DigiTech X-Series Digital Reverb

piece of cake...choose which reverb sound you want, adjust the level and decay, and your set. I don't hear much of an audible difference when I mess with the EQ knob.

I run this pedal with an acoustic xciter, and a digitech delay pedal all running through the effects loop of my LR Baggs para di. I love the Hall and room settings, but the other one's I'm not too crazy about. It's not the pedal, I just think plate, and church reverbs are too lush, and sound too artifical. I'm not really a spring reverb person, and although the reverse is cool I find no use for it. The hall and the room settings are the most usable and sound the best. It would be nice if this pedal was like the boss rv-3 and have delay with it also, but I just picked up a digitech delay pedal and it matches perfectly with the XDV.

I've only had this pedal for about a month or two, so I can't give it a detailed review. It's beefy as crap so if that brings you peace of mind, you'll have plenty of it...it's heavy for something so small. I hear it consumes battery faster than a fat kid eating cake ($.50)...I always run a power supply with it so I haven't had much experience with that.

haven't dealt with them yet.

Bottom line this thing gets the job done. I don't know why someone would invest 50% more money on a boss rv-5 reverb pedal (unless you can find the rv-3 that combines delay and reverb). This has more reverb settings and is built to last just as long as boss. Digitech has a 5 year warranty when you register the product, so why even consider getting anything else. I would definitely buy this product again, but I gave it a nine because for everyone looking into getting a reverb pedal, this pedal will do what it was made to do....add reverb, and that's it. People don't realize when they hear reverb there is some sort of delay along with it. If you have an effects processor and you edit a reverb sound, you'll see it has a pre-delay adjustment. All reverb pedals should come with a delay adjustment, because that is what people hear, and want to hear when they buy a reverb pedal. Boss had the right idea with the rv-3 when they combined the two. Why they don't do that anymore?? who knows. Reverb should include delay and the fact that it doesn't I gave it a nine. Also I don't understand why these pedal companies make their pedals optimal only when you use their power supply. I mean honestly, who buys nothing but digitech pedals, or boss or whatever. Aphex got it right when they made their stomps work with almost any kind of power supply. I use the h-pro power supply and connect it to a daisy chain wire. It gets the job done.

I find it hard to imagine anyone having real trouble using this thing. Reverb is about as basic as effects come, and even your tone-deaf sister knows how it's supposed to sound.

The fact that the "modes" are printed on the actual face of the pedal makes any manual pretty easy to skip. The "level" is actually a wet/dry, but that's hardly an issue, much less a difficult one.

I got this on a whim and it really restarted my interest in 'verb. It's really addictive and blends easily into your playing, just the way reverb should. No one mode blows me away, and hard-core effect-nuts would probably want to go rack or PC/MAC for their digital models, but this is a very cool sounding pedal, and the fact that they jammed so much usable variety into a floor stomper is pretty impressive.

I love authentic sounding ambience as much as the next player, but sculpting new textures and bending a little time is why I was interested in this, and it delivers. Works especially well with guitar, given the EQ setting which is more powerful than I would've thought. The resolution seems to murk a little if rolled off or amped too much, so I keep the EQ between 9 and 3 o'clock, where it seems to shine. The EQ is definitely a good feature though, very useful. I've gone from not using reverb for years to finding a setting on this thing for nearly every track. Tons of fun, sounds all over the place.

I really get into the wetter settings, especially with gating and reverse. If I have a complaint it's that there a perceived volume drop on really wet settings. A master level would fix this, and considering the processing already going on, you wouldn't lose anything by adding that feature, and it certainly couldn't be too complicated to add on the design end.

No added noise. I use it with many other pedals in performance, and in a mix bus for guitar tracking, where it is more flexible. I don't use amp verb, I'm sick of it. I wouldn't try to get "the sound of your favorite artists" with this, it's an effect of it's own, not something you buy to mock phil spector, SUN studios or classic surf. The spring, for example, is not all that easily dialed in for "real" effect. It's not as bad as some say, and is totally rockin if set right and with ease, but if you expect a hair-raising Fender Verb to hit you, you will certainly be disappointed. On the other hand, every other mode exceeds expectations for such a compact effect.

