Boss DM-2 Analog Delay

Its real easy and intuitive.

I use either a 91 Les Paul Standard or my 07 HSS Strat Deluxe through a 79 Super Reverb with it these days. It's not noisy at all. I got this pedal as a teenager back in the early 80's. I had no idea what delay was until a friend of mine who had this pedal called me up and played it over the phone for me. At that moment I knew I had to have it. I remember trading a guitar and some cash for it and it became integral to my lead sound. I didn't know these old things were worth anything until I dug it out of a crate of old unused pedals I have and looked it up on e-bay. I was shocked at how much this thing in good condition (mine is like new) is worth. I plugged it in with a new battery and I'm still shocked. It sounds just like I remembered it to when it was new. It's sound is really no big deal. I don't exactly know what a "warm" sound is, but if it means it sounds like it has a reverby kinda echo to it then this is warm. Mine has never been messed with (no internal pot tomfoolery) so I guess it sounds like good ole' analog delay. To tell you the truth I prefer the exactness of a good tranparent digital delay. I have messed with the analog setting on a Boss ME-50 and I can get it to sound pretty close to the DM-2. I thought about selling it on e-bay because I don't use it much, but $200- $300 is not really that much money to me so I'll just keep it for nostalgia's sake.

Well it still works fine after 20 years so I guess it's pretty reliable. I hope my BR-900 lasts as long as this thing.

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I play classical and metal. This is probably a good match for a blues player or someone that likes to mess with the settings to create spaceship sounds. By the way this thing will drain a battery quickly doing those weird space sounds. Use a good quality, brand new battery and you can really make some freaky noises with this pedal. I really can't compare it to any other product or brand as I'm just not that into analog delays. I love spring reverbs and natural sounding choruses but as far as delay goes I like the exact timing of a good quality digital delay.

I already had a Boss DD-3 which I now use for longer delay times. The DM-2 onlly has max 300mms but this is absolutely beautiful for dreamy arpeggios when used clean... just stunning and I use this for all distorted solos along with my Boss MT-2 and Boss GE-7. It adds an amazing new dimension to leads that's for sure.

I use this with my Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus and my Dean ZX played through a Marshall VS100R and it sounds incredible with both guitars and with all the rest of my pedals (primarily Boss).

There's a great range of effects you can achieve using this pedal owig to it's analogue nature. Really spacey effects and tight slapbacks if you tweak the timing of the delay. I just wish you could get a longer delay time from it but that's why I have the DD-3 which is also an incredible pedal considering it's digital.

It's a Boss... I would shrink myself down and hide inside it during a nuclear fallout.

Yes, have dealt with Boss to get spare pedal boxes for a couple I bought second hand and they sent me them... for free! Lovely friendly people at Roland UK. Oh and also had contact with them to get a free carry case for my Boss Micro BR and they were easy to deal with.

I play hard rock and metal and this fits in with everything... it sounds great clean and distorted so can be used for many different styles.

I have been playing since 1992 and this is the second delay pedal I have owned. It it were stolen I'd cry but I would have to appreciate the fact that a friend of mine bought it a few years ago at a second hand shop for next to nothing and passed it on to me for a similar price so it's not as if I shelled out hundreds of pounds for it... I am aware of it's current and escalating value though!

As I said, just wish it had a longer delay time... Am aware it could be tweaked to achieve this but wouldn't want to ruin it. It is in absolutely A1 pristine condition... absolutely like new with not a mark on it so am very proud to own this pedal (and greatful to my friend that sold it to me for a few quid)!

Within a minute tweaking with this thing, I was already making some
great delays.

Some might argue that this delay is overpriced and dull sounding. I don't see this to be the case.
I have used more delays than I can count. It's not the most versatile but what it does do, it does great.

If you want a "cleaner" more precise delay get a DD-5 or a DD-6.

Just like any other boss pedal, they last forever. I need to replace the LED though.

Never had to deal with it.

