Boss DD-20

Got to master this incredible pedal. Just might be THE BEST DELAY UNIT known to mankind. This thing is almost too good to be true.

As far as I can tell,this thing flat out beats out all of the delay toys that I have played with,and that is dating back to the mid 70's Analog snob? Well, I used to have an old Boss stomper,but the sound quality was so close that I could not justifiy having two delay pedals.Sold the old and it almost made up the difference for the DD-20.

Hopefully will last for ever!

No contact,no comment.

I play mostly blues oriented music. I also like to play ECM styles(Bill Frisell, I really love).I have this thing nested in a three line effects loop(about 20 effects all together).IT IS ABSOLUTELLY THE ESSENTIAL PIECE OF GEAR for me. Boss has made quite a few pedals both good and bad,but they certainly got this one right.

It took me a few hours of tinkering around with it to figure out all the modes, and how to work them, but the manual is perfect! There are a butt load of sounds you can get from this machine!!!

My set up is a Epiphone Les Paul Standard -> BOSS TU-2 -> BOSS DD-20 -> Traynor Custom Valve 40, and it sounds awesome! There are 11 different modes, some more usefull than others, and as a lot of people have said TWIST is coll, but i would probably never use it in a gig. Im a big U2 fan and you can get all of The Edge's sounds out of this baby. Sound on Sound is the ideal mode for practicing solos, and taty licks, just lay down a basic rhythm line, and play some lead over top, it rocks!

I just bought it, but it is Boss, it will never die!

Never delt with them

If you're not big on delay it might be a bit to much for you, you might want a DD-3 or DD-6, but if you are big on delay it is perfect for you!

if you have owned the line 6 delay, or maybe another boss delay then it's fairly easy to use. i figured out how to use it about 75% without the manual, but after i read it i found out all the little tricks, like switching it to one head or two heads for the tape delay setting. the one thing i dont like is that you have to choose between having the right pedal be a settings selector OR tap tempo. to change it you have to hold it down for 3 seconds. i plan on getting the footswitch so i can use both.

this is my third delay pedal. i owned the dd-6, the line 6, and now this. i traded the dd-6 towards the stupid line 6. that thing died after only having it for 6 months. just straight died. stopped working. i have never owned a tape or analog delay or anything like that, so i cant say if the models on this pedal are great compared to those, but i can say that it sounds much better than the line 6, and practically has the dd-6 in it. i really really like this pedal. my setup is (come on everyone likes to flaunt their setup so just lemme do it): boss ns-2, ernie ball volume, boss tu-2, crybaby special edition, ehx doctor q (vintage), boss cs-3, boss oc-3, ibanez ts-9, mxr phase 90, ibanez cs-9 (vintage), digitech talker, then the delay. so as you can see i love boss pedals. basically, the thing is dope. much better than any other delay on the market today.

ever wonder why line 6 has a one year warrantee and boss has FIVE years? boss is the only brand of pedals that i have never ever had one single problem with. ever.

i have never had to deal with boss.

its definately a great pedal. who doesnt love boss? the one thing i do wish it had was the volume swell setting like the line 6 has, which is why i bought a whole new volume pedal when i sold the line 6. either way, definately worth checking out if you're looking for a delay.

Its pretty complicated. Takes some tinkering and playing around with, for sure. Its worth it though.

This has many sound qualities. A lot of tweakable settings, a lot of noise making potential. I play psych/garage rock, using a 2x12 tube combo and a large chain of effects. its definitely true that you need to right power voltage or you get noise. The pedal does have a bit of that digital edge to it, so if you really want pure analog sound you probably won't be so into this one. But, it does a good analog mimic, and can do a number of other things as well. I have found the 'warp' setting to be one of the best tools for soloing that I've ever come across. Very useful

So far so good.

???

This is an amazingly useful pedal. Can do a thousand things. If you find a good deal and you're thinking about it, just get it. You won't regret...

It is very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. But being that it is delay and has a number of different delay types reading the manual is recommended. Example, when I was trying this out in GuiCenter I couldn't wait to get home to try the warp and twist (I wasn't getting right in the store), after reading the manual and then trying the warp and twist I realized I'll never use those delays again.

The unit is very quiet and is the last effect in my chain before my amp (Mesa Nomad 45 4x10). Again, the twist and warp feature are not for me I thought my amp was going to explode the one time I tried the twist feature. The Level knob seems to act as a wet/dry effect, the more level the more the unit just sounds like a delay. With the level at about 12 o'clock gives me the right balance of guitar and effect. The pedal shows no bias towards my LP Std. or G&L Legacy, it's quiet either way and my Les Paul's signal doesn't blow it away like it does my analog phaser (also a Boss Ph-1r). Aside from the "warp" and "twist" all the delays sound great. I especially like the analog delay, it's got that lo-fi thing going for it. I would give this a 10 if not for the warp and twist. If I was at a show and the guitarist kept using the "twist" effect I'd know that the guitar playing had been playing guitar for about 5 minutes to a week or that I was simply at the wrong show. The "warp" and "twist" almost made think I had bought a toy.

I've had this pedal for a non-gigging year and no problems so far. My other boss pedals refuse to stop working, amazing!

I've never dealt with the company outside of buying their products.

I auditioned the DD-20 and the Line 6 DL-4. I desperatley wanted to favor the Line 6 since it seems just about everyone is using one in some facet. But it just isn't better than the DD-20. You just have to ask yourself what you need and how you will use it. The Line 6 had more models, but more doesn't make it better, couple that with the fact that I only wanted a few. And I'm definitely not saying that the DL-4 is inferior. I almost used the "twist" and "warp" as an excuse to buy the DL-4. But I couldn't get past the backlit display on the DD-20. I appreciate being able to see where I'm at on the delay scale (how fast or slow), it spoils you. And then throw in the four slots for your own custom tweaks and the fifth (first) slot for on the fly tweaking. I am very pleased with this unit. I think the DL-4 and the DD-20 are both great delays, but the DD-20's features did it for me. I like the idea of being able to go between a splapback delay and reverse delay a the step of a button instead of a twist of a knob.Bands that are currently seeing high rotation in my CD player are Kaiser Chiefs, THE THE, The Cult, Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork, Mary's Danish, Los Super Seven, Ryan Adams, Guided by Voices. I have a long drive to work!

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.

Once you read the manual, it's quite simple. You have ti keep in mind some functions. Then, you'll enjoy it: easy to find a Pink Floyd sound, as far as a U2 delay, or some psychedelic effects too. You can store FOUR sound in memory,plus the "manual" setting that is REALLY manual (i HATE the line 6 DL4 function that makes you loose the manual settings). You can also connect an external pedal for tap tempo: great and easy.

Simply the best delay pedal in my opinion. Clear clear sound, great delays: digital delay is perfect, tape and analog are very well made (obviously you can't compare to real analog delays, but they work fine), and some strange effects like twist and warp, plus a 20+ seconds delay that makes you create an effective sound-on-sound "jam" - amazing. Last but not least, i use this pedal also for a chorus effect (modulate delay set properly) so i don't have to buy one :-)
Personally, i don't miss the true bypass, since i've other 3 boss pedals and a trubypass box :-)

I saw a review that tell to use boss adaptor only: well that's not true, i use a normal Danelectro ac adaptor (9,6 v 200mA) with all my effects (Cs3, Ts9, Od3, Tr2, Crybaby and dd20) and i have no problem at all. It's a Boss.

I play mostly blues, funk, acid jazz, fusion. I've been playing for 10 years. I own a Fender hot rod deluxe with vintage30, JJ preamp tubes and TAD power tubes; Ibanez archtop John Scofield,and a PRS replica; Cs3, Ts9, Od3, Tr2, Crybaby and dd20.
If you're searching for a great delay pedal, this is a must have. Far better than the Dl4 AT ALL, both in sounds and functions (i had a line 6 that i sold to buy this Boss).

Simply amazing. Very simple to use

you select the type of delay you want, tinker with the knobs untill you get the tone you want and done. Even better when you can bank to different delay settings without loosing a "tweaked" tone.

I tested this in the music store through a 4X10 deville running mono and it kicked some serious A$$. At home I decided to go all crazy and hookup a Ampeg 2X18" portaflex with a Fender 2X12" deville and a 4X12" fender cab with celestions in it. Running stereo Left and right out from the delay. (nothing like 6X12's and 2X18's)

The sound it self is clean. The ampeg im running is solid state from 1966 and it doesnt make a peep of noise. No ground hum just nothing. Devilles can be a bit noisey but for the most part their quiet.

I did test this delay out running the following chain of effects.

Ibanez Tube screamer TS9 with ts 808 mod from analog man.
Electro Harmonix Small stone from the 70's. *issue j.
Boss CE-3 Chorus from the 80's, japanese
Boss DD-20

Running stereo and Playing through a Gibson SG Standard with 57' classic and 498T pickups. Electro Harmonix Guitar strings, 9 gauge.
And my home made 1968' strat copy. With lace sensors , 2 seymour duncan antiquites. Gibson Brite wires. 10's


I nailed down a killer pink floyd wall sound very easily.
This is one of the only delays aside from a rackmount unit that I can say is good. You can pump the tube sreamer through it on just about any setting without having feedback issues. Also it really just does a fine job with a U2 streets have no name kinda sound.

Amazing tone! I can't explain this in any other way then this.
If you buy 2 delay pedals it equals the cost of 1 of these DD20's. So instead of wasting your time with crap like digitech or DOD just get a DD20.

I can call DOD and digitech crap because I had both of there "top of the line" delay pedals for test drives at my house running the same effects and the DIN chips in the digitech get overloaded if you try to change time settings, and The dod delay i had was only a 3 or 4 second delay. DD20 = 20+ seconds of lush delay, awesome AD9 replication too.