Funky for experimenting, exactly what I like in a little pedal like this.

This thing seems plenty tough, though it did bug out on me once using a generic/universal power supply. No problems since. It's a little computer in a little metal box. The build is heavy duty, plenty heavy. Metal jacks (thank you digitech). I can see it lasting.

No experience. I'm really not terribly attracted to Digitech's stuff, but this really called my name, especially after being really left cold with other brands reverb pedal ideas. I've had a couple of digitech's other pedals, but nothing so great that it saw a lot of use, sorry. This is a keeper though. A favorite, in fact.

I tried a bunch of reverb pedals out of curiousity and this one was the only one I really dug at all actually. I gave the much-loved holy grail by ehx many spins waiting for it to turn me on, but it was consistently both too mild and yet too shrill too my ears. The boss RV-5 just sounded blah, though the RV-3 was nice, though kind of boring. I'd like to see more companies take a stab at verb modelling. I like the idea of having reverb in a pedal 'cause I can't see using it on every note anymore, that's just not my taste anymore. I usually can't dig digital reverb at all, but as the years have gone by I've kind of been drawn to it as a purely special effect. The Digiverb offered cool variety, wild sounds, and way quicker operation than the rack alternatives. If I had a wish for this pedal, a couple of patches in a boss-twin-type of pedal would be perfect for my needs.

Does it sound like a fender twin? Hell no. But it's all over my recordings now, and for $65, that's not bad at all.

This is a follow-up, Read on..................

It has held up great and feels solid

This is simply a follow-up on an earlier review.

I still LOVE the reverbs this pedal can deliver, nothing has changed. But I wanted to add that Ive given it some time and love the pedal even more.

ALSO, I enabled the CIT-mode (by holding down the pedal while applying power) - this will give you an amp/speaker sim for recording direct into your PC.

I am very impressed! No, its not going to replace your PODs or whatever you use but it does work well. I tried running my regular pedalboard setup through the Digiverb (with CIT enabled) and was pleased with the recorded results. I like plugging my guitar straight into a PC when I get a good idea but dont feel like warming up the tube amps and setting up mics.

All I had to do was roll the volume knob down low so there was no extra noises on the recording, and I ran through all my "usual" pedals (Jekyll&Hyde, dano EQ, PB&J, Boss CE5, and Digiverb), and it sounded very pleasing. None of those harsh high frrequencies you would get by plugging straight into PC, also it adds a nice character like a speaker sim should.

Farily easy to use. Has various settings to chose types of reverb desired

I replaced an EH Holy Grail with the Digiverb and I am happy with the 'Verb. The grail sounded very natural however it was extremely noisey at all volumes and unreliable-used to cut out on me frequently. The Digiverb is quiet, pleasant sounding and very reliable. I use a moderate amount of reverb at all volumes. I keep the pedal on all the time and use an AC adaptor. I've grown accustom to this pedal over the past few months, enjoying it a lot. I own an Epip Supervova and a homemade SRV Strat, playing through a modified vintage Bassman and Mojo 2X12 bottom.

Seems very reliable. Works fine every time.

No needed so far.

I play 70's and 80's rock. I grown to like this pedal and I would replace it if something happened to it. I think it's a great pedal for the money and it's very well made.

very easy to use

the knobs are layed out well and you get the hang of it pretty quick
at first i was confused until i figured the level turned clockwise will increase the reverb but once you pass the 1/2 way mark you decrease your dry signal so you start hearing just the reverb - this is very cool for some spacey type stuff, especially when you max the level (no guitar - just reverb) and use the reverse setting.

I just got this pedal, i had it about 24 hours.

I usually will not give a review for at least a good 6 weeks but I feel this pedal deserves it.

The reverb sounds are great! Very usable and can be set for classy enhancing verb' or set extremely for more wild uses. I really love it.