Some people complain that it's "dull" sounding. however, I like that it has a very 'haunting' effect compared to the newer Boss delays.

If you can afford it, I recommend you have one in your collection,and a newer Boss for the clean delays.

Apparently my DM-2 was modded to achieve a "spill-over" delay effect? I just purchased an alternate DM-2,and it sounds absolutely amazing! I guess the "spill-over" mod had an effect on the fidelity of the pedal? This has got to be one of the best delays I have ever heard! Very Roland RE-201 Space Echo oriented.
I always considered the DM-2 as a really good,but somewhat dull sounding delay...but this one rocks into the 10 spot!!! Maybe mine is a different year model? Maybe Roland made some with the s-over effect,and others without it? Now to get an old CE-2 Chorus,and mod that to CE-1 specs...

This is to correct my Artec Delay being #4 on my favorite delays list.
Well...the Artec started making tones of noise,and then "fizzed-out"! I tried a second one and the delay quality was the worst I've ever heard!!! My new #4 delay is the DM-2.Maxon AD9 slides in as #5.I guess the Artec Delay is a "hit or miss" item? I did notice that it's made in CHINA!!! Then again...so is the ADA (re-issue) Flanger...

Set! - Stomp! - Echo!
What more can I say?

This is the first delay pedal I ever owned,and it sounds as good as it did back in 1981-when I first purchased it.From a sound quality perspective,I must say that the DM-2 is quite over-rated.I read comparisons to tape echo units-which the DM-2 is not... Not even close!
It is as you would expect a good analog delay to sound...good! When this delay was first released,many players felt that the DM-2 was somewhat dull and lifeless.If you weren't using a quality tape echo unit,the only suitable replacement was the E-H Memory Man.Although the MM was noisy-it was able to reproduce a tape echo "vibe".(The new DMM with its chorus feature emulates motor "warble" to the T! They are the best tape echo simulator you can buy...period!
What I like about the DM-2 is that it "spills-over" its delay effect after you switched it off...very cool! Most analog delays can be modded to do this-but it will cost you a little fidelity to do so.I came up with a mod for the DM-3 that will give the user the ability to switch between the standard "stereo" effect - or a modded "ping-pong" effect! Is the DM-2 a the best delay ever? No...but it's definitely in the top 5.
I rate them:
E-H Deluxe Memory Man(new with chorus/warble)#1
Diamond Memory Lane #2
S.I.B(blue analog)Echodrive #3
Artec SE-ADL Delay #4 ($50.00 new!) Some think it's the best analog delay ever? We will see...
Boss DM-2/DM-3 both rate #5 (DM-3 has "improved" fidelity?...you be the judge).
It's tough to judge as we all have our own preference in delays.I had to put the new Artec SE-ADL Analog Delay in there.This delay has amazed many a new user.Not just by the incredible sound of this pedal...but also the $50.00 price tag! If it weren't for the modulation effect on my Diamond ML,this would rank as my 2nd favorite delay ever!
I would also like to give a strong nod to the Ibanez/Maxon AD9 delay.I have two of them-and they will always be part of my rig.I see DM-2 delays selling for over $225.00! It's a good delay...but (IMO) it's not that good! But who knows-with the analog IC market drying up...it may be going for over $500.00 very soon!

Built like a tank!

Never needed it...

If it were lost or stolen,I would not seek another one.

It's easy to use but the repeat rate knob works backwards compared to what you might expect. that means you turn to the left for longer delays and to the right for shorter delays.
It shouldn't take you that long to figure out and get some great sounds and favourite settings out of it.

It's a warm echo. The guy who claimed "warm=dull" obviously has don't know what he is talking about. A natural echo looses quality for each repeat and that's how this is working. It doesn't sound dull at all, but very natural sounding.


You can get some cool oscillation for spaceship or pure effects type sounds if you play with the knobs.

300ms might be too short delay time for some people, but for slapback and shorter delays it's perfect!

There are trimpots inside which you can tweak for slightly longer delay time but then you the signal starts to degrade more audibly.

