal pot posts for its knobs (not plastic!) and wisely anchors them to the pedal casing, unlike you-know-who!

Wouldn?t know because I?ve never had a Boss/Roland product fail on me.

Nothing is perfect all around, but this gets a very strong 9 here. I?m glad I found out about this pedal and was able to return the Line 6 DL-4 that replaced the first one that was DOA. I really had NO faith in the Line 6 after the first one died, which prompted me to look at HC reviews which were all pretty much atrocious in the reliability category, mirroring my experience. The DD-20 was also $60 cheaper than the DL-4! It gets better- the DD-20 has allowed me to sell my Boomerang, my Korg dl 301, and my Danelectro Talkback pedal which puts me into the Boss DD-20 for ?(minus)$211.00! sometimes you win, sometimes you win. I?ve been playing for over 20 years now and have owned TONS of gear. Boss has never let me down in terms of reliability. I sleep much better now that I have this pedal and got rid of that ugly Malaysian toy. I can?t imagine why anyone would purchase the Line 6 over the Boss. Unless like me at the time, the just didn?t know about the Boss DD-20. Well now you know. Try one out and see if it fits YOUR needs. Also, FYI- at the time of this writing, Musician?s Friend is selling this pedal for $189.00 while Gtr Ctr is still selling for $229.00, so shop around.

There is much more than meets the eye to this pedal. I almost returned it to the store before reading the manual, because at a glance it didn't seem to be that much more impressive than my DD-5. You have to read the manual to get the full use of this unit, but unfortunately some parts of the manual are unclear (such as the disjointed explanation of pedal modes). Overall, once you have the hang of it though, it's fairly easy to use.

So far I haven't noticed any noise introduced into the signal from this pedal, and the signal reproduction is nice. Thankfully, the tone knob lets you roll off the highs a little bit, which makes it a *little* warmer. 11 modes make for a versatile selection of delays, but there are a couple of useless things thrown in. The twist feature could be useful if you could control it with an expression pedal, but otherwise I don't see any need for it. Warp simply increases the level and feedback, which is potentially useful. The tape delay doesn't sound anything like a real tape delay, but is somewhat interesting. the ANALOG setting is decent, but I would say buy a Deluxe Memory Man if you're going for a lush, musical analog delay. For me the best feature of this pedal is the Sound on Sound feature. Supposedly unlimited layering of overdubs, this is very cool. If 23 seconds of delay time isn't enough for you, then try the rc-20 looping station. Overall this looks to be a great pedal. Will replace my DD-5.

Boss stuff seems very dependable. I did have a pedal of theirs that malfunctioned years ago, but they sent me a replacement that has peformed steadily since. Solid construction, good warranty. I have no worries.

Dealt with them in 96, and they took care of me just fine.

I have been a hobbyist musician for maybe 15 years, and am fairly knowledgable about different types of musical gear. For the price, this unit seems like a great value. But I would not use it as my only delay - I have a few others, and my favorite is probably the Memory Man. But the DD-20 does a great job and offers quite a long delay time. I needed a digital delay with limited looping features, and this fit the bill just fine.

As a side note, take my advice and don't waste the money on Boss's tap tempo footswitch. $2 in supplies from Radio Shack will give you exactly what you need, and is probably one of the easiest things I've put together. Just wire a 1/4 inch mono input jack to a (normally open) momentary switch and stick it in some kind of container. I drilled a couple of holes in an altoids box, and stuck it in there. Use any 1/4 cable to connect this to your control switch input, and voila - there's your tap tempo switch. You don't even have to solder it if you don't have a soldering iron. A much better alternative to Boss's big and relatively expensive footswitch.