DigiTech DF-7 Distortion Factory

Considering there are so many options with this pedal, it took a while to get it "dialed in" to my liking. The manual gives settings for each of the seven models to make them as close to the original as possible. However, if you're looking for an original sound, it can take a little more tweaking to get there.

The unit has knobs that are clearly labeled, but are different than labeled for some of the models. For instance, the "mid frequency" knob does not adjust the center affected frequency for every setting, etc. It takes a while to learn exactly what you're changing without consulting the manual, but if the time is spent on it, it is IMO, well worth it.

My rig consists of a Gibson SG through a Dunlop 535Q Wah-->Voodoo Lab Overdrive-->Digitech Distortion Factory-->Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail-->Sovtek Mig 60-->Tube Works 2x12 Cab. I don't use a lot of pedals, considering my rig is medium-to-high gain with no pedals at all, and has great tone, so I don't like putting too much between guitar and amp. However, given that my amp is more high-gain in a classic rock sense (think AC/DC, Stones, Led Zeppelin), I had a void for modern hard rock distortion that I simply couldn't fill (think Staind, Black Label Society, etc) with amp and guitar + overdrive alone. The DF7 gives me a whole gamut of distortion sounds to play with, from slightly overdriven (Tubescreamer) to all-out mayhem (Big Muff Pi / Metal Zone) to classic in-between (ProCo Rat).

For the more "metal" settings, the tone of the instrument is all but non-existent (but that's what metal is about anyway, right?). For the overdrive settings and milder distortion settings, enough tone stays in the signal to get a good idea of the instrument's true timbre. The pedal reacts nicely to pick attack, especially with the OD settings, and pinch harmonics are crazy on the harder metal models, especially the Metal Zone model.

While I'm not trying to duplicate any band's or guitarist's exact sound, I am, like many of you, in constant search of my own unique sounds. The DF7 gives me the tools I need to achieve harder modern sounds when I need them. I don't use it for OD all that much, but when I need some modern hard rock punch, this pedal has plenty to offer.

If you are looking for modern metal or hard rock crunch, this pedal should give it to you. It is not true bypass, so it gets a 9.

I haven't dealt with Digitech. This pedal seems to be built well, and I don't see needing them anytime soon. The electronics will fail long before the housing will. I don't gig regularly, but I wouldn't see a problem using it without a backup.

I don't think I'll have to deal with them anytime soon. The pedal seems well built and sturdy.

I normally play blues and older rock/hard rock. I don't get into true metal too often, but I like to have modern distortion sounds at my disposal, and quite frankly, this pedal gives me the quality and quantity of selections that makes it more than worth the retail price.

I've been playing on and off for about 10 years now. I normally play/record alone, but once every couple of months, myself and some "jam buddies" get together for an 8 - 12 hour improvised Jam session where we play everything from funk to hard rock.

I love the flexibility of this pedal. Not only does it offer 7 models (that it does a fair job at duplicating), but it offers multiple tweaks within each of the 7 models, making it much more usable than even the originals. Like I said, it's not true bypass, so that takes points away. Nowdays, it's hard to find a true bypass off-the-shelf pedal, though. There is a slight learning curve involved in using this pedal on several different settings in one session. If you only use it for one sound, then that's a completely different story (but that somewhat defeats the purpose of having a pedal that offers 7 different models, too). The metal settings don't leave much original tone in the signal, but again...it's metal. What they do give you is efforless pinch harmonics and tons of sustain.

I listened to a dozen or more pedals before buying this one. This one, given the tweakability, actually sounded better to me on a lot of the models than the originals themselves.

If you get excited when you lay down a heavy rhythm riff that sounds like somebody's about to get their ass kicked, then this pedal will definitely help you make music. It flat out inspires me when I'm in the mood for some hard rock.

Overall, a great off-the-shelf pedal. I don't think distortion pedals get any better for this amount of money. They definitely don't get any more versatile.

Easy to use. Instruction manual clearly describes the sound each setting is aimed at.

I am playing a Fender mexican fat-strat with standard pickups through a Fender automatic SE amp. My amp has four different preset tones designed to match classic fender sounds, none of which are very distorted. Although I am happy with my amps clean sounds, but as a fan of metal and punk I needed something more. This pedal has sucessfully filled the void. I can get just about any kind of sound I want out of it. I can get a total Nirvana type sound from DS-1 and also play along with Metalica using the boss metal zone.