Well thats enough, im startin to ramble and i could talk for hours about this because its just that good.

Wait for the price to increase when they start pushing these more.

Its a solid boss chassis. You cant break it. You can drop it, spill on it, step on it, and use it as a door stop and it will still work right.

only called boss 1 time for an old psm5 power supply I have. I was speaking to a person within minutes. I also have called digitech, nothing like a 45minute to 1 hour wait to just have an answering machine pickup and say "thank you for calling the digitech support desk no-one is here right now" yada yada yada blah crap. Boss is good with this stuff.

Yes I got this New for $150 from Cintioli music, thats only because My dad has been shopping there since 196? something and I've been going there for the last 13 years. One of many the benefits of being friends with the owner. Benny rocks :) For the rest of the world this pedal is $230+, all I can say is Muahahaha (dr.evil laugh) But If you come to philadelphia stop at Cintioli Music 215 - 533 - 2050


I play straight rock, blues, some mild progressive rock like satriani, dreamtheater etc. Been playing for 13 years. I primarily play gibson and fender guitars. if this was stolen I would find the theif and beat him with it, then go home and use it. I own way to many pedals and amps to type it all,

My absolute main rig is

Amps-
Fender Deville 2X12 (bang and boom)
Marshall JCM 800 4210 1X12 combo (sream and yell)

effects board

Distortion - Boss DS1
Over drive - Ibanez TubeScreamer TS9 with 808 mod,
Fuzz - N.Y.C Made electro harmonix Big muff.
Chorus - Boss CE-3 japan
Phaser / flanger - Electro harmonix small stone (old)
Wah's - Heres my delimah. I use 2 Crybaby and a 1973 electro harmonix crying tone that does wah, volume, filtron, traveler.
Power - I have the boxx psm5 for all my boss, ibanez and dunlop pedals. And then just a power strip with ac adapters for the remaining pedals.

Another biggie. I have Mesa Boogie power tubes in my marshall with svetlana preamp tube. The deville has Sovtek 12AX7's and Grove tube power tubes. This changes the sound of a deville so much. And the marshall just roars with the Mesa power tubes.

Guitars.
Gibson sg standard with 57' classic Bridge, 498T neck
Strat 68 copy, Maple fingerboard, Lace sensor neck, 2X duncan antiquity's.
Epiphone SG/Les paul, 3 pickups (the following is my own idea)
Has 3 humbuckers 1 prs dragon, 1 57 classic, 1 Seymour duncan from an old jackson mid 80's V2, wired with 3 vol 1 tone, push pull for coil tap on all 3 pickups with a boost circuit off ebay. If you try to wire this yourself you will go crazy. The original harness has 12 or 13 wires, the new coil tap has almost triple the wires......

Basic wires with cloth covers nothing special.

So thats my current rig, last thing im searching for is a good flanger. I'd like to get an ADA one but I'd rather buy a new car first.

Any questions drop me an email.

Rock on.

PEOPLE LISTEN CAREFULLY!!!

If you are going to use this pedal you need to use the Boss PSA adaptor only! you can't share it from a power supply - it must be powered alone - a drag but worth it.
Ready the manual folks.
It requires a 9 volt supply with a 160mA draw.
thats is why all you are getting noises & pops.
Stop being lazy and read the manual

Very easy and intuitive

Sounds great, lots of flexibility. A reviewer below mentioned that he hears a clicking sound when using this unit. I had the same problem when using wall power - the tempo of the click followed the delay time and related light flash, but I switched to batteries and it went away. Gave it a 10 anyway (although maybe more buffering on my part would help).

New - na

New - na

Blues, rock, funk, latin rock, surf, etc.......... Own high end gear and played many years. While I own and use boutique gear also, the pedal boards of many pros are covered with Boss gear.

Very easy to use - however i would suggest reading the manual, it helps.

Great sound, very quiet & the delays are awesome.
Tape echos are quite good, as well as the analog, smooth & normal
twist & warp are good if you are in a Radiohead tribute band.
The big bonus is the Sound on sound - great for practicing or playing live for short (23 sec) loops - and you can layer them!

Set up is as follows;
Pedaltrain board (Dunlop Power brick for power)
Boss TU-12
Budda Wah
TS-9
VL Sparkle Drive
VL Tremolo
Ibanez PH-9 Phaser, to front of amp

Effects Loop;

DD-20
CE-20

Into a Mesa F-30 combo or Dual rec 1/2 stack
I always put time based effects into a loop, just seem to work better & never had any issues.
Remember to power this is thing with a Boss PSA or you will be in noise hell.

Its a Boss, duh

Never delt with them, because I never had a boss pedal that broke

I was worried about getting into the "modeling gear" because as like all guitar players, i am lazy; however this is a great addition to my rig or any , if you are looking for a multi-purpose delay (nad looper), give it a try. It does the trick, and the sound on sound feature is very useful. and programmming it is a snap.
Would replace it if it was lost - for 179 its a no branier

hi,
CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE SEND ME THE MANUAL?
I bought this unit a week ago, second hand. And the manual was missing. This is of course the ideal "ease of use" test:
It's easy to get a lot out of this little box. Just fiddling around with it will get you a long way.
But still... when I see some of the reviews, there seems to be a lot more.
So could anybody, please, send me the manual? (maybe a pdf or something?)

Great. No noise.
I use it with my Fender Super amp and Mesa Mark IV.
Stereo!
Great!
I like the analog and tape settings.
One more thing: try a delay of 1ms and a good amount of feedback.
Great chorus effect! You can try 2 or 3 ms for a slight change in sound.

Seems fine so far...

I couldn't find the manual on the website...
Hm...

Best delay pedal I' ve ever had.
I like the ability to store some settings, without going for a big rack or floor unit, that will suck your tone up.
No tiny little knob to squeeze your signal down before it enters the vulnerable chips in a multi effect. Cool.

ok everybody listen up! you can HAVE A 2,4,6 BAR STEREO DRUM LOOP AND LOOP A LONGER GUITAR PART OVER IT,AND RE RECORD THE GUITAR PART OFF AND ON AT WILL WITHOUT ERASING THE DRUM LOOP!!!

here's how:

1. get a stereo A/B(VCR/DVD switcher could work) and a tap tempo pedal
2. CD player/ drum loops in one stereo channel, guitar in other
3. set DD 20 to anything BUT SOS, 23 secs of delay, full feedback
4. make sure effect is off
5. play your drum loops. when ready, hit effect on
6. tap tempo to make it start looping
7. use your big toe to switch to SOS. the drum loop will continue
8. hit SOS and lay down those chords
9. hit SOS again and hear your chords IN STEREO OVER A STEREO DRUM LOOP. start wailing over it
10. hit SOS again, do your next bunch of chords and throttle over that

One little thing: you can't switch to the memory 1 slot while doing this or the drum loop will dissappear. if you want some delay on your lead solo, get a boss DD 6. put it in so that it doesn't affect the other parts (drums and chords)

great for pat metheny's "Have You Heard" solo. it's clean and won't hum with other things in your chain like LIE 6 (line 6) products.

probably won't break. like toyota, japanese companies tend to keep up the quality control

i live in taiwan. the Roland people here are total jerks. but i don't care. i know more about their products that they do! that's why they don't like me. everybody in taiwan knows me. you'd think that would translate into artist endorsement, but i don't suck up to them enough and went beyond what they thought their product (GR guitar synth) could do."just play what we tell you". go figure.

i play jazz . i suggest using the BOSS OC 3 for your bass parts. you can have the bass sound on JUST THE 5TH AND 6TH STRING WITH THIS PEDAL!! you can have bass on the left, guitar on the right going thru your DD 20 and it sounds GREAT!
LOOPERS UNITE!!! WRITE TO ME!!

twin pedal functions are great. knobs are easy and set up nicely. time knob w/display screen is nice to have. get an external pedal for tap, though.

using gibson with seymour duncans into mesa nomad. Not noisy at all. no tone loss noticed. one thing you all must remember: this is a digital pedal! no matter how much the dd-20 tries to be tape or analog delay by cutting the highs or decaying, it will still act like a digital delay. not bad relplications at all, however. slap back (120ms) seems to work fine. analog and tape settings can definatly pull off some convincing emulations, but i need the real thing. getting a ibanez ad-9. consider this before purchasing if your intentions are for its tape and analog emulations. these 'digital' characteristics are very noticible when using short delays; up to about 200ms.

display screen will have to be kept safe. knobs are plastic and look cheaper than normal boss stomp-box knobs

good.

i hate dealing with programmable pedals and their sterile digital sounds. this twin pedal, on the other hand, i really have no problem with. easy to use. no tonal loss. verisitle. good job, boss! just remember, buy it cause you know its digital.

I've just had this pedal for a couple of days, but it seems very easy to use. The manual is a must for some operations, but right out of th box it's easy to start messing with. Getting sounds is very easy and storing is super easy as well. Knobs laid out well.

My set is either '68 reissue strat or '77 les paul custom into keeley mod ds-1 into the dd-20 into fender hotrod deluxe w/volume box...sometimes use an old flange pedal or fuzz as well. This pedal is dead quite for me, no hiss, no switching noise, and patches flow from one to another. I bought this as a main delay pedal and I'm pleased with it. In the 80's I used to have the japanese analog pedal that's going for way too much on ebay. I like digital stuff too, and while I'd love an analog...digital is very flexible and useful, and the sounds on this unit are awesome.
The only drawbacks I've found which I can live with are: You cannot make the effect level louder that the dry level....I love to sometimes have the delay 25 or 50 percent louder than the guitar. It almost sounds like the effect full on isn't even quite as loud as dry. This makes no sense to me, but I can live with it. Also, while I like the fact that when you switch the pedal off or change patches the delay still fades out, sometimes I like an abrupt stop to the delay...especially when I've got a long feedback setting. I haven't quite figured out how to have a long feedback setting on this and kill the sound quickly without obviously bending down on turning the feeback down and waiting for it to die out. It would be nice to have the option. I also agree that twist and whatever the other setting is are silly...this unit feels pro except for those settings. But, there's always a way to use a sound somewhere.

