Boss DD-6 Digital Delay

The controls are easy enough to use on this pedal, but that is about the only good thing I have to say about it.

Sound quality? There is none. If you want an over priced digital delay that goes "clunk" everytime you pick a note or chord, than this is the pedal for you. I've had a DD-6 for about a year and there is really no way to "tweak" the maddening and annoying "clunk' and "thunk" sound out of this pedal.

I bought two other Boss pedals, the Super Chorus and the Flanger. The sound is equally "digital" and poor on them, too.

I've been playing guitar for over 40 years, have been in dozens of Rock and Blues bands from Chicago to New Orleans (my current home). I have heard countless better sounding pedals, and I have a hard time understanding how so many people think this pedal sounds good.

There are better sounding and less pricey pedals out there.

If you like a pedal that goes "CLUNK" on every note like this one does, buy it. Otherwise look elsewhere.

This is a moot point. This pedal sounds so bad I removed it from my pedal board. I'll never use it long enough to find out if it is reliable or not. I do not like plastic pedals, but the plastic case will likely outlast the poor quality electronics inside it.

Never had to deal with them.

There are MANY other better sounding and less expensive delay and reverb pedals on the market.

This part of the review is very relative. The pedal has a ridiculous amount of options and features and as always, the more features the more complicated the pedal. However, for a pedal with a footprint as small as it is, its fairly easy to use. The most important thing you can do is READ THE MANUAL! If you don't read the manual, its near impossible to take advantage of everything this pedal can do. The DD-6 has a tap tempo function built in as opposed to the DD-5 which had to use an external tap tempo pedal. However, the tap tempo function is kind of a pain to use and it cannot be done quickly since you have to hold down the pedal for like 3 seconds to go into tap tempo mode. This is one part where it is vital to read the manual because different settings have different tap tempo beats.

The pedal sounds great, and if you can take advantage of all the features it has you will agree that this pedal is amazing. I like to play with a natural jazz type tone and this pedal does not detract from the natural tone at all. It's not true bypass just like all other boss pedals but the buffer in it is decent. For a digital delay this pedal does a great job and sounds great.

Just like all other boss pedals, this thing is extremely solid.

Never had to use it

There is a missing subject here and that is value. The pedal sounds great and it's one of my favorite pedals, but I think it costs too much. If the pedal was stolen or lost I would need another one but I may try getting a DD-20 since they do not cost that much more.

Considering all of the options available, this pedal is pretty easy to use. The hardest thing about it may being able to see which delay setting you're on on a dark stage or situation like that....even in a well-lit room with my glasses on I sometimes wonder why the "Reverse" mode isn't working only to figure out I'm really stuck on "Hold" or something. But looking past that, it's really an intuitive pedal with not much of a technical learning curve to deal with. If you're familiar with Boss delay pedals, you'll be able to work with this one easily. I had never used or owned any kind of unit with a Tap Tempo function, and I had no problem getting the hang of it with the DD-6 without even consulting the manual. While I can see how an external footswitch would probably make that feature a bit easier to use on the fly (especially if you didn't have to hold the pedal down for two seconds first), the fact that you can tap your own tempo relatively quickly and easily without using any sort of external device is pretty f****** cool.

The one mode that requires a little bit of practice to use is the mode I bought this pedal for specifically..."Reverse." The pedal will try to guess where your phrase ends on top of only having so much delay time to work with. Sometimes it can sound a bit clunky, with notes that didn't get squeezed into the time period popping up a few seconds later and sounding cut off and a bit out of place. For instance, let's say you have the reverse delay time set at 1 second. If you play a phrase that goes 1.10 seconds and stops, the part of the phrase that fell within the 1 second setting will be reversed, you'll hear silence for .9 seconds, and then the little .10 second blip. Two ways I've figured out to make this feature work the best are: A) adjust the Delay Time on the shorter side and stick to quick single-note phrases and doublestops, dialing in a delay that works with your natural phrasing tendencies and B) set the Delay to the longest time possible, get a feel for the time and craft your phrasing so that you're just finishing up your riff as the playback is started. This isn't as hard as it sounds, and the "Reverse" mode is very cool, musical and usable.