I have serious reservations about the reliabilty of this product. It sucks down batteries about as fast as you can put them in. Yes, I unplug the chords from it when I am not using it. Digitech knows the DF-7 can't practically run on batteries; the thing comes with a statement telling you to use batteries for backup and demo purposes only. I was forced to buy the PS200R, Digitech's X series power adaptor for 20 bucks online. In our age of cell phones, better battery technology exists. The power adaptor runs the pedal at 9.6 volts, which is probably why it sucks down batteries so fast. What's really odd is the pedal sounds much better to me with the adaptor. Simply put this pedal will not run on batteries. It sucks a cheap battery up in about 20 minutes, a good one a few hours. Plan on buying an adaptor for this product.
I have had no other problems with this product.

Digitech had a special December offer giving customers a special gift consisting of a carrying case, guitar chord, and picks. I e-mailed them about getting my special gift, and they e-mailed me back almost immediately. I e-mailed them my address and had these items in less than a week.

Great pedal, but I think it sucks you have to spend an extra 20 bucks to get the non-optional adaptor. This is the only reservation I have about this product.

The only reason this gets a 9 and not a 10 is because *shock horror* you actually need to read the manual before you use it. It doesn't take long, and it's definitely worth it.
Although some of the other reviewers on here might disagree with you, they say things like "I thought the manual was ehhhhhh", so they're clearly idiots.
The setup is fairly intuitive, with the low, mid and high controls at the bottom and the volume, mid frequency and gain neatly packed onto three smaller dials on top of those. There's one dial with seven settings for the different models. The only bit that gets complicated is the fact that some of the dials do different things depending on the pedal being modelled. For instance, the high control becomes the ProCo Rat's "Filter" control, or the Big Muff Pi's Sustain dial, and that's why it's a good idea to read the manual.

I use this with a PRS Santana SE through a Marshall MG50DFX amp, and it wasn't until I accidentally left it plugged into the cables and used up the battery that I realised just how much better this pedal sounds than my amp.
I've only played two of the original pedals, the Boss DS-1 and the ProCo Rat, so I can't vouch for the rest, but these two models were absolutely perfect. Here's a basic overview of each model:

1) Ibanez TS-9 (Tube Screamer)
Designed to simulate an overdriven valve amp. It can give an amazing bluesy, SRV style tone, but it might not be for everyone. Spend some time tweaking to get the best sound.
2) DOD 250
A powerful 70s rock sound, great for Hendrix amongst other things. I haven't heard much about DOD except that their pedals "are crap and fall apart", but this gives a great rock tone with no effort at all.
3) Boss DS-1
Perfectly modelled. This gives a very good straightforward distortion. Probably the first thing most people will think on playing this (I know I did) is "Smells Like Teen Spirit!", as the original was used by Kurt Cobain. However, it's very versatile and needs little to no fiddling to get a good tone out of it.
4) ProCo Rat
Again, spot on. A really good range of rock tones can be had from this and it sounds good whatever you do with it. One of my favourite models.
5) Boss Metal Zone
The manual describes the sound from this as "over the top gain". This is an understatement. This pedal gives a really powerful metal sound, but is unfortunately overshadowed, in my opinion, by the next model...
6) Digitech Metal Master
I hadn't heard anything about this pedal before I bought my DF-7, but as soon as I played this model the sound blew me away. In my opinion, this is the best model available, and it has some tough competition. Amazing sustain and clarity with a really powerful tone. My guitar has never sounded better.
7) Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi
A great fuzz tone with brilliant sustain, really amazing and not hard to get a good sound out of. The sustain has been described by almost every reviewer I've read, and by the manual (which might have had something to do with it), as "violin-like", and there's a reason.

About a third of the reviews on here say "Built like a tank", and I'm not going to disagree. Watch the battery though, take a spare to gigs or maybe buy the power supply. However, the battery is a problem with any pedal, so 10.

I haven't had to talk to them, because it's built like a tank. Therefore, they get 10.

In case you haven't got the point, I love my pedal. It has such a wide range of tones that whatever you play, it will have your sound. This might not be the best pedal for using live if you plan on trying to change between tones mid-set as it can be fiddly, but for home use or recording (or live provided you don't want to muck around with it), it's hard to beat. BUY THIS PEDAL NOW.