I've never had a problem with Boss pedals and this one looks tough as well despite the read out screen....but I'm pretty easy on pedals.

Never had a dealing with.

Music I like/styles...Hendrix, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth etc. I've been playing for about 20 years. This pedal definatly is fun to play with, sounds awesome and a great value. I don't base my playing on a pedal, I like a pedal to compliment what I'm after. Though there's 23 seconds of delay here I tend to use short delays mostly, but I do like to experiment and find ways to use longer delays. The last thing I'd every what to sound like is the Edge, yuck. I've always steered away from delay because of him...but, I think there's so many ways to use delay other than that. I love the way Boss stuff feels solid and dependable. I choose this pedal 'cause overall it seemed the best value...I hate Line 6 stuff, though honestly I've not used much of it...it just seems cheesy to me. I really wish I could make the effect louder than the dry signal is my only complaint, but otherwise this is a great pedal, seems classic.

if this is your first stompbox, you might be a little confused. i've been a gearhead for a while, built a synth, so this wasnt really an issue. i bought this pedal because of reviews i'd read here and i dont regret it for a second. this is such a good site. the blinking light is cool (way too bright true) but useful. i dont think it could get much simpler, saving, recalling etc.

i was worried about it sounding cold. not an issue, but then again i use tube amps. last night it was making a barely audible clicking, without the effect engaged. this is probably my problem, i just got my 1st pedalboard in an effort to get my act more polished. but there was so much gain in the loop that you would never hear this random flutter. anyway. i love 'analog' mode. smells like slowdive. i've never owned a true analog delay because i am not thurston more, and buy gear very sparingly.

yes. get the power adapter. or a pedalboard. i cant stress this enough. i was playing a sports bar solo (bad idea man) the week i got it and the batteries ran out. ouch.

nope

it's a question of $$$. a new boss delay pedal costs 120. this one has all the features plus many more for 200. and you can save patches.
amazing. more things should be built like this. simple, metal, easy.
this pedal is a real pleasure droid. some cons: TWIST MODE!?!? you step on the pedal and it goes "WHOOPWHOPPWHOOP" much louder than anything in your signal chain! completely the same every time. and in the manual it says 'perfect for ending a song' and thats it. silly boss. i'm sure in a year there will be countless albums with whoopwhoopwhooop at the end. i'll let this slide. it's a great stomper.

If you read the manual (short and easy), figuring out how to use this thing is really easy. But for some stuff, you really do want to read the manual. I've found that it's really important to get an extra momentary footswitch (you can get em at Radio Shaq for $10). That way you're able to turn it on/off, change patches, and use the extra switch as a tap tempo. Without that switch, you can't change patches and tap tempo unless you want to stand on the right switch for two seconds, which isn't practical live. It's a drag that the light goes off automatically and you have to turn it back on, but that's not a big deal.

I generally hate digital delays, and I generally hate stuff Boss makes (it usually sounds too thin to me). I had an old Boss delay/sampler that gave up the ghost, and it blew. The DD20 is great, however. It doesn't color the sound unless you want it to, and when you do want it to, you can do some pretty nifty stuff. It's also dead quiet if you use the right adaptor (just go buy the actual Boss adaptor and you'll avoid some real hassles) and good cable. It's hard to get real freak sounds out if it, if you're into that-- like you can't grab the time knob and wing it around to get weird pitch bending, but the fact that you can get 23 seconds of delay rules, and that looper is extremely addictive. If you have a stereo instrument, the DD20 works nicely, because it's stereo all the way through. I run a Warr guitar into a mess of effects feeding each side, and it keeps them nice and separate.

Seems dependable. I keep it nestled in a pedal board and don't smack it around. I use it without a backup-- I'm not made of money. I should say that despite Boss's acclaimed reliability, I've managed to kill two of their pedals even with gentle treatment.

Unless you want to shell out twice as much, you won't find a better-sounding, more versatile delay. It's tempting to incorporate it into everything musical you do, because it runs the gamut from really subtle to opaque sounds that most people wouldn't understand. Like some others have said, definitely get this before the Line 6 (those are inexplicably renowned-- I think it's because Guitar Player loves them).

Pretty easy to use. I come from rack stuff so this is kinda like a toy. Seamless patch changes work well.

I'm using this in the FX loop of a Soldano Decatone head.

It's not noisy, and apparently the buffer is pretty good.

I'm using it in wet/dry mode, using the 100% wet output and blending in the delay signal with my amp's parallel fx loop mix knob.

To be honest, this unit doesn't sound that great as an fx-loop device. It sounds decent with a guitar plugged straight into it, but that setup doesn't work for me because I use a high distortion preamp, which requires delays to go after the preamp (fx loop).

I find that the overall quality of the delays is poor. Even with the tone knob turned full right (enhanced treble frequencies), it has a lot of trouble cutting through. Output is just kind weak. The majority of the "models" are gimmicks. In fact the only one that's decent is just the "standard" delay. The analog sucks, the tape is a joke, twist/warp are ok but kinda useless... sound on sound works right i guess. The modulation delay is pretty good actually.

The one that really pisses me off, is the Dual Delay. Why didn't you morons actually try this one before reviewing it? It's absolutely worthless! By "Dual Delay" you'd think it's like any other dual or stereo delay, with two independent delays running in series. Well, it's sorta that, but the first delay is limited to 100ms or less!!!!!! WTF are you gonna do with that? So all you can get out of it is a doubling effect proceeded by a normal delay... there are no rhythmic possibilities as one would suspect. You people need to check these things out before you come on here giving perfect reviews on your new toys.

Overall I am very disappointed with this unit, as it simply sounds crappy in an fx-loop setup.

BTW, yes I have tried the -20/+4 output level toggle, this is poorly implemented as well.

Seems well made, steel. 5 year boss warranty.

n/a

This has a great feature set and is a great concept. For some people, particularly those using it in front of their amp, it will work well. For FX loop users, I would caution you. Go try it at the store first or something. If you want to go the FX loop route, get a rack unit instead.

In general, this delay is incredibly easy to use. If you've only used straight stomper delays before, it's pretty much the same. If you've used anything with memory presets before, it's pretty much the same. The only thing I imaging could be made easier is the beat ratio settings (the ratio of the number of delays per foot tap. The display could be used to show this a lot better - there's no way to discern what the current setting is if you're playing it live, as it uses tiny eighth/quarter/half/whole icons with tiny dots and triple icons... then again, I've never seen anything else do this well either.

I've only had it for 1 day, but combined with my experience (18 years of delay pedals) and the 4 hours of use (butt on the floor tweak time and stand up loud rehearsel) I do feel comfortable reviewing it this early. I've tried it in 3 scenarios so far - in an effects send/return off a mixer to check on some older tracks (A/B'd with some cubase tape sims), Through a Mesa Boogie Maverick into 1x12 EVM loaded Thiele, and with a Mesa Boogie Mark IV into a '73 Marshal greenback cab (along with a fulldrive II and Ernie Ball volume).
Every mode is extremely quiet - as quiet as it gets. This is a bit strange though when using the analog mode - my old boss dm-3 was not quiet at all - not something that I appreciated. I noticed that another reivewer mentioned that he had tried two and that they were both very noisy - sounds strange to me... perhaps the output mode setting (-20/+4 db) was set wrong? I should add that this feature was a wonderful surprise, as I can now use this pedal as a DI for and get instrument level inputs into my mixer that I didn't have before - strange that noone mentions this. The only other problem I can imagine with that previous user had is that perhaps they're unable to discern the difference between the pedal noise and other sources ( pickup, excessive gain, compressors, etc.)
Effect wise, Tape, analog, standard, dual, pan sound amazing to me. It's been over a decade since I've tried a real echo plex, but I hear them all the time from some studio work my band has done (before I showd up)... I do believe it could fool anyone with in depth experience, but I'm not that guy, so mind the grains of salt.
I found it embarrassing when some Edge sounding licks popped out - only natural when you've got the same kind of syncopated delays - The first and last time I'll ever play Pride, In The Name of Love.
Two strange effects for allt he RadioHead fans out there - Twist and Warp. Both modes are normal delays until the on/off button is held down - "Twist" sounds just like when you tweak an analogue pedal's delay time shorter and "Warp" sounds like manually turing up the feedback and level on an old analogue delay. Releasing the on/off button lets the cacophonic swell die down back to a normal delay. Again, I could never see myself putting this up on the back-beat, but for review's sake, I though describing these cheesier effects might help some reader out there.
The "Smooth" effect was another unexpected treat. This is basically a delay where the tap adds reverb onto them. The reverb sounds very plate-like, and in conjunction with the tone knob and a very tight, one slap delay, you can get just the right rockabilly slap back. I was amazed at how well this worked out in conjunction with the thick reverb on the Mesa Maverick, and the MIM Telecaster never sounded more 50's
I don't really believe in the 10 score unless you know that nothing could ever top what you're rating. I give it a nine because of the modulated delay, which I found a little weak . I had an effect like this on the old Digitech Multitap some 12 years ago - too long to recall which would sound better as my ears have probably changed more than dsp chips have in the same time. However, I just don't think that the modulated delay sounds very musical. I imagine that a wet or stereo chorus or vibrato would sound far better than the modulation built in to this effect. Also, with two extra "deep" parameters to control this (rate and depth), it's cumbersome to dial it in to sound just right.

