Boss DD-20

I think it is easy to use to color my sound(add space), but to get into some U2 Edge type delay sets or anything like that, it would be hard to do with any delay pedal. They aren't that easy unless you have lots of experience with delay pedals. The manual is OK, nothing spectacular. I believe mine is the latest and greatest as far as firmware goes.

I have tried various delay pedals, and this one is great! It is basically a DD-6 with 5 presets you can program. I've tried it in the effects loop and through the front of my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Blue Junior, and it sounds equally well through both, so I run it in front just for simplicity. Great sound, I believe that there is no better delay pedal than this. It rivals the Line 6 Delay box so closely, it just came down to price.

Um, it's Boss man. Do they get any more reliable?

I've never dealt with them, becayse I haven't had to. Great products, well built.

I play at church in a Praise and Worship band and we do all of the contemporary music, which sometimes requires some complex delay sets. This unit can do it all, and then some. I don't think there is anything missing from this unit, or anything that I would change. It's great!

In general, the controls and settings on this pedal are the easiest to use amongst any pedal I've tried, save for perhaps the Line 6 DL-4.

I would give it a 10, except that there's one problem I have with the unit. When you power it on, it starts in "Manual" mode. Normally for stage and rehearsal use, I have to set it to "Memory" mode to access my 4 presets, and have the right pedal become the tap tempo switch. In order to do this, you must first tap the right switch, then hold it down to "lock" it into memory mode. Not only is this procedure very annoying but is also very unintuitive and hard to discover when you first start out with it. For this reason, my rating goes down to a 7.

I don't normally play covers, but this pedal is completely capable of getting *any* delay or tape echo sound I've ever heard. The analog delay's breakup and decay can do that dub-style reggae (think Rupie Edwards, Yellow Man). The dotted tempo mode makes getting Edge's syncompated delays a cinch. I use the "modulate" delay with typical "doubling" settings to get that Joey Santiago thick lead sound from several Pixies songs, and the "smooth" delay with slapback settings can cop a really cool rockabilly/surf sound. Many awesome sounds are in this box.
The delay that I use most is the single-head tape echo, and what I really appreciate about it is the "tone" knob that allows you to dial in more murkiness to the repeats. I think the tape sim sounds a little cleaner than the DL-4 - but it's not offensively pristine either. I don't think it'd be a hard choice between the DL-4 and the DD-20 if the tape sound is what you're after - it'd just be a matter of taste.
What makes either of these pedals better than a real tape-echo, in my opinion, is the tap-tempo features. Having a tap tempo allows you to adjust the tempo to the natural flow of music, and just plain makes a delay sound better - more musical. Until now, a feature I've never seen on a pedal is the "dotted" tempo settings that allow for those syncopated delays to be controlled from the tap. This ability to control a syncopated delay so that it actually slows down or speeds up with a song - this makes the DD-20 truly unique.
The main reason I wanted to contribute a review is to counter some of the earlier reviews complaining about noise. I also run this pedal through a homemade bypass box, and it passes my acid test, which is this: I put the pedal in bypass and then stomp on my looper pedal enough times that I can't remember whether it's "in" or not - effectively creating a double blind test for myself. My test results are that there is no possible way for me to detect whether the pedal is "in the loop" or not. There is no noise at all from this pedal, and it seems *perfectly* set at unity gain. There are lots of pedals that fail this test, including many boss pedals and even some purported "true bypass" pedals.
I can only imagine that there are variances in quality control or that other reviewers posting here have some ground-loop problems in their rig. I run this on an MKS pedal pad with the PedalPower module.

After it dies, I'll let you know.

At least Boss has their manuals online now. Not so long ago, Boss/Roland was charging money for their manuals, which was reprehensible in this day and age. Having never had to deal with Boss/Roland, I guess that says something about their product reliablity in general, but doesn't leave me with an inkling of how to rank them for support.

I try to run the gammut of styles, playing original music only. From rudimentary jazz to "alternative" to new age to eighties metal to nu-metal to alt.country. I just love to play. A good pedal is one that doesn't get in the way, and a good delay pedal with lots of flexibility is key to so many music styles. I love this pedal.
As I wrote earlier, I can only use delay pedals with tap-tempo. That said, at the time of purchase, I only compared to the DL-4 and the Wasabi delay pedal. The Wasabi was far more limited in sounds and those cheesy tail-lights were just too embarrasing. The DL-4 has so many issues from the strange power conectors to switch failures to noise issue that I had to steer away, as cool as the true bypass feature seemed to me.
If it were stolen or lost, I'd prolly buy it again - the price is really great for all these features, some of which can't be had elsewhere.

Just an update to my review (which is the one below).

I got my DD20 replaced as I suspected that something was wrong with it, and the new unit works fine. Merest hint of some white noise at higher volume levels, but that's it. No more whine.

Perhaps just an issue for people to be aware of - if your unit is noisy, it is probably faulty, as mine was.

Lots of bits & pieces to find your way around, although OK once you've worked them out. Two nice big stomps that are hard to miss.

Two parts to this...

The first part is that this unit does add a little extra hum when in your signal chain, even when not on. I have had quieter delays - my little Guyatone MD3 was better in terms of no white noise until you turned it on. The DD20 scores there in that there is no discernible increase in hiss when engaged as opposed to when off.

Second thing, if you stick this at the end of your signal chain, and you happen to use other pedals in front - such as overdrives - be prepared to pick up a whole heap of noise. I got a lot of whining sound (like when you have a TV on) and a clicking noise in time with the tempo.

However, when I moved the delay to the front of my chain, this largely disappeared, so I presume that this DD20 doesn't like have its input signal pushed hard. I tried with batteries and cable power - no change.

Like the stereo outs and all the settings - very tweakable. They've all been described already, and i'll add my voice to those praising them. They do their job and do it well.