Not a "step and go" type of pedal for sure. You have to RTFM if you want to be pointed in the right direction and take it from there. It is a "factory" so you have to "work" :-)

Gear: EB Silhouette special, Yamaha SBG1000, Peavey Prowler, JCM800.
I was looking for something to help me get a better tone out of my Peavey tube combo. the dirty channel isn't that great, But the clean channel is more than respectable but OD's didn't make it happen like with the JCM. I was about to try a Keeley Rat but if it wouldn't have worked out i would have spent(again)money for nothing and not being a "distortion guy" I wasn't going to buy one of each. So i thought i would give the DF-7 a try. So far, I like the RAT and MT-2 best( to my surprise). The TS-9, and DOD settings are ok but i wasn't looking for an OD. The DS-1 seems fair. The big Muff is... well, a big muff. I didn't like the metal master so far but hey! One thing i noticed though, is that there seems to be a faint reverb, fast delay type digital overtone happening if you "chug and mute" i will need to keep investigating. But, that is why i gave it an 8

By the way, this is not a "shift on the fly" type of unit. Once you find a good setting for one type of distortion, you can't expect to change the "mode" dial and have a good sound right away....wich is normal IMO. i am sure it can be very usefull in a home studio. For live, if you are looking for a cocktail of classic distortions and don't want to buy one of each but have 80% of all of them, this is a good tool to have.
I find it's easy to dislike an individual tone. You have to take your time and concentrate on one or else your ears are going to get confused and you will find that none of the effects sound good. If so, take a break, come back in 10 minutes and start over

I love this pedal, but you really have to understand EQ to use it since it has 4 EQ controls that have a massive impact on the sound. It took most of us a few years to understand how to get good guitar tone. When my tone is bad I know if it lacks midrange, or needs some high end "sizzle", or has too much gain. As a result this pedal is heaven for me. Most of the original pedals sound cool, but often times they lack the EQ control to get exactly what you want. No problem with the DF-7. Want a fuzz that actually has a little bite? Just dial in some mid and highs. Want a super tight articulate crunch? Just put it on the DOD 250 model and dial it in. You need to realize that each model needs to be EQ'ed differently to sound good, so for live situations this is a "one sound" pedal (although I actually use 2 of the models live, in different songs, since they use the same EQ settings). The pedal is GREAT for recording, I like the recorded tones better than my V-amp and Digitech processors, it sounds so tight.

As I said above, if you really really understand EQ then you can get good sounds. One thing I like is that the gain range is useful on most of the models. It goes from "not enough" up to "too much" (as opposed to going from "too much" up to "way way too much" like many processors). I find having the gaing control in the middle is about right on most models. People who love gain will still be satisfied, however.

built like a tank

I love it. The demo sounds on the digitech and musicians friend websiteds are accurate representations.

Ok, so this isn't a no brainer type of pedal, nothing offering endless options can be. If you don't have the mental horsepower to read the manual and fiddle with the settings, go buy something costing as much or more but with one tenth the versatility which won't challenge you so much.

If you can't find something you REALLY like with this thing, there's no pleasing you.

It's built like a brick s***house. The battery eating mentioned in other reviews is easliy avoided by removing any connection from the imput jack when you're done for the day. This little "trick" is clearly stated both in the manual and on the back of the pedal and is also standard with many other pedals I've got.

I'm basically a rock and roller, some blues, little bit country. It's a modeling pedal so for stage work it's only practical if you're interested in only one setting. But what a fantastic range of tones.

I havent had the pedal long and i have found it fairly easy to use . Getting the tone you want can be a bit fiddley but it just needs some trial and error. The manual it came with recommends that you set evrything to 12 o ' clock popsition except with the digitech metal master setting which i find works quite well.

i am using this with a 30 watt marshall , a dunlop crybaby and , either a yamaha pacifica or esp ltd kh- 202. when i first got this pedal i thought it was a bit too noisy and tinny, however i have found out how i like to use the pedal on what setting for what songs and i mainly use it for the boss metal zone. it sounds good for" ride the lightning " ( good early eighties metal sound ) but you do get a bit of background noise and i might buy a noise gate pedal. also i get instant feedback when using the recommended setting for the digitech metal master, but its not so bad if i move further away from my amp. As for the other tones , the big muff has a nice beefy tone , i have never used the origional so i cant compare. and the first four ( rat , tube screamer ,ds-1 and od-1) are good , but not brilliant and i dont use them very often, also they all sound very similar and they can be a tad tinny . im better off using the amps own distortion if i want to get a thin lizzy sound or iron maiden etc.

very solid build , needs to be powered by ac adaptor cause it eats batteries. I dont expect it will ever go wrong.

havent ever had to deal with digitech customer support.

i play a mix of mainly metal , sometimes classical, or grunge . on rare occasions blues or classic rock or acoustic . It does what its meant too ,but it might not be to everyones taste . i definately prefer it to my boss me50 which im going to sell. and for the money its excellent value . you would probably only be able to get one of the real versions for the same price you get all 7.
if it were lost or stolen i would probably buy it again .
One of the negative points i found is that you cant use this in conjunction with your amps own distortion for a booster because it completely kills the sound.