NOTE: you can seriously ruin your pedal by playing with these trimpots.
Chances are that if you buy a used pedal the previous owner might have messed with them and the pedal might not sound good at all.

Mine is from 1982 and have been used a lot. So yes I would rely on it.
It's a BOSS pedal and they rarely fail.

Never had to deal with them.

It's a great delay. Though thanks to the hype these pedals are getting I would be worried about having it stolen, so I might not gig with it.

I wish it had slightly longer delay time. Around 400-500ms would be perfect.

I also wish BOSS got their **** together and started making these analog delays again. But there are plenty of other players on the market so if you don't have the cash to go for one of these on Ebay there are lots of great alternatives which sound just as good.

3 knobs. Easy to use.

I bought this pedal in the early 80s and it has been stuck in a drawer for the last 20 years. It still works, but then it's a Boss and I've never had a Boss pedal fail on me yet.

I think a lot of people are getting overexcited by this pedal. When somebody refers to this pedal as WARM they mean DULL. ANother issue is that after a couple of repeats all you get are dull clicks. I'm much happier using a DD5 with external pedal for on the fly sync delays.

Please people, don't get caught up in the bidding wars for these pedals on Ebay. They really are not worth it.

It's a Boss.

Never had to deal with them

Three knobs, took me a couple of days to pretty much master the sound and memorize where to get certain tones.

Ummmm, can you say the best??? This is hands down the best delay I have ever heard in my life. That's probably the reason they're so expensive at the same time.

Haha! It's a Boss. Anyone who knows anything about effects knows what the name means. I just bought mine on eBay for around $220. It is probably in my guesstimation 20+ years old and everything still works perfectly.

Never had to deal with them, don't think I ever will, so no opinion on this question.

I've been playing for around 8 years (mostly acoustical only) but have recently within the past year been crossing over to electric. The tone that comes out of this is amazing, especially for any blues or new age rock. If you get to play one, try shuffling harmonics on it, quite possibly the coolest sound ever. If it were lost and stolen, I would cry, and then buy another one. Cool space ship sounds come out of this too, watch out though if you're buying one on eBay. I've heard some people who have gotten gyped because someone over the years has messed with the internal pots, causing it to so not so hot! I pray that God would allow to have a lot of good years with this thing so it doesn't break, cuz I really, really, really, really, like it. BEST PEDAL I OWN!

I submitted a review on this pedal FIVE YEARS AGO!
Go look at my review dated 8/13/2001 by Godmachine

I bought this pedal new at Guitar Center back in 1982, I beieve....
....that's about TWENTY TWO years ago!

ok, now I get it....
After playing screaming heavy metal for years (maybe 30 years?) I've started to get into the blues and classic rock again...that's right "again".
So with a 2000 Fender American Strat and a 1976 Fender Champ and a DOD 250 preamp/overdrive in front of the DM-2....well....now I get it!

The thing about an analog delay vs. digital, is that the analog echo does sound a bit different than the original signal. This echo sounds much more natural that a digital delay, which gives you an echo that exactly matches the original signal.

Also, the analog echo is warmer...ah, and smoother too.

very very cool....now I get it!

24 years old and still like new. never a problem with it accept when i first dug it out of the box a few years ago. It seemed to need to warm up before working. Perhaps a dirty pot.

I've been playing since 1969 and everyday since 1979 (finally got a good job where I could buy a good guitar and amp).

I play blues, classic 50's, 60's and 70's rock, grunge and 80's and 90's metal.

Of all people, Yngwie Malmsteen has inspired me to play the blues again. I never knew what an amazing blues player Malmsteen is (was) until lately. (no, not old black blues but Hendrix and SRV style blues).

These boxes sell for over $300 on eBay but thank God I didn't sell mine. Although, I believe, companies are starting to make analog delays again. Diamond is one such company.
Electro Harmonix still makes a Memory Man delay which is analog and costs about $200. I use to love my old Memory Man.