The hiss is the one thing that lets it down - the fact that I have to have it at the front of my chain removes some flexibility from it as it means my delayed signal is effected by what follows, rather than having the DD20 repeat what has gone before, if that makes sense.

Haven't had it long enough to find out. Boss are usually sturdy enough - and it came with a 3 year guarantee.

NA.

Think it's good if you require a very flexible delay, and it does what it does well. I've used the memory man, guyatone MD3, and the other Boss DD delays, and whilst the Guyatone was quieter and far easier to use, the DD20 definitely tops the others and has far greater potential.

As for me, i've been playing for almost 10 years, use G&L ASATs and a Comanche through an Orange AD30 amp and a heap of other effects such as Banzai, Maxon, Aphex & EHX. I play rock, indie/alternative, gospel music & contemporary church worship. As I said, the damn' thing is so versatile you can use it for whatever you want.

If only it didn't hiss a bit, then it would be great. As it is, i'm going to check out the Line DL4.

Very obvious and easy to use. Anything not obvious is well covered in the mannual, output and pedal modes are detailed on the back of the unit. Good to have delay time readout in both S/MS and BPM, very useful. My previous delay pedal was a Yamaha DDS-20M which had a sound on sound function but was quite fiddly to use. Have also used Zoom multieffects which I have been very unimpressed with. This unit is wonderfully easy by comparison.

All modes except warp & twist,(see below,) sound great. I especially like the modulate setting, not because I'm a big fan of modulation effects but because I don't like modulation effects enough to buy a dedicated unit. This unit gives me the modulation effect for the few times I need it without having yet another box in the signal chain.
The biggest criticism I have of this unit is the twist effect, which works the wrong way for me. It would be wonderful if when you press the pedal it slowed down the delay and dropped the pitch, That would earn it a 10 insted of a 9.

Only had it a week but Boss are generally pretty reliable.

never had to deal with them. Website is good for manuals & specs.

I play most styles you can play on the guitar, been playing twenty five years. I chose this unit mainly for the memory function and general wealth of features. I play modified strat with EMG PUPs, home made baritone, Hohner electro-acoustic. Signal chain is,

"guitars->guitar-selector->Award/Session_Overdrive/preamp->DD-20->Dry_into_Valvestate_8080:Dry_&_Effect_DI'd_via_Behringer_ultra-G_into_desk."

The twist effect works the wrong way for me. It would be wonderful if when you press the pedal it slowed down the delay and dropped the pitch.

Another function which would be very useful to have would be the ability to copy patches stored in memory to the current manual setting. This would make it much easier and quicker to set up for each song for live work.

Would certainly replace if lost/broken.

Pretty intuitive to use if you're familiar w/ digital delay. I will say it's easier to program than my ZOOM 508 delay, which is already pretty easy. Editing is simple enough. Easy to store settings. The manual is well written.

I think if you do-do's out there would just read the stinking manual BEFORE you plug it in, you wouldn't be sitting there knocking the features out of ignorance. The twist and warp functions do work, and they're unique. I think they sound pretty cool, you just need to open up your mind a little bit. You're not going to incorporate those effects immediately, but I can see them coming in handy. Still, THEY WORK JUST FINE. Read the manual.

I use a Bespeco (Boss knock off) for the tap function. I use left for on/off, and right to select. Simple. I like having knobs and the LCD screen. SO helpful. What's up with the Line 6 dl4 having "tweak" and "tweez" knobs? Isn't that something you do in your pubic region? Anyway...

Let's talk about noise a little bit. I set this up to A/B in a true bypass loop with nothing else in the chain. I absolutely could not tell any difference. I've read about the signal (meaning the familiar "Boss buffer") being upgraded to some kind of specs for Rolands high-end buffer. Regardless of what they did, they got it right! This thing is 100% quiet and suffers no coloration or volume loss whatsoever. This is why I sold the Line 6 DL4: Bad volume drop and tone coloration.

I'm truly impressed. I bought the RC-20XL a couple of months before that, and experienced the same results on the signal, but I was still skeptical since the DD-20 is, after all, a delay pedal. I have no worries. The pure signal is untainted. They really did get it right.

For the effects, analog sounds really good, and sounds like an old DOD I once had 15 years ago. I'm impressed. Tape won't pass for an echoplex, but it's supposedly modeled after a Roland Space Station or something like that. It may model it very well, but I can't say for sure. I'm mostly just using plain old "standard" which is fine by me. Some guys hate the "digital" part of digital delays, but as long as it doesn't color my tone and I can tame down the tone of the effect w/ the tone knob, I'm happy.

The SOS is like having my old Boomerang back, minus a few seconds recording time and that nasty hiss. Truly a helpful feature. Combine that w/ my RC-20XL and I'm set!

I can't believe I'm giving this a 10, but for the pure signal alone I give it an 8! Top it off with all the selections, and I have to give it high marks. Come on, if there isn't ONE mode you like, then you're not even playing a delay. For the price I paid, it seems like it should have cost twice as much. I'm just really satisfied!

I hope I can depend on this. The RC-20XL I have is reliable so far. It seems to be built as well as their single stomp boxes.

I quickly got rid of my DL4 because of the reliability factor. I made more than enough to purchase the DD-20 w/ those funds. I kept reading about the DL4's crapping out after six months. Who wants a $250.00 door stop?

Couldn't tell ya.

I play so many different styles. I set this pedal to have the presets like this: 1) subtle delay 2) stronger delay 3) multi-tap/wash 4) reverse. Since I can tap the pattern on any one of those, I essentially have a hundred different options in that one pedal.

I LOVE this thing. I was using two pedals to get only half of these features, and it's 10 times quieter. I'm done searching for delays. Period.

This pedal has many functions. You will probably need to read the manual to use it to its full extent, but it is very user friendly. Apart from presets etc..the operation of this pedal is simple as pie.

