Boss DM-2 Analog Delay

Bought a bargain on this just before Christmas 2002. I was in Melbourne in and saw it in pawn shop in St Kilda for $129AUS (about $60U.S) including the box. A bargain considering these are going for $200 U.S on ebay - so I guess you still can get those pawnshop bargains now & then.

Three knobs. How it's labelled is intially alittle confusing (as stated in other reviews) but doesn't take much to work it out.
Gives delays up to 330ms.

Has a few trimpots on the circuitboard inside for tweaking, not sure what, but may playing around to find out.

Sound quality - I've played thru different digital delays (boss, ibanez, digitech) and they all give a really harsh top end. This analog delay provides a more natural tone more true to the actual tone of your guitar. I use it with a visualsound jekyl & hyde, modded crybaby wah, boss ph-1, electroharmonix clone theory into a fender twin.

Built like a brick like all boss pedals.

Never have to deal with them.

A really great pedal, these old boss pedals had good quality components in them, new boss pedals these days have crappy cheap components inside which is why half of them sound crappy!
Don't know if they are really worth their $200U.S value, I think it's more guitar market hype that analog delay is "better" that pushs up the prices...

Pretty easy to use (3 knobs).

I didn't get a book with it (I got it free).

This pedal sounds good and has a cool feedback sound when you move the knobs just right.

The pedal only gets noisy (a faint high pitch noise in the background) when the 1st knob is turned all the way to the left.

But overall a nice delay sound.

This pedal is got to be pretty close to 20 years old (it has the "Japan" label on the back).

Great website!

A nice delay pedal.

Three knobs. Should be quite easy but the "echo" knob controls how pronounced the effect is and the "intensity" controls number of repeats. I would have expected it to be the other way round. Also the delay time knob goes the opposite way to how you'd expect - max delay time is all the way to the left. Apart from that it's dead easy.

I use a Tele into a Laney Amp and the following effects: Dm2, Boss Blues Driver, Pro Co Rat, Big Muff, MXR Blue Box, Sometimes a volume pedal and Ring Modulator too.
The pedal is not noisy at all, unless you make it self ossilate by turning the delay time right down and number of echos all the way up. Then it's SUPPOSED to be noisy. The delay sounds great. I was pleasently surprised as to how long the delay time is - I was expecting it to be much shorter but it's actually longer than the times I used my DD3 for. For comparason the longest delay time is about the same as a DD3 in long mode with the time knob at 10 O'Clock. It does me fine. I got this pedal from ebay to replace my cheap plastic no name analog delay I used to use to get fat walls of noise and to add some space to the sound with. It sounds much better than my old pedal. In fact I've started to use it properly now (ie to get echos) and I'm playing a lot more floyd type music now. You get simple warm scrummy repeats and nothing else. Analog delays are a different breed to digital delays - you usually use analog delays to add a reverby like ambience to parts. This pedal sounds great, the repeats are nice and dark and blend into your playing very well indeed. This has led to the critism that this pedal is too subtle. It is quite subtle but effects are a spice not and not a main dish. I think it's fine.
It doesn't suck tone too much (it has a buffered bypass), the Memory Man is a horrible tone sucker compared to this.

It's 20 years old and has a few marks to the paint & that's all. I'd trust it.

They don't support their NEW pedals! They aren't going to support an old one like this. They'd try to get me to buy a DD5 instead.

This pedal was expensive but it was worth it. It's got a much better sound than any other delays I've tried. It does seem quite subtle because it blends into your playing, if you want a more in-yer-face analog delay get a Memory Man. Memory Mans (men?) are better at the self ossilating noise thing too. This pedal is harder to overload. But I prefer this one. Apart from Maxon you won't get a new analog delay anymore, but this pedal crops up all the time on ebay. It's well worth it. It has a lovely sound with none of the fancy stuff that I never use on digital delays. Great pedal.

Ah, plug in - twist dials - find good space, keep adjusting for fun. Go too far - please - you deserve it. Especially at the end of a set, tweak them all to the right and watch the audience look around for the alien. It's too cool.

Great sound. Using with a new LP Standard and a Roland GA-60 (huge bass response amp which is accentuated with this pedal). Got a Jim Dunlop Crybaby before it and a DOD Envelope after. Things can get pretty weird when the overdrive and the EQ kick in with too much reverb on the amp, but take out the reverb or the delay and it's modulescence. I've found a 4-4-6 or 4-6-4 setting on the 3 knobs has worked well. I was using the Boss digital delay before, but never liked the precise sterility or the knobs - this pedal is warm and tonal and the knobs have no positive stops.

