DigiTech Death Metal Distortion

Level control, 3 band eq (low, mid, high), and to quote the DigiTech manual, "we have turned the gain up to "11" and ripped the knob off!"

I am using a Peavey g-ninety guitar with a Fender FM 100H head and 4 X 12" Cabinet. I have a Digitech RP 100 floor processor going through the effects loop on the amp.

This pedal is the rare case that I would trade up gain control for the simple fact it sounds great and the eq section is effective and makes this pedal surprisingly flexible. As the pedal is named "Death Metal," it is very high gain and best for metal sounds. For other distorted sounds, I just use the amp distortion.

You may want a noise gate with this pedal as it is gain insanity and could lead to noise, feedback and other high gain drawbacks.

The reason for the 8 rating is the fact of the missing gain knob. Its full throttle all the time.

This pedal is still new but it seems solid and should be fine.

N/A

Gain control would be nice but this is a great sounding pedal for what it is made to do.

Easy to use. Easy to set-up. Easy to tweak amp settings to gain extra oompfhh.

Good sound although a little on the fuzzy side. Not much chance to tweak sound apart from scooping out midrange but thats what this pedal is for.

UN-KILLABLE!!!!!!!!! I have thrown everything at this pedal and although i dont play in a band, i have lots of alcoholic friends and our jam sessions are wild.

Never used it, didnt know Digitech had a support centre!

I'm a metal man,(Metallica, Pantera etc) so this is the bomb. It makes the boss MK2 look like a kids toy. The boss gives you more abiltiy to tweak sounds but this pedal is sheer balls out metal! I run it through a Marshall 50 watt with the FDD feature, scoop out midrange on the pedal and crank low & high, same for the amp but with the mid a little higher than half-way and a Ibanez auto wah pedal attached to round it off and you have pretty much any metal sound from the 80's to today. I use a cheap guitar (Casino Gibson Replica) as a jamming tool and it kicks ass! BUY THIS PEDAL NOW!

This pedal is very easy to use like all other distortion pedals. The manual is very detailed - a great help for beginners, especially to those who don't know anything about basic EQ'ing. Of course, the more experienced players can do well without it.

My setup is: Schecter Hellraiser C-7 > Boss NS-2 > EMU audio interface > Vintage Amp Room White Amp (it's the best software amp sim, IMHO). Plugged on the send-return loop of the Boss NS-2 are: Maxon OD-9 > Digitech Death Metal > Blackstar HT-DISTX Tube Distortion. At first, I thought that this setup would sound muddy, but after trying it, all my doubts went away! The Death Metal pedal gave my tone that extra heaviness, dirt and harshness that it needs. The Blackstar and the OD-9 were a little bit too warm for death metal on their own. Fortunately, I got the Death Metal pedal to fix that. I am very satisfied with what this pedal did to my sound.

The bad thing about this pedal is that it's not very transparent. But it doesn't bother me too much because I never bypass it anyway! Another disadvantage is that it's a little noisy. It would be insane to chain this pedal with a high gain preamp and an overdrive without using any noise gate. A noise gate is a must if you want to unleash the full potential of this pedal.

Overall, it sounds great on my setup but to each his own. I don't think this pedal would sound very convincing as a stand-alone distortion but mixed right with an overdrive and a high gain preamp, it can work wonders...or rather it can sound like the most unholy vile extreme metal sound you could ever imagine!

Solid DigiTech design! No problem here!

Never dealt with them yet.

I play extreme metal - the type of music where the Death Metal pedal really shines. A perfect match indeed! It wouldn't be called "Death Metal" for nothing, duh?!

I've been playing for 13 years but I've been on hiatus for 4 years. I never really tried that much distortion pedal but I had a few multi-effects in the past. The Death Metal pedal slays all digital distortion, period! However, it can never compete head-to-head as a stand alone pedal to other high end distortion pedals like the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem and the Blackstar HT-DISTX. But, IMO, it's difficult to get the sound you like on a single distortion box anyway.

If there's anything I wish it had, it would be a gain knob. Other than that, I have no problem with the features.

Buy this pedal if you're looking for that extra bite to your death metal sound! But for Christ's sakes, get a noise gate or your ears will bleed from the unholy hums, buzzes and feedbacks this pedal can generate at very high levels! If you want to use it as a stand-alone pedal, just play with the level setting to avoid any noise but I doubt you will like it on its own. I think it's made to be mixed with the crunch or gain channel of a high gain tube amp.

This pedal is really easy too use , you can use the settings in the book with it or just mess around with it =D

its got a really good crunchy METAL sound =D and it can very alot of sounds and fun too use =D ,
just turn down the level or your'll get some feedback =[

i can depend on it all the time nothing has gone wrong with it ive had it for about a year and has been thrown around and only one scratch!

Amazing i guess...?

Ive had this pedal for about a year and ive used it virtually every time ive played my guitar's which is about 2-3hours everyday =D
i got a power adaptor so i dont have too change the batteries which i notice a slight increase of sound quality , and amazing for stuff like pantera, slayer, and other metal =D
so overall an amazing guitar pedal!

Plug and Play - like any pedal you just need to play around with the settings to dial in your tone. Manual....who really needs one?

My Rig: Epi LP Standard with Seymour Duncans (Screamin Demon in Bridge, and a jazz in the neck) --> Cry Baby --> Boss DS-2 --> Marshall JH-1 --> Digitech Deathmetal --> Ibanez LU-20 Tuner --> Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue 30DFX (Solid State) For those that said it sucks with a solid state amp - bullocks!! Mine sounds great. I have played on a Fender Delux Tube and it did sound a little better. This is called the Deathmetal for a reason - its not for Nirvana/Pumpkins/etc... its for Dimmu Borgir/Killswitch Engage/etc...

Gig, not a problem. Dont use with batteries, get a power adapter

never used

Overall this pedal will blister eardrums and make you bleed from the eyes. I don't reccommend scooping out the mids, but I have 2 other distortion pedals so I use each for a different tone.

This is the tone I have been trying to get from other pedals for a while now. I play a bit of death metal (Bloodbath, Morbid Angel, etc.) but could never get the right tone. Scoop the mids right out, boost low and high, crank the volume and it sounds like a big amp in a house a few doors down. Incredibly easy to get different tones out of it.
Reading another review on here caused me to write this one. "Geoff" states that you cannot use this pedal for gigging. No, he is wrong, you can. I have tried this pedal through several solid-state amps, and it doesn't cut it. I'm not sure what it is about this pedal, but I noticed a few others stated this as well. Powered by 120 watts of tube power it cuts through and annihilates your ears.

I use an 80's Kramer guitar and a Peavey Duel 212. The amp's overdrive is adequate only for classic rock. Other pedals I have are; EH Big Muff, Dunlop Crybaby, Ibanez Smashbox.
Big muff is perfect for stoner rock. This pedal is perfect for metal.
Through this guitar and amp I don't have a problem with feedback, resonance and presence settings really round out the sound, and i just leave the amp EQ set at 'normal' (everything at '5').
High frequencies get a little weird at times, but I don't think my pickups are helping in that regard.

Seems solid. Haven't had a problem yet. Also doesnt seem to really chew batteries like I kind of expected for a pedal like this.
I give a 10 because I can't take away points if nothing has gone wrong.

