DigiTech X-Series Digital Delay

How come you can not figure out that your units are not shorting out. The scenarios you described are symptoms of the battery dying, or the power supply receptacle coming loose. I have had the same problems multiple times, and changing the battery always works. By the way you should always use a battery, even when the power supply is plugged in, the supply does come loose. Not to mention that there is always an internal memory in units like this, and it remembers how long a battery normally powers the unit so you should wait to change the batteries.

It took me about a week to find out how to open the place for the battery (I'll let you go through that learning experience too). It has 4 knobs which can be rather confusing, but you'll get the hang of it. When you put the "Repeats" knob past 3 o'clock, it does weird things.

Great. I only wish it had something to change the original signal's level, especially for reverse. I feel that the looping needs to be about 2 seconds longer which makes me regret getting a Boss delay. I can really nail a Van Halen tapping sound from this pedal.

Great so far. Not one problem.

No need.

Great delay pedal. A bit pricey. Something still makes me think that a Boss DD-5 would've been better, but I can live without looping

Like most pedals you gotta play around with it.

I'm happy with the soud quality. I tried the Boss DD-6 and brought it back to exchange it for this one and I'm glad I did. Any digital delay will mess with your tone but this isn't nearly as bad as the
DD-6. I bought it mostly for the slapback sound. I really give it an 8+. I like it.

It eats batteries and will let you know instantly when it needs a new one. Get an AC adapter. I've only had it for a week but it seems reliable, solid constuction. Knobs seem to be a little weak but don't let that prevent you from buying it.

I like it. I would buy it again. I give it an 9 overall because I'm picky about sound quality but like I said befor any digital delay will alter tone. Try it.

Fairly easy to use. It can be difficult to get a good sound with the way the sections are divided. It would have been nicer if it would have had one knob for going between 10ms - 4sec. And then have another knob for going between digital, reverse, tape delay and looping. The way that it's set up, you have to turn the main knob to find the delay you want, then fine tune your repeat & time levels. And if it's not the level you're listening for, then you have do it all over. It's just tedious work. And it makes it especially difficult when you're playing and trying to get different delay sounds out of it during a song.

I. Setup: '99 Ibanez RG570 or Mexican Fender Strat or Epiphone Fat 210 -> Boss MT-2 -> Boss FL-2 -> DigiTech X-Series DigiDelay -> Peavey Blazer 158

II. Off/On Noise:

As far as noises go, I was really pleased with the way that it handles when you engage & disengage the unit. There's a slight noise when the box is first engaged. However, when you turn it off, it has a nice fadeout that doesn't seem to make any noise.

III. Inactive/Bypassing:

When inactive, it does diminish the original tone a little bit, making it sound a bit damp. But it actually doesn't affect the sound too much.

IV. Active:

A. Delay Settings:

When active, the original sound is muddy, almost as if you're listening to the echoes through the other side of a wall. I tinkered with it when I got it for a long time to try to get a nice, smooth slapback type sound that seems to go on while each echo can individually be heard. But it was just this thick, muted type of delay where its own echoes seemed to interfere with one another. This type of problem was most prevalent when using Mod-Delay (5) or the digital delay settings (1-3). The tape delay was the only one that didn't devestate the original tone too badly. It does still have the muddled sound, but it is a bit crisper than the other settings.

B. Reverse

The reverse is sluggish and maybe it's just my pedal, but it often won't even reverse all the notes played. It will just skip, giving you a gap.

C. Looping

The looping wasn't bad. There's not much to it, except that you're looping the awful sound that was previous created by the pedal.

V. Combined with other effects

I did combine this with my other pedals. When mixed in with distortion, you can get a decent sound as long as the echoes are short and the distortion is somewhat thick. If you try it with only a slight overdrive, then you'll run into the same muted, muddy tones as before. However, it does interact well in the chain by not creating too much noise.

VI. Other

I couldn't really get any artist's sound that I enjoy. Even when I boosted the Flanger and tried to get mid-range, tape delays for The Cure's "A Forest", it failed miserably. It just muted every aspect of it and the flanger ended up sounded flat.

After playing this for less than a week, it shorted out. It wouldn't make a noise or anything; the light would stay on and I would get nothing. I had to unplug the input jack and then plug it back in several times just to have it intermittently cut out again.

As far as the exterior portion of the pedal, it's extremely solid.

I wouldn't gig with it because I'm scared that any time I stomp on it, it will die on me. I wouldn't even use this pedal as a backup.

N/A (returned it to retailer instead of dealing with manufacturer)

I've been playing for 5 years. I mainly play jazz (a lot of downtempo, lounge-type jazz) and spaced-out music, but I also like to play some blues and some rock/metal and other things that just sound good (even techno).