I can get the same unit, yeah, I want a backup. It's ancient, definitely been in use the whole time, and I have been using it for about two years without a hitch. I have always used the power adaptor at gigs, because batteries go fast.

Actually had a good experience when I was trying to get the power supply right. The LED won't switch on unless you have the proper supply. Wasn't a problem, but I live in Japan and my main man at the guitar shop got on the line direct...to Osaka.

Value-wise, they don't exist so don't think about it. Tone and effects value, get the grey matter moving. Don't know it's on until I realize that I can't have that good of a built-in reverb - and where is that other guitar coming from? I play blues and rock and spacestuff/improv. I always get that big comfy room sound and I play in some very, very small places. I feel lucky to have found one - also, it's the old 'made in Japan' Roland gear, and the 'made in Japan' Boss Flanger was on my list until I found this.

this pedal produces nothing but lush, true sounding delay. only having three knobs - echo (controls how pronounced the effect is), repeat (controls delay time) and intensity (controls delay duration), and being all analogue (MN3005)it's totally simple and intuitive to use. stab it and steer, basically. the only thing to remember is to roll off the intensity some if your guitar is outputting alot of signal, otherwise it goes into self oscillation, which isn't always that useful, but is still always fun. hell, the maxon ad90 is calibrated to do that on purpose. the manual is pretty minimalistic, no suggested settings, etc. i think the most helpful thing it said was "do not immerse the unit in water" - duh! since these haven't been made in 20 years it's unlikely it would still have a manual with it, though. i give it a '9' because it can sometimes be difficult to judge where to set the intensity to prevent auto feedback.

guitars i'm using this pedal with are a natural ash U.S.A. telecaster ('97) and a '52 reissue tele. both have bardens, so noise is minimal anyway. the guitars go through a very small and very british selection of amps (wem dominator mk.3, marshall bluesbreaker reissue, laney vc30). this pedal is a surprisingly heavy duty piece of engineering with a noise reduction circuit that really does cut noise.
the noise output from this pedal is negligible. amazing, really.
the delay/echo from this pedal is better than any room or open space i've ever heard! lush and natural. picks up the whole signal, then lets it decay beautifully. particularly good with clean guitars, preserves sparkle and enriches sound with depth. distorted repeats sound great too. delay range is 25 - 330 milliseconds, which is enough for me, but maybe not for everyone? with this setup i sound a hell of a lot better than my favourite artists! ;o). a good example of the kind of clean sound you can get are the repeats toward the end of "barbarism begins at home" by the smiths, and east bay ray style distorted repeats. the DM-2 sounds great after my EH small clone chorus. of course, it goes with other boss pedals very well too (cs-1, ds-1). it also works with my voodoo lab tremolo beautifully. it doesen't colour the tone, if anything it deepens and warms it. also the repeats don't fuzz up like they do with other analogue delays (dod fx96 etc.), staying clear and clean. again, it stays clean unless you turn up the intensity too much, when the signal kind of compresses into a 'knocking' sound, but that's the joy of analogue.
"pristine" sounds? yup, that pretty much nails it.

this DM-2 was 20 years old when i got it, and had been COVETED by its previous owner. totally as new, even the box and instruction manual were in great condition. it's as solid as any boss. as is well known, boss pedals are impervious to nuclear blasts, voo-doo, 10,000ft. freefalls, lager, etc.

i've never dealt with boss. i guess that if i tried to contact them about a 20-odd year old pedal they'd just tell me to bin it and buy a DD5! such is the attitude of large corporations.

i play alternative rock, blues, and some jazz for about 9 years now. this is the best delay pedal i could ever own. i might buy a DD5 for it's higher functions but i'll always keep this for the gorgeous tone. i think it's time boss considered reissuing some of these classic old pedals. there's obviously a massive market for them. if it were stolen (here we go) i'd recover it by whatever means necessary then plead temporary insanity at the trial. failing that, i'd try in vain to find another one. which i wouldn't in this condition. it just has a simple "completeness" to it that for me usually marks out the best gear (i.e. telecasters, ac-30's etc.)(although i'm not a TOTAL reactionary! gorgeous stuff. the only thing i miss is a mains adaptor, as these old boss pedals run on a higher voltage (ACA adaptor)than the newer ones. this is now like my CS-1 compressor, in that i find it almost impossible to plug in without it. the DM-2 is a very addictive and musical delay, unlike some of the digital ones. however, if you want ultra defined, infinite hold, sampling, reverse repeat, etc. obviously give this a miss and go digital. i paid quite a lot (although still less than the going rate for one like this in totally as new condition), yet i still consider it a bargain. the guy i bought it from paid #79.00 new in 1980-82 (?) which i think would be at least #150.00 now. so i do feel like i got a bargain, bizarrely. if you can't get one of these in reasonable condition, my advice is go with the maxon ad90. similar price, sounds, circuitry (and similar colour!), and it's new. i've seen some sorry examples of DM-2's going on ebay and in local classified ads for crazy amounts of money. i keep meaning to try it out with an electric piano, for that "planet telex" thing. the low impedance circuitry even means you can run a microphone through it. if the delay chip ever goes i'll just rip the one out of the dodfx96 (same chip) to replace it!