NA

For the money I paid, and for the music I play and the other gear I have to work with this pedal is great. It really drives my tube amp and sounds like the tone I had in my head for the last 7 years that I just couldn't find. I love the really crunchy tone you get when you cut the mid completely when you're playing alone. You don't need it loud to sound good.
10 overall and for value.

this pedal def has good distortion with in. it highly varies on your setup of the ease of getting a good sound out of it. there was a manual included with suggested settings.

this pedal sounds very good with a tube power amp. a solid state amp is not a good match with this pedal. my setup is usually a epiphone les paul standard though a dunlop crybaby, though a noise gate, though a boss chorus, and then the the digitech death metal to the power amp input on a peavey windsor with a 2x12 cabinet. the mids on this pedal should def not be scooped alot. it does sound like low quality and fuzzy distortion if you do this. basically this pedal has the potential to have a good quality distortion for cheap. on some settings it does sound somewhat like a mesa recifier but still has alot to go. it doesnt rival any high gain amps like a mesa or a krank but it has decent distortion for a low price. you can get a somewhat of a variety of sounds from it. i wish there was gain on this though. also the eq does change the sound alot.

would gig without a backup

never had problems

this is a good pedal for post punk, hardcore, basically anything with alot of distortion that doesnt sound perfect. it sounds good but not amazing. if you run this though a tube amp i would def recommend it. if you are running it though a modelling amp and solid state amp i would def not. recommend it. though a solid state it sounds horrible, and wouldnt be suitable in a band situation. if i lost it or stole i would prob buy a new amp made for higher gain. Alot of reviews judge this pedal too heavily. It is a cheap $50 pedal so really you cant expect this pedal to sound perfect. it def would sound like a mesa, soldano,vht or other high quality amps, so dont expect it do. for the price it does fine.

The Digitech Deathmetal initially appears to be quite a simple affair in terms of operation, this is however not the case. In many amps I have found it impossible to squeeze any kind of acceptable tone from any of the knobs, low, mid and treble.

And for what its worth noting the activation is a simple step pedal analagous to BOSS pedals.

On a US Fender Strat and Ibanez RG I have not yet been able to achieve a satisfactory sound. Adjusting the knobs will give you varying degrees of a hilariously plastic-fantastic sound. Determined to get at least one good sound out of it before I threw it hard at a homeless bum I tried it on numerous guitars on numerous amps. All attempts have failed. It sounds obviously processed and poorly at that. Words can't describe the horrific, muddy sounds I get from this pedal. Its impossible, just impossible.

On another note it will buzz, whatever you do, it buzz's, not hums, buzz's like a bee on crack.

My new MT-2 does not, but this is another story.

Can I depend on it is the question I am asked here. If I was to use it to fill a hole in place of a missing brick in a house I would most certainly depend on it.

I have never tried to contact anyone from Digitech.

What annoys me about this pedal isn't just because it felt as if Digitech thought that because it sounded horrible that might be vaguely associated with metal of any sort, its the price too. It costs somewhere in the region of ??45 to ??55 in the UK. This, quite frankly disgusts me. For a sound thats comparable to Behringer pedals which you can get for ??15 and thats fine, this is disgusting.

Don't waste your time on this abomination. For ??5 more you can buy a BOSS MT-2, a pedal vastly, vastly superior, so superior I'm not even going to begin to tell you.

Avoid.

It's really easy to get a good sound of it. There are four values: Level, Low, Mid and High. It doesn't take a long time to customize the sound. The only thing is that it doesn't have a Distortion/Gain button, so that you can turn it into acoustic or whatever you want, but that's why you should have an amp: set the amp to Gain:0 (acoustic) and you will be able to switch between distorted guitar and acoustic guitar only by a push on the pedal.
The manual shows you everything you need to know including how to change battery etc, there's also a booklet with information about other Digitech pedals.

Even though it's called "Death Metal", you can make it sound like any metal-band. I play alot of Metallica, Megadeth and even Slipknot and it works well for all of them, since it's easy to use.
I'm connecting it to a Fender Champion 110 amplifier and I play it with a Gibson Epiphone FlameKat or a Washburn X General Consensus.

I've owned it for half a year now and it works as well as when I bought it.

I've never dealt with them.

I play Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal (like Metallica and Megadeth), and it works great. Sounds REALLY heavy.
I've been playing for 2-3 years. My guitars are: Gibson Epiphone FlameKat, Washburn X General Consensus and a Fender Stratocaster Sunburst. My amplifier is a Fender Champion 110.
If it were stolen or lost I would buy it again.
There's nothing I don't like about it, it's got everything I need. It's got a really heavy sound as mentioned above, but you can easily change to another kind of sound and manage it however you want, but it's built for Metal.
It would be nice with some effects built-in, but that's not necessary.

Very easy simple theres a volume level, Den Eq - Low, mid, high

Excellent Heavy sound, Using it with a peavey Valve king 212 atm. I use the settings on low about 10 oclock, mid on 3 oclock, and high on full

Yes, My brother handed it down to me when I started playing I loved the sound.. He had it for about 10 years maybe.. And he would use it for gigs and practices.. often 4 gigs in a month and 2 pracs a week. the only thing is abit of the paint has come off.. but wat do you expect.. and my brother isn't a tidy person

its a beauity.. Buy it

The Death Metal pedal is about as simple to use as distortion pedals get. It has 4 knobs - level, plus three bands of EQ. Just put your foot on it, and fiddle with the EQ until you get the sound you want. The manual is pretty basic, but then again, there's not much explaining to do.

Given that this pedal is called "Death metal", you're probably buying this if you're looking for an extreme metal sound. As such, it's pretty easy to get this kind of effect. Just scoop the mids and you'll instantly have a really heavy-sounding tone. The amp I've been using with it so far doesn't really do anything justice, because it's a crap amp (Peavey Audition). But this thing sounds great even through this amp, which is a good sign.
If you want to personalise the tone a bit more, then you're probably going to have to use this pedal along with some additional effects or EQ, or through a good amp. The pedal does what it says on the tin, but not much else. So, it's a bit of a one-trick pony. But that's what I was looking for when I bought it, so who cares? If you want something more versatile then try another product, but I personally haven't found anything that can produce as heavy a tone as this pedal can. So it gets the thumbs up from me.

It's heavy and it's metal, funnily enough. It seems very durable in terms of construction. I don't gig, I just play for fun and I record music, but I'm sure it would stand up to many years of gigging, and I can't see it causing many problems for my own personal use.

I've never had to contact DigiTech.

I play black and death metal, I have a Jackson RX10D with EMG 81/85 pickups, and this is the best single effect pedal I've come across for getting the tone I need. It beats the Boss Metal Zone by some way in terms of its sheer heaviness. I think it would benefit from a little bit of additional control in the EQ department, but if you want extreme distortion, this pedal is well worth the money.

Very easy to use. 1 volume pot and three equaliser pots (low, mid and high obviously).

I love the sound i get from this pedal. The distortion sounds very rich and heavy but keeps the definition of the notes. I play very heavy metal (see one of the boxes below for influences) My gigging setup is - Epiphone Explorer with a EMG 85 in the bridge position, Boss GT8 (with the digitech in the Boss's effects loop) and a Laney TF320. I get no hiss or hum with this setup and the overall sound is the best ive heard. When i play through my practise amp (Marchall valvestate 80V) with just this pedal in the loop it sounds awsome there too. I absolutely love it.

Ive had the pedal for about a year now and had no problems at all. It has only been used for practising and band practice as our singer left but seems sturdy enough.

Not had to deal with Digitech so cant give opinion

I play very heavy metal in the way of Graveworm, Chimera, In Flames,Slipknot and this suits me to a T. If it were lost or stolen I would certainly get another as it is one of the cheaper distortion pedals out there and great value for money.

Sorry for my bad english. Well, very easy to use, but not such easy to get good sound...