This is by far one of the best delay units i've played. I own or have owned a EH Memory Man, Line 6 DL4, Roland SDE1000, and a Korg SDD2000 and i must say the sound on this pedal is outstanding. I mainly use the modulated setting on this pedal as i play alot of U2 stuff. If your choosing between this and a DL4, do yourself a favour and by the Boss its far superior to the DL4. I've tried several guitars through this pedal: Epi LP Goldtop, Fender Strat, and Epi Explorer. Really like how the Strat rings on the modulated setting of this pedal. Amp wise i'm running it through a Vox Valvetronix AD30 for recording. For live use, i run it through a Vox AC30CC. I run the following signal for a nice shimmer effect:


output 1 > AC30
Strat > effects > Boss DD-20 >
output 2 > Line 6 Verbzilla > Amp2

Adds a very very cool shimmer effect! Note: you need the Verbzilla for the shimmer though ;)

Its a Boss. Should be enough said. If it holds up as well as my other Boss pedals, then life will be grand.

Never had to deal with them.

I play an assortment of music, rock, alternative and alot of U2 stuff. This pedal suits it all.

If you cant figure this thing out within 5 minutes you shouldnt be playing pedals, its straight forward take a look at the manual real fast if u have too but its prett ymuch set tempo how much feedback u want and the effect level i keep the tone in the middle and select ur delay of choice and ur set. The manaual is awsome its like the how to for dummies boss always has awsome manauals.

I use Schecter C-1 PLus and S-1 elite guitars both with 81 and 85 emgs. my set up goes guitar into my dunlop classic wah which then goes in my tu-2 boss tuner, i go through bypass and got boss flanger, boss tremolo, boss phaser, boss super shifter, and boss dd-20 delay, into the ns-2 noise supressors returns jack, and the tuners output goes into the nosie supressors input that way my guitar tone gets cleaned and so do my effects it sounds beautiful and everything goes into a mesa triple recitifer. I have only had this pedal for a day but would recommend it before the dl4 ive know 3 people with them and borrowed it form them each and tryed to get to like it but i just wasnt sold on the price tag. plus the reviews for the line 6 dl4 they all breakdown so i dont wanna blow 250 bucks for something that will break boss never fails.

Its boss you dont need a back up or anything its a tank.

Havent had to deal with them ever and i own like 7 or 8 boss pedals and always will becuase boss is the only brand i feel i can trust.

It is an awsome pedal you should try it when your trying out the Line 6 dl 4 most the same features and this one to me has better delay options and it wont breakdown on you. I play post hardcore/rock type stuff and im always using my guitar to do weird sounds or something new and fresh and all the kids love it at shows. If i lost this pedal id probably buy another one asap without thinkings twice. To me its sounds better then all the other boss pedals and it has all the same features if you look hard enough online you can find it for like 10 bucks more then the dd-6 which to me was crap, at least for me it isnt a bad pedal i just want a little more for my money you know.

There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to operating and editing this puppy because it can do so much, but it's well worth it. Once you've read the manual, plan on lots of experimenting in a well lit area and plan on logging your presets as you create them. The controls are fairly simple to master and the LED display is easy to read, but that's where need to grab a pencil and start logging everything else.

As you save your presets, the DD-20 remembers the echo volume, repeat, tone and mode settings, but once you've toggled though the other presets, if you've moved the nobs, there's no way of telling where they were when you saved that preset in the first place. This is all leading to what I think BOSS should do is create a method of saving data to a memory card that could interface with a computer where you could save and load presets.

The DD-20 is quiet as a mouse. It's not a tape echo, but at a fraction of the cost, it can do some things tape can't touch. It's got eleven different echo modes, some of which, even after five months I have yet to use. For my money, the unit is worth the price just for the SMOOTH, ANALOG, TAPE and WARP modes.

SOS: * (sounds great, but I don't use it)

TWIST: * weird spacy swirling thing (I don't use it)

WARP: ***** Really cool layering echo effect! Totally awesome and duh bomb.

TAPE: ***** Modeled after the Roland-201 Space Echo. Multi-head feature can let you create driving rhythms akin to The Edge.

ANALOG: ***** Modeled after the BOSS DM-2. Sounds excellent. Very cool retro echo effect.

STANDARD: *** Standard digital echo (sounds great, but I don't use it)

DUAL: *** You can set two delay times. a) 1-100ms b) 4ms-23seconds (haven't messed with this to much yet)

PAN: * (stereo... I don't use it)

SMOOTH: ***** Excellent voicing, kinda in between the Analog and Digital modes. Use it all the time.

MODULATE: * (haven't messed with this one at all)

REVERSE: * (don't know where I would use this one)

Built like a rock! I've owned many Roland/BOSS products over the years and have yet to have one break.

Don't need it.

This is really incredible unit. Amazing, considering the racks of stuff you use to have to tote around. My band plays everything from rockabilly to surf to swing, so a good echo unit is an intrical part of the sound and the DD-20 can do it all. I use a VooDoo Lab Pedal Power 2 to power it and the rest of my stomp boxes, so batteries aren't an issue. This is without a doubt the most powerful echo pedal I've ever used. My only wish is that in the future BOSS would include some kinda of computer interface/memory card and double the presets from four to eight.

Considering the amount of options on this pedal, it is amazingly easy to use. Each mode works quite similarly for setting up and the saving feature works easily. There are a few little tricks for each setting that you NEED to read the manual to find, like holding down the left footswitch to change the rate and depth of the modulated setting or how to access the 4db output boost. But for 90% of the ability, it's dead simple and well layed out. The manual is long which is great to fully explain everything this can do.