After a few touches you'll probebly find out the sound that you've been looking for, but you still won't understand how the hell to control this pedal. Too many controls, and because it's a "distortion factory", sometimes certain control has different meaning from one model to another.

My gear is a Gibson SG Standard > Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer > Fender Champion "China" Touch 30W Amp. I find this pedal very versatille, probebly the most versatille distortion on this planet. In addition, it has pretty good sound. I bought this pedal as an exchange to my old RAT, and I found myself in love with "6" which is the Metal Master. I am not a "Metal Master" but this model has a great sweet sound. The RAT model (4) is great too, almost as the real one. The other models isn't bad, but I'm just setisfied with 4 and 6.

Do you have 9-Volt batteries at your home? shame. You won't have any batteries after you'll use them with your DF-7. Before I bought the DF-7, I had had 10 9V batteries at my home and after three days i just threw them away. The DF-7 is a battery-terminator.

I have a electricity problems in my home, and using effects connected with power supplies makes unstandable hum. If you have the same problems, don't dare buying this thing. If you don't- then enjoy it, it's a great distortion.

It's really not all that difficult to use. Yes, you can't just stomp on it. You need to actually adjust the EQ. The manual explains everything.

However, it does take awhile to find the tone you are looking for depending on your rig. I blame this on the EQ. Most musicians who play live use some kind of EQ anyway.

Anyone who rated the pedal extremely low in this category should probably plug straight into the amp. This isn't a 3 control tone pedal, it was created to provide the FEATURES of a distortion processor in a more reliable stomp. You knew what you were getting yourselves into.

MY SETUP INCLUDES:

Guitars: Epiphone Dot, Fender Deluxe Super Strat, Les Paul Copy with Seymour Duncans.

Amps: Sovtek Midget Mig 50H with 2x12 Celestion Cab

Effects: Crybaby, Boss GE-7 slightly scooped, Boss DD3, MXR Comp

I enjoy this pedal a lot. Early Christmas present. My Sovtek has no gain channel and this worked wonders for me. I love the TS-9, Rat, and Metal Master setting the best. They all sound cool, but yes they all require tweaking. That is the pedals down fall. How many live musicians actually switch their tone THAT drastically on stage? You should have no problem finding a good solid tone on this pedal, and it is perfect for studio work with its mixer cab simulation option.

I am getting some feedback at low volume, but I found that my MXR Comp was the culprit. The pedal went virtually silent when taking the comp out of my chain. MXRs are fickle that way though. Overall there is no reason why you can't get some solid tones out of this pedal.

Built like a tank.

I have never dealt with them, but Digitech seems to stand by their products quite well. More and more musicians seem to be switching over from Boss. I have played through the Bad Monkey pedal, and was seriously impressed with that one as well.

I play a slide guitar. Blues rock, country blues, and a fusion of blues metal in open tunings.

The TS-9 and DOD covered cleaner slide tones nicely and helped me nail some John Lee Hooker type tones.

The Metal Master and Rat sound great for my harder stuff. I love the Metal Master. I prefer a high end crunch to low end, and the MM shined in this category. You will have to tweak your bass setting for it though. The Rat helped me get some great ZZ Top tones believe it or not.

The DS-1 had a lot more balls then my actual DS-1. The Metal Master required the bass to be tweaked back but sounded great for riffing. The Big Muff is also very bassy, but with the right sustain and EQ setting I am sure it will rock.

Overall, this pedal is definitely not made for switching between the different pedals with a simple dial of the knob in a live situation. It was made to experiment with. I suggest the Line 6 Distortion Emulator if you want that, but you will pay $250 for it. This is $99 folks. Get over it. I would rather buy this then pay the same price for one of the above emulations. At least you have more options.

Also, keep in mind that I am running this through a simple single channel tube amp. Pedal chain placement is key too.

It is extremeley painful to work. The slightest change to the settings can completely change the sound.

I bought it 2-3 months ago and it has an alright sound. When I first got it I probably would've given it a 9 because it sounded so good. But after about a month the sound just didn't do it for me. When I first got it I was looking for a versatile pedal with a nice range of distortions, but now I'm looking for tone and this thing doesn't do it. The models are okay though, and you can eventually find some good sounds, but they are lacking depth.

To be honest I should've just gotten a Metal Zone or something instead of relying on a pedal such as this which is lacking.

Built like a tank. You could kill people with it, well I guess you could even if it was falling apart. Hmmmm a paradox.

Maybe it might sound better through a better amp and not my Marshall MG, but who knows. Newbies, like me when I bought it, will think it's an awesome pedal but when they get to a time when they want awesome tone, they'll realise they should've kept their wallets in their pockets.