DigiTech X-Series Digital Reverb

If you know what you want, you'll get it, and fast. I've never used the cab-modeling feature, and probably never will, but everything else is cake.

It sounds like reverb. The spring reverb might go too far towards accuracy, almost to parody, with the "pops". The rest are great, especially the Reverse, Gated, Hall, and Plate. I personally love plate reverbs, so this thing is great for me.

If you don't have a power supply or AC adapter, it's a piece of crap. I use good batteries (not great, but not cheap) and I'm lucky to get 3 hours of play, with the pedal on 50% of the time. It's tough, the jacks feel solid, and the switch feels good. The battery and battery door issues are the only big problems. If you use an adapter, I give it a 9. If you use a battery, I give it a 3. I use an adapter, so I rate it 9.

When I was contemplating buying this pedal, I wanted to find out if the power supply jack was compatible with standard Boss-type AC plugs. I never could find out if it would work. I finally bought it and just plugged it in and prayed, and it worked. The web site is all talk and no facts. We'll see if I ever need to talk to someone in person...

With a power adapter, this is a great pedal. Without a power adapter, it's a good pedal with a serious handicap.

Couldn't be much easier to use - it's a stomp box with 4 knobs for cryin' out loud! Of course the battery life in these things is very short which means you really need to hassle with an adapter, and that stinks... Guess I can't give it a 10.

Just a note on all the complaints about battery life... This pedal seems to reject a battery long before other units might - which means it doesn't actually drain the batteries. I can pull the supposedly "dead" battery from this pedal, and continue to use it in a distortion pedal or a tuner for quite some time. Still, you really need an adapter unless you want to go nuts circulating batteries between effects.

On another note, you have to decide whether or not you want the CIT amp modeling in this pedal activated when you first plug into it. In some settings the CIT modeling really does make a difference - for me a negative difference into my amp but it might come in handy with some PA systems. I wish there was a little switch to activate/deactivate the modeling on the fly... Not a huge deal for me, but maybe for some.

I use this mostly with my Carvin-Strat-Seymour Duncan mongrel guitar, along with some other effects to the LOOP IN of a Tech21 TM60 or a Behringer Vintager 110. Use it with my accoustic too into PA system. On the rare occasion I use my Behringer amp alone, I'll stick this in the loop.

I have a Jekyll & Hyde overdrive and a SansAmp Tri-AC as my main tone & drive generators along with a Morley Wah (effect not as good as Crybaby but much quieter & more tone preserving). I typically use a Yamaha DG stomp (GREAT CHORUS!) for effects which is fine - but it does create some tone suck which I don't always want to deal with. Besides, the other guitar players in my group have very little for FX and I usually wind up giving the Yamaha to one of them. This pedal gives me great reverb (the one effect I NEED)with NO TONE SUCK! Pedal is quiet and preserves my tone very well.

I've got to say that I wasn't on fire to buy a 'verb pedal - most amps and multi-fx units have reverb. Reverb is so plain to me I have a hard time thinking of it as an effect! I just had a feeling this would give me more flexibility with the ways I can use the other gear I have... I must tell you that I was so surprised with how much FUN this pedal has been to play with! I had no idea how much a better quality reverb - the plainest of all the effects IMO - could add to your sound!

Bottom line: I can live without the room setting, and unlike most players I really don't like the boing & pop of spring reverb all that much. The Plate & Hall settings are my standbys, the Church setting is incredible when you want it, and I really like the gated & reverse settings. I even prefer the reverse reverb over a short delay in many situations

I think this pedal is outstanding. This one effect has put my multi-fx unit (and a good one at that) on the shelf for the time being.

Seems more reliable than many pedals out there. The battery compartment mechanism makes be a little nervous - but a solid pedal anyway. I have to gig without backups all the time - never been a problem. Then again I'm not hard on my stuff.

I think the battery-life problem is an "ease of use" issue, not a reliability issue. If I use an adapter all is well...

Couldn't tell you...

I play rock, contemporary worship, jazz, etc... This pedal is great for me. I've been playing for 17 years, so I don't get excited about crappy products anymore like I did when I was a kid (remember Rocktek pedals?) This is the 4th digitech product I've owned - the previous 3 were reliable, but not out of this world as far as sound goes. This is by FAR the best digitech product I've owned. A very pleasant and useful find for me. I'll give it a 10 when the price drops by $30 or so!

Four knobs: Level, EQ, Decay & Mode (7 settings). You can use it pretty easily right out of the box but definitely requires some playing around to find the sweet spots-- especially when using some of the more esoteric settings. I expected a little more from the manual-- even the manual for my Dan-Echo was better than this. Still, for the number of features it boasts, the simplicity of design is highly admirable.

