Korg 301dl Dynamic Echo

This is not the most "plugin and play" pedal out there... especially compared to the Boss DM and Ibanez/Maxon AD series delay pedals, which are beautiful in their simple three knob designs. This pedal has in fact four knobs, each with two different functions, plus a few added features... so it takes some experimentation and getting-used-to. Added to this is the incomprehensible and worthless "manual" which most likely confuses more than clarifies. However, once you've spent a few minutes trialing and testing the various knobs and discovering how to best make them work for you... it's a breeze to set, edit, and re-set and re-edit. Others below me have explained the controls and how they function, so read below if you haven't done so already.

Currently, I run this set up Fender 52 Ri Telecaster or Fender Deluxe Fat Stratocaster-->Zvex Fuzz Factory-->NVN Bronto Boost Jr.-->Locobox Spaceship Flanger-->Korg 301dl-->Vox AC30 TBX. I got this pedal because I needed a versatile delay that wouldn't crowd my pedalboard or complicate my signal path. I was drawn to this unit because of the value ($60-$100 on eBay) and the fact that it had ducking (!) and could have two totally different preset-able tones that ranged from digital to very analog sounding. I must say I have been happy with my purchase, as this pedal lives up to those expectations. I, like others, have it set to have one preset a strong rockabilly style slapback and the other to be a very spacey tape echo emulation. It performs beautifully on both accounts. Sure, "real" examples of the aforementioned would obviously do a better job... but this thing gets incredibly close - especially at band/gig levels. I've noticed that everyone complains about the noise of these pedals. Mine is dead quiet. (I continue to keep my fingers crossed.) It does have a *slight* volume drop when engaged, but it's barely noticeable. And it plays well with my other effects, warming everything up before sending the signal into my Vox.

I've been very lucky, having gigged with it several times and not experiencing the issues others have mentioned. I have noticed it sometimes will cut your signal *when using batteries* or the red side fails to function *when using batteries* - but it just take a few more stomps and it returns to normal. When gigging, I have it wired to my pedal board, so I don't have such problems.

NA

Overall, I've found this pedal to be very functional as a 2-in-1 versatile delay. It's relatively small, easy to use once you learn it's functions, and I find it to be a tremendous bargain... especially with the ducking feature. (Mostly, you'd have to go rackamount to get ducking....) If only it were a little more reliable. If lost or stolen, I'd most likely weigh my options... perhaps looking into the new Boss DD-20, which seems to be the stuff. But would be very content keeping this pedal.

Not bad, better than a rack or a multi - a bit harder than an AD9 ;)

Sounds great -in Low Fi, sounds very analog like my AD9 gets, then it can sound like my DDL10 digital delay if tweeked right. I like this because it's quiet and has good if not great sound quality.

never had a problem since winter 2000 it's almost fall 2003 now.

never tried - don't need

good all around delay with two programable switches. I program one to sound analog, and the other to sound digital. I am all set for my bands songs this way. For the price, it cannot be beat for quality or sound. Very dependable - a solid aluminum case and two heavy duty switches!

get one and see...

It's not easy to use, but if you like turning, pressing, whatelse, it'll be not a problem.
I don't know why they didn't put 8 knobs instead of 4 plus a switch, but they've been clever to put time, feedback and level in the same line. However you're given the possibility of saving two settings. fine.
Throw the manual away, useless. Or better: it's not a manual.

it's noisy, ok. VERY NOISY, but under the level of unbearable. I really like the possibility of choosing high and low dumpings. It's so fine that i uses it also like a little reverb always switched on.

well.uhm. Let's see. I've just bought it.

well, boys, a little manual? no?

i play some sort of pop-rock, and it really colors up the sound of my guitar (a bad SG from epiphone). I love the sound that it makes in the lo-fi setting, the ducking feature can be very useful, i go crazy for the low and high dumping, if it just ad 8 knobs...

I'm going to skip this as my sole reason for this contibution is to help all the poor souls that bought one or more of these much maligned pedals.

Keep reading....

As you already know,these pedals all have a severe problems with the switches that manifest themselves as dropouts, even total silence.The problem can be addressed, however by opening up the units via the six Phillips screws, then pulling up the right side first guiding the PCB past the two metal lugs.You might as well disconnect the battery holder ,while you're at it, because all these pedals hum like a mother
without a PSU.
Now, see that plastic clip that clamps the PCB to the footswitch?It is almost certainly putting undue pressure on the cheap nasty footswitch,causing the contacts to be misaligned.You can remove the clips by squeezing them with pair of needlenose pliers,however the circuit board then might flap around and the LEDS will fall into the body.The thing to do then is undo the footswitch collar and reseat the switches in such a manner,that thereis nop pressure on the switch itself. You do this by lowering or raising the footswitch in its hole
by rotating the nut on the inside of the chassis.You have to gauge this by sight, and you might have to do it more than once to get the footswitch to catch everytime,but it worked for all three of my pedals.Do this to both switches in the unit then give 'em a blast with DE OXIT or WD40 for good measure.In the event you still have a problem
replace the footswitches with a pair of Carling or Fulltone switches.Although this requires major surgery these boxes(except the multi effect)are worth it.I'll try and answer any questions (tykey@ix.netcom.com),but I am not a representative of Korg,so don't hassle me.This information is free and it's a pantload more than Korg ever gave us.
THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!