I play two main guitar setups: Fender Ash Tele or Warmoth H/S/H -> Boss GE-7 -> Doobtone Boss BD-2 -> Barber Direct Drive -> Indyguitarist Boss TR-> Boss DD-20 -> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
Top notch! This pedal is so full of features and it does 99% of them so well. The analog and tape delays are beautiful. I can honestly say (as I was able to compare at home) it nails the DM-3 sound AND it can give much longer delay times. I don't know how the tape delay holds up but it is a very nice sound. The modulated mode is just plain gorgeous, but make sure to lower the depth and rate as the stock is a little over the top in the beginning. I do wish the dual delay setting could get a longer short delay time to get some of the dual sounds of the Edge like on Bad. I love that the saved memory banks setting can be changed temporarily, so you can touch up tempo or effect level when playing live. The specs say this pedal takes 160ma to run so it should be run off a good power supply, but it will work (and is how I use it) off a daisy chain which amazed me. The daisy chain does occasionally (and I haven't totally figured out what makes it come or go) allow a noise tick in the background in time with the blue tempo light. This is due to the daisy chain so you can't get mad at that and it really cannot be heard (way less noticeable than any overdrive pedal noise). Other than that, no noise to complain of whatsoever. The pedal works well with other pedals, so it's great to add ambiance or full out layers.

The thing is incredibly solid, with that same Boss feel. No problems with it at all.

Never had to deal with them.

I can't say enough good things about this pedal. Between the analog and the modulation, you can nail U2 sounds right on, in perfectly dialed times to match the recordings, and saved in the memory banks for easy call up. With 23 seconds of delay you've got more than you'll ever need for delay stuff. I could ask for a few more memory banks but then it wouldn't be as easy to switch up on stage, so I'll keep the 4 (plus the non saved one). If it were lost, I'd buy another one immediately. It takes less space than the Line 6, accepts normal power supplies, has a visual display of time, and has one more memory bank. However, the line 6 does have a couple more modes though. I'd still take the Boss any day.

these controls definitley take a little bit of getting to know, if you really want to know how to use this thing. not bad at all though, once you get it. definitley not just a plug and play, this thing has lots of features, so obviously you have to take some time to figure out how they work.

fender tele deluxe 72 reissue, ernie ball vpj, menatone fish factory, boss tu-2, foxrox octron, EH holy grail, crybaby wah, other assorted goodies, running stereo into a marshall 62 bluesbreaker combo reissue and a peavey classic 50 212 combo.

the delay sound here is really really great. i mean it's digital delay, so if you're expecting warm analog, i'm not sure why you're even reading this, although the analog modler on here aint too shabby. it's not "cold harsh digital" sound, decently natural sounding, and a bunch of different sounds to choose from, all pretty cool. there are a few that you will rarely touch if you are not interested in sound experimenting at all (warp, twist) but they can give you some freaking cool noises when you get the hang of them. the standard and ping pong sound great, analog is good, tape... eh, dual... eh, not really a true dual head because you don't have alot of options with head #1, more like a slap back with a long delay somewhere in there too. i have had this thing for a while now and still don't really get the "smooth" feature. the mod. delay, however is really beautiful, and you have full control over the depth and rate as well as the usual delay controls. sound on sound recording is cool. i would give this a 9, HOWEVER there is some tone intereference. the treble loss is minimal, athough it is there, but even when you have this thing bypassed, there is that dreaded digital HISS that is loud and clear. it sounds like it's raining inside my amp with this thing in my chain. and i tried running it on batteries, which did help a little, but it's pointless, they didn't even last for one hour and failed right in the middle of a performance, really embarrassing. the delay sounds are really good, but you have that horrible hiss and small tone loss to deal with.

i rate this low only because of the poor battery life, other than that, no problems

dont know

my band plays from indie rock/pop to experimental and ambient stuff. i love delay and rely on it heavily as a songwriting tool, not just an effect. this pedal has a lot of great features to offer, memory storage of up to basically 5 settings, very easy to change sounds, you can program in BPM, this comes in handy because we play to a click track, so all i do is dial in the tempo and i'm right in with the song! tap setting and ext. pedal option (you can use your two on board pedals for various functions from switching to tapping to bypassing to many different combinations). and most of these sounds are really good digital delay sounds, along with 23 full seconds of delay or s.o.s. looping. some people may never need that, but it allows me to loop parts live that no other delay pedal will. however, for all the tone freaks out there, myself included, these great features come with a price! TONE. i would say this is killer for live performances and times when you are allowed a little HISS (it totally kicks the Line 6 dl-4's ass in user-friendliness), but if you're going into the studio, this may not be the pedal for you. however if you are one of these full midscoop distortion always on 11 trash-tone dudes, you will not even notice the shortcomings of this pedal on your 'guitar' sound, so go for it. i'll hold on to it and probably just put it in a bypass loop. way better price than that line 6 pedal i might add...

Pretty easy to use right out of the box. A little understanding of the dials is needed to get a good sound, but to use the other features it really helps to read the manual, which is ok, not great.

Prior to getting my DD-20 yesterday, I had a DD-6 for 2 years. I felt it was defintely worth noting that the DD-20 DOES NOT colour the tone, and that I actually noticed an improvement in the tone, particularly the clean signal when I changed over to the DD-20. The DD-6 I found actually affected my tone and I didn't realise it until I used this little gem.

In my opinion, the DD-20 is the most powerfull delay PEDAL on the market. It's rival, the Line 6 DL4 has options that the DD-20 doesn't have and vice versa, but to me the DD-20 sounds just that little bit better.

The Analogue feature is suprisingly good, as is the smooth function.

I have never had a problem with Boss gear in 12 years, and I don't see that ever changing.

As above...

I don't think I will require any more of their support.

I play a style in the midst of Cog, Tool, Karnivool, APC, The Butterfly Effect, etc. and Delay is one of my most important effects. I wanted the best delay I could get, and now it's mine.