It have only one position which sounds very good to me. Only one!!! Definitely try it at store before buy. It is very very hard distortion. It includes speaker simulator output which is useless IMHO. Very strange shitty sound without lows and highs.

Build like a tank, very good!!!

N/A

I play extreme genres and there is one setting which sound very good to me and this is only reason why I still have mine.

very easy only four knobs.. level low mid high


on/off


thats it...

my set-up is:

customized guitar (BCRich beast style) digitech deathmetal behringer eq700 and 20w hotcabs amp (only in the Philippines)

this stompbox is good!!! but it will be much better if you put an equalizer... its very loud!!! you can't max the volume.. level 3 is enough.. unless you have a big amp and a noise gate for feedback...

in this stompbox, you can get the sound of metallica, megadeth, lamb of god, unearth, cannibal corpse, carcass, pantera, slipknot,system of a down and other rock/thrash/progressive/death metal bands (too many to mention)... it depends how you tweak it and if you have an equalizer, it also depends how you cut or boost the sound...

i set it like this: level3 low8 mid4 high6 ....for the equalizer, depends on the sound i play..

solid!!! built to last..

ok for a gig but much better if you have an equalizer for backup to enhance the sound and make a combination for more fx..

i 'ave no pro blems n it =)

i play guitar for about 9years.. i play metallica a lot..sometimes lamb of god,cannibal corpse,megadeth,pantera etc... depends on my mood..

i also try to play emo and screamo =P but fogettaboutit...

i like the style, color and the lettering.. its really for metal music!!! lets ROTTTTT!!!!!

i can say that this stombox is really great!! ok for metal musics..



if this were stolen or lost,

i will KILL you.. if i die, you are forgiven

very easy..
only four knobs pedal on/off

i used this stompbox with my customize guitar (bcrich beast style) and 20w hotcabs amp (only in the Philippines).. i set the knobs like this: Level3 Low8 Mid4 High6.. i also have an equalizer behringer eq700 when i mix it with an eq, it adds more evil sound!! in this stompbox, you can get the sound of metallica,megadeth,testament,slipknot,cannibal corpse,pantera,unearth,lamb of god,system of a down,carcass and other death/heavy/thrash metal band (too many to mention)...the sound is great but much better if you mix an equalizer on it..

the sound is depends upon how you tweak the knobs and if you have an equalizer, it also depends how you cut or boost the sound...
my guitar,pick ups and amp is good but nothing special.. when i try this stompbox is gives a nice quality sound..

remember not to use this stompbox in a small amp you can't max the level its very loud.. unless you have a noise gate for feedback...

very reliable... pure metal.. good for a gig.. for back up? i think behringer eq700 can help to enhance more sounds...

I haven't had any trouble with it..

i play mostly metallica for about 9years and this pedal helps me to improve my metal musics.. now i play lamb of god, cannibal corpse and other deathmetal and thrash metal and some progressive rock like symphony-x,dream theater etc...this pedal really ROTTT!!!!..i also have a mxr distortion+ and a behringer eq700.. i like the lettering of this pedalbox its really good for metal musics!!

if this pedal lost, i will KILL you.. if i die, you are forgiven.. >)

Yeah I guess it's easy enough. Run it into a clean amp, set the level and EQ.

Well it certainly is a fun sound. Have you ever heard Cannibal Corpse's "Butchered at Birth"? It sounds a lot like that. A lot of people are stupid enough to make this their sound, and that's dumb. I see this pedal as a fun novelty; a toy... because sometimes it's fun to sound like this. But realistically, if you're playing gigs this tone is useless. Like another reviewer who is on the brink of realising this stated ("it sounds weird at higher volumes") the overbearing fizz and chug of this pedal will not suffice. As an actual part of your rig this item lacks the midrange, the body of your tone that you need. But it certainly is fun sometimes so I give it a seven.

Well you can definitely rely on it to do as it was intended. It's a tough, heavy hunk of hardware. But don't rely on it to make you sound like anything more than indecipherable fizz when there's a bassist and drummer behind you.

Eh I dunno.

It's a fun unit to whip out every once in a while and sound like total death. But as if I havn't said this enough, this will not cut it as a serious pedal. I really like the mixer out function... I've used it just as a sort of DI box to run guitars to the computer.

very easy to use. low @ 3 oclock mid on 12 oclock highs on 10 oclock. use volume only as unity between your clean and dirty.

use above settings with a clean tube amp ONLY ! solid state will make this sound bad. also use your amp volume to set loudness when pedal is off. then engage your pedeal bring up volume to ballance out with clean channal. note people turn these pedals up this creates noise and clouds funtion of what the pedal is intended for. use a good wax potted humbucker like dunkin sh4 (JB) in bridge with a good marshall 4x12. e vintage 30s.lastly with any distortionoverdrive pedal noise is always there get a boss NS2 and this will make it work much better. also use a delay after the NS2 so when its gated the delay will ring out clearer and more definded.

bulilt like a tank just dont beat it death because it has death in the name.

dont know dont care if it breaks buy a new one there cheap!!

this is not a messa boggie or marshall amp shred monster but a great heavy rock box. i use a les paul with custom lollar paf pickups. moster cables, peavy classic 50 all tube head with NOS tubes, a marshall top cab with vintage 30s on top and emmenace swamp things on bottom.Note swamp things are 150 watt All bottom end NO top at all! thats were the vintage 30s come in. this set up does sabbath zepp acdc drop D and much more.

Ok, I bought it back in 2005. This thing is heavy, but intended for durability and so it won't slide around when you go to try and stomp it. 4 knobs: level, low, mid, and high. 2 outputs for a mixer and amp. As said before, it lacks a gain knob, but I could care less cause I like the tone I get from this thing. And I'm somewhat of audiophile... so yeah.

Easy if you know how to tweak your sound and EQ's. Even if you don't, it doesn't take much to figure out what you want.

Ok my setup is:

Ibanez RG120 > Death Metal > Kustom Tube 12

I have used different amps and different guitars with this pedal, and I like sound it produces all around. It can make crappy amps or pickups sound a lot better, the reason why I got it. I like the fact that this has a 3-band EQ. I have my pedal usually set at: Low-all the way up, mid-either at 9 o' clock or one line past it, high-all the way up, and level at 9 o' clock. This thing sounds great, but the only problem I have with it is when you start playing loud. Your sound sounds weird, don't know how to explain it. Just takes some tweaking. If you just play in your room not too loudly as I do, it sounds great, but just takes time to adjust at higher volumes

Ok, I had a scare with this a little while ago. Either the AC adapter input stopped working, or it was the AC adapter itself, I have no clue. But other than that, it works with a battery. This pedal as tough as hell. I like the sturdy weight so it doesn't slide around when you go to stomp it on.

Bought it at Sam Ash, and I haven't had a complaint or anything

This is a great pedal if you have low end stuff. Even with EMG's, the sound is enhanced. I love the fact that it adds low end to your amp, but it might make your speaker sound like crap if your amp speakers suck. This pedal is great for metal, but I just wish it didn't get all weird when you get it at higher levels... >.<

Real easy to use -- LEVEL & a 3-BAND EQ: even a 5-year-old can use it IF he plays metal. Hasn't been upgraded yet, though...

Hmmmmm... Let's see: I like Yng Mal, Stevie Vai, C O B, Iced EARTH, Trivium & other METAL. Can be noisy if Level's all the way up, but I keep it on the "Low" -- still killer distortion; mostly the blue jackson with A E T C & squier strat thru crate XT10 @ times...