I really couldn't say...It comes with a 5 year warrantee, but did the last Isuzu I bought, which turned out to be a mistake...

I paid an extra $20 for expedited replacement service (just drop it off at UPS, and Boss mails back a check for the price of a new one.). I bought this because of how impressed I was with the pedal while demoing it. I would need a replacement for this right away if it pooped out on me.

I've been playing guitar for 18 years, with over a decade of drums and violin beofre that. I currently play in 2 bands, ready to start playing out again. One very alt.folky, ballady, replacements sounding quartet with a country "edge", and the other is punky/emo/indy mixed up band. This pedal hits all the bases and most any kind of delay sound I want is easily summoned up. The trendy analogue sound is only missing the noise artifacts, but that's not missed. Crystaline bouncing shimmer, PBS space documentary intro music, "Creep", "How Soon is Now", "Whole Lotta Love", "Wind Cries Mary" - it's all there. I know that I could tweak 50's rockabilly slapback sound into some great country lead sounds.
I compare this to the delays on many other units I've tried, multi effects and standalone: A Boss DM-3, a Digitech MultiTap, Boss DD-2, Digitech RP-12, Didgitech 2120, Lexicon MPX-G2, Boss GT-5 and more recenly a Danelectro Wasabi forward reverse delay. This is as good or better than anything I've used. My last attempt at a delay, the Wasabi, was returned in exchange for this - the tone cut on the Wasabi didn't do enough to warm it up and do the fake analogue/tape thing at all.
The pedal could be made more useful if it had a third foot switch (i.e., smaller, like the Line 6 delay modeller) so that memory and tap functions could be done more easily. The idea of using a separate switch and taking up more real estate on the pedal board is a real drag. I've yet to try the "Mode 3", where memory bank switching is done by hitting the two-pedals simultaneously - this might appease me.

It's pretty easy to get a good sound. The editing is a little complicated and not entirely obvious, but if you just play around with it most everything sounds good, even if it leads you someplace you weren't expecting. The manual is good, but it does take a while to check everything out because there's a lot of functions. I wish there were some more shortcuts, because I still haven't figured a lot of stuff out. It doesn't sound bad because I haven't figured it out yet, but I don't have full control of all it's capabilities yet.

I plug into an Ernie Ball volume pedal into a TU-2 to a Fulldrive 2 into a modified Boss SD-1 overdrive, into the DD-20. It goes from there straight into a Peavey Delta Blues. The delay is not noisy at all. It's all good. I've used this with my Les Paul Junior and Tele Custom.

It's a Boss.

I've been searching for the right delay for years, going through a lot of pedals on the way. I had a Guyatone MD3 most recently, a Boss DD-5 before that, the Dano PB&J delay, a Zoom thing, and some other stuff I can't remember, all gone on e-bay. This has tap/tempo, dual delays, good vintage delay sims, the reverse thing, looping of a sort, and a place to store favorite settings. Makes me sound like Robert Fripp or The Edge. I haven't had it long enough to go more in depth, but it seems like most everything it produces is extremely musical. Well worth the price. My search for the Delay Grail has ended (I think)

Lots of features... I'm too lazy to list them all. see other reviews.
Very easy to get a basic dealy out of it.
But getting the best out of it requires some time... or extensively reading my review ;-)

It is a digital delay so it doesn't perfectly sound like an analog delay or a tape echo. The simulations are close enough though, but it's not what I use the most. warp, modulated etc... are not my thing. I like digital delay when it's used properly anyway, and remember there's a tone knob to cut off the high end.

BUT... the potential of its digital delay is amazing, and that's what makes this pedal stand out. dead quiet (of course!). Reverse is excellent. I love the smooth setting too (try 130 ms with a long feedback and play arpeggios). The delay time starts at 1 ms ! the quality is pristine. No rack lexicon or TC or whatever sounds better than this. Now wait...

ATTENTION PLEASE!! The reason why I'm writing this review is that most people don't realise the DD-20's full POWER. A lot of people say the Line 6 is a better looper... they're wrong. Do yourself a favor and get a extra pedal for tap tempo. Now set the right pedal to switch between manual and one saved setting. Set both on digital delay, infinite feedback and 23 seconds of delay. Using the tap tempo pedal to start and end a loop, you can use the DD-20 as a TWIN LOOPER, running two loops in parallel. Get it? One tap, play, one tap, it loops. Use the left pedal to overdub phrases. Memorise the time shown on the display. Switch to the other delay (manual/saved) with the right pedal. You can set the time to be the same (parallel loops), half, or off-tempo if you wish. CHAOS! The feedback knob allows you to have loops fade away if you wish.

I told you to use the 'digital delay' setting, but you don't have to! that means, you can make loops with the analog simulation, or tape etc...!!!

I also told you to set the delay time to 23 seconds, but you can also set it to a normal delay time, that way you can LOOP A DELAYED SIGNAL.

One last thing: Put an A/B box in front or your DD-20, and do this parallel looping thing IN STEREO. If you don't have a stereo set-up, try with earphones first, I guarantee after a few minutes of this you will drop your guitar and run to the shop to buy another amp.

There are other features I love about this pedal. I love the stereo routing. You can use the DD-20 as an A/B box, run the delays through a reverb with the dry/fx output mode, etc...

The only thing I DON'T like about this pedal is that you can't turn the rate knob smoothly. I wish it would self oscillate like a DE-7 or at least pitchshift like a basic DD-3. Buy a DE-7, put it in front of your DD-20 and you have an amazing delay combo. Some say the best, I don't know, I haven't tried all those low-fi 80's kaputt delays and loopers. So anyway when you turn the rate knob ou get digital farts. So people love that (there's a review below with extatic comments about those 'rythm patterns'), I don't. That's really the only thing it lacks, but well, a DE-7 isn't expensive.

That's it. Print this out and go to your closest guitar shop. If you still have questions after that, post them on the guitargeek forum: www.guitargeek.com. The geeks are friendly and will be happy to help you out.

It's a boss. 5 year warranty
It's got a display though, so I'll take care of it.

No idea

I love this pedal. It's a songwriting tool + a unique looper + a great programmable delay pedal for live use. Fantastic value. Go try it.

Well here we are back in Roland-land after trying every goddam delay there is. And guess what, it's the DD-20 that cuts the mustard. So anyway, ease of use: well actually it's not the easiest pedal to get your head around! I needed an hour with the manual and I have an IQ of 6.3 billion (but then again I am the alien he surfed with). But really if you just want a straight delay then twiddle the knobs, tap the tempo pedal and you're away. If you want to save stuff, mess with the chorus (yes there is a CHORUS in this pedal) or get your loops right you need to sit down, read the book, and try things out. So not totally intuitive, but what can you expect with only 2 control pedals?

Outstanding. All the delays are superb. Plus you can tweak them with the tone control, tap the tempo, twist this, warp that, you name it.

Running straight into my THD head at -20db it is great, running in the THD fx loop at +4 it is great, running in the post-master-vol fx loop (i.e. straight in the power stage) of my Torque acoustic combo it's a bit hissy but what the hey (who puts an fx loop after the master vol anyway? Idiots). Bypass may not be true, but it's pretty darn good and you'd need a scope to measure the difference when the DD-20 is out of circuit.

The "standard" delay is pristine, the analog and tape delays are retro, the chorus is actually not bad (tip - delay to 1ms then you have a bog standard Boss chorus effect) plus you can tweak rate and depth.

The gimmicky stuff, well "warp" and "twist" actually do little for me after the initial fun moments but who knows, I might get into them. Dual and 2-head delays maybe aren't that gimmicky, but they're not straight delays either, andway they're good. Same for reverse.

And now a special mention of SOS (sound on sound / loop sampler or whatever it is). So I'm new to this, but once you've got the hang of the timing of starting and stopping the loop, it is truly excellent! American Life track 2 here I come... hours of fun :-)

Boss/Roland gear has never, ever let me down. And I've been using it since the early 80s.

I thought of trying one of these and emailed Boss saying I wanted detailed info, they sent me a manual in the post next day. These guys have the right attitude.

This really is the best stomp box delay I've ever used. Maybe it could have more delay models but lose the gimmicky stuff, but who cares - it's great, I love it, it's now on my pedalboard. I can't wait to see what they bring out to replace this with!

This unit was extremely easy to use out of the box, although the manual helps, especially with regards to the assignment of output type. The manual is unusually well written, boss typically struggle in this area, but I guess they are working on the problem. The patches are easily editable, if you can't do this then you either live at the zoo or dont have working opposible thumbs, in which case how the hell do you play???

My setup at the moment is a Les Paul thru a Boss Tu-2, Boss Ce-5, DD-20 (clean channel selected using a Ls-2) and a dirty channel consisting of a OD-20 into a Ns-2. Soon to add the new sabine phlanger (really good sound quality phaser and flanger combo) My current amp is a marshall AVT-100. I also ran my Cort Curbow 5 string bass thru the DD-20. This pedal was quieter than a dead mouse, with the exception of the guitar noise I put in. Most of the settings were extremely usable and I can see myself using all except the twist and warp functions live. The modulate setting is awesome, it has a slight chorus/reverb addition to the chorus. With no effort at all I obtained a perfect U2 the Edge sound using this setting @ 420ms, awesome awesome awesome. Using the SOS (sound on Sound) setting is also cool, Withing 5minutes I had looped the piano riff (on my guitar) for closing Time by the Semisonics and was jamming alongside. Okay this setting might take some time to master, but it is usable, unfortunately the loop cannot be stored like the Boss Rc-20. Another extremely cool addition on this pedal is the fact that the sounds still delay into a fade, after the effect has been switched off, no more sudden delay kill. The tone knob allows for equilization to counteract the high frequency roll off, which I hav'nt noticed.