I also love the Warp feature, which is another setting I use quite a bit for droning, atmospheric sounds.

No doubt about it, this is a DIGITAL delay, meaning that whatever you put into it is going to come out sounding practically identical. Which, in my opinion, makes it better than a "warm-sounding" analog delay. I'm not anti-analog, mind you...I just prefer that something like a delay not mess too much with the tone I feed it. I don't want to warm it up or add a subtle fuzziness or anything like that.

And this pedal, with the exception of softening the attack of your notes just like most delay pedals do, does exactly that. I put in a warm, neck pickup tone...I get warm delays. Bright and twangy Tele bridge pickup? Comes out just like it went in.

On slapback settings it does tend to be a bit brighter than I'd like...if you're looking for something that can provide a lot of slapback, then you might want to go analog here. I just roll the tone off at the guitar a bit and it's fine.

Boss is well-known here...I don't think I need to add anything.

Have never had to contact Boss/Roland for any reason, and I've been using Boss stuff for years.

I've been playing guitar just about 20 years now. I'm a Fender guy...Fender amps (tube and solid state), Fender guitars (a Strat and two Teles). I also have an SG Jr., a Rickenbacker 360/12 and have owned a coupld of Fender Jaguars, a Les Paul and a Fender Mustang. I pretty much dabble in everything except reggae...my true loves are classic and indie style rock, old school electric country and the blues. As far as pedals go, my pedalboard changes every now then, but basically around the same handful of effects. For overdrive I use either a Boss SD-1 or Ibanez TS-9, fuzz is either a Fulltone '69 or Big Muff USA RI, phasing is pretty much always an MXR Phase 90 and other swirly stuff comes from either a Dunlop Rotovibe or Option 5 Destination Rotation Single. I also have a handful of chorus pedals and several other distortion pedals that will I use from tiem to time to keep the ears fresh...including an old Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal which is one the coolest, most underrated pedals ever.

As I mentioned, I got this pedal specifically for the Reverse feature. I've been listening to the Beatles and some of the trippier Oasis tracks for a while now. I have a Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay which I use for nomal delay duty (I like the delay+reverb settings there) and use the DD-6 for kookier delay setting like Warp and Reverse. Sometimes I'll use the straight-up delay setting and set the DD-6 long and the RV-3 short.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic pedal that can be used a lot of different ways. Boss puts out high quality products that sound great, are easy to use and affordable and the DD-6 is a great example of that. It is certainly priced at the upper end of the scale, but is not unreasonable at all IMO. If it went missing I'd definitely by another.

The operation of this thing is pretty easy, considering the amount of functions and modes it has. Overall, the user interface is well thought out. I only use standard delay on one song, so I just set the knobs and leave them. I checked out the tap tempo feature anyway, and although it's a little confusing and takes practice to match the delay perfectly to the song, it's seems to work OK. I'm going to give it a 7, because it will take some practice and dedication to really learn to get the most of this unit.

I use this pedal with several others, but my set up is still fairly basic. '62 reissue SG through a Monster cable into an Ernie Ball VP-Jr. volume pedal (with a Planet Waves pedal tuner in the Vp Jr.'s tuner dedicated tuner output), then to a Morley Mark Tremonti Power Wah (douchebag guitarist, AWESOME wah), followed by a Boss NS-2 noise supressor. In the NS-2's FX loop, I have an Electro-Harmonix LPB-1 Nano and Big Muff Nano. After the NS-2, my signal goes to a BBE Sonic Stomp (if you own only one pedal, do your audience a favor and PLEASE make it a BBE Sonic Stomp). I run a Boss PS-5 Super Shifter, a Boss OC-2 Octave pedal, and then the DD-6 in the FX loop of my amp. All of this is linked together by various jumpers and patch cables on a home-made plexiglass pedalboard, and then sent to my amp via a Stage Magic PedalSnake. My amp is a Lee Jackson XLS500 w/EL34s, into a Marshall JCM800 angled 4x12 with English Greenbacks. I think I just realized that my rig is getting complicated.