Reliable -- that's all I can say for now...

Bought it @ Guitar Center, where I shopped A LOT, & they were real helpful

DAMN! I have 2 jacksons -- black & blue, a squier strat & ibanez rg21 & crate XT10 Amp & tested ALL 4 6-strings thru this pedal. Have 1 word: WOW! Shut off GAIN on the Amp, & it sounds METAL (by the way the blue jackson has Active EMG TurboCharger) -- THAT's what I like about this thang... Haven't been playing for long (getting ready to do this), but trying to make a combo of "Yng Mal meets Iced EARTH" type of thang -- stink @ it
If it were lost, I'd go get the same pedal again -- NO DOUBT...

There are 4 knobs on this Pedal, how difficult could it be???

Ok, well I play in a Brutal Death Metal Band, (think Vital Remains), I used this pedal for about a week before smashing it with a sledgehammer.
This pedal is very deceptive. When i tryed it at the store I thought it sounded awsome, but as everyone knows you cant turn the volume up at the store. That where everything went wrong. I got back to the studio pluged it in and when i turned up the volume, this pedal just about blew my speakers. It loses EVERYTHING when it's turned up.

Ok, my setup goes as this:: Jackson SL1 soloist, to crate blue voodoo, I also have a BBE sonic maximizer and a boss GE7 inthe effects loop.

I have found that with the setup i'm currently using, when i stand in front of my amp, my balls start shaking, when I turned this pedal on all I got was the sound of speakers farting and getting ready to blow. So after much deliberation, I decided it wasn't worth using the pedal. And like i said, It got the sledgehammer

I gave it a 4 cause cause it would be a good distortion at lower volumes, but thats not what death metal is.

It's very reliable, I have to beat the hell out of it before it broke.

NA

I've been playing close to 10 years. I have had my share of amps and distortion boxes and all that crap. Out of experience, using a distortion box is not the way, I use my amps distortion and BEEF it up(GE7 and Sonic Maximizer), But to be honest, when it come to musical equipment, you get what you pay for. That crate was the best deal i've ever seen, it sound almost exacly like a JCM2000, just not as much low end.

DO yourself a favor, go out and buy a GOOD amp instead of buying cheap distortion pedals to make a $%^&@! one sound good, it just doesn't work.

level, low, mid, and high. easy as hell. you can get a good sound as soon as you stomp on it. but may need a little bit of time to get a perfect sound for you. and can get a little tricky when turning your amp volume up high volumes but overall very easy to use.(dont need to use the manual)

the setup that i have for this monster is an esp ltd ex-400 guitar and a randall rg200g2 amp hooked up with mogami gold cables. basically if youve got good cables and equipment this thing dosnt produce much feedback.nothing that you cant deal with anyways. this thing sounds like slayer mainly like the song raining blood. the main concerns that i have with this pedal is that when you turn up the volume on the death metal it sorta affects your sound, so i just leave it at 9 oclock and it keeps a good sound except your clean sound may be louder than the death metal (i dont really give a shit). but... if you play with the death metals settings at high volumes on your amp youll probably notice a great difference in the sound. when this happened i spent my time looking for a better pedal. but i couldnt find one with such a pure sound like the death metal. so i tried tweaking it when at high volumes from my regular settings and noticed that when just turning the bass and high down a little bit did the trick. i would of given this a 10 but it gave me alot of trouble keeping the amazing sound.

hell yeah. this thing is amazing its so tough i could drop it from far up and it would be fine (i would be worried about the floor). while practicing i just use a 9v power adaptor cuz it eats your batteries. i still use batteries for gigging since it lasts long enough. why would i want a backup for it? its a tank!

havnt had a problem with it

i play speed metal like megadeth and slayer and it gives me a sound like them. if it were lost or stolen i would definately get another one. ive compared this to almost every other metal pedal and all of the are missing something that the death metal has. the only thing missing from the death metal is a gain knob. i probably wouldnt need it for my settings but i would definatly like it. theres just one thing that im happy about and at the same time pisses me off: its sooooo cheap to buy and yet it sounds sooooo good. i saved alot of money on it but i feel like i have crap cuz its so cheap. usually thats how it goes. but if your looking for a heavy sound like slayer and megadeth look past the cheap price and face the facts. this thing is amazing!

Square, tough, easy as hell. :)

I play mostly chaotic black metal ( band ) and allso melodic stuff ( to please and ease the mind ) Well frankly i have to say that this little monster does the trick surprisingly good. I've heard a few times that digitech have a leak in the hardware ( it wears out realy fast ) but for the 2 years i've been playing, it handled perfectly. Seting this pedal up is like making love to a woman: it takes a little experementation in the begining, but when u find that exact sound position, it will scream like crazy. ( sometimes it can get u feedback from the amp, but for our kind of music it's great HAHA )

I have to warn the potential buyers to invest in an AC adapter! Because this thing is made to EAT batteries!!! ( max 1.5hrs of plaing ) btw u don't need a ( digitech ) adapter, because the effect itself is simple, u can use any 9V adapter u can get your hands on ( AND u'll save about 10-12eur on it ;) ) But it is definatly reliable! I accidently rolled it off the stairs once, picked it up, plugged it in, and NO F*/-ING problem! ( a big 8 for the "AC power" issue )

Good! U can deffinatly tell that all the questions u ask them are being answered by proffecionals who know their stuff! and that 6 years warranty is realy promicing, yet i've never had tech problems with it.

This pedal is rely well for metal ( overall ) I play for 4 and a half years now and i'm glad to have that kind of pedal by my side. If it would get stolen, i would beat the sh**t out of the one who did it!

Well, if you want to make agressive music, or melodic stuff, this would probably be a good choice.

your are a frigging idiot to not know how to use this
3 band eq
level

I have been playing for 2 1/2 years, i play alot of slayer and children of bodom,and it sound alot like slayer
I am playing on a 1958 epiphone gothic explorer with kerry king pickups
and it works great, no hum at all.
I am using an epiphone practice amp

Hell, i can depend on it, and i would sure play a gig without a backup

no suppourt needed yet

I play mainly thrash and death metal, Like slayer, and children of bodom
I have been playing for 2 1/2 years, I got ths last summer when I got out of playing powerchord, and got into faster stuff, I saved my babysitting money the whole summer for it, and it was worth it.
Fuckin buy this shit, you wont regret it

Four knobs in a metal case with a thing to step on. Doesn't get much easier.

Starcaster by Fender > Death Metal Pedal > Fender SP-10

I may not have the best guitar or amp (I just started playing recently),
but I definetly think I got one of the best pedals. I think it's pretty noisy when the high and mid are up to high, but who said noisy was bad? I think any effect you put it on sounds great. I play mostly metal, so my knobs are setup like this: (Titanium Serenade) Level-3 Low-9 Mid-5 High-9. With these settings, it sounds like System of a Down. ^_^

Definetly reliable. Doesn't get much sturdier than metal. I would use it on a gig without a backup. Only problem is how it eats up 9 volt batteries pretty quickly, but I got the Boss AC adpater to solve that problem.

I haven't had any trouble with it to need customer support.

I think metal guitarists should try it out. I think it offers great sound and durablity, especially considering the price of it. This delivers the System of a Down sound I am looking for, but my friend has one too. He plays SoaD, Disturbed, Drowning Pool and KoRn. I know it is capable of much more, though.

To people at DigiTech, bravo. You have created and manufactored what I think to be one of the best guitar pedals ever.