As I mentioned earlier, the tone that comes through is squeaky clean which is a very valuable feature of the pedal.

it does take a while to play with every potential thing this pedal can do, but its not hard...

just updating a previous review, and responding to some of the comments here talking about how its "universal" that the 'twist' and 'warp' modes are useless and nobody uses them. WRONG! Those are really the only two modes I use in my live shows. My solos are really to busy to have a lot of repeating notes here and there, I use the twist and warp purely for their intersting sonic capabilities, and there are several. come on, isn't anyone here into noise? twist gives you some of the weirdest noise achievable, and it varies greatly with adjustments to the delay time. a super cool toy. and warp is the best tool for soloing, intensifying a particular part of a solo by maxing out the feedback and increasing the speed - its so useful if you're like me! so, don't listen to people dissing these two functions. don't get me wrong, I love the analog and tape modeling, and the reverse and modulate are great too. and the looping. what I would call 'useless' would be the 'digital' and 'smooth' modes, but they're not useless either, they're just not the noises I'm looking to make. to each his/her own...

super reliable, gig without backup regularly.

n/a

really, this thing is just absolutely superb. some people get noise unless its using its own power supply - I have no such problem. I use a visual sound 1-spot, and I'm powering 8 other pedals simultaneously - no noise. so many capabilities, so many uses, $180 might seem like a lot to spend on a single pedal, but from where I stand, this thing is a great value, and a great musical tool.

If you read the little manual-booklet it's very easy to use.
I even learned something I didnt know about some types of delay while reading the manual.
Editing patches is also quite simple. Almost too simple (don't press on the write-button twice accidentally).
As always, experiment a little and use your ears in order to get good sounds.

No problems here. It's just fine.
Only thing is: it makes you want to have effects on the loops.
But that can hardly be called a problem.

This was one of the main reasons to buy Boss.

I play the violin.
I've just made the decision not to buy 19" rack-units but good pedals instead.
On www.pluwin.nl (as soon as the sound clips are there) there's no boss to be heard. But I've used my old trustworthy roland re800 on some of it.
These days I also use a LRBaggs para di preamp and a 1929 violin.

This is the first time I've ever picked up a pedal like this. It looks intimidating when you look at pictures online or in catalogs, but ANYONE can figure out how to program different settings and presets in minutes. Most of the other pedals I've used were singles that were pretty much brainless, this one is just as easy to use as any single on the market. One pedal changes between delay modes while the other turns the effects on or off. Setting the delay time is made easier with a push knob so you can program a subtle delay, a full-out echo, or even use it as a loop since it has up to 23 seconds of delay.

SETUP:Peavey 8x10 with a MAX 700 head and a Dean Edge Pro 5.

As a bass player, I was very concerned with my pedals sucking tone from my signal, but this thing pumps every bit of sound right back into my amp. Also, it's like having several different pedals at your feet. It has 11 delay modes built into it with four programmable settings and a manual setting. You can set the delay signal to decay (like an analog delay) or you can just keep it going. All of the modes on it have a lot of possibility for a wide range of sound, none of which will negatively affect the tone of your setup.

I haven't been able to try it out yet, I've only had it for a week. However, I'm concerned Boss pedals could easily survive a nuclear holocaust.

Haven't had to deal with them yet. I hope I won't have to.

I can see how guitar players would love this, and I think a lot of bass players should give this a shot, too. Having a delay can add so much to any style of music and really bring a new depth to your sound. If your local music shop has one of these in stock, mess around with it some. It's better than any single delay on the market, it's like having four delays at your feet, and for the money it can't be beat. I'd hunt down anyone who dared steal this from me, and I'd certainly buy it again should I have to. This pedal has opened new doors for my music, and it will do the same for anyone else who buys it.

it takes practice, but you can get any sound you were expecting to get out of it

i think if the level/tone wasn't recorded in the presets, it would make switching easier

it's solid.
don't depend on batteries though. i had them die on me during a show once

never needed to

when i bought this pedal, i wanted to be able to have looping abilities as well as normal delay. from playing this for countless hours i found that for looping, the sound over sound mode isn't necessarily the best. with that you can record one track and have it repeat, then go only to your first preset, and not being able to switch anything else after that.
i set it on standard mode and use the tap tempo to record the entire guitar line as one long measure, then set the feedback all the way up. if you get the timing right, it does the same as the s.o.s. function, except you can turn the effect on and off while it's repeating. so that means as long as it is on, you can add track over track for as long as you want.
i use that same method while taking advantage of the stereo inputs and outputs. if you have a guitar line looping, you can plug in a bass and that out to a seperate amp, and it will loop the bass line into the bass amp. then i'll sit down and play drums.
this is perfect for when i'm writing

just for that capability alone, if anything happened to this pedal, i'd buy one the same day.

it's easy.

les paul> dunlop 535> univibe> ns2> sd1> tu2> marshall dsl 50> dd20 (in loop)> mesa 2x12. It was noisy when I tried to power the dd20 off of a boss daisy chain. After I plugged it in to it's own psa 120 the noise was gone. not a big deal.

-tape, analog, standard, dual, and smooth all sound very realistic. typical boss sound.


-reverse is cool but i use it for a different purpose. If you set the delay time really short (10 to 40ms) you get a pitch modulation sound similar to an EH frequency analyzer. You can't fine tune it like the EH but if you mix the signal right it's very realistic. I can get a good "The Hollow" sound by APC.

- I don't use the rest of the settings. so I cant' comment on them.

For the money I don't think you can beat this pedal. It's like having 5 delay pedals in one. And changing between presets IS seamless.

so far so good. I've never had a boss crap out on me.

I don't thinnk I will ever need another delay. If something happened to this one I would definitely buy it again.

This review is a follow-up to the review I did a little while back. The reason is because I was really critical of the CHORUS function in the DD-20 but I have since discovered how to get EXACTLY the sounds I was looking for out of the DD-20. My bad BOSS... Read on...