It took me about an hour to figure the DM2 out, as to settings. Repeat, time, mix, no rocket science, or engineering background needed. Do not need a manual. Easy to use, and to get a good sound.

Excellent for my application, playing amplified blues harp. My current main amps are a 2001 Landgraff tweed deluxe( 5E3)clone, and a Gary Onofrio modded( Sonny Jr. amps) 50s Masco ME17( 2X6L6GB, 12AU7, 6SJ7, 5Y3(or 5V4)converted PA head thru a 4X8 pine cab. I am curious at what amps the last 3 posters use, who are very uncomplimentary about the DM2. This is a great analog delay for harp, very warm, quiet, organic. You can get that small room delay very easy. Not sterile. This may, or not match up with hi gain, multiple channel,multiple gain stage amps, for guitar; I cant speak as a g'tar player, but for blues harp thru a tweed sounding amp, awesome. Does not rob tone, boost volume, or make sound treblier.YMMV, just IMO.

So far dependable. I have no backup, unless I mic thru PA and mix in reverb.

NA

This will be used in blues music with several groups I play with, and on ocassion when playing amped at our Sunday Methodist church service. Been playing 30 years, about 20 semi-pro. Own and play thru the amps mentioned, also another old Masco amp.Use old Shure GB, Shure 545, and a crystal ball mic made by Scott Berberian. Use a Morley ABY box to run two amps together. Sold a Premier 90 reverb unit, not needed with the DM2. Also have owned and used the RI Maxon AD 80 Analog delay, did not care for it. Have used a Danecho digital delay, liked it until I used the DM2, no comparison. May not be your cup of tea, but it would surprise me to hear a harp player say it was terrible. Mine is in great shape, I consider what I paid( $175)reasonable.

this pedal is soo easy to use three knobs ,nothing to it

this pedal sucks ,vintege my a** ,i bought it ,on e bay ,tryed it ,,and but it back on e bay the next day and thank god i sold it ,i dont know whats all the hype about this pedal ,my dd2 or my chandler unit is 1000 times better than this pedal,trust me dont buy it ,unless you dont know anything about sound ,dont waste your money

it a boss ...

dont know never delt with them

this pedal sucks period

This pedal is lame. That's why I sold mine right away. What's this talk about "warm" delay. C'mon guys...if you want a warm delay signal, simply add a slight (real slight) amount of warm overdrive to any DD-3 or DD-5 and you will have the delay of your dreams. Plus you can actually turn it up, opposed to the DM-2 which is sooo quiet.

See above

This is the WORST sounding delay ever!!! I am a professional musician who is very experienced with effects. I've owned many pedals and rack mounted effects over the last 20 years. I heard so many good things about this pedal that I decided to give it a shot. The delay signal is so incredibly weak that it isn't even audible of the natural sustain of guitar strings. If you are someone who loves that thick wall of sound, this pedal is NOT for you. Don't waste your money.

Three knobs controlling a warm, well-done effects. How easy do you think it is? It took me a total of 5 seconds to get a great sound out of it.

I have a Fender Am. Std Strat and an Ampeg VT-120 Tube Amp for my guitar setup. My bass set up is a mongrel p-bass, w/ a Warmoth Jazz neck and EMG's. My pedals are Boss PS-3 Pitch Shift Delay->Crybaby 535q->Electro Harmonix Tube Zipper->Big Muff->Boss PH-3 Phaser->Boss DM-2. It's only noisy when its supposed to be, when it's self-oscillating. Nailed the intro to Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd in a couple minutes. Got a great sound by turning the knobs to full, except the Intensity knob that I roll back just before the point where the unit self-oscillates. This creates an evil-sounding filter. Like a flanger stopped in its sweep with alot of dissonance.

I depend on it, it's Boss right?

N/A

I play all kinds of rock. I've been playing for almost three years. This pedal is indispensable. I love its warmth and the ability to get great echos, slapbacks, and chaotic noises. It is very conducive to inspiring my creativity.