I compared it to the Holy Grail and the HG sounded pretty darn good but the uses were limited as far as various sounds. Not just that but this pedals sounds as good to me (some settings better) and can do ALOT MORE.

I use a strat through a few "basic" pedals into a stereo setup of tube combos (or stack where I jam on weekends)

It sounds real good with everything Ive put it through, I usually will not give a pedal a 9 on sound - but this one I highly think deserves it.

Enough about that

Heres where I cant comment on the product as I have not owned it long enough, but the construction seems VERY sturdy.

I also like the removal of the battery even though i use adaptors

I think this is one of the best choices out there as far as reverb in a pedal. It sounds so good Im going to try and use it when micing vocals as well. I can see this pedal getting used a whole lot, because of the great sounds and almost unlimited settings.

Yes, you can easily set it for "overkill" if you try to blend too much or decay too long, but set right i believe it can add magic & depth to any dry rig!

This posting is a follow-up, two years later. I finally found out a big problem with this, as with many many digital processors.
It appears when you set up the thing in the effects loop of your amp. If the signal is quite healthy, the inserted digital processor distorts(if there is no input gain knob, it is) and you only get rubbish then.
So my digiverb, that I love'n'cherish, does distorts in my amp's loop.
**** here. Hopefully for me I do own a Nobels SPX31 for years, and this little helper does transform a serial effects loop in a parallel one. So I'm saved now, with the cable salad in bonus but I don't complain. The overall sound with the digiverb in parallel mode is far better than as usual, what speaks for this kind of looping.
If you don't want to use the Nobels, or if your amp doesn't have a parallel loop, then get a boss rv5, since this one mix the analog, unconverted direct sound with the processed (reverberated)sound.
One more time, boss is clever and more practical.
Note that the fact that the digiverb has a cab sim should tell you your signal is always fully processed, even in bypass...
I know, now. If it were to be done again, I would choose the boss.

Not too difficult. Dial the type of reverb (Hall, Plate, etc.). Dial in a depth, a level, and eq if you want.

I have a Holy Grail, but I'm although my own music doesn't reflect, most of what I listen to is 80's hairbands. I'm looking for that 80s open empty overly-melodramatic reverb. The Holy Grail is wonderful, but a bit subtle. I put this Digitech in a bypass loop and disabled the LED (the effect was off). As I randomly stomped on the pedal, I noticed that the volume would change - just slightly. Of course, I assumed that the pedal was causing a slight volume drop. Bizzare thing is, the bypass of the pedal was <<boosting>> slightly!

Anyway, I dialed in both the Holy Grail and the Digitech as close as I could to the sound I hear in my head. The Holy Grail, to my surprise, gets closer. I wish I had a mix knob on it, but regardless, it does a better job for me. So, Digitech goes on eBay, Holy Grail stays on the pedal board. I'm probably going to go with a Lexicon rack-mount at some time...

I'm not going to keep it.

I never tried to contact them.

The pedal has a certain sound quality that I didn't care for. Not metallic per se, - I guess I just don't have the vocabularly to describe it. At any rate, as always, your mileage may vary.

Easy, easy, easy!

I just got this unit a couple of days ago. I went through trying an EH Holy Grail and an Alesis Nanoverb. I have a '69 Fender Vibrochamp that has no onboard reverb. After being severely disappointed with the Holy Grail, and mildly impressed with the Nanoverb, I was going to bite the bullet and try to pickup a Fender Reverb Tank. I then read some of these reviews and went to Guitar Center to buy a Digiverb. I thought I would take it back if it wasn't satisfactory. WRONG! This one's a keeper. Last night, I took it to band practice, where I play bass. My guitarist plays a Fender Strat through a Fender Reverb Tank and into a reissue Fender Twin. Yes, we're a surf/garage band. I put the Digiverb in front of the reverb tank and started to a/b them while he played. SWEET. Very, very convincing. If he had been blindfolded, he maybe would have been able to tell the difference, but I doubt it. And he may even have liked the Digiverb better!

