DigiTech X-Series Metal Master

Well, it's a distortion. The lack of a gain knob is immediately apparent, and I'd gladly swap the level control for it. Other than that, couldn't be simpler - low end, high end, and 'morph', which is really just a color control.

The standard output is what you'd expect - nice gainy signal with a bit of crackle. The 'mixer' output - which is meant to be the cabinet modelling - is pretty damn neat too, but its a shame there isn't some kind of sub-mix you can do to alter the final signal. I guess an EQ pedal or whatever board you are plugging it into will do the trick.
There seems to be a high-pitched frequency that just pops up now and then for no good reason, coming from the unit itself. Quite annoying at times.

This pedal started screwing up the first time I used it. It gets stuck in 'on' mode, the lights are all stuck on, and then it starts making the weirdest ring-mod appregio type sounds. Which WOULD be pretty damn cool, but its completely random and uncontrollable, so no dice. I'd never 'gig' with this thing. Like russian roulette.

I took it back to the store a week after I got it, cause of the weird problem described above. I probably just got a dud, but that sorta blew the buzz on the whole pedal -- they're gonna try and fix it [ha!] but I think I'll end up exchanging it for something else.

This pedal delivers what it promises -- a wide range of thick metal tones. But overall, it's nothing that hasnt been done before better and cheaper. The cabinet modelling is really the only gimmick this has going for it, and you'd be better off with a standalone unit for that anyway [it sounds kinda like a Sansamp Classic or GT2]. I can imitate almost any sound this pedal can do with either a Boss HM-2, or a Tokai TDS-1. Their 'color' knobs are just as powerful as the mis-labelled 'morph' knob.

Easy as it gets. Not very versatile

This pedal basically has two sounds that I use. A seriously heavy Marshall or a seriously heavy Mesa. That's it. Everything else sounds crappy. The Marshall is between 1 and 2 o'clock. The Mesa is full clockwise. Bass all the way up and treble about 2 o'clock. I play an Ibanez RG with Duncan Distortions into that and a chorus pedal straight into an SWR Workingman's 4004 Bass head with two Mesa 4x10 bass cabinets. Yeah, it's overkill but I like.

Yeah

I play bass in one band (Tool/Deftones-ish) and guitar in another (Slayer/Suffocation/Opeth-ish) and I use pretty much the same rig for both. I don't care if I don't have a tube in my whole rig...people need to get away from that idea cuz about 99% of the population couldn't tell the difference anyway. Excellent sound for some heavy grinding and shredding. Decent for solos but I'd prefer an old Boss Heavy Metal for that stuff. The XMM sounds a lot better than the Metal Zone and just as good as any amps distortion.

Really easy to use, It has 4 knobs Level,Low,Hi,and Morph. It has a manual, Sort of, But if you need a manual for a pedal.. you dont need a guitar.

I'm Using a BC Rich Platinum Warlock with a Rogue CS-100R 2x12' Combo Amp. It isnt really that noisy at all, a little hiss, but no big deal. The Effects are awesome, The Morph knob is great, I can get the good Thick sound I want, Since I play Death Metal, I use a good Amount of Palm Muting, and this Pedal is a god send for Palm muting! I can get some Great Sounds From Bands That I Listen to Like Mortician, GoreLord, Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under...etc. It is amazing for Death Metal! The Distortion is great, you can do bends, hammerons, pull offs. it just all sounds good, To me. I love the pedal. and for people that say there isnt a gain knob..does it really matter? If you want a Pedal for Metal, This is a good buy.

This Pedal Seems Very Dependable, Its in a metal Casing. I would definently use this without a back-up. (but make sure you have Energizer Batteries on Yand, this pedal eats them Alive.. and as far as I have seem Energizers are the best for this pedal.)

I havnt ever used Customer Services..so I dunno.

I play Death Metal, and This Pedal Delivers, I have been playing 2 and half to 3 years. I have a DOD Death Metal Pedal, and The Metal Master Makes it sound weak. I also Played with the Metal Zone, Which is a good Pedal. But I think Teh Metal Master has a heavier sound, WHich is awesome. If It was stolen, Yes I would buy it again. I love how good of distortion i get from it, Especially for Palm Muting, Its Amazing how good it is for palming. I hate how it eats batteries, but I'm getting a PS200r power supply for it soon, so That wont matter much longer. I love the morph knob, you can get a variety pof metal sounds out of it.
I compared it to the DOD Death Metal PEdal, and The Boss Matal Zone. And This Pedal is superior to them for the music I play. I cant think of anything I wished it had.. altho a mid would be nice I guess.. but Mid doesnt really matter. It helps me make a great Low Tuned Distortion I Love. So Heavy. I recommend this pedal to someone looking for Metal Distotion, Especially Death-Metal.

Controls are self explanitory. Got a good sound out of it in seconds.