Sounds mighty VICIOUS!!!! Plugged my Jackson into this -- Holy Cats, it BLEW ME AWAY by the sound! I'm no Shredder, but it can be a SHREDDER'S HEAVEN, dude! Iced Earth, Children of Bodom, some of Russian death/thrash metal (where I hail from)and even Yng Mal stuff can be done with this... Level=Gain + 3 Band EQ -- even a baby can do it

MY RIG: 2 Jacksons and a Squier Strat & a 10-Watt crate Amp -- a small 1 with no fancy effects. Crate has Gain to 100%, and the BLUE jackson has an Active EMG TurboCharger; other tools -- 0 Gain Boost or TurboCharger. Like Stevie Vai, Yng Mal, Headbanger's Ball squads and Russian metal as well: Graveside and them...

Dependable, NO DOUBT, but have no Band to gig with -- not that good. Tryin to compose some, but no good at that...

Yo, if it EVER breaks... not sure who repairs these, but this lad is a great AxMan. Ever heard of Rob Pane? He can do ANY metal on ANY Ax! Jeez -- that's Nice...

I'm tryin to do metal, but can't compose at all. Haven't been doin it for long, but OVERALL it's off the Chain! Definitely would buy the same again IF it EVER gets stolen. Favorite Feature -- VICIOUS Sound and that Level=Gain on it... A Black jackson, a squier fender strat and a crate Amp + add a blue jackson -- that's MY Rig!
Not a lot to hate, but A LOT to Dig -- Shredder's paradise. Chose cuz the other 6-strings don't have a TurboCharger Gain Boost; yet it IS a PERFECT match, though I'm a Rookie in composing and making my own stuff. Don't get in the way -- man, it's... I'm Speechless! Any starters in metal out there -- E Mail me

Well, it's a stompbox.

I did not give it 10 because of the EQ, which will take you some time to find THE tone. Described below.

Except the EQ, you just stomp on it.

Actuelly 8.5 :)

The EQ mentioned - it really takes time to get know it. It's very, very sensible. Turning a knob half'a'point may alter the sound significantly. This relates especially to the MID knob. That's why you can find youreslf discovering the pedal again after a year of having it!

Pity there's no GAIN knob, the makers deciced that the pedal's gain level's gonna suit everyone. We only can trust they really made their best.

Two outputs - AMP and MIXER. You of course can plug it to your amp using MIXER out and vice versa; well it gives a handfull of different, new tones.
But connected correctly ot gives 'real' sounds. Really wide variety. The sounds are not that 'selective' as the MT2 Boss's are, but the world is interesting 'cause we all differ :) The sound are more muddy, there is kinda 'grain' in it.
I think you can find the sound you want, you just gonna to have some fun with the EQ.
I use it on Marshall CD50, with Ibanez RG470. I still prefer MT2, but DDM is a pedal of the same class. It just differs, and thank God.
Sounds great, from Nirvana to high trashy sounds - but again, these won't be as 'sharp' and 'selective' as MT2's.
For grunge, hard-core, punk, metal it's very, very good BUT IT'S NOT THAT SHARP AS MT2!! Remember it, folks! It's a different stompbox, giving different sound.

A metal-box. Looks great - red and black.

Think you can use it for a hammer too.

I wrote'em an email, and had the answer within 1 hour. From the second end of the world!

Great sounds
Reliable
Excellent for me for a back-up
or even to be the 'first pedal' :) if I played another kind of music. But I play Pantera-like, and the BossMT2 is still better in it.
Nice look
Relatively cheap

SImple pedal over all, 4 knobs (volume,low,med and high), exelent for playing stuff like metallica or slayer, great for speed metal, but i dont really like it for playing stuff like system of a down or deftones, i dont get enough "chunk" out of it.

I use an Ibanez Iceman icx220 and an Ibanex rg370DX with a Peavey Bandit 112 Sheffield transtube series and of course a Digitech Death Metal, it has an amazing sound for the styles i mentioned above, its an exelent buy, but for just metal go with something else like a metal master.

This pedal is extremely reliable, built outta tough metal, would most deff use this for a gig, ive had mine for about 2 years now and i have have are a few scratches on it, who says ya gotta be rough on this stuff haha, the only thing is if you use it with a battery look foraward to replacing it every few weeks, spend a few bucks and get the adapter.

Its a must buy pedal for all metal players, id get this for 80's metal but get something like a metal master or a DanElectro "Black Coffee" for any other kind of metal.

There's no 'drive' control, so you're stuck with the full on distortion, but that's not such a problem seeing as this aimed at the metal heads.

There's a level control and a three band EQ, easy peasy.

I'm using a Westone custom with active pickups and a 15W fender practice amp.

First thing I did was set everything to 12 o'clock. Not bad at all, saturated distortion without being too over the top and not as thin as I was expecting. Each of the EQ knobs give have a lot of effect on the tone, scooping the mids gives you a very 'numetal' sounds, more bottom end than you need it if you max the bass and screaching highs if you max the trebble.

The mid knob has perhaps the most influence over the sound. Leaving the bass and treb at 12 o'clock and just turning the mid, you can go from a very tight, thrashy sound to a rather smooth lead tone. It's got a very big sound to it, almost like a Big Muff.

If you put it before the clean channel of a good stack amp youcould get close to a rectifier red channel sound if that's your thing, or playing with the EQ a bit you can get a sort of marshally crunch sound.

If you use the second (mixing desk) output into your amp it changes all together. Probably no good live, but it's whole new set of sounds to play with. Reminds me very much of the rectifier model on the origional POD, only more refined.

Death metal is in there, but it does more than it says in the box. Taking the time to explore the EQ will give you quite a few happy surprises with very few really bad sounds. A very versitile little pedal. A drive knob would have been good through.

First day, no problems yet.

Haven't dealt with DigiTech, but they're a big company and I'm pretty sure you get a warranty with it.

All in all, a versitile pedal for anyone who wants a hi-gain distortion. For the price of it everyone should have one.

It's easy as 1, 2, 3! The pedal have a Level, Low, Mid and High knob so you can pretty much control how it sounds. For more details just look in the manual it's impossible to not get it.

Epiphone Les Paul >> Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner >> DigiTech Death Metal >> Kustom KGA30

You just have to fuck around with the settings to decide what you want but hey every distortion pedal makes feedback. I'm buying a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppresor to eliminate all of the sounds you don't need when playing. The effects are super great! I play from Lamb of God, Metallica, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold to Pink Floyd and Dream Theater and it sounds AWESOME!! I have built-in chorus in my amplifier and it sounds great with it, too.

When I die this pedal will still exist for sure. It's heavy and solid like cement so it doesn't break and right now it's the only disortion pedal that I have so at a gig I'll just have this on but I'm sure the pedal wouldn't fail or anything.

Don't know and don't care =D

I play some Death Metal/Hard Rock to Progressive and Oldies like Zeppelin and stuff and this pedal delivers it all believe me. I've been playing for almost 2 years and I had it for all the time and it NEVER gave up on me (even thought you have to change the battery every 3-4 weeks). If it were stolen or lost I would maybe buy the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone instead because that's the big daddy of distortion pedal. I love everything about this pedal it gives such a kick ass sound. I maybe wish I had the Boss MT-2 because I heard it after I bought the Death Metal and everyone said it sounded so unbelievable but I saw at my local guitar store that they sold it for 170 $ Can. so instead I bought the Death Metal. I'm in a band and the band agree this pedal sounds so awesome when we practice and stuff.

Just four knobs, level, low, mid, high. can't get much simpler. the manual is easy to understand but there's not much to figure out anyway.