Anyway, this is a digital delay, and it sounds like a digital delay should. Cold, crystalline repeats of whatever signal you put into it. It is very accurate, and I don't mind that it is not "warm". It's not noisy, and I can't notice any tone loss when the unit is bypassed.

When you get into the various modes, things get a little more complex. In reverse mode, the delays sound very good, providing a pretty wild sonic character. However, it doesn't trigger fast enough when the effect level is all the way up (which mutes the input signal, spitting out only reverse delay). It takes a while to get used to playing a little bit behind the beat to keep the reverse echoes in time. I may find some different uses by speeding up the delay time (thereby reducing latency in the output signal). Overall, still pretty cool and fairly useful feature.

The Warp mode is fun, and offers pretty much limitless experimentation. Subtle knob twists produce wild fluctuations in sound, and it can make some reeeeeeeally weird noises. This mode is super fun to improvise with on the fly. Truly killer.

In 22 years of playing, I've never seen a Boss pedal that didn't function exactly the way it was supposed to.

Never dealt with them, but I've heard they suck. Their website definitely sucks.

I play very aggressive rock'n'roll, in the vein of Turbonegro/Fu Manchu/QOTSA/Appetite-era Guns'n'Roses. Most of the time, in fact probably 95% of the time, my tone is guitar-straight-into-the-amp. I think effects should be used sparingly, because it makes them (pardon the pun), more "effective". This thing allows me to make several interesting sounds, and I think that makes it extremely valuable

Quite easy to use in my opinion. It obviously has several modes and is therefore not totally straight forward. But it is simply laid out, select what type of delay you want and then blend the wet and dry signal with the level knob (nice and tweekable without being overly sensitive). Feedback and delay time are also easy to set and relate clearly to each mode.

You have to turn the knob to change modes, this is possibly a minor bad point. I suppose it could have been rectified with a up/down foot pad, but those things can break and that could be a pain.
The tap tempo is a good idea. not so good for in-song changes because of the time it takes to access it, but if you set it before a song it's great. Having a jack for an external tap tempo pad would have been better.

But you have to remember this is after all a Boss pedal. It could be more advanced, but it is really a small highly functional stompbox. If you want something more advanced buy a rack unit with a MIDI foot controller.

I'm going to give it an 8 just because of the tap tempo difficulty, and that you can't switch between modes without using your hands (only a minor irritation). But in my opinion a clever pedal like this should never get a 10 for ease of use otherwise it wouldn't be so versatile.

You could get away with having a couple of these pedals for a very powerful and intricate live performance especially with one on warp mode.

Okay, many years ago I used to own a Boss PS-3 Pitch-shifter with delay. It had quite a nice and very easy to use delay function on it. I used to use it for standard pulsing delay and for a big screaming fadeout at the end of songs. (I never really used the pitch shift functions because they were pretty useless) It wasn't the best tone in the world, but at the time it worked really well.

I sold it after about 3 years of gigging with it, after i had started using a Electro Harmonix and some MXR effects. I started getting rid of BOSS pedals and buying more boutique effects. I've gone through loads of different effects brands, searching out the perfect tones and sounds for each aspect of my playing. I never found a delay that i liked since that PS-3.

I have finally gone back to a BOSS pedal, this DD-6. Personally i prefer the crispness of Digital delay. I find analog delays too warm or muddy for the kind of music I play. This pedal does exactly what i want it to; gets all the sounds i need from a delay.

I don't get any hiss from my unit, and I am using it in a fairly loaded signal chain. I do run it out of a bypass box on my board to cut it out fully when I need to. Maybe those with hiss have a faulty one?