My setup is: Parker Fly Deluxe -> Metal Master -> Boss SD-1 -> Trace Elliot amp.
I give this pedal a 9 for distortion. Not much analog circuitry here. It digitizes the signal and completely changes your sound into powerful distortion with lots of low end for palm muting metal tunes. But it is noisy...there is a slight hiss when it is on unlike a Boss. The hiss sound is a light white noise if your amp is putting out a clean signal, so it isn't too bad. The midrange sounded muffled to me, so I put a Boss SD-1 (super overdrive) AFTER the pedal and got unbelievable note clarity and harmonics. I've found the combination of the two pedals gives me the widest range of distortions since the Metal Master doesn't allow you to lower the gain.

You cannot use just any power AC adaptor with this pedal or you will hear the 60Hz hum like crazy! I didn't want to spend the money Digitech wants for a their adaptor, so I bought a switching 9V power supply# AD-090-2 from circuitspecialists.com for $12 and got the cleanest power you can imagine. Now the unit is as quiet as if I was using a battery. (Unit needs about 100mA to run.)

I've owned one since they first were released and had no problems. Built well.

Not dealt with it. Web site has excellent demos and info however.

I play metal and found this pedal ideal with just the right kinds of distortion. I found it superior to all other distortion pedals for this purpose. You'll need to buy something like the Boss SD-1 if you want to get warm overdrive sounds which this pedal does not produce.

Simple, Step on pedal to turn off and on. Level(How Loud when distortion is on) Low(Cut/or Boost) High(Cut/ or Boost) Morph(Shape what style of Distortion). Retaining pins on pedal allow fast and easy battery changes. Between the Low, High, and Morph knobs on the pedal along with my amp knobs I am able to obtain many different tones without an additional Graphic or Parametric EQ.

I play Jacksons(Warrior, Kelly, DR-7, DR-6, Dinky Rev Pro, and a Custom Charvel/Jackson) running through a Marshall MG-15ms mini-stack amp. I found the Metal Master a very Quiet, Viscious Toned pedal with very controllable harmonic feedback, that turned my novelty discussion piece single channel amp into a Practicle flexible and potent practice amp. I now have the flexibility of clean tones and the sound of a High Gain Amp at home during practice, the same as I do on stage with my Marshall 100 watt stack.

It seems as Durable as my Boss Pedals, as typical with Digitech pedals and Digital Effect Pedals, Batteries will be drained quickly, so either buy a power supply adapter, or Keep extra batteries handy. As for me I just plugged it into my Daisy chain along with my other new pedals on my new pedal board.

Knock on Wood, I have ever had the need to Call on them. And I've used Digitech gear ever since 1990

I play Metal, and this pedal suits me perfectly. I have been playing Since 1986. Ever since 1992 I have sworn by Dual and Triple Channel Tube amps along with Midi controlled Rack Gear to be the only Weapons of choice. Now after test driving the Metal Master along with my solid state 15 watt Mini Me 3" tall Marshall stack. I'm leaving the Full stack and Rack gear for the Stage/Studio, and Using the Metal Master at Home.

I use an American made Gibson Les Paul with ebony fretboards and an American Fender Strat. My main amp is a Matchless Chieftan but I also have a JCM 800 w/4X12 cab, Fender Tweed Deluxe and an old Ampeg B25. I use Monster cables.

I play professionally for audiences of up to 500 at a time. Tone and sound are VERY important to me.

Plugging this pedal in, I was amazed with how noisy it is. It's a white noise 'hiss' that is there even with the guitar volume on zero.

After a month, it started whistling! I moved the pedal and guitar far away from the amp thinking there was some kind of oscillation but this high pitched whistle noise was still there. It was coming from the pedal! I tried different guitar, cable and amp combinations but it was obviously the pedal. I changed the battery but the whistling was worse. I tried carbon, alkaline and lithium batteries but nothing helped.

My main metal pedals are an MXR Distortion plus and a Boss DS-2. They are much better than the Digitec offering.

Depend on it? LOL!

Never dealt with them.

I play classic rock & metal.

4 knobs, and even though I hate that they are plasic, I love the tightness to them...you won't lose your settings when you move it.

i'm playing this through a variety of amps, and it sounds pretty killer with all of them. The big shock for me was how good it sounded with my little Princeton Chorus...not very noisy at all, and with a bit of reverb, it made my little amp sound huge. I'm not sure I like the tones on the left side (counterclockwise), but as you turn the Morph knob to the right, it gets good about a third of the way, and goes through a bunch of good sounds from there.

Alot of people complain, but mine has held up so far...I wonder if people are running it off of batteries? The computer-processing stuff in it requires AC power, or those high-output batteries, or it sounds like junk.

Well, their website is pretty informative, and it looks like they have people from the company quickly answering questions posted on their message board.