I did a lot of research before I went with this product. I had an ART multi-effects pedal and also an Alesis GuitarFx. But I've decided to develop a collection of pedals that I can route and have more control over. And delay is essential to my playing so I didn't want to skimp out on it (without spending lots of cash). So I read the reviews here and thought a lot about it before I went with this one. It came down to either this or a boss DD-3 or a Guyatone MD-3. I had played on the dd-3 before and it was pretty nice. But I will be getting a guyatone md-3 in exchange for this, which answers the question: would I purchase this again? Never.

I was used to delay sounds from the boss me30 and me50 and changing over to this pedal was both a breeze and a relief. Digi delay was very easy to learn the ins and outs of; the manual answered all my questions and didn?t leave any loose ends and within a little while of playing I had it sussed out.

I?ve found the sound quality to be close to excellent most of the time. The ?cit? modelling is okay for direct in recording and the like, but it isn?t fantastic. My setup -> fender usa strat into peavey bandit, sometimes home made amp or line in to computer (sblive).
There has been almost no noise output with this pedal (only in the ?cit? mode) which I find brilliant. Very nice clean sounds and the tape delay was fantastic.
I?ve been able to create some crazy sounds by playing in bypass then cutting halfway in on a chord with the repeats know and using it in reverse mode. It creates some strange drone and beat noises that way.

so far it's been through 5 gigs and been knocked around a lot and there's been NO problems.
there is one warning -> you'll NEED a high miliamp dc adaptor for this thing... it chews through 9v cels like junk food. you'll be lucky to get 3 hours out of a duracel cel.
the tap tempo function deserves a special mention... it works in most of the different modes (i use it frequently in reverse and tape delay). just brilliant.

i write ambient / noise / indie / jazz and prog. rock. the other gear i use is boss me30 and me6, digitech hotrod distortion, dunlop wah and ed marshall compressor.
i tried instore a boss equliviant and there seemed no comparison at the time. it's behaved itsef even with quite rough use. i find it brilliant when my friends come over for some improv noise jams... run a mic through a compressor and into that and we're set.

It's a delay pedal, so its a little harder to use than your regular Overdrive, but it's sitll pretty easy. You have to read the manual to figure out how to use the tap tempo and the loop abilities, but hey, a little reading wont hurt you. Level, Repeat, Time, and Mode knobs.

This thing sounds great. I'm a huge fan of the Tape Delay mode. Really nice dark warm delays. It adds a little more Gilmour to my life. I mess with the Mod Delay setting sometimes...it adds a spacey chorus effect to your delays. To tell you the truth I'd be set with just these two modes. The regular delay settings give you some more versitality as far as Time settings go, but they don't have that extra oomph the tape and mod have.

I don't use the reverse delay mode too much either...I've tried but I haven't really found a good application for it in my sound. Loop mode works, don't really have a need for that either.

Looks alright, I doubt it'll last as long as a Boss though. 6 year warranty, so it should at least last that long!

I play anything from metalcore to ambient funk and blues. I mainly bought this pedal for the Tade Delay mode...you can get that classic delay sound without spending hundreds of dollars. Instant Pink Floyd or Tool sounds. For the money this kicks the ass of any delay pedal out there, no question about it.

I think its ok to use,...

I've no noise with it. I think the AD/DA Changers are good quality.
The Delays sounds for me professional, like some 19" units...
Go to the digitech site to have some examples...
U have the option to use the built in speaker simulator...
As i know it dont't have true bypass, but thats ok for me cause the changers seems to have high resolution (i dont hear a difference with/without pedal in bypass mode and true bypass isn't here the real thing if u want that the delay sounds out if ya schange to bypass,...

i'm sorry that the build in microswitch or what it is, sucked up after 4 month...i have to repair it now...:(

Good sounding Delay. Its a pitty that the Foottip damaged!

Hi,I'm the guy who still had one on layaway.Well got it home today and it was the best delay I ever heard,you know for the first 12 minutes it was designed to last then the POS shorted out and stuck on!!Well the led stuck on the effect just made this cute little fizzle noise through my speakers.So I unplugged it and tried it latter it came on fine then half way through a lead it stopped delaying and the led stuck on.I unplugged the guitar cable and plugged it back in now it won't turn on.I thought maybe I screwed up some kind of tap tempo thing or a loop or something(wishfull thinking as it was on tape dealay)but no such stupidity.Its just broken.

Real nice for the first 12 minutes.

At $79 for 12 minutes worth of play.I'll give it a 1 being as there is no 0.