I've been selling off guitars left and right until all that's left is an Epiphone Elitest 335 and a Ric 330. The Digiverb sits at the end of a pedalboard that includes a Vox V810 Valvetone --> EH Double Muff --> Boss EQ-20 --> EH Small Clone --> Dan Echo --> Digitech X-Delay --> Vox 847 Wah --> Digiverb --> into a pair of Epiphone Galaxie 25R all tube amps.

The reverbs this pedal achieves go from subtle to HUGE. The Room setting is nearly transparent but very adequate for live recording. The Hall settings go from slight to very deep. The Church setting is extremely satisfying and goes from Very Deep to Way Too Deep. The Gate and Reverse settings are the reasons I got this pedal. They nail the thick, dreamy, shoegazer sound I was looking for. The Spring setting is very accurate compared to that on the Vox amp I keep at home.

I have to mention that this pedal is EXTREMELY quiet (as is the Digidelay), and does not affect tone when disengaged. Also sounds great running in stereo.

The first pedal I got (purchased online) came without the rubber foot on the underside of the footswitch that engages the effect. The way it is constructed it appears there is a chance it could fall out if you dropped it while changing a battery. I have a dedicated power supply in the pedalboard (you REALLY need one with reverbs & delays) so do not expect this to become an issue, but the masochists using batteries should be cautious of this. Aside from that, this is a substantial, well constructed pedal. I expect it will last as long as any Boss pedal I have owned.

N/A

I play 90s-inspired britpop and shoegaze music with a beat. The two X-series pedals I bought have impressed me enough that I would like to try some of their other effects.

Prior to switching back to stompboxes I had a Boss GT-3 that had a very decent selection of reverbs. I didn't think I would be able to match the 10 sec Hall settings on the Boss but the Digiverb does that and quite a bit more. I have demoed the RV-3 and found it far less organic. When shopping for a reverb it came down to this or the EH Holier Grail, but I couldn't justify the expense. I cannot imagine a substitute for this in my pedalboard for the time being.

Its a snap to locate the sweet spot for your certain needs. Manual is really needed but always good to read just in case.

My specific use for the stomp is busking (street playin) its use with a original little Pignose and a Peavey "solo" Simply out, the lower end the amp the more the Digi helps at the risk of sounding dramatc, its amazing how it warms up the SOLO almost giving it a tube vibe giving the illusion of a bounce. No "noise" detected but it wouldn't matter.. I use it mostly for Elmore James material which it nails quite well with the little peanut whistle solid state amps. amongst other early Chicago and Juke blues. Although the reverse gate and reverse reverb work well its not my cup of Mary Jane.

STRONG LIKE BULL

I've use Digi 75% of the time, never had a problem so can't say I know.

I play early country blues up to and including the wonderfuly histerical Elmore James who puts reverb just about on everything with his hot-rodded Gibson amp. I use the Digi and a Boss chorus VERY sparingly to do some slippey John Lee Hooker like Bottle Up and Go.Sounds nice and decadent, to much of either and it sounds like an efeect. When I gig I have an old Regent Emperor like Hooker had thru a tubey and you don't need nothing just a guitar chord. In my opinion these gadgets can turn a low end amp into a good sounding amp but doe the opposite on the higher end tube amps. I'm not an effects guy but had to make the concession for street playin, and have been pleased with the results. Its quite a surprise to some of the people hearing such a big and pleasing sound coming from 2 little amps run by battery.