Nice distortion...and teh next person who mentions the lack of a gain knob gets a thrashing!! It's metal, for Satan's sake, not your church picnic, so deal with it. Oh, and maybe if the people complaining knew how to work all those little knobs on their amp, it might sound better. I know I sound pissed off, but I happen to love this pedal. If I want a versatile pedal, I've got overdrive pedals for that. For just straight-up killer metal, this thing rocks!

easy easy

- 540s/dod fx7/metal master/v-4/#2 good 100w celestion copies

like how all distortions should be..
1. it serves its certain niche perfect and does not really go anywhere else
2. as it should be again..eq's and such greatly enhance this unit
3. fine with harmonics
4. not noisy

very sturdy..much better design and look over BOSS/DOD (but I like dod FX7 tho)

not yet

very good for raw yet refined thrash metal..(1 good step above slayers seasons of abyss..but a step below slayers reign in blood..
odd how slayers sound kind kinda weaker on a later album eh?)

without eq's and stuff you can't get that wacking off/WWF soundtrack/raised-pickup-truck commercial soundtrack/pantera sound

With four knobs it's really easy. The morph knob is awesome, you can get thrash metal, nu metal, classic fuzz, just basically any kind of metal you can think of

I'm using this with a Crate electra guitar thru the metal master thru my Fender M80, not a really good setup, but I'm getting some EMG's, so than it should be good after that. This thing definately beats out the metal zone, not that it's a bad pedal, but this one is higher in quality and sound, the metal zone is a toy.
PROS First and foremost, I don't know what kind of equipment you guys are using, but you must have crap pickups and guitars. This is a good pedal. It's called a metal master, it's not for playing poppy distorted stuff, it's for METAL, and it's a very diverse pedal for different metal sounds. Again it being a metal pedal, it hisses a bit, but hey, if you have a noisegate, it's not a problem. But all distortion pedals I have used, aka a lot, have hissed. BUY A NOISEGATE!!!
CONS Okay, it's a bit pricey, but you can't spend less than about 80 90 dollars anyway to buy a decent pedal, or you can get a used one, or ebay, or anything. If it had a gain knob, it would be the best pedal in the world hands down.

To hear some examples of what this thing can do go to
www.digitech.com and click on hear x series, or something like that

This thing is built better than a boss. You don't have to worry at all about breaking a screw or anything, the battery is well protected and is easy to get to. Digitech is definately setting a new standard with the battery excess compartment.
I have never gigged, but I guess you should always have a backup, but it's heavy (1.2 lbs) and made of metal, so it would be fine, even if you stomped on it.

I can't find the cerel number, which sucks. I have never dealt with them

I play any kind of metal, and some classic fuzzy stuff. This pedal is superb for this. I have been playing for 4 1/2 years. If it was stolen or lost, I would probably try to get one a little cheaper. I love the fact that it's so sturdy and I can dial in any distortion that I want. The best feature is the morph knob. Like I said with a gain knob, it would be king. It makes some killer music. Serisouly check this out, of course try it before you buy, or make sure you can return it if you don't like it. Everyone has different tastes. If it was a little cheaper it would get a 10. Seriously, email me if you have any questions.

C'mon.

NOISY. No DISTORTION CONTROL. GOOD FOR PRACTICE AMP USE BUT COMPLETLEY WORTHLESS IN A LIVE SETTING. BOSS METAL ZONE-2 IS MUCH MORE VERSATILE EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT MY FAVORITE PEDAL EITHER. THIS SUCKER IS A DOG. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT IF DIGITECH PAID ME.

I DID MY ORIGINAL REVIEW OF THIS PRODUCT ON 08/11/02. SINCE THAT DAY, MY PEDAL DIED. NEVER LEFT MY HOME AND WAS ONLY USED WITH MY PRACTICE RIG AND IT DIED. UNFORTUNATELY, MY PEDAL HAD NO SERIAL NUMBER STICKER ON IT. I HAD TRIED TO TAKE IT BACK BEFORE IT DIED AND WAS DENIED. NOW I HAVE NO WARRANTY ON THIS SINCE I COULD NOT REGISTER THE DAMN THING. I NOW HAVE AN UTTERLY USELESS ( AND NOW BROKEN) PEDAL THAT I CANT EVEN SELL ON EBAY. I WOULD FEEL BAD TAKING SOMEONE'S MONEY FOR THIS PEDAL ANYWAYS.

SINCE I COULD NOT REGISTER FOR THE WARRANTY I DID NOT BOTHER TO CALL THEM. DIGITECH IS NORMALLY VERY FRIENDLY FROM PAST EXPERINCES. HOWEVER, I DONT WANT THEM TO FIX MY PEDAL ANYWAYS. I WOULD PREFER AN APOLOGY FOR THEM PUTTING THIS PEDAL ON THE MARKET.

JUNK. JUNK. JUNK. DIGITECH MISSED THE MARK WITH THIS PEDAL. STICK WITH YOUR BOSS PEDALS UNTIL THE ENTIRE R&D DEPARTMENT AT DIGITECH GETS FIRED AND THEY HIRE A WHOLE NEW STAFF. SHAME ON YOU DIGITECH!!!!!!!