Read the manual. It is pretty well laid out and there are a few functions in this baby that won't just reach out and grab ya. Like tap-tempo and the chorus + delay function.

Considering how many options this baby gives you it's actually fairly easy to use. I found it much more intuitive than the DL-4 for instance.

The DD-20 sounds very nice. In my previous review I was really critical of the chorus + delay function in the Modulate mode. Because there is no level control for the chorus just rate and depth. But I have since discovered that by playing with the rate and depth controls I could get about any chorus sound I was looking for. And I mean spot on nailing the tones I was looking for. The thing is that the settings won't look anything like the settings on any stand-alone chorus pedal you've used before, but the sounds are still in there.

And the real kicker is that the chorus in this baby sounds better than most any chorus pedal I've ever used (and I've used quite a few). Once you figure out how to dial it in that is. Doh!!! So just ignore my ranting about that issue in the previous post. This is the best delay pedal I've ever owned, hands down!!! There is no noticeable "tone-sucking" whatsoever and the thing is dead quiet.

Boss really nailed tha analog delay sound in the DD-20. And unlike a real analog delay the DD-20 doesn't add any noise to your signal. You U2 heads will like this baby. The other Sims are cool too. Except the warp and twist which are useless.

Built like a tank like all boss pedals.

Like I said this is the best delay pedal I've ever owned, hands down. All of the models sound great except the warp and twist which are useless. And having the LED screen on a unit this deep is a must for me.

The sound on sound mode is a huge bonus and the reverse delays are a knockout but you have to find the right settings there too. The Tape mode could be a hair "slicker" but it simulates the tape "flutter" and high end roll off of a real tape delay well. And it "stays out of the way" of your straight signal similar to the way a real tape delay does.

This is a Pro quality and Pro sounding unit. No regrets here!!!

Without the manual this thing would be fairly difficult to crack. It has a tone of features but all need exploring to be fully appreciated.

One of the best delays I've used. Great sound, doesnt colour tone too much. One query is the ridiculous warp and twist function.. what the?? reallly dont know what Boss were thinking that but man do they sound crap. Apart from that, the unit sounds great.

It's like a brick.

Great twin pedal with excellen functions made to withstand a bomb. Just watchout for that battery consumption if you are not powering it with an adaptor.

The DD-20 while not as easy to use as a DD6 it is pretty intuitive for a Delay/looper with so many features. You must read the manual though because there are some features that you won't realize are there unless you read the manual. Like how to change the rate and time on the chorus effect on the modulated delay setting. The manual is ok.

Ive had mine for about a year now so I've had a reasonable amount of time to really get to know it. I usually don't like Boss effects only because they are not true bypass. I tried a DD6 once and though I actually liked the sound of the delay I couldn't handle the fact that it changed my original guitar tone so much with the effect on or off. I'm really picky about that though. For you metal heads it might not make that much difference I guess. Through all that distortion it's hard to tell what's really going on sometimes.

All that beaing said the DD-20 does not effect my guitar tone at all, even though it is not true bypass. I think this has to do with the quality of the A/D and D/A converters inside. Reportedly the same ones Roland use on their high-end VS digital recorders.

The delays are fantastic!!! I especially like the analog, tape delay, smooth (delay with reverb added, really cool), Modulate (for U2 type sounds), And the reverse is really good once you figure out the right settings. AND I LOVE the 23 second looper, that's a great feature of this thing. The 14 seconds of the DL4 just isn't enough for a looper in my opinion. With this delay don't forget to use the TONE knob it really helps shape the delays to your liking.

And the backlit LCD screen really is professinal and a MUST for any delay this deep in my opinion. And the fact that you can have essentially 5 stored sounds (with one tweakable on the fly) beats the DL4 in my opinion. My gripes will be in the Overall section.

Could it be better? Yes. Is it damn good? YES!!!!. Could the DL4 be better? yes. But for all of the felxibility and reliability the DD-20 gives me and the fact that it doesn't alter my guitars original tone I'll give it a 9.

seems really rugged like most Boss effects.


Probably a little extra care needed because of the LCD screen. But that's a small price to pay for such a usefull feature. No problems with it yet and don't anticipate any.

Never dealt with them. Maybe that says it all though?

I play all styles except country and classical. Th DD20 would work for any style that calls for delay. Great warm, professional sounding delays. No, they may not be exactly like the originals but NO they don't sound "digital". So shut up already!!!

I do have a couple of gripes though. First I think it's nearly unanimous that the Twist and Warp modes are pretty useless. Would have been better for Boss to use those spaces for something useable. Like maybe a "swell" setting and a second tape delay Sim.

But my biggest gripe is on the Modulate setting. It sounds fantastic for U2 over the top kinds of delays. But there should be a seperate LEVEL control for the chorus. Because if you want to get a more moderate delay setting with the chorus on, then the chorus all but dissapears. I had an EH Memory Man many many moons ago and it had a BLEND control to adjust the delay/chorus ratio in the signal. That way you can get the U2 ping pong + chorus effect and you can also get more subtle delays WITH a lush chorus. Maybe you guys at Boss should upgrade the software on this beauty to include that feature in the future. -1 point for that. (feature in the future; sorry) ;-)

This unit takes quite a while to learn what it is capable of. Getting standard delay sounds is very easy but fine tuning it to do wonderful stuff takes some patience, the manual is OK but could be a little better laid out. Having 4 memory patches is great like the Line 6 DL4 but the Boss is better as it has a 5th setting for on the fly adjustment, which is handy is you've ever used the DL4!!

All in all Ok to use but be patient and search!! I've had this pedal for about 6 months and I'm still discovering stuff on it.