Its A Boss. Apart from the digital display, I would be happy to use the pedal as a self-defense weapon and still play it without a backup. The metal casing is the usual Boss thickeness, and the display is out of the way, so it doesnt get treaded on when Im jamming. Okay the unit does draw 200mA current, so it likes batteries more than my girlfriend likes chocolate, but hey get a Onespot power supply and power all you pedals at once (for the price of a Boss PSA (Bloody rip off).

When you live in South Africa its a little hard to get pedals to Boss headquaters, but hey anyone who breaks a boss pedal (Ive read of a few people) is either cursed or works for Line 6 (probably try to reverse engineer the technology). Oh yeah about Line 6, try senting a broken Dl-4 unit back to the US for repairs from SA. Im pretty sure the Dl-4 unit has a selfdestruct button sequence, coz they are absolute crap when it comes to reliability. Besides the Dl-4 quility is eclipsed by the DD-20. I'll never touch Line-6 stuff again it sucks big time. Read the Dl4 review page to see what Im talking about, so many horror stories on that page they should make a movie Freddy vs Jason vs Dl4 (my money is on the Dl4) thats some scary Sh*t.

I play mostly alternative rock, and delay has to be my favourite effect, so the DD-20 Delay makes me really happy, not to mention how it makes my music sound. Overall I love this pedal. Knowing Boss, my grand kids will probably be playing with it at some stage. Fantastic Boss has really done it again. If this pedal was lost or stolen, I think at first I would be depressed for about a month, then I would track down the scumback/low life, give him credit for stealing quality and then I would beat him to a pulp with my OD-20 (also a twin pedal, so its pretty heavy). Ive been playing for about 4 and a half years and I have to say Boss is the best when it comes to effects, I have a Vf-1, Rc-20, as well as the effects mentioned above. All the other makes I have tried really suck, and being a medical student, I dont have cash to blow on any pedal, so I try was avalible and choose the best, hence the Boss stuff.

Contrary to most other reviewers, I find this pedal very easy to understand. I fully read the manual in about 20 minutes, and I understand all of the functions (it is more complicated than your standard effects, of course). I just bought (and brought back) a Line 6 DL4. Talk about hard to use! The knobs adjust different parameters in different modes. Another thing that makes the DL4 obsolete is the lingering delay after the effect is bypassed. With the DL4, you have to hold 2 switches while inserting the input jack to activate this feature. It is automatically on with the DD-20. Oh, and this runs off of standard 9v Boss power, so you don't have to buy a dedicated power supply from the manufacturer (*cough* Line 6), or spend an ungodly amount on a Pedal Power (which doesn't even power a Line 6 properly, by the way - trust me, I measured it myself.)

Cut and dry: Gibson Les Paul Standard, Marshall JCM 900. No noise whatsoever. The delay sounds great (it's digital- it's not going to soumd exactly like an Echoplex, but I knew that before I bought it). Again, to compare with the DL4, the DD-20 can do almost everthing the DL4 does. The only feature it doesn't have is the 1/2 speed and reverse feature of the loop sampler. Big deal. Those features aren't really practical on stage. The DL4 seems to have a broader range of tones with its patches, though, and may be a bit more true to the original sound, but overall, I'd rather have the DD-20 anyday. Also, the reverse is great. You CAN set the pedal to only hear the reverse delay, and not the forward signal. It's clearly stated in the manual.

I've never had a problem with a Boss pedal. That's the main reason I brought my DL4 back and bought this. I read the horror stories from other customers. That pedal just felt cheap. This is standard Boss - heavy-duty and solid!

Like I said, never had a problem - never had to deal with them.

A guitarist of 11 years, and not really one for many effects, I think this is a great pedal (ESPESCIALLY compared to the DL4). I love the reliability, durability and use-ability of this pedal. Best delay on the market, in my opinion. If I lost it, and bought another delay pedal, this would be the one. Hands down. Very glad I returned the DL4, and picked up something I don't need to think about when I use, and something I don't have to worry about crapping out when I least expect it. If you want a great delay, go for the DD-20

Okay, you've got to read the instructions for this one. it's not that you can't use it without, but getting clued up really opens things up. Once familiar with what it can do, it is very easy to use, being quite intuitive.

As far as can tell, this sounds awesome. I use a washburn into a boss VH1 (multi effects half rack) then into the delay and then into 2 (count 'em) marshall 8080s. I'm not that into the retro delay soun d so can't really give an authorative answer to this but in my experience retroheads tend to go for genuine old gear as opposed to modern immitators. *I* can't tell the difference - the retro sounds sound suitably murky to me but as I say, I don't use them. What I do use are the digital delays, and this sound clear as anything. Also, the deteriation of the signal is absolutely minimal. I tried out the DD6 and set up a nice long loop and within a minute the delayed signal was as muddy as anything. With the dd20, you can go out for lunch and come back and it is still pretty clear (I did this!) an hour later, the thing is still spewing out my stupid riff with *very* little degredation. There are some gimmicky effects here, the warp and twist which are fun but would probably be of minimal use. (note, the warp itself is not such an awesome effect but if you stick it before a distortion unit or preamp it gets pretty cosmic) But the reverse! Man, I thought this would be bullshit but if you get the rhythm keyed into what you're playing using the tempo input, then this thing sounds mental. When used right which isn't too hard with some practice, this thing is going to get heads turning. It really has got a total hendrix/ RHCP give it away vibe and I could definitely use it in a live setting. The other great thing is that two effects can be used at once! I can set up a loop in either the loop mode or by just having a long delay setting with infinite feedback, the switch to a short delay, or reverse mode and both repeats come out simultaneously - at different rates!

It's new so it's not been put to the test yet. But no Boss product I have ever owned (got my first pedal in '91) has ever failed so I would expect this thing to last and it feels damn sturdy too, though I would guess that the knobs could break if not looked after but hey, that's your responsibity.

Again no need to talk to Boss, but I have had previous experience with Roland UK and they were just fantastic so I am happy to give them a 10.

I play a mixture of Power Jazz, Prog Funk and Cosmic rock (kind of Sly and the family Floyd) and this thing is awesome. I bought it essentially to have a loop recorder which could be easily used while playing live. I have a delay in my boss rack unit but it has less than 1.8s delay and I wanted longer. But the DD20 has so much more that I now rarely use the delay in the rack. It is better than I expected so instead of listing its advantages, I'll make a brief list of disadvantages.
1. The delay signal is not 100% as loud as the direct signal. This is a shame.
2. The tempo input only requires 2 stomps as opposed to 4 on other boss units I have used. I know that other posters have said that 2 is better than 4 but I disagree completely. with 4 stomps you get a much more accurate measurement! I have my tempo pedal connected to the delay and my multieffects so the input is the same, but often the tempo on both is different, as the rack uses 4 stomps and the dd20 uses 2. Whenever I check against the tempo on my keyboard/sequencer, the rack is usually on the money whereas the dd20 can be anything up to 4 bpm out. If I'm creating a long repeating loop, this 4bp quickly magnifies. If only boss had put a selector in the device, so both schools of thought could be happy.
That's it. Other than that - it rocks. And funks.

Easy, if you know you delay systems. One read through of the booklet(it small)and programing/Editing is a snap. The Tap mode allows you to step on it in beat with the song and the delay will ring in time with the music. Most of the products I buy are second rate compared to this johnson.

Sound great. No loss of signal when I run it through the loop of a Marshall(+4dB) setting. No humming or buzz that I can Hear.

Only had It for three month, so I'll have to check back on that one

Haven't had to deal with a problem, but the website is informative.

I play rock to metal and it works for me. Jamming the axe since '83. My guitars are 2x Gibson explorer and a jackson King V(D. Mustang). Run 'em through a dbx 166 compressor>>Boss TU-6 Tuner>>Morley Wah/Vol>>Marshall 900 preamp>>loop send>>Boss DD-20 delay>>loop return>>Power amp. Yes, I would buy another if stolen. I love the Tap feature. I'm still trying to figure out my pedel alighnment.

in case you are debating whether to purchase this, the dd-20, or a line 6 dl4, let me just decide for you. you want a dd-20. no, really. i mean, i don't know if you've played a dl4 but if you've compared these 2 units it's an obvious decision. the dd-20 is far easier to use, has better sound quality, and offers more useful features. for example, where is the display on the dl4? that's right, there isn't one. the dd-20's display can even light up. oh, yes, it lights up
let me mention the main thing about the dd-20 that makes it superior to he dl4. the dd-20 has not only 4 memory banks ("patches") but also MANUAL MODE. those wacky kids at line decided to leave out this feature, making their pedal practically useless.
once you read the manual, it's pretty straightforward how to use the pedal and it's easy to write patches. you can also switch the display from milliseconds to bpm, change the output settings, how the pedal switches from manual to patches, etc., all of which is explained clearly in the booklet. in short, once you read what is actually on the pedal you can play around for hours. then, once you've read the booklet you find, "oh, gee, it can do THAT!?"