Anyway, back home the Digiverb is inspiring and wonderful with my Vibrochamp. The plate setting with a heavy mix on the reverb and a long decay can create some great, strange ring modulated type tones. I still need to spend more time with the other types...I just am stuck on that Spring!!!

Don't know, just had it a couple of days. It's got a battery in it right now and it sounds like it eats batteries. However, it will soon be locked into my pedalboard, being powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power.

Haven't dealt with them.

I play an eclectic mix of music, with influences like Brian Eno, Tones on Tail, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Early Dub and Reggae, and so on. This is pretty much in use for my Vibrochamp for recording and practice at home. I love that Digitech finally went to the Boss type power input!

Fairly easy. It's also easy to go over the top, which in some cases isn't a bad thing; especially when it sounds as good as this. The manual is pretty terrible though. It's the kind of pedal where you can throw the manual away and still get the most out of it.

However if you need to know about the CIT modelling thing, it's all in there, but since I don't use it, I could get by without the scrap of paper they put in the box.

It's just got the four knobs on; level, EQ, decay and type. All of them pretty much explain themselves.

I'm running this pedal through all sorts of gear. Mainly, I use a Fender Strat through to my Carlsboro 300W Combo, but I always add in a few pedals. Whatever takes my fancy on a given day. I've so far used it with combinations of an EHX Big Muff reissue, a Morley PWAII Wah, Line 6 Filter Modeler, Boss BS1 Chorus Ensemble and my Digitech X-Series Delay.

It's not particularly noisy on any setting, although it can get a bit hectic when used with a delay. Just use it sparsely in those cases, and you can get it just right.

Each type of reverb sounds great. Many people only stick to the one type, but this pedal does them all convincingly. You can create massive walls of sound, thin glassy plate reverbs, swampy spring reverbs or tinny room ones. Up to you entirely, you are given oodles of choice with the pedal. The spring type sounds good enough to pass for real, the church, hall, plate and room all do exactly the right job, and the reverse option has plenty potential.

One good thing is that you can take away the original signal to leave only the reverb sound. Although this is supposedly to be mainly used with effects loops or whatever, I just use it as a seperate effect altogether.

IF you use it right, it can sound amazing. The first thing I tried with it was playing "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley. If you've ever heard a live version of it, you'll be able to hear that he uses a massive reverb sound, plus whatever size hall he's playing in, with a tiny bit of overdrive. So I added the tiny bit of overdrive and whapped on the church setting, maxed out the level (so both the original signal and the effected one are at top volume), the decay and put the EQ just slightly over centre. Absolutely perfect, right down to the muted string hitting thing he does. The rest of my band were just amazed that I could play something so huge-sounding in our practice room. It's also really easy to get a funky room reverb, for all sorts of funk music, reverse reverb for alternative sounds and smooth hall sounds for general use. Up to you who you try to copy, but it's also really easy to use the different types of reverb to get your own sound. Which is pretty stunning since many people think of reverb as not really an effect at all.

Oh yes, this is definately dependable. The very day I got it, I gigged it, and of course, it didn't let me down. I have an X-Series Delay as well, so I knew that Digitech have a good reputation with this range. Fantastic to play live, and it won't let you down, provided you have a power supply.

I did gig without a backup, but that's only cos I'm far too poor to buy everything twice.

Not had the opportunity to ring them up. But since they give a years warranty, they'll do for me.

I play all sorts of music, but it's mostly modern alternative stuff, similar to indie bands and whatnot. I'd like to think I play similar stuff to Radiohead, British Sea Power, Joy Division, Futureheads, Dogs Die in Hot Cars...mostly new British stuff, but with a penchant for the classics as well. Since the pedal is so versatile, it can suit anything. Even 80's gated effects are available, but I wouldn't really use them.

I've been playing for about 10 years now probly, and I am a massive fan of effects on the whole. I search around and compare pedals for months and months before I commit myself to parting with cash, so I always find the top models for me. I considered this reverb to be tonnes better than the Boss ones available, the EHX ones and many other top names. It's just good value for money, reliable and so incredibly versatile, which is exactly what I need. I don't wish it had anything more really...I've not thought about it too much. I've tried recording with it, and it does the job just as well on tape/CD/PC/whatever as it does live...