I'm going to give it a 9 just beacuse i love the sound from this thing, but i think there's probably a pedal out there with a slightly better tone somewhere. And BOSS pedals are tone suckers (reason why i bypass it.)

You don't need to what gear i have, suffice to say that i have a few custom guitars and I regularly mess around with my effects chain. This thing is still in there and I'm thinking about getting another one.

It's a BOSS pedal, they are built like russian tank parts. Not from russion tank parts like Sovtek pedals.

I've never managed to break a BOSS pedal.

I'll give it a 8.8 overall just to be fair. I think that if it had a Tap tempo EXP slot it would most likely be pushing solidly into the full 9s.

The reverse function is pretty good for a stomp box. I've used a few and this one makes less of a clicking noise than most. The WARP function is a great thing. I use it a lot when jamming.

Delay pedals can be so expensive (especailly analog ones) and in my opinion under ??100 for a good one is a bargain. If you like Digital delay and need something with a small footprint i would recommend this.

its not super easy but it gets a ten cause you dont want your delay super easy. three knobs leave you needing other pedals to compensate for what its not doing. if you only want the most super simple dealy cause your just like that get a combo pedal.

ok if this pedal gets anything less then a ten people are to damn picky or stupid and dont know what there looking for. the damn thing says digital delay on it. why the hell did you buy it if you wanted analog delay? no but honestly this is the clearest delay ive ever heard. as a matter of fact thats its only fault. i imagine the next model will have a analog setting since its obvious theyve pretty much mastered the digi delay now. if you were waiting around for it to get better cause you used a dd 3 back in the day. well it has. i thought the dd 3 blew. sounded weak and didnt do too much. this ones great. yeah id rather have a analog delay. im not gonna lie. but its like a car do you want the one thats gonna break down and require a lotta bucks or the reliable one. i use a dod stereo reverb with it when i want a good analog simulation. i dont reccomend this cause your odds of getting a analog delay are better then a analog reverb. i just happen to be lucky enough to own one. for gigging this seems to be the best delay pedal on the market right now. what gives it the status of that is the reverse. its basically two pedals in one for that. youd pretty much be either a analog nerd or a idiot to get anything else. dont get me wrong most boss pedals are waaaay over praised and are for the most part crap. you buy them cause they last not cause they sound incredible. but this one is good. delay seems to be one of the few things boss gets right most of the time. i have my own fair share of analog pedals i do care about tone. but with most of the analog delays for sell out there being already busted and the fact that there so rare now you have no business gigging with them id go with this one.

overall id say its almost perfect. a good analog repro setting and it would be. now dont get this and expect all other boss pedals to be this good. but if your gonna get one boss pedal on the market still get this. and beware all the previous models. the other dd's arnt quite as good. get it used. theres so many right now youll pay next to nothing. though i do plan on replacing it when they make a new model. they definetly have my attention now.

There are a lot of possibilities in there for a standard sized box. It will take a couple of runs through the manual. Once you've digested what's in there, you're all set.

There is a review on page 2 by some guy who calls himself Motorhead.
Have a look at it. I have nothing more to add. Right on Bro!!!!

I haven't owned it for long enough to comment on reliability issues.
All Roland/Boss products I own look solid though.

Well, they come with 5 years warranty if you buy new. Doesn't apply in my case because I got it as a swop for a guyatone MD-3. They are a big company so forget about calling them on the phone and talk to the designer himself, or lifetime warranties etc. Having said that, offering the 5 year warranty should earn them a good mark in this category.

This pedal is really close to a 10. Pristine sound quality and lots of features. Some of them might be not everyone's taste but let's face it. If you can play, and you are capable of setting up your gear properly, this pedal will deliver your meat and potatoes delay sounds plus AT LEAST a couple of USABLE wacky stuff to throw here and there when the occassion calls for it. The only thing missing from the stock pedal is a high cut knob. I did manage to get my desired sound without it though.
A solid 9.