I don't know or care its going back tomarrow to exchange for a Boss DD-3.I also have a X-series multi chorus on layaway which I'll replace with a CH-1 Boss chorus

I hate to be blunt but don't buy this thing.Its very unreliable I was sceptical after reading several bad reviews here and should have listened.This thing is garbage,I think they tried to stuf to many bells and whistles in this box and the chips can't handle it.Get a Boss,MXR etc...But I don't trust this thing.My only other expieriance with Digitech was not good either,my band had a vocal effect that was a headache to operate and once I borrowed an RP3 and was to say the least unimpressed.DONT BUY THIS,you be sorry!!

If you're an experienced delay user then it should be dead simple to get a good sound out of this delay; if you're a newbie then the learning and discovery curve is no different from that of any other delay. The manual is decent, and absolutely essential for figuring out how to use the looper and tap tempo functions, as well as to activate the amp modeling function.

Its pretty sad to read all the negative reviews about this product, I suppose they've all gotten bum products. I guess I'm pretty lucky to get a unit which is relatively bug-free. I am currently playing a Gibson SG and LesPaul Std, and my effects chain goes like this: Morley A/B box (one channel goes to a Seiko Tuner, the other goes to the effects chain proper) > two modded TS9s > Dunlop Mr Crybaby Volume/Wah > Ibanez Phase Modulator PM-7 > George Dennis Tremolo > Small Clone > X-Series Delay > amp (Laney TF-700 head & Marshall Cab, or various Marshall stacks, depending on gig).

The delays sound totally awesome, no doubt about it, very wet and thick. I walked into the shop fully intending to get a BOSS DD-6, played around with it for about 30 minutes before deciding to committ to it. Before I paid the store assistant asked if I wanted to try to X-series delay, and I thought, what the heck just give it a shot. I flipped to the reverse delay patch, fiddled with the settings a bit and gingerly plucked a few notes... settled on the X-series about 30 seconds after that. This delay fully fully blows the Boss delays clean out of the water in terms of usability, affordability and sound quality & variety (pity there's no EQ function though).

Its possible to get all sorts of delay sounds, from rockabilly slapbacks to U2-Edge-ish delays. The models are all great, the analog model is pretty convincing (and i'm a memory man user), the reverse delay is great for turning heads, though the loop function is a bit hard to use, i've got little use for it right now. There is no noticeable noise or humming when the pedal is engaged, or maybe I'm not playing loud enough! But anyway this pedal is fairly quiet, at least from what I'm hearing. Two fellow guitar geeks whom I jam with regularly bought the same delay after hearing mine, and they're enjoying it as much as I am. The tap tempo function is a particular lifesaver, and really helps synch the repeats to the music, though its a bit of a challenge to get the timing exactly right.

One feature I wish this pedal had was to emulate the "UFO taking off" sound you get when you crank the repeats on a tape delay (or on a memory man/Boss delay)... i love doing that onstage and not being able to do that on the X series (except on the analog model) kinda sucks.

I've been using this delay since early 2003, after replacing my BOSS DD-3 in a major gear-upgrade exercise and the pedal just takes all the abuse you can give it and throws it back at you. Its definitely built to last, though the plastic knobs aren't particularly reassuring. The knobs do get knocked out of place easily too, so be careful how you arrange the pedal, in case your foot brushes over one of the knobs... your epic 3-second delay might just turn into a 3 microsecond slapback if you're not careful! I've used it in many different gigging scenarios, from church gigs to open air festivals to small punkrock club gigs, I've taken it on tour overseas... this pedal just lasts and lasts. I'd use this pedal without backup anytime.

I live in Singapore. Customer Support is an alien concept.

I've been playing for about 8 years already, and I play a good variety of music, from churchy stuff to punkrock/hardcore and shoegazer-style indie rock. This pedal fit the bill perfectly for every gig I've played, no doubt about it. This pedal is gonna be on my pedalboard for a long long time. This may not be the perfect pedal, but then again, which pedal is anyway? I'd recommend this pedal to anyone.

Oh no, you may have to read! you may have to read the instructions to use the tap and the loop, but over all it doesn't take a brain surgeon.

Well, I went in with the intensions on buying a BOSS delay and walked out with the digitech. I compared all the current BOSS models to it and hands down it's a better sound. It's warmed, more flexible, seems to be built better, and best of all cheaper. Don't get me wrong I am a huge BOSS fan just like the rest of us, but hey would you rather have the gold or the platinum?

Seems to be reliable and built a little more tougher then a boss (and i'm convinced boss pedals can survie a nuclear war), but I've only had it for a couple weeks. hopefully the electronics are reliable and it last as long as my boss pedals.

Hopefully i'll never need it.

Overall it smokes. I would recommend you buy one, it might bring out a little more creativity it has for me. If it were lost I'd buy a new one if it proves it can take the abuse my boss pedals have taken, and like i said i've only had it for a couple weeks.