Manipulating the delay sounds is quite easy but read the manual, but once you know, its awesome, changing the modulation intensity is amazing and the tempo settings give an array of different timed delays, you can do everything from U2 settings, to reverb, to stupidly long delay times, 23 seconds?? how useable is that but its cool to say your pedal can do it I suppose!!

Well I love my setup as do most of you and I'm interested in it so you might be too, here it is:

70's Tele Custom > Boss TU2 > Boss OC2 > Boss GE7 > Snarling Dog whino Wah > Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor > EH Small Stone > Boss CE2 > Boss DD20 > Engl Screamer amp.

The pedal adds a tiny bit of noise to my rig but all delay pedals usually do, particularly if your guitar is noisy, as mine is, old 70's fender pickups are often noisy, but I've played a Les Paul through my rig and there isn't much noise at all, depends what you're running into the pedal.

I adore delay in general and this has samples of some famous delays including the Boss DM2 analog delay, the Roland Soace Echo and others. My favourites are the DM2, the Space echo and the modulated delay. You can also get reverb delay, reverse delay, standard delay, dual delay, panning delay and 2 weird ones, warp which is kind of naff but good if you like your rig to sound like a motorbike and twist which just feedbacks the delays for you, could be other way round but I hardly use these other two anyway!

One of the masterstokes of this pedal is that it has a tone control which is so handy, takes the edge (no pun intended!) off the standard delay and can make the analog delay sound really muddy and thick if thats your sort of thing.

The general sound quality I think is excellent and I would say is similar to the Line 6 DL4 some of the settings are better than the DL4, I prefer the analog and modulated settings but the DL4 has more sounds and is still a great delay pedal but the Boss is slightly better in my opinion see below.

The analog delay is a fair recreation in its warmth and lo fi nature, the standard delays are very good but the space ehco and modulated delay are amazing, this pedal is worth the money alone just for those, they are THAT good!

People who says its digital sounding, get out of your own arse! and don't bloody buy the thing and go and pay #150 for a real DM2 and a years wages for a Roland Space Echo and stop complaining!!! I personally love analog sounds and digital ones, and this pedal does a very good job of both is infinitely more useable live than older delay units and many guitarist and your punters in the audience are going to be hard pressed to tell the difference once a band is sounding off and the public most normal dont give a crap anyway, life is not about impressing other guitarists!!

Its Boss people.

Never had to contact them, I reckon their customer support only has one person on it and receives 1 call a year. This gear is unrivalled in this category.

I play rock, funk, some pop all in a kind of riff Hendrix like style. I'm not a fan of the big 1000 notes a seond lead guitar style, more a lover of riffs, rhythems and melodies and ambience. I've been playing for around 20 years (I'm 28 today!) and I simply love expressing myself through my guitar. Effects help me to create an atmosphere or ambience and this pedal is the best one I have come across for this purpose I love it, I prefer it to the Line 6 DL4 but thats just my opinion their both good pedals.

If it were stolen or lost I would not hesitate to buy another one as I believe this is the most versatile and useable for both live and studio purposes that I have come across. There are other rack mount units which are amazing but if you want a pedal for under #1000 that can do more or less the same thing and something you can put on your pedal board and use live for awesome sounds then this will be for you.

Having the memory patches is great but the main thing this pedal has over the Line 6 DL4 is that you can tap tempo all the delay sounds (not just one) to be any timing you like so you can have triplet timing at 120 BPM for example, on all the delay sounds the DL4 does not do this. Although buy an external footswitch other wise you have to press down the right pedal for 2 seconds for it to be tap tempo, its OK but its useful to have a separate pedal for tap tempo and then have the right pedal to change patches, the left one just turns the delay off.

Having a digital readout telling you the delay time is useful for live purposes as it is backlit.

There are so many sounds you can get out of this thing, classic delay sounds, doubling, reverbs, long delays, weirdo delays and a great chorus effect using the modulated delay at 18ms, amazing!

I have had a Boss DD6 prior to this and this pedal does all that that one does and a whole lot more. As I have said the Line 6 DL4 is the main rival here and I prefer the DD20, I think the sounds are slightly better quality and I presonally find the delay timing thing on the DD20 much better, but some people don't bother with delay timing and just have on beat delay, in which case the DL4 might a your better bet.

This pedal does help me to make music and can give a wonderful ambience to your sound, you won't be dissapointed if you buy this thing but be patient with it and it will work for you and turn heads!

Enjoy....

Its easy once you read the manual and mess with it for about 2 hours. You can get a great sound with it right away, but to get something unique you have to spend a little time. The manual is great, very thorough (i dunno how to spell)

I think it sounds great on all of the settings except Reverse. I cant figure that out. I think its easy to get the Incubus type sound out of this pedal, very spacey or whatever. The analog delay sounds awesome, it fades away really nicely. Its not noisy for me at all. I've never played any other delays, but this one seems pretty top of the line.

Dude, this thing looks pretty tough to me. But seriously... who doesnt take care of their 200 dollar pedals?

NA

I play progressive stuff, I dont really like to copy other people's styles. I guess I come closest to the style of Incubus. The effects-lathered rock kind of stuff. I love everything so far, but some of the settings sound pretty similar. I think everyone can find something they love about this pedal.

The pedal is pretty easy to use. It's not as easy as something like the DD-6, but that's because it has so many different features. The one thing i dont like about it is that you have to choose which function you want the right switch to have. You can choose between functioning as tap tempo, or selecing your settings. I wound up just getting the boss footswitch to control tempo so i can choose my setting much easier. You might want to read the manual for some of the settings.

This is the best sounding delay i have used. This is my 3rd delay pedal. the first one was a Boss DD-6. i liked it but i wanted to try the Line 6 DL4. at first i was pleased with it, but like many other people on here, the stupid thing just died on me. One minute it worked, the next minute it was dead nomatter what i did. so i wound up just getting this and i wish i had gotten this in the first place because it just sounds really really good. it has a ridiculous amount of delay time and features. i don't really like the looping on this pedal though, because you can't save your loop like on the line 6.