NICE. the digital delay settings are crystal clear--the most genuine reproduction of the original signal that money can buy. or at least that i've heard. the analog setting is probably the best digital simulation out there. even short slap-back style delays are nice, which were frequently a problematic area with older digital delays. the tape setting i can't really comment on, as i've not had any experience with playng the real deal. it does emulate that tape warble ("flutter") but i'm not sure how well. the reverse and modulated delay are at least as good as the dl4. as with the dl4, you can set and/or program the dd-20 for the amount of modulationdesired. same goes for flutter on the tape setting. warp attempts emulating the spin of a knob on an analog delay, i.e. the ole spaceship spin. it emulates it well, but it's limilted in ts tonal spectrum. twist is nice but it too could go a bit further of the deep end in order to allow delay craziness. i've only played it through one amp (acoustic control corporation g60t) so i'm not sure about stereo mode. no, you don't have an armada of delay modulations like on the dl4. the dl4 rarely hits the proverbial nail on the vintage effect unit. boss has chosen not to deliver an overwwlming array of delay types. they've compacted all of the basic sounds one needs, which i find much more usable, and, quite frankly, the sound quality is much better. don't get me wrong, the dl4 sounds nice--but it always has a bit of a digital toy aspect to the sound.
it also offers the best looper i've ever used. with the dl4 i frequently got a slight click at the end of my loops. the dd-20 on the other hand almost seems to smooth out the transition. and 23 seconds ain't bad. and infinite overdubs also ain't.

seems quite reliable and well-built.

it's a decent warranty. otherwise, i can't comment.

now, i'm sure some dl4 fanatics will try out the dd-20 and ridicule it for not having some of the same features. for example, the dd-20 can't play back a loop in reverse or in 1/2 speed. on the other hand, those are 2 features that i probably never would've use and they are almost impossible to use live anyhow. (besides halving the time also dropped the notes an octave anyhow.)
i use this for standard delay sounds, spacey shoegazing, looping and heavy overdubbing, etc. i can't imagine this pedal not fulfilling anyone's delay needs. at the same time, there is room for improvement. for example, it's not possible to loop a delayed signal. that's not a big deal for me, as i have 2 other delay units in front of the dd-20, but i wouldn't need em if i could delay + loop. but i guess the delay + the loop are using the same memory circuit so the uit would require an extra memory circuit for that. however, the seemless switcing makes it possible to loop something, and then switch over to a delay setting. expression pedal? i don't kow if it's neccessary, but it might be nice.
i'll give it a 9 for now, as it's the best of the delay/looper genre. but i'm sure something else is in the works that will outdo the dd-20.

If you understand Engish, no problem with manual. Any way it sucked me out for the first hour I tried to adjust the sound.

My setup is Fender Strat_Plus or Washburn Signature series with EMG and X2N (Dimarzio), -> Custom drive-distortion box (with true bypass)-> DOD Ice Box -> Boss DD-20 -> customized Marshall tube head -> 4 speaker cabinet.
Sounds very good to my taste. If you use it with normal cords and good power supply (Max 9.8V) (I made my custom, stabilized, with filters ) it is noiseless unit (Clear as bell, as crystal). It's the best stomp delay I've ever heard. For good sound you should read manual and follow technical recommendations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very reliable unit

Don't know. Nevre dealted with company.

Rock, funky, blues. Every vere is useful. I play for 8 years it is beter than I found delays in most digital guitar stations. It is beter tham Line6, DD-6, DD-3. If you are looking for good delay, just try it and you will like it.

Not to bad some of the fuctions require you to push more than one button. There is no indication on the front pannel so you ether have to read the manual or remember. For example if you are using the modulation and want to change the rate and depth you need to push down a button (can't remember which one) and turn the delay knob. Not very intuitive.
Over all its pretty simple to get a good sound. But because of the above it only get a 6

I really like the sound, very quite and very nice mix of delay types. --Someone commented on the amount of noise the pedal was making???? that guy should read the manual and learn about line levels, if you getting NOISE then your output level was set for +4db, come on man this is a digital pedal!

Anyway back to the review. I really like the analog and modulation delays, nice features like tap tempo come in real handy when playing live.

No problems yet, I had it for about 2 months

I really bought this because of the sound on sound feature. I was looking for a delay and the fact that this one had SOS really sold me. I was thinking about the DL4 but after reading so many negative reviews and the fact that it needed a 1200ma power supply and pedal was so BIG I didn't even test it. my thinking was if the DD20 didn't sound good I would consider it, but the DD20 sounded great and it has 23 seconds of SOS, no save fuction though.

I think the above really speaks to the quality of the DD20 as I could get the DL4 for less than the DD20.

I have been playing for a long time and know what I like and I like My DD20. It is a good pedal of the money. Highly recommeded

It's quite simple to use this pedal in its fundamental, intended form... more in depth program changes such as altering the button mode and a few other neat tricks require the manual, which is well written and perfectly sufficient. Scrolling through the four presets and the manual mode can be tedious, but if you set up the delays properly in order of common use it shouldn't be a problem live. Also, a few other features are customizable, such as the memory led display, so once again, awesome. Great LEDs in genreal actually, and very nice to have the actual delay time always displayed...

I have to give a glowing review here, because it truly does exactly what I'd like it to sonically. I use a few different short tape delays, and this pedal nails the sound I'm looking for. Of course, you're not getting the "wow and flutter" effect of real tape or even the Line 6 DL4 which adds that, but that brand of extraneous noise is not in my list of preferences. All of the 10 different delays sound great, though I only use a few. Analog, Tape, Standard (Digital), and Modulate are really the only I employ, but the possibilities are numerous with this beauty. My Rig is as follows:
Strat Deluxe Plus/Tele Deluxe/Bluesbird >>Fulltone Full-drive2>>Marshall BB-2 Bluesbreaker(Boost Mode) >>Vox Wah>>Korg Dt-10 Tuner>Fender late 90's 'The Twin'. Effects Loop is as follows:
Line 6 MM4>>Boss DD-20>> EH Holy Grail Reverb .

This pedal adds no noise whatsoever and is prestine in every way... top of the line in my opinion. In other words, if you're looking for a pro delay with a lot of options, fantastic quality and reliability, go the Boss route... (Line 6 is an option, but see my reliability comments below for further clarification)

This is where the Boss DD-20 out-performs its main competitor, the Line 6 Dl4. I was thinking of getting the Line 6, mainly because you don't have to scroll through a couple of presets to get to the one you want as you do with the Boss. Though this isn't a huge issue. And after reading reviews of the DL4 here on Harmony Central, it quickly became apparent that there are some serious quality control issues with the Line 6. And Let's face it, Boss stuff is some of the best for reliability... I have complete confidence in this thing lasting forever (I do baby my gear, mind you). It is well built, well-designed, and with each press of the footswitch you are assured of the quality inherent in the pedal. Kudos Boss.

I've never had to deal with them, for the reasons mentioned in the reliability section.

I love this pedal. I've been playing for 12 years, gigging for ten, and play on a regular basis. If it were lost/stolen, i would certainly get another. I also quite like how it runs off of 6 AA batteries, which are cheap and easy to find anywhere. The looper is great, though i don't use it live. Easily the best delay in the Boss stable, and perhaps in any stable for sheer useability and practicality.

It has plenty of clearly marked knobs to twiddle (noW, now, keep it clean)eg delay time, effect level, feedback etc, and the display clearly shows the delay time. Two pedals one for on/off, the other for memory select. had a great sound in 10 secs. a little hint you can have 5 memory patches. Set up a manual patch when you switch it on and have 4 already stored patches in the memory to get 5 patches, thats 2 more than line 6. Maual is very basic, but its sooooooeasy to use that if you can't work it, you're dead.

Best quality, its a DIGITAL delay but you can get more analogy type sounds out of it. I use a Les Paul deluxe, Fender Strat Plus, Mesa Boogie. I don't know what the other reviewer was talking about when he said it hissed or something, must be your ears cause it sure wasn't the pedal.

Not had it long (2 weeks) can't comment. Seems really sturdy though

Never had to use it

Would by it again in a heart beat.
The only other conteder out there is the Line 6 DDL4. This pedal has more patches, easier to modify sounds (more knobs and a display line 6 you have to guess your delay time), better quality (line 6 was too harsh), smaller, sturdier (metal, not plastic, and is #20 cheaper. Which pedal should you buy. D'oh, no brainer

Fairly intuitive and the manual is good. Once you've been through the manual it's a piece of cake.

Excellent quality delay. Much better than the delays in my GT5 which I no longer use. Twist and warp a waste of time though. The modulate delay is nice for adding a kind of chorus sound to the repeats(with a short delay it can do "chorus"), the dual is nice but it'd be great to have independent control over the volume of the short and long delays. I like the tape echo and especially the two head option. Smooth is also a favourite adding reverb to the repeats. Pity there aren't a few more memories or an indication in the lcd as to what delay type is in use.

It's boss

No opinion

Totally satisfied with what it does, the price, ease of use and the quality of the delays. Lovely for my cod gilmour impersonations.

It's pretty easy to get a good sound out of this unit. The manual is very good. Editing patches are fun. Excellent layout of the controls. I like were the input and out etc. connections are.

Let me start with BOSS delays. I was contemplating on getting the DD-3 or the DD-6. I like them both. But after playng a few tunes, I spent too much time knealing down changing settings for differnet tunes. So I decided to have something programmable. I even had the line-6 DL4. It was like a kids toy. It also sounded too digital to my ears. I'm using an Anderson Cobra-S and a PRS 22 and PRS 24 with the Rivera Quiana Studio. Unit sounds really good with these guitars and amp. I connect the unit through the EFX loop. It doesn't change the sound of my amp or guitars especially when I turn the unit off. The delays really sound professional. Analog settings sound ....well analog. The digital sounds ....well digital. You can soften the digital sound with the tone control. Digital, analog, tape, warp, twist, dual, pan, smooth, modulate(one of my favorites), reverse, it's there if you need them. I'm really happy with the unit. For lead work as with distortion/overdrive, it's a killer. You can get a lot of delay sounds from your favorite artists. I think 23 second is an overkill but hey, it's their if you need it. I like the size. I have to rate this unit a 10. It's the best programmable, professional sounding floor pedal delay unit I have ever heard so far.