Im using this pedal with an Epiphone Les Paul Custom through a Roland VGA - 3 amp and it sounds pretty good, but not AMAZING. It hummed when i first plugged it in but i played it the next day it was silent, even on the highest setting! dunno why but not complaining. I play anything, from slipknot and slayer to old school rock, and it pretty much covers these. its good for S.O.A.D as well. im not taking the piss but to the guy who gave this pedal a 2 - it doesnt crackle and if Green Day were to play with this they would have a hell of a lot more fans. i think you just need a better amp setting.

Its just a chunk of metal with knobs on, the only way it would break would be if you took a chainsaw to it and even then the saw would probably snap. i wouldn't use it in a gig without backup because you never know what will happen in gigs, there could be a wire fault ( has happened to me ) or something like that. backup but i dont think i would need it.

Got this pedal second hand and it still works great. digitech have helped me a bit with their other products but sometimes they are a bit slow to return emails.

This is overall a pretty good pedal as distortion pedals go. one thing annoys me though and it might just be my amp settings, but when i do a high bend the pedal seems to echo it randomly. it doesnt affect the song but you can definitely hear it. also if anyone can give me advice on connecting a cry baby with my pedal please email me cos my wah doesnt seem to work right with the pedal. if this pedal was stolen, i wouldnt buy another one, simply because im skint, but if i got money i would.

Its relativly simple. Level, Low, mid, high..

I play through a full stack crate gx2200 - with ibanez rg560 and emg 81 in the bridge. With the emg i had no feedback problems of any kind. Here is where i disagree with this pedal. I have been reading everyones posts here and there about how awesome and over the top the distortion is but, its nothing special by all means. You can get some nice sounds out of it but nothing great. To me my line6 podxt Live sounded more brutal. But then again its 400$ compared to 50. A lot of people think its so great because they have a sad amp with crap distortion.

Sturdy as a workhorse

Have no idea

Overall its an ok pedal ive heard worse and better. If you want some that will smoke it get a podxt.

Very easy to work just level low mid and high
Manual shows different presets that song good

Im currently playing this with a sqier strat and a mg100hdfx half stack and it is by far the heaviest sounding pedal i have heard but it can be pretty noisy
I play lots of heavy metal (Slipknot, Lamb of God, Mudvayne) and the old stuff (Ac/Dc, Metallica) although it is to distorted to get a good sound for Ac/Dc it is great for Metallica and all heavy metal

This thing is solid i would definately gig with it without a backup

As I said before i play all kinds of heavy metal and you can great great tone with any style I compared it with a boss metal master and even though that is a good pedal it is not the kind of pedal for heavy metal the digitech is a way better choice for metal heads
if this were stolen id find out who stole it and rip their throat

so easy. just a level, bass, mid, treble. if you cant figure that out maybe you should be wondering if you should play guitar

i use a vintage SG and marshall mini stack

SG > death metal pedal > chorus > Danelecrtro EQ > Amp


this pedal sounds really good. but to get a professional sound and make it a lot heavier than it is, buy a danelectro EQ pedal from Ebay, only ?39.99. i have it set to cut out mids and i swear it made it sound much heavier.

also, the knobs really do make a difference. other pedals you turn them a lot and it barely adjusts the sound. touch these a bit and you can really alter the sound quite a bit. usually i have the bass turned right up but not on this one, it gets too bassy.

if you want the slipknot/soulfly/pantera/metallica sound, DEFINITELY get this pedal.

sounds great when tuned down too

also, its really quiet. just had to add that

can i depend on it?! when you first open the box and see it you KNOW its gonna last a long time. its better built than Boss pedals. its quality!

never dealt with them yet. dont think i'll have to.

overall...if i lost this or got it stolen id go straight out and buy another. i have a digitech grunge too which i also recomend as i can control the distortion on that but this is heavier.

i play metal and this is perfect. only thing i can fault on it is that for some reason the light doesnt go off, it just goes dimmer when i switch the distortion off. but thats just a cosmetic thing and the only fault i can find.

It works as simple as three knobs but you get a whole variety of soubds.
The manual is not a big deal beacause there isn't too much too learn.

I have an Ibanez RG550EX and a Marshall MG15DFX. SInce I don't have a noise reductor it is noisy but it happens with every ditorion pedal when there is no noise reduction pedal.no matter what you do this darling sounds like a killin' machine. I can get the ound of any artist in a very FULL and FAT and KILLING way. I tried for Pantera, Death, Iced Earth and Dimmu Borgir and it was great.

It is very reliable. I'm sure the metal body will never break. There is no need for a backup ever.

I play thrash and death metal and this pedal is really good. I have been playin for 3 years. If it was stolen I would buy it again because I haven't heard of deadlier distorion. I love the sound but there is no gail level control. I copared this to Arya Metal Madness and it sucked! this baby is an ass kicker! The sound really changed my riffs! From the moment I bought it I've been playing some killer riffs. There is only one thing: the batterie. I read other reviews. but my batteries worked quite fine! There is ne thing which happens with all pedals: you should disconnect cables to prevent battery from draining up.

This pedal is AWESOME!!! VERY, VERY easy to use you'd have to be braindead to not know how to use this bebe.

I hooked this pedal up to a Jason Ellis Showmaster, (pu replaced with EMG81 & S) then through a Valvestate 2000 AVT100 and this thing is insane! Just be sure not to crank the level too high or your gonna get sum awful humming but if ur not that dumb and you can adjust 4 knobs properly you'll be fine. This pedal is great for any heavy metal sounds im not joking, if you want sum little pussy distortion look elsewhere cause even the weakest setting on this thing sounds like death metal. You can get a wide variety of sounds from this pedal and soon you'll be sounding like Inside Out, Metallica, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, In Flames just to name a few. The reason i give it a nine is because it depends what guitar you use with this pedal e.g. i used an Epiphone SG thru this thing and it sounded like S***

This pedal is unbreakable in the sense that you'll be using it for the effects i dont think stepping on this thing is gonna break it. I would definantely gig without a backup. If you've read the review before this you'll notice some people mention about battery life this is very true leaving the leads in this pedal will drain the batteries and overnight ur new battery will be lifeless, i had this problem once then i went out and bought a 9v Boss transformer and hasnt been a problem ever since.

Cant really comment here never have dealt with them and probably never will but i have heard rumours that Digitech can be a bit sloppy when it comes to repairs but then again these are just rumours. If you encounter any problems during the first year of purchase dont worry its under warranty, unless ofcourse it was preloved.

Its a heavy metal pedal for people who play heavy metal and its does its job very well, I am very pleased with this pedal and i would buy another if it was stolen plus a crowbar incase the theif comes back. The sheer distortion thing pedal gives out is amazing and definantely sounds good. I compared this pedal to the Boss Metal Zone which seemed like an entirely different sounding pedal all together, much crapper ofcourse. Just make sure you've got a kick ass guitar to acompany with it.

This pedal is made for cavemen, if you cant figure it out, learn how to read.

You always get a death metal and black metal tone, no matter what, the pedal sounds bad ass, i used it with a 10 watt marshall and it sounds awesome, i have played songs from, mudvayne, lamb of god, children of bodom, slayer, kittie, and cannibal corpse. If you dont like heavy metal, dont but this pedal.

Holy shit, this thing is a fucking block of steel with knobs on it, my friend has a zakk wylde pedal, he dropped it and it broke. He took my pedal, and on accident he dropped it, and it broke his floor. You could attach a cord to this pedal and beat people with it like your a psychotic killer.