This review is for the benefit of owners of a Fender Bassman, Marshall Bluesbreaker or any other 4-input non master volume combo or head that wants reverb but hates the sound of reverb going through the front end of the amp, especially when the amp is pushed into distortion (the dreaded "distorted reverb" sound). This trick will work with the Digiverb as well as with any comparable Boss or similiar unit. I got this idea when I was considering a VanAmps Reverbamate to go with my Bassman. The Reverbamate has two outputs, one totally wet and one totally dry, so you need a two-channel amp to use it. The idea is simple-you have a very wet signal that you can gradually blend in on one channel. I couldn't bring myself to spend the nearly $300 for the Reverbamate, but I thought this is such a simple idea, why wouldn't that work with a stompbox unit? Maybe this is one of those things that everyone in the world knows about but me, but in case you haven't thought of this, give it a shot. What I do is run my distortion pedals first, then delay, then into a Boss Tremelo/Pan with 2 outputs (you will need a similiar pedal or a Y cord to make this work). One output goes into the bright channel of the Bassman (#1 input), the other goes to the Digiverb and on into the #2 input ofthe normal channel. I set the Digiverb with the output mix about 3:00 and the dwell about 1:00, EQ varies but usually 9:00, and I use the Spring setting most of the time. I crank the Bright channel to the desired volume, then gradually turn up the normal channel to bring in the reverb. This works SO MUCH BETTER than just running it through the front end normally, it sounds more like the reverb is added to your signal after the fact (like you were listening through the PA after the sound guy added verb)and a lot less like a canned reverb sound cluttering up your tone. It is not perfect, but it is a great improvement. I can even push the amp into distortion without getting that garbled mess you usually get with reverb or delay into a distorted amp, just blend in a little verb and it seems to stay out of the way of your tone. Yes, you are using the same set of power tubes, so it is not a complete separation, but it works very well-try it! Anyway, the Digiverb is very easy to use, I got mine used with no manual, but it's a no-brainer. I've heard that this unit has a built in cabinet simulator-I'm not sure how to access that..is it the other output?

Others have knocked the spring sound on this forum, I find it very good (using it as I described above). I also like the plate, the other sounds are good and usable for some I'm sure, but not for what I do. I just want a close to vintage/classic reverb sound to go with my Bassman, and this delivers very nicely for a cheap price. I haven't A/B-ed this with the Boss RV5, I can say it sounds better than the RV2 I used to have and is more flexible. I play Americana rock/blues/country, sounds great in all these styles. Doesn't seem to add significant noise, built well-a great bargain.

Seems dependable, I am gigging without a backup, but I have a Guyatone MD-3 on my board for some "wetness" if the Digiverb goes down. I use an adapter, so the often mentioned battery munching is not an issue.

Never dealt with...

For the money, this is a great unit. It is not magical, it is a tool. It's function for me is to add a touch of ambience to my sound, and it does that very well. It has great features (eq is very helpful) and the reverb sounds are very useable.

Reasonable ease of use - it's simple to tweak it and get plenty of good sounds - it just takes a bit of patience.
There's a very basic manual that explains the obvious.

I use this between a Fender CS FMT Tele and a Marshall 30w amp, with various combinations of effects depending on what I want to do.
The Church reverb sounds fantastic if you're playing totally clean, ideally with a slight cut in the bass.
It's pretty much the reverb sound I've been looking for - incredibly expansive and huge sounding. The tone control can be handy for honing the sound in a bit, and I especially enjoy using an out of phase pickup configuration and playing with my fingers for David Gilmour-type soloing.
If I'm using distortion and other effects I prefer to use the hall or plate verbs because they cope better - there is no dip in sound quality in terms of the processed signal, just general messyness if there's too much going on. You'd get that with any reverb pedal.
The room reverb does sound a bit too limited, but thankfully I'm not really interested in that.
The reverse reverb is perfect with a little tweaking for the sound on 'Screenager' by Muse. Great fun.

I could rely on this comfortably - it's very strong and no doubt durable. I'd gladly gig with this.

I've not had any dealings with customer support.

This pedal is perfect the style of music I play - spacey rock with the emphasis on bluesy playing. It's the Pink Floyd fan's best friend, I'd say.
It's best tweaked to get the best results - I'm astounded that some people just plug something in and expect wonders.
There is NO problem whatsoever with the digital processing, I've not noticed a single drop in sound quality. There is only one slight delay type repeat when you first turn it on.

Live in Australia, bought it from someone in the U.S new! Heck why pay the $300AUS+ price tag in Australia when I bought it for 1/3 the price from the U.S!!

Easy to get good sounds out of this pedal. Covers most types of reverbs you could ever need. The mix level is especially helpful in mixing in the amount of reverb in your signal, hence you tone doesn;t wash out in the reverb. People who have said the volume decreases with increase in mix level is actually the signal having more reverb effect hence you lose more definition.
The tone knob is great for adding or rolling off top end to add warmth to reverb effect.
This pedal's great for getting those Coldplay etheral type guitar sounds.

Impressive to get this many reverbs sounds in one pedal. People who have dissed the spring reverb simulation obviously haven't had much experience with spring reverbs. This is as authentic as you can get in a pedal, including the "burping" effects that you get with real spring reverbs.

I like my pedals true bypass but this pedal I'm sure is a buffered bypass, yet couldn't detect any tone sucking like those dunlop wahs & tremolos!!

This thing is built like a brick and is heavier than the boss pedals.
In terms of battery usage, I was surprised than my 9 volt battery has lasted two hours and still going as most reverb delay pedal circuits use alot of power ( that's just the way they are)

Never had to deal with them.