I have never had even the slightest problem with any of the 20 something boss pedals i have ever owned.

i can't really tell. i've never had a problem with any products they make, so i haven't needed them.

i play funky, jazzy, soulful kinda music and the delay works really well. it seems to work well with all my other effects too. (come on now i have to list my setup!) i use an Ernie Ball Volume, Vox Clyde McCoy Wah, digitech synth wah, boss octave, ibanez tubescreamer, MXR Phase 90, digitech talker, in to the DD-20, in to a vintage fender pro reverb. what can i say? i love my sound.

despite the way it looks, its very easy! i did have to read the manual on one or two of the functions, but other than that, its pretty straight forward. the manual was very helpful too

this is the best part of this pedal! this is by far the best sounding delay i have ever heard or played with. i use this pedal every time i play. its THAT essential to my sound. i generally run this thru my effects loop in my mesa lonestar playing with my parker fly mojo. now that is a dreamy sound! i've even run it direct with my acoustic into the dd20 into a DI box. oh, and there is no noise coming out of this thing either. when i was shopping for a delay, i checked out the DL4 and a couple of smaller boss delays, the DL4 sounded to harsh and sterile to me, and the layout was counterintuitive. what does "tweaz" mean? the dd20 has settings like "digital", "analog", "tape". thats pretty simple to understand. the dd20 beat the DL4 hands down. some of my favorite settings:

analog set with the feedback about 8 o'clock the level about 1 or 2, tone at 12, and tempo set at quater note triplets (the black note with the 3 beside it). thats a sweet u2 type sound.

modulate with the feedback at 9, and the level at 1 or 2, tone at 12, and with the rate set at 60hz. THAT is my favorite clean sound. thats what i consider my signature clean sound.

the next thing i like is the fact that if you hold down the "tempo" button near the LED panel, it will change the time from milliseconds to BPM. this is priceless in the studio. i've used it a number of times.

i've actually banged it up quite a bit, nicked the paint, dropped it, cracked the faceplate (just a small crack) from taking it everywhere. i just consider them battle scars from the war of tone that it is undoubtedly the victor. if i lost it, i would have to buy another that day. i cant imagine playing without it now

i havent had to talk with them really (thats probably a testimony in itself), but i talk with the roland rep for the guitar center i work for and he's the most helpful rep of any company anywhere. joey arata you rock!

if you are even thinking about a serious delay pedal, this is it. like i mentioned above, i work at a guitar center, and i sell a lot of these because i love 'em so much! i've talked to people that wanted to buy a DL4 and i talk them out of it! when you compare the 2, theres really no contest. its even cheaper! i'll talk with them later on and ask how they like (love) their dd20 and they give me this response " *sigh*...ah man, i love that pedal. that pedal is awesome."

The Giga Delay is very straightforward like all Boss products, but it is also the
deepest, most flexible and inspiring stomper I have ever run across.
The manual is clear, but it hardly hints at the things the DD-20 can do.
It will take time to discover the many things it can do. This is
perhaps its only drawback. The DD-20 would be overkill for anyone
who just needs a basic delay sound.

Tap tempo was the most important feature for me, and I could
operate it right out of the box. So is standard 9VDC power input.
Many boutique pedals use their own power supplies, which is an annoyance
when you have a pedalboard.

I do a lot of improvising in a band context and I was able to grab
some cool stuff easily on my first gig with it, after owning it
for only a couple of days. I read through the little manual
twice and now I think I know all the controls.

It sounds wonderful on practically any setting. Really.
It depends on what you play into it. <g>

All of the controls are scaled perfectly, and the available
effects run the gamut from subtle to emulations to over-the-top.

I am using the DD-20 with a Fender Twin and various other
stompers. The DD-20 is at the end of the chain before a volume pedal.

The mode settings, briefly:

- Standard is like any Boss digital delay pedal. This sound
plus the tap tempo would have been worth $199 to me
without the rest.

- Analog emulation is spot on. I sold my analog pedal decades
ago. Now I have it back, sort of.

- Tape. This is likewise accurate and possibly my favorite.
There's a bit of tape slippage in there, as well as a darkening
and distorting of the echoes, especially with feedback up.
Using Tape on a slapback setting is great.

- Warp and Twist are special fx, and don't appear very useful
until you experiment a bit. By holding a pedal down in warp mode,
the feedback ramps up to max. I found that at longer delay settings,
this created a loop that could be overdubbed. Twist does the same
while changing the delay time, causing the pitch to ascend; when you
release the pedal the pitch drops down to a motorboat. The jury is
still out on this....

- SOS is a looper. It allows overdubbing, and soloing over your
creation while using an echo effect. Not for dedicated loopists,
but a very nice feature well implemented.

- Modulate allows you to do two things not mentioned in the manual:
chorus and flange. By using short delay times and adjusting
the modulation speed and depth, you can achieve a nice flange and
a room-y chorus.

- Reverse is just that! Set the wet/dry control to full wet and go.
Big fun, if you like that sort of thing. I do.

- Smooth smoothes the attack of the echo. It sounds dreamier. A nice and
unique flavor.

I have no reason to think this Boss pedal will be less dependable than
any other. Boss pedals have been absolutely reliable in my experience.

Haven't dealt with Boss directly, ever.

I needed a delay pedal with tap tempo for onstage jams. I first bought
a Line 6 Echo Park, which was a huge disappointment. It was returned quickly.
I tried a number of boutique pedals, (the best of them was the DLS Echo Tap.
It sounded beautiful, but it would not go extreme. For someone just looking
for a pretty echo, I would recommend the DLS) I felt at home with the Boss immediately, and a little fiddling in the store revealed the DD-20 to be very deep.

This has been an exciting purchase.