Without a doubt, I would buy this again if it were stolen, and I always take a good look at the X-Series if I'm ever considering buying a pedal for a new effect, because they are usually spot on for what I need. I very much doubt that this range will become a classic (although it would have the potential), because too many guitarists are spending too much time on buying retro gear. Fair enough, the Big Muff I bought can be classed as retro, but I bought it because it's the best fuzz box around compared to all the new ones. Digital is so much more reliable, and listening to the digital stuff I have (pretty much all my gear) it's pretty much perfect sounding. SO before you just buy the Boss ones on the strength of their name, or the EHX ones for their retro-ness, give Digitech a go, and you'll probly find that the X-Series range is serious competition for major pedal manufacturors.

Right so, first things first. I've not yet bought this pedal, but it's on order for me, should have it by the end of the week. Although I've not tried one, I've been trawling through websites and magazines looking at reviews of it, and from them, I judge the pedal to be good value, very versatile and reliable. I'm just writing here to tell people wanting to buy this pedal (or any other like it) not to be influenced by things like battery life or whether the rubbing backing comes off the end or whatever. Seriousley, the rubber backing...some superglue would sort that, and while it's still a bit of a ballache when you've just bought a new pedal, at least it's only cosmetic damage and not something like the jkacks have all fell off or it won't make a sound. So that shouldn't be a problem really.

As well, anyone who is moaning about how "this thing eats batteries" is missing the point completely. This is a digital pedal. Digitech make that very clear. SO, it's pretty obvious that it's going to be pretty power hungry. I've got Digitech's Digidelay pedal, and it's exactly the same. However, digital pedals such as the two I've mentioned are reliable, the electronics will not corrode or get wrecked in the same way analog ones might, and there's much more versatility (come one, seven kinds of reverb or delay or flange like the x-series provides for is more than enough). So I think it's a small price to pay to either get a power supply or a daisy chain if you've got more than one pedal. Seriousley, I'm running a Morley Wah pedal, the Digidelay and a Boss Super Chorus off a daisy chain, and soon I'll add the Digiverb to that list. It sucks no tone at all, takes up less room on a powerboard etc...and it's only the same price as a normal power supply, so there's no excuse for not having one. In any case, gigging musicians or even people who play for fun will not want to spend every spare penny on batteries, and no way should you ever use batteries at a gig. You're asking for trouble. So get a power supply and where's your problem?

Also, I've noticed that quite a few reviewers complain about the spring reverb or the room reverb or any other single type of effect. The X-Series range are probably intended to be versatile rather than focussing on one particular type of reverb. So if you don't like the spring reverb, then you've got another six to choose from. I personally don't like spring reverb much, but since I do a lot of home recordings and sessions for local bands, if I ever needed it, it would be there. How many other pedals offer seven different kinds of reverb?

It's pretty obvious to see that people who dismiss the X-Series range for these reasons haven't been thinking about it a great deal, and while Electro Harmonix and Fender or whatever might do authentic analog reverbs, this is a small compact box with pretty much the whole range of reverbs, and you can adjust the level and tone almost totally. Just because it's digital doesn't necessarily mean it's the easy option out. I've been playing for near anough 10 years now, and I take a lot of pride in my effects, and from the experience I've had with the X-Series pedals, I've not been able to find fault in them. However, please take notice that I don't actually own the Digiverb. I'm just highlighting some of the unfair criticisms that people make, which downplay the fact that this particular range of pedals is idiosyncratic, built to last, well produced and sound fantastic. You just perhaps have to have imagination when using pedals, and maybe these can be a little difficult to use, but since every pedal is the same, how can this be a criticism?

When I get my Digiverb in a few days, I'll post a proper review, but I'm guessing that the pedal will stand up to it's reputation and will be perfect for gigging and recording, just as most of the X-Series pedals are if they are used properly and suit your style. The thing to remember is that since these pedals are versatile, to e