Too early to tell. It's three days old.

Never deaklt with them.

I play Blues, all kinds of Rock, Fusion, Jazz. Beautiful unit to have and keep. I've been playing for 25 years. Heard alot of really good delays. Heard alot of bad ones.This one has professional sounds. I don't know how BOSS does it but they have created a really good programmable delay unit and still kept it competitive. I wish it had a built in tuner with programmable cent(s). That would be asking too much . It would drive the cost an extra $125.00. I also wish it had a carryng case.

i thought that this pedal is much more easy to use than the almighty line 6 DL-4. You have a whopping 4 knobs that are very self explanitory, i love this pedal, and if you want insane tone, and crazy delays, use a dd-20 and a dl-4 at the same time!

clear as a bell! no infamous tone eating! i love that. its true, clean delay, with no residue.

very reliable, it doesnt reprogram itself like the line 6 has a tendancy to do. it is so solid!

dont need it

if you are into the U2, radiohead, clodplay, beautiful delay tones, this thing is for you. if you are into vintage tape, and analog delay sounds, this is for you, whatever you are into, ITS FOR YOU. i have been an official tone snob for about a year, and this thing took some research, but i have never been happier with a purchase. hear it in action at www.teelmerrick.com

very simple considering all the different things you can do with it. It takes 5 minutes to read the short, clear manual and then its plain sailing - otherwise you'll likely get confused or miss features. Although you're also likely to discover a few things that the manual will have you believe aren't possible... don't you love it when that happens?

Utterly silent, hum-wise. Doesn't colour the guitar sound that i can hear. I'm putting an Epiphone Dot into it, and what comes out of the box is as warm and clear as what goes in. But i reckon the box's own sound is lovely and warm too: i use it a lot for mangling the guitar into unrecognisable fragments of noise and improvising with these, and the sharpest digital shards are never uncomfortably harsh, even to my coward ears. Doing similar stuff with some pedals quickly becomes grating.

The effects: if you're listening Boss, the Level & Feedback knobs should always go all the way past meltdown - the sticklers for exact Space Echo replicas etc can stop at 6 if they get dizzy. And can we loop delayed sounds please? And can we hear just the delay without the played notes? (And if you really want to please me, a sample snapshot button to capture the nice random things that appear and store them somewhere, and a waveform synthesizer, and...)

The effects i love on this aren't the ones listed as effects but the ones you get from wazzing about with other controls like you're Lee Scratch Perry. I use the Reverse, Tape & Analog settings most for that. You know about the common settings so i'll share my thoughts on the three that aren't; one incredibly useful and two who're there to blow your mind in the shop but won't remember your name in the morning.

SOS (sample overdub, clean sound only sadly) - The only sensible answer to chris' comment elsewhere on this page ("who the hell needs 23 seconds sample time?") is: who the hell needs more than 3 strings on a guitar? who the hell needs the frets above the 12th? who the hell needs alternative tunings? who the hell needs more than one erogenous zone? Creativity finds ways to use whatever potential allows and 23 seconds allows a lot of things - including detailed representations of hell, chris. You can overdub continuously on the 23 seconds so there's actually far more sampling time, and you can 'punch in' the overdubs. Fantastically useful for songwriting, working out harmonies, live performance, improv, atmospheres. If only you could loop the delay-effected sounds...i'd never leave the house tho'.

Twist - Oscillates the delay with increasing speed & pitch. In technical jargon this translates as 'blasting into space on a spinning rocket'. Unfortunately the volume increases violently too, rendering it impractical at those moments when you need to blast off on a spinning rocket. Bit of a waste overall, although with one hand on the volume and some experimentation there are things like evil techno bass swells to be coaxed from it.

Warp - increases volume & feedback of delayed sound. The feedback level you begin with makes a big difference as you're either bringing back what you've played a second ago or everything you've played in the last 23. It increases and declines far too steeply for the supposedly subtle effect to be employed with much subtley. But i'm sure someone's doing something wonderful with it somewhere.

the LED went after a few months and now resurrects itself for short periods according to planetary alignments not charted in the manual. A real pain for using it live, i need to find a little light i can clip onto the box. I suspect the moral here is always follow the manual's instructions for switching the unit on & off - it seems to matter in this case.

I was joyously surprised to find it lets you misuse it so creatively: there's worlds of different sounds to be had from setting infinite feedbacks then altering the delay times with the knob, and doing it with the pedal gets different effects again. Don't get me wrong it doesn't have anything like the potential of plugging into a computer, but the fact i'm even comparing it to that and often use it in preference is remarkable. Its a simple little box full of complex sounds with liberating limitations and i've had a lot of fun with it, as a song sketchpad, a dub fx generator, to jam with myself, an improv engine, generating mad aphex twin-ish rhythms, soundtracking angels or devils. Highly recommended to the explorers out there. (Mis)using it live with a band would present a few challenges. It'd be great as a solo improv tool, although i've seen a cellist/singer (Mrs Pilgrim) use a green Line 6 Delay live to great effect - different limitations, i'd like both!

This is a hard one to give an accurate rating. As far as stompboxes go, yes, this is way more complicated than the average stompbox. But the user interface is so intuitive and powerful that you don't mind taking a half hour or so to dig in to all the features to see what all this pedal can do. They really thought through how a guitarist uses an effects pedal, and how it can be used in new ways. From having four presets that are a snap to save and access, to having a speed-jog delay time knob so it doesn't take forever to dial in the delay time, to being able to switch from a tempo display to a seconds display, to having tap tempo capabilities...the list goes on and on. If we were talking about it strictly as a digital effects processor, I'd give it a 10 for ease of use, but since it IS a stompbox, I'll give it a 7. Keep in mind, being feature-rich is not a bad thing.

Here's another one that's sort of tough. If we're strictly talking "digital" delay, then it's the best I've heard. Not only is the digital delay a dead-on copy of the original note, but the TONE knob gives you the abilitly to dial in a more analog-sounding delay if you prefer. There's also an "analog" setting to get an even closer simulation of analog delay - nice and warm and round. The only thing with with a delay time longer than 300 milliseconds that sounds better is the Maxon AD-900 - this is a true analog delay. But if you're looking for a good tape delay sound, you won't find it in the DD-20, it's tape delay simulation down-right sucks. (Try the Hughes & Kettner Replex for this, or a real tape delay.) There are other sound settings on the DD-20 that create interesting and even useful delay sounds, but I consider them more bonus experimental features that do not make or break this pedal and I therefore don't give much weight to them in my evaluation.

This pedal, like all Boss pedals, is not true-bypass. But as far as my ears can tell, it doesn't compromise my tone in anyway when it is off. Plus, this pedal is dead-silent when both on and off. And having the delay effect continue to trail off once the pedal is shut off (a benefit of non-true-bypass) is priceless.

All in all, I'm giving the DD-20 an 8 for Sound Quality simply because there are better-sounding analog delays out there and it totally sucks for tape delay simulation. But again, if I were only grading it as a strictly digital delay, I'd give it a 10, there is no better digital delay.

I'm offering no rating here as I haven't had it long enough to know for sure. Boss pedals have always held up for me. I don't see why this one would be any different.

Never had to use them so I'm offering no opinion here.

Overall, this is a fantastic digital delay pedal. I see the Boss DD-6 on many guitarists' boards, and the DD-20 takes everything that is good about the DD-6 and improves on it ten-fold by adding tone control, four-preset programmability, a parameter display and up to 23 seconds of delay (even though this is total overkill - who the hell needs 23 seconds of delay?) among many other features.

It seems many people today, when in the market for a delay stompbox end up choosing between the Boss DD-20 and the Line 6 DM-4 Delay Modeler. Well, when I bought this pedal, I also bought the Line 6 DM-4 knowing that once I made my decision between the two pedals, I'd take the other back. The Line 6 went back. As far as I'm concerned, no matter what Line 6 says, all of their stuff sounds sterile and digital. Their DM-4 is no exception. The Boss unit sounded more lively and "real." But where the Boss truely won out was in the features department: four presets as opposed to Line 6's three, a backlit LCD display so you can see what parameters you are setting (Line 6 has no display), editable tempo and note pattern relationships, it's smaller and cheaper, etc. The Line 6 unit also had a lot of unusable "psycho" sounds, but it DID have a better looper and a dedicated tap tempo button.

If you're only going to own one delay unit, the Boss DD-20 is the one to own. It's feature-rich, very powerful and sounds great, plus it's relatively inexpensive.

P.S.: Just don't plan on powering it with the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2. I emailed both Boss and Digital Music (Voodoo Lab) about this with no response. From my experience, using the PP2 with the DD-20 is unreliable at best. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I would imagine it has to do with the power the DD-20 draws (It's rated at 200 mA by itself. The PP2's jacks are each only rated for 100 mA.) And unless you plan on spending a fortune in AA batteries, get the Boss PSA adapter.

if you cant figure it out with the manual you're a moron

IF you were like me choosing between the Line 6 and Boss, this is what you need to know

Boss :
-has SMOOTH transitions when you turn the pedal on/off or switch memory slots (it finishes the delays in memory)
-doesnt make ANY noise at all ever, and especially when you hit any of the pedals (on/off or memory)
-is very top notch pro quality
-has 23 seconds of delay

Line 6
-is very childish, not pro quality
-makes noise when you hit the buttons
-DOES NOT have smooth transitions when turning on/off or switch memory slots. A HUGE PROBLEM. the delays stop abruptly when you turn it off.
-sometimes has a volume increase/decrease
-COSTS MORE THAN BOSS

Hence, buy the boss. The only cool thing about line 6 is this:
-it has alot of weird trippy stuff. however, all teh wierd trippy stuff is useless if you know what your doing. For example, the line 6 has a sweep echo. This is EXACTLY the same as putting the Boss in mixed output (direct:A effect:B) and putting phaser after the B output. excpet in the line 6 case, its a shitty phaser, and you cant put it BEFORE the effect. its just a dumb pedal. it is infantile. not for pros.