Ease of use: ok this thing is great. If youve ever had a delay before it doesnt take much to figure out. id say the only thing that might make it hard to use is cause its easily the most versatile delay stomper on the market right now.
Editing patches: like i said
Manual: didnt have one didnt see the need.

Ok this thing sounds incredible. oh dont go and buy a dd 5 just because its discontinued. they changed it cause the dd 5 supposedly had a bad buffer or something so be smart and get a dd 6 these things are very cheap used and right now its pretty easy to get them that way. No noise, now i love analog delay. its great, but analog delay pedals are becoming less and less reliable on the vintage market and alot of the boutique models have mixed quality unless your looking to sell your amp to get a delay pedal! its just too expensive. the first thing that attracted me to getting a dd6 was the reverse. and man it sounds incredible. im so all about this pedal. it has to be the best digi delay boss has made yet. id say the only bad thing is the warp mode? which just sounds alot like the delay on the rv 3 if you ask me. the delays are incredible. it sounds really true to the signal. i used to have an dd 3 back in the day in the mid nineties. wasnt so impressed with it which is why i never checked out the dd 5. wow though the improvements on this one are just incredible. a year ago i sold my memory man. couldny stand it. it was incredibly noisy i dont see what the big deal is. what a hunk of crap! the only other delay id rather have is the boss analog delay. but its to risky dishing out the bucks for one with alot of them out there being jacked up now and still being passed around. i give this pedal the best score cause pound for pound its worth every dollor youll spend on it.

heres my setup

fender mij reissue jazzmaster with vintage jazzmaster sd neck and quarter pounder sd bridge.
fender tuner, whammy 4, jekyll and hyde, dd-6, rv-3,
fender hotrod deville 4-10

boss pedals are the most reliable on the market, funny enough there always way tougher then there 600 dollor plus or minus competitors which i never get. why pay alot for something you cant count on.

all the years of owning boss and roland never have had to.

i play mellow indie rock music in my band. on my own everything under the sun. if i lost this pedal id be pretty damn pissed, then id run out and buy another without thinking twice. i had made the horrible mistake of getting a boss me 50 a while back. its a decent pedal but you just cant replace boxs its just the truth. so i finally broke down and stopped using it in my band. sidenote why boss doesnt just reissue the analog delay i have no clue. so anyways i pulled my old pedals out stript a few of them out to go for better tone for now on in my band and i wanted to really make the delay count. well this one does that. without butchering your tone. no digitech no ibanez no other competitors in this price range can compare to the tone quality this thing can handle

I'd give it a ten were it not for the fact that you do have to do a bit of tweaking to get her going purrrrfect. Either way anybody with enough fingers to play a guitar can sit down and turn the knobs to a desirable setting no problem. Very easy to use.

If you want digital delay and not a tube delay then this is the way to go. I run it after a MT-2 and it doesnt distort at all - I play them through a marshall valvestate avt-50 NOT in the effects loop but straight from my guitar and in. I don't know why exactly but the combo of my MT-2 and DD-6 doesnt like to process so well through my amps effect send and return.. I think it might just be the amp but either way the pedal sounds great just going straight in. Nevertheless I feel the need to rate it a 9 since it gets so fussy with my pedal line on my amps effect line.

It's a boss.

Who needs it?

I think I over-paid for this BIG TIME. I bought it new for 279.99 from our local rip-off music store. Obviously the pedal was worth the money to me, but I certainly wish I went on ebay and saved myself 100 dollars. Nothing I can do though and if you cant get it any cheaper then I did I still recommend it, infact, im gonna go play around with the warp effect, oh what fun.

The pedal has many settings so it takes some time to get the sound your want. The manual is limited but does the job...I'd like to see a databases that tells you how to get different sounds...what www.jfrocks.com does for EVH.

The sound is great - clean. No noise. I run it last in the chain just after by MXR noise surpressor.

New. No problems.

New. No problems.

This is a great pedal. I've had a DD3, Digitech Delay and I prefer this pedal...sounds great and is better quality that Digitech.