I had a guy named larry serve me at guitar center in the woodlands texas, he helped me alot and was very understanding

I play black and death metal this pedal is the shit it has a perfect death metal sound, and fuck the person who says it sucks, because the person that says it sucks sucks balls. If you dont like or play death metal music DONT BUT IT.

This pedal is very easy to use. It just has 4 knobs, level, mid, low and high. Simple!

This piece of bollocks is the worst pedal i have ever used. It says its the worlds deadliest metal pedal ever. BULL SHIT!!! The most distortion i can get out off it is Green Day, and ther hardly death metal, more like death shit! The sound is very muddy and crappy. If you put it at the most distorted sound it crackles. But if you are looking for something that is more of a 80's power rock sound then this is the one for you.

The only thing good about this pedal is that it is made very well. It weighs a ton though. I think it could stand a fair bit of abuse. If i was to gig wiv it (which im never going to do) you won't need a back up as it looks strong and reliable.

Haven't delt with them. I plan to though, to get my money back.

I like to play alot of slipknot,metallica and pantera. if you think that this pedal will give you these sounds then you're wrong. at most it gives you a Nirvana or Green Day. They called it a death metal pedal, its more like a shit distortion pedal. but if u want greend ay and all that shit, buy it.

This thing is impossible for anyone not to be able to use. All you have to do is plug it in, adjust the three knobs to get your own sound, and push the pedal. The Ease of Use gets a "10" because it is practically the easiest pedal(although I haven't tried many) out there.

I have a Fender Squier Stratocaster, and a new Ibanez RG370dx. With my squier, the sound was good, but it wasn't groundbreaking for me. When I plugged my Ibanez into it though, it was exactly what I needed. The sound had excellent sustain and a great way to alter the sound. It is very loud (at least on my Frontman 15g[not a great amp, but...]) so you have to turn the level to almost .5 while practicing, but thats not bad. The effects are never different, they are always great. I play various metal, anything from modern stuff (which is mostly very easy) to complicated leads and solos. This thing is good for all of the above. I give this an "8" because it is very good, just its better on some guitars than others.

It is very dependabable, and holds together well. It will probably work great in a gig (although I haven't tried it). Everything is perfect on holding together. So why a "7"? I didn't know which category to put this under, but battery life seems to be an issue. Even if there is no power on the amp, this thing is still using energy when plugged in. So, after a day, I had to change the battery, consecuatively for about a week until I realized the problem. This isn't a huge deal, the problem can be avoided. Even while taking it out however, the battery life isn't the best. But its not so bad, so don't think of not buying the pedal just for this. Trust me, besides that, it is very reliable. (Also: it is very easy to tell if its the battery that is the problem instead of the pedal just not working, because the light goes dim and eventually off when battery is lacking)

I've never had to deal with this, so I have no comment.

I play a lot of hard rock and metal, and also powerful leads/solos. For those, this pedal is great. I've played for about one year, and have two guitars, one which works better with this pedal than the other (Ibanez RG). I think this is a great pedal for my other guitar (Squier) as well though because, I mean, it's only 50 dollars, and other pedals are at least over 100. Anyway, If I were to lose this pedal, I would probably just get a multi-effects pedal, as I am looking into that now. I love the sustain and great distortion coming out of this one though. I dislike the battery life, however, and how I dealt with that problem. But, it is a very easy pedal and perfect for my style. I compared this to a Digitech Grunge pedal, which is basically a cheaper version of this with less sustain and distortion. So for 10 dollars more, this one is definitely better. I also compared this to the Boss Metal Zone, which is 100 dollars, and to tell you the truth, it wasn't so much different. I would definitely recommend this one instead. I wish you could change the gain, though. It's definitely a pro though, as well as my two guitars. The only con of my whole setup is my amp, but its still not horrible. This deserves an "8" and is definitely worth it for fifty dollars. Try it out for yourself, you'll see it sounds great, its easy, and it has everything you'll need, but you may have to struggle a little while you have it.

The thing is very easy to use. 1 Level, 1 Low, 1 Mid, and 1 High knob is all you need. The manual shows you everything you need to know pretty much. Just shows you some tones you can get if you put the knob a certain way. All you gotta do for the volume is use your guitar knob.

I have a Washburn Dime 332 guitar. Factory pick ups and all that. Peavy rage amp that I got from my cousin. The effects sound pretty good on this one. At the store i tried BOSS metal pedal and I didn't think I could get what I wanted out of it. I can get the sounds I want for slayer, Cannibal Corpse, and some Metallica. Everything on here is great.

Holy crap this thing is made well. I got mad at my parents so I kicked this thing and ended up putting a hole in my wall! The thing didnt even get scratched and it didn't affect the sound at all. I could probably gig without a back up, but first i would need a sound cutter.

never dealt with em.

This thing fits my heavy/metal style perfectly. I got some really nice blues tones out of it, but I never wrote em down. Ive been playing for about 5 1/2 years. If someone stole it I would probably just beat them with this thing (it's just as useful as a baseball bat). If I never found this person I would definitely get it again. I love that this thing can just blow you away. The only thing I have a problem with is the feedback, but I just need a bigger amp, the peavy is just 10-watts. 15 or higher sounds great. This thing definitely has helped me make music. The only problem I had is when a friend of mine messed with it before my band did a preformance for a pep rally (we weren't really what they were looking for seeing as how I go to a catholic school and I was using a death metal distortion) We had to pause so I could readjust the settings. GO OUT AND BUY THIS IF YOU NEED A GOOD PEDAL THAT DOESN'T COST AS MUCH!

Easy to get rip-your-head-off distortion sounds

Either into my Marshall TSL100 half stack or straight to the board for recording this pedal is a winner. Keep the mid knob about a quarter of the way up for the "scooped" sound. You can use the emulated out straight into the board and nail the Slipknot type sound. This pedal growls. It sounds very organic and tube-like. Very saturated but not buzzy and tin-y like so many other "metal" pedals. Also, you can roll the volume off on your guitar (almost completely) and the pedal responds in a very interesting way. The gain drops. Not like you're used to (normaly you lose highs and sheer volume) but in a very cool way. If you adjust the mids to just over half way up on the pedal and drop you're guitar volume like this you can get a really warm high gain/classic hard rock kind of sound (think ZZTOP or maybe 80's metal).

Very Rugged. Very heavy. Very solid. Long battery life. Cool Battery access design.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 20 years. I use this pedal to record with and live through my Marshall. This pedal sounds very warm and smooth while still kicking your ass with it's brutality. I love it.

one level,mid,high and low.
pretty simple.

I run this pedal through a blue voodoo 120 head i bought off ebay a
year ago and two 412 berhinger cabs i bought with my tax return.
Im using a epihone g 400 and a ibanez rg 350dx. this pedal sounds
good if you set the eq right, kids that own this pedal say it sounds
awsome but it has a crap load of highs. i have my pedal set low on
3 o clock mid on 9 oclock and high on 9 o clock. This sounds pretty
kick ass, I use to owne a boss MT-2 i really liked a lot and this
pedal sounds just like it in my opinion.

very heavey duty, I think it will last, knock on wood.

i bought a delay pedal from them which kept messing up. so i called
digiteh, they suck. luckley the store i bought from switched it out
with a boss dd6.

good solid pedal, only down side, no gain knob, but its called death
metal so if your into just blues and rock dont bitch because your a
dumbass if you buy it. Use your head MAN.

This thing must be designed for monkeys, because it is so delightfully simplistic. No gain knob (who cares... one less thing to get knocked out of your settings.) It has a basic 3 part EQ, and a level knob. Couldn't ask for a better setup.