Get the boss. Its pro/studio quality. Its everything you need in a DELAY pedal (...yeah, so it doesnt come with a stupid phaser setting....buy a phaser moron. if you REALLY interested, you can turn this delay into a chorus pedal by setting it on modulate, time=18ms, feedback=really low, level=high)

the only plus abotu the line 6 is that the modulate mode is SLIGHTLY SLIGHTY smoother sounding. at any rate, put the boss in mixed output and put a chorus after it or something. same crap.

boss...although the LED is a little scary...dont smack it...but i have had NO problems so i goto stick with 10. Also, you will be surprised how long the batteries last in this thing ! (just an extra bonus)...(althouygh it does take 6AA's not a 9v)

why would you need customer support with a boss....?

i play TOOL style stuff, lots of delay, lots of effects, lots of weirdness. This pedal is my favorite of all. It is the perfect all encompassing delay. you will never need another. justy buy this and be done with it. (although the other twin pedals arent so hot). No noise, ever, every setting you can want, easy use, memory slots, 23 sec delay, looping, reverse, modulate, smooth reverb, analog, wierd crap like twist and warp, sound on sound....dont be stupid and buy the line 6

Ergonomics: The dd-20 gets high marks for its ability to do temporary delay triggering.... the pedal on the left allows you to drop delays in and out at will; the feedback continues even as you go back into bypass mode. nice applications for that. This feature can be a nightmare for superlong delay times, though, where it's necessary to change the patch a few times to cancel out stray regenerations. Helpful that it's possible to store several patches at once. My main issue is that the actual sound of the delay is kind of foofy- means that you kind of end up using some of the nicer ergonomic features as workarounds. I've had this pedal for a few weeks, have gigged and practiced on it a bit.. Switching from a really great sounding Lexicon MPX1 setup with pedalboard. that rig was a pain to schlep around and the delays weren't designed to have as much variety- but you could just set it up and forget it, it sounded so musical. I was prepared for a bit of a step down, given the difference in price- but the Boss really sounds like an effect to me, and I'll probably end up using it as such if I keep it- just for feedback and looping.

I am a horn player with an electronics rig, I'm kinda sensitive about tone issues. I bought the DD-20 in order to avoid going the Line 6 route- I can't hang with the DL4's converters- even the line 6 rackmount sucks the life out of my sound. The DD-20 is much fuller in comparison, I can get through a gig using it. but the delay sound kind of lacks integrity, it's not that convincing to me. The pedal works well enough and it has a variety of delay sounds, but so far I don't feel that it adds anything useful to my sound. I always end up tweaking the mix levels and tone, trying to get a musical sound out of it, something that sets up a mood, inspires musical thought, not a lot of luck so far. I also have an Adrenalinn II- this box isn't really promoted as a delay pedal, and the implementation is nowhere near as flexible or convenient- but the delays sound much better to my ears. Not cleaner, crispier, sweeter- just stronger, kind of inspires confidence in a way. Hard switching from a (good) Lexicon unit, though- YMMV.

I don't think it'll break down- but the way that the bypass is implemented (see above; you have to change patches a couple times to totally wipe the memory buffer & lose the regeneration) can make for some weird moments onstage. I'll keep experimenting, there may be a simpler way to work around this.

The DD-20 has plenty features, I especially am digging the looper and the way you can kind of drop delay bombs with the "soft-bypass" switch . I give Boss props for designing a stompbox that doesn't totally shred the incoming signal also.

that said, the delay itself is not all that hip sounding. It's not bad for a $200 pedal, but I don't like the way the delays regenerate or trail off- and it doesn't sound particularly strong or convincing to me the way a higher-end digital unit does. The modeling and equalization they did approximates the sound of an analog rig to an extent- but the vibe really isn't anything special.
delay pedals should make all the girls want to go home and jump their boyfriends! you know what I mean? Otherwise, there's no real point.
Again, for the two hundred + bucks, it's a decent value.
And this box may have been specially designed for the register and impedence of a guitarist's setup - the sound issue may be less crucial for some of the guitarists out there. But I have a fair idea of what the pedal wants to do- I'm driving it with a mic pre, going for a huge, big fat juicy sound, looking to get something sexy out of the box and it just hasn't been happening. I'm probably gonna sell this and check out the H&K Replex or the Maxon AD-990 when it comes out.

This will not be the easiest pedal to get up and going with. Give yourself a few days to really learn it, before you plug it in with your band. Learn at home time. Once you know it though, it is simple enough to change on the fly. There are pedals far harder to master (Try the UD stomp for example; a programming nightmare).

It sounds wonderful, and the tones are very much like the effects they are claiming to be. The reviewer who mentioned noise must be using some other pedal, or just configuring it wrong. I run this on the FX loop of my Vibro-King; the amp is all tube, and tends to take any noisy devices and play hell on my sound. This thing is silent as a mouse. Not a whisper. The delays are adjustable from vintage analog or tape sounding types (with the modulation you can make even more tapish style delays) to pristine digitals. I think the standard mode sounds wonderful.

Some of the people reviewing the pedal cite as faults what is really their misunderstanding of how an effect works. If you choose reverse delay on any pedal, if you do not have the mix set so the effect is 100% of the sound, you will still hear your original guitar line. Come on guys! Think about it.

The manual could be clearer, but it does the job. The pedal is a keeper, sound is the best I've tried (I am notorious for going through delay pedals).

No idea. It's a boss - I suspect it would be reliable, they have been making them for years.

BTW - Interesting to note, other than the CE-1, this is the only Boss pedal I have ever bought and liked (as in kept). I usually don't buy their stuff - the effects are usually too limited in control, and cheesy sounding duplicates of the good ones. This pedal is a definite exception - it is a stellar delay.

I am not goint to move my score down and penalize them for not making this pedal easy enough for a barbarian to use ;-)

YOU MUST READ THE MANUAL. THAT IS UP TO YOU.

Other than that caveat, I simply haven't heard a better delay outside of a decent recording studio. This tops any rack units currently slopped out by GC by a wide margin.

Read the manual to find out the depth of this pedal. As far as just picking a delay, tapping the tempo, and getting what you want, it is pretty simple.

Super quiet. The delays are beautifuls. I don't have much use for the warp or twist function but everything else is useful.

TO EVERYONE THAT THINKS YOU HAVE TO HEAR YOUR ORIGINAL SIGNAL WITH THE REVERSE DELAY. TURN YOUR EFFECT KNOB ALL THE WAY TO THE RIGHT. THIS WILL GIVE YOU THE REVERSE DELAY ONLY!

The analog patch is dead on. Best digital copy I've heard.

Smooth is well . . . smoth.

The modulated delay are warm and funky.

Best pedal I've bought this year (and I have wayyyyyy too many pedals)

I've only had it a month but seems as sturdy as any other Boss pedal.

Great pedal, I give it a 9 just because the warp and twist modes could have been used for something more useful, but overall, what it does, it does great!

A little baffled at first, but the manual is pretty clear and I now find it very easy to adjust my settings. Its quite easy to get a good sound, and a little bit of extra work will get you a great sound.

Only problem arises when changing to a different patch - the delay time appears but not the other settings. Just means you need to know exactly what each patch is before using it.

Really should have included the adaptor - another #20, but I talked them down to #15.

I originally was using this between guitar and amp. It sounded good, but was a little noisy. Got a couple of new leads the other day and have been using it in the effects loop. A lot quieter and sounds better. The other advantage is that the repeats still have a distorted tone to them, rather than if it was before the preamp in which case they would sound cleaner when the are programmed quieter.

All the different styles are good, with modulation being a favourite. Warp and Twist are a little OTT and couldn't be used more than once in a set.

If you are after revesre, it works best between the guitar and amp - that way you will only hear the reverse if required. In the loop you get the forward guitar first and then the reverse repeat. It takes a little getting used to but does sound good when used lo-fi.

Favourite thing at the moment. If you set up the 1st patch for a 300ms infinite repeat and volume swell a chord, you can change to the second patch while you get a sustained chord from the first. Put a little delay (450ms) on the 2nd patch. Playing 'Eastern' sounding parts sounds really good.

Only gripe is that the repeats always fade in volume. Brian May style solo harmonies (ala Brighton Rock) don't sound quite right. He uses two pedals for this set to 800ms and 1600ms. They are both the same volume when he plays, but not when I do. Only a small problem.

When I first got this there was some problem with the pedal - on a few occasions I wasn't getting a delay, but instead a strange 'metallic pipe' sound. Only happened a couple of times, and never again. I'll see if that develops into anything.

Never dealt with BOSS. The shop I bought this from are friendy guys, but in a different part of the country from me. I was totally taken in by the spiel the guy in the shop gave me, and when he started playing U2 I was sold. I'm so easily convinced. Still, he was right.

This is a great pedal. It is my first delay pedal and I chose it over the cheaper DD-6. Most options and sound better. I also looked at Digitech but have heard that a lot of them are breaking down.

I haven't fully exploited all the potential of this pedal, but think it is capable of really changing how you play.