This is one of the best sounding & feature laden reverb pedals on the market. Forget the boss stuff, this one leaves them for dead. Compared to EH holy grail, this is alot quieter, and has alot more tweakable parameters.

Ease of use is somewhat diminished by controls for tone, decay, mix and reverb type, but the trade-off is well-worth the ability to tweak the pedal's sound to one's preference.

I've been looking for an upgrade to my Boss RV3 reverb/delay pedal, specifically, for an improved reverb. I bought an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail (HG) and the DigiVerb (DV).

I A/B'd the pedals against one another and against my 1967 blackface Fender reverb tank. I ran all three units through a home-brewed 5F6A Bassman/JTM-45 clone using a '52 RI Tele w/Fralins.

Both pedals did a credible job of capturing the spring reverb vibe. However, as compared to the Fender, the HG's artifacts were particularly long-lived. Even when I dimed the Fender tank's dwell pot, I couldn't get it to match the HG's extended trail-off time. And as it trails off, there's a distinct tremolo-like quality to the HG's decaying signal. This isn't the case with either the Fender tank or the DV.

There's no way to control the HG's tone or dwell--or decay, as the DV calls it--because the HG has only a mix control. Kicking in the HG, I also detected a bit of signal drain, even at relatively low settings on the reverb mix pot. Though a niggle, the HG wants a mini-phone plug power, whereas all my other pedals, including the DV, take the standard tip-ring power jacks.

In contrast, the DV suffers none of these negatives. You can adjust mix, reverb tone, and and decay. I particularly like the ability to roll off some of the reverberated signal's highs when playing on higher gain settings.

The decay control works much like the Fender's dwell pot, and the reverb artifacts are virtually indistinguishable from the real deal's. The DV also offers a total of seven types of reverb compared to the HG's three, but for guitar, the spring setting is about all one needs, IMO.

The DV's construction is comparable to a Boss pedal, and its method for removing the battery is better. The pots offer good resistance to inadvertent tweaking in the gig bag.

Re: battery drain. I now have this pedal in a powered board, but I ran it for perhaps 2 hours on a single battery during my A/B testing, and it still had power to spare. In any event, I don't think it's reasonable to expect to run delay-type effects on batteries.

No problems; no contact.

I've been playing for over 30 years. I cover a wide range of music: rock, blues, Latin, country, and jazz.

I doubt there's a better reverb pedal on the market today. Several respected amp designers recommend the Holy Grail, but that was before the DV came out. This pedal sounds nearly as good as the classic blackface Fender outboard reverb tank, is much easier to carry, and doesn't crash on an unstable stage.

I don't give it a 10 because perfection is simply not of this Earth.

very easy just plug and play almost you have to do a littel tweaking

this pedal is tha abosolute best reverb pedal it blow away the boss the surf setting is just to die for plus its 6 other settings are just plain great reverb sounds i was never a big fan of digitech pedals xcept for the whammy but this new x series is really outdoinfg itself i thinks its cause its using the cit modelling

so faR SO GOOD looks good plus i think digi gives you a 6 year warranty that tells you the quality is good thats 1 more year than boss

have not used it yet but there website is real helpfull

this pedal will be used a lot the reverb is tghe best ive heard yet i own over 300 pedals and about 10 diferent reverb pedals and this one is the best outta em all i got lucky and baught a whammy pedal digi had a special going on if you but that you get a choice of there x series pedal for 9.99 good choice

Very easy to use. No need to open the little instruction manual.

I am very pleased with this units sound quality and sound options. It has given my little Tech 21 Trademark 10 amp a new lease on life. The internal reverb of this amp seemed to take away from the dynamics of your playing and lost definition. No lost note definition with the Digiverb just great sounding reverbs. I seem to be using the standard hall setting the most as it has a lot of depth and character. My unit is reasonably quiet too. The spring emulation in this unit is amazing. I know that sound! I have actually owned some of those amps back in the 60's and 70's. Yea, i'm old but I know tone and sound and if you dont like the spring emulation in this pedal you wont like the real thing either.

Very sturdy, ......

Fantastic unit! I'd buy it again in a minute. By the way... I am on to 4 hours with the same battery in the unit. Are you guys unplugging your cords when not in use? I dont understand the short battery life some of you are talking about. This as a fantastic unit. I have owned a lot of rack reverbs over the years and this little pedal can keep up with most of them. Guys, try a new Everready, thats what mine came with. It was more than likele a Guitar Center return but who cares. I'm very happy!