I had to come over and help my friend set this up for his sound. I couldn't find a bad sound on this thing. Everything I tried molded the sound into an evil, flame-throwing, harmonic-slinging, sustain-laden MONSTER tone. The bes thing about this was the setup. I was using an ESP LTD P.O.S. A 3rd hand Peavy amp, and two broken and frayed cables (Said friend is broker than me.) It sounded so metal.

If they could make a stomp box out of a solid chunk lead this would be model.

I was the customer support!

Well let's just put it this way, after spending a considerable amount of time with my friend's Death Metal box, I am buying one of my own. What more do I need to say?

It's very easy to use, just connect turn the knobs and you have it. It's pretty hard to get a bad sound out of it (in death metal sense, I mean), so getting the right tone is matter of seconds.

I didn't even look at the manual, it is too intuitive for even a person who hasn't seen a distortion pedal before.

The sound for Death Metal is good. But only with downtuned guitar, with standard tuning it is totally useless. The sound is not really tweakable: Turn knobs this way, you get Death Metal sound, turn knobs that way you get a Death Metal sound... Turn knobs in any way, you still get a Death Metal sound. (I wonder why they called this pedal Death Metal in first place.) Although it has massive distortion the higher tones cut through very well, and the sustain is long. As a Death Metal distortion it has very good sound, but if you want something more out of this, forget it!

It's a granite stone with buttons on it. :) I would gig with this without backup with no worries.

I play industrial, black metal and some death metal. For the last style I am always going to bring this thing with me on gigs. It's just too damn easy to use and I don't have to worry about ME units losing their presets. I just plug it in and play.

It is good death metal pedal as said before, but for my other needs, it is useless. I mostly use it only for gigging and in studio, it just gathers dust on it.

very easy to use...doesnt have a gain knob. theres a high, mid, and bass knobs. dialing in that perfect sound is easy

Sound quality is pretty good. I play death metal and getting that perfect death metal sound can be acomplished by this pedal(or any heavy sound for that matter). The thing i dont like about it is that it has a alot of feedback but it can be overlooked considering the sound of this pedal

Defintely reliable, the metal case is solid and strong. But this pedal eats batteries up real fast

haven dealt with them

I play death metal, and this is def a good pedal for death metal style of playing. I run this pedal through an Ibanez Rg570 to a Marshall MG250DFX amp and it sounds great.
For its price, this pedal is def. worth it and i would recommend it to other people in a second.

easy. totally easy to use. getting a good sound is up to your taste and ears.
3 knobs, high, mid and low and the obviously needed level knob. with a gain knob it would be one of the best pedals for dirt and gain.

manual is really simple and readable. simple language and everything technical you need to know is in there.

i use mainly my schecter guitar, sometimes an ibanez sa160, i dont recommend you use it with single coils. it isnt noisy in a practice situation but using it live is really noisy, in my case doesnt matter, i love feedback and hiss now and then.
i use the cabinet modeling output, if you want something really out of control then you should use the regular output, doesnt sound bad, just not my taste.

i use it with a wah pedal, and a boss eq pedal, try it with some eq, boost some of the bass and lower mid, add a little high end and youre in numetal, experimental, death metal, pure metal heaven.

i have tried it using my digitech multifx unit, and you can get some interesting sounds mixing it with phaser and delay, use digital delay preferably because it sounds clearer than analog, you can also use the noise gate on the multifx to clean some of the DM noise.

i have used it with my peavey practice amp with surprisingly good results, with a marshall mg100dfx (nice sound, nothing outstanding),and with a randall half stack getting a good pantera sound with some tweaking of course.

i give it an eight because of the noise at high levels.

i have gigged with it for some weeks now, never failed on me, be sure to check the battery though. with some nice cables you can have a really long sustain, check your cables also.

i have used it without a backup and will keep using it like so.

digitech always answers my emails within a day or two. my rp200 multifx is still working and i bought it 3 years ago, i think the pedal with last.

i play everything, from rock to ballads, some blues and funk, metal, old and new, experimental and psychodelic stuff.

i would really like it with a gain knob and without the excess of noise. but for the price its excellent, the cabinet modeling is awesome.

easy. no gain control, 3 band eq, and a level. simple.

im using an ibanez rg140 through the death metal, boss ds-1, the amps gain for fuzz, a danelectro eq, and the effects loop has a boss ph-3, a rocktron hush, and a digitech pds 1000 delay into a crate gx1200h. it can be a bit noisey, but much better than the dod version. this thing can get the metallica sound perfectly. it has a heavenly sound.....nice tight distortion.

its a brick with knobs and jacks. i take off a point for the amount of batteries it went through before i get another power supply.

havent had to mess with them.

i play some metal, but right now ive been playing a lot of blues, indie, and classic rock. its perfect for those heavy parts of happy songs (ala jack white). this thing fit everything perfectly. dont get it if you dont have a lighter distortion though, as it has no gain control. as far as lighter distortions, i recommend the boss ds-1. its cheap and very versatile. ive definately recommended this pedal to. i tried the boss metal zone and the digitech heavy metal, and they seemed weak to me. they werent what i was looking for. i doubted this thing due to its price tag of $50, but i gave it a shot. i scooped the eq, dropped to d, and my jaw dropped. i got bought it instantly. a gain control would be nice, but its no big deal.id definately repurchase it if something happened to it. as far as effects, i generally prefer boss over digitech except in cases of delay. this pedal is another exception. its heavenly.

Simple to use Low, Mid , High and output

I use a Dean ML with a Dimarzio Drop sonic in the bridge and a stock Strat with 54 reisue pickup's,, into an old Sano harmonica amp then to a Madison 4x12, I think Digitech cleaned up the pedal a bit from it's DOD day's I don't have any noise issues like the DOD model had it seams to have quite a bit more output, there's no problem overdriving an amp for even more insain distortion, backing of the guitars volume cleans up the sound enough for me " particularly on the Strat" I can't use all the output of this peadal about 1/4 turn on the output is all I need,,, though I've never found the perfect sound I will record with this.

I've never had a problem with Digitech / DOD products

Haven't needed it.

I've been playing 20+yr's and I'm a huge Celtic Frost fan, this pedal get's their sound

4 knobs, tweak till you hear what you want..fairly easy.

I'm using an 80's japanese squire strat and an old univox u320pb tube amp with it and it sounds great. It's actually more versatile than you think, just turn the volume down on your guitar and you can alter the amount of gain. You can get nice punk, grunge, rock, and even a decent blues tone out of this. The eq is not subtle at all and when you turn a knob you know it. Overall it sounds killer and is capable of some very good useable sounds.

heavy metal casing seems like it can take a beating, I just got this yesterday so I can't really say for sure, time will tell on this one.

never dealt with them

I play a wide range of styles of music, this pedal is obviously targeted towards the heavy metal/punk crowd and for that it works very well. However, it is capable of getting good tones for other types of music, you just have to use your volume knob as a gain control.

This thing is super easy to use - simply level, low, high and gain controls - what more do you need?

I use this with both telecasters and strat into a Marshall AVT50 amp. I use distortion pedals on the clean channel only for the most part and the amps channel gain turned up a bit so it begins to get a little break up before using any pedals. I find this pedal to be surprisingly quiet - for the price I was half expecting it to be noisy and that I'd be returning it but it is very quiet. Has a nice overdriven sound to it - nice blues and classic crunch sound. Very useful for me.

Seems to be built like a tank. I find that to be the case with digitech - this thing seems built to last.

not needed

Great overdrive - I'm very happy with it and will be continuing to use it a ton. It's a nice compliment to my Ibanez TS9 - just a little variety.