If Korg made cars there would have been a class action suit already.
Hello,Jacoby and Myers?

Korg sucks

I bought it off of eBay. It came without a manual. This thing is a bit of a pain in the ass. It is not intuitive at all. I have figured out how to use it, but it took quite a while. The good 'ol days of a three know delay look quite good from this vantage point.

I use a Custom Telecaster --> Dano Tuner --> Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive --> Korg Delay --> Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue.

It sounds good once you learn how to use it. There are a ton of great tones available. You can do things that you would typically only find in a high end rack-mount gear.

Seems fine so far. I'd gig w/o a backup.

N/A

Good pedal, but it might be a little too good for its own good. I'll likely trade it in for an AD-99 or something like that.

N/A: P.S. to earlier review by "Mark."

It is strange how one can rave about a product and then return to it and find many things wrong. In my case it is one that I sort of downplayed and postited a quick-fix solution.

The problem with this product is noise. Hiss and noise are driving me crazy. I don't really care about the dry deafeat stuff that others make a big deal because I will agree with others who say it does not seem to make a big difference with this unit. But since I use so few effects these days I know where the noise is coming from and it is really distracting. People have actually come up to me and said, "hey Mark I really love your sound and your band is great but what was that annoying hiss sound between songs? I was really loud." Just great.

Would someone tell me what I can do? I have used a Boss Noise Suppressor but no matter how I use it the problem persists. In some uses the suppressor cuts off the long delays and in other uses it cuts down, thank god, on the single coil buzz while leaving the delay noise untouched. Help.

I love the versitility of this unit as much as before (see my review below), but the noise must be dealt with or I am going to be forced to go to Line 6 for comfort.

N/A

N/A

Again-love the sounds, but hate the noise. It is just too much. It makes more noise than my compressor, two distortions, and single-coil hum put together. I just never realized it until I decided to devolve and see how little I could get by on. The delay is essential for me but I could see it being replaced by the ugly green model from Line 6 if I can't get the noise under control. This would be a shame because the Korg is more user friendly and organic and versitile in some ways than the presets on other models and rack gear. You can create your own "vintage-sounding" sounds for modern use. Or "modern sounding" stuff for vintage use or whatever.

Email me if you can help me. I am really at a loss. Am actually thinking of buying another for stage use, but man not if it means twice the noise.

Not too bad once you've gotten the hang of it. I keep forgetting to flip the bank toggle switch while tweaking though. I spend too much time re-tweaking settings that were previously perfect. Maybe I'm just in too much of a hurry. Other than that, once you're sounds are dialed, you toggle the effect on/off or toggle between presets. Simple. Just don't expect to make quick changes on the fly...

I currently play a G&L S-500 or a Les Paul Classic through a Dunlop 535 wah, a Microvibe, Green Rhino, Voodoo Labs Overdrive and Tremelo into the Korg 301dl and finally into a '65 Bandmaster head. I doubt that the 301dl is true-bypass but I can say that it doesn't seem to mess up my tone at all when bypassed. It works great at the end of my effects chain unlike many digital effects which tend to clip high signal levels. I can crank up my Voodoo Labs Overdrive and the 301dl handles it with ease! The effect is very versatile but I would have to say after using it for over a year now that it is not the best choice for a good slapback or doubling echo. My Dan Echo delay does a much better slapback or doubled echo sound (too bad its such a tone-sucker). Where the Korg really excels (IMHO) is at producing a nice subtle, liquidy delay that won't stomp all over your solos. The key to getting this effect is a judicious, conservative setting of the ducking parameter. This setting is very dependent upon your input signal level. Fortunately, Korg included a HI/LO switch that evens things out when I switch from my humbucker eqipped Les Paul to the single-coils of my G&L. Or you can create a preset for each guitar and footswitch between them if you prefer. Other delays I've owned and used are a DOD GFX9 (pretty good lo-fi delay), a Boss DD-5 (too hi-fi for me), a Dan Echo (geat delay but sucks tone, bypassed or not). I keep coming back to the Korg though. My only gripe is that the signal level drops a bit when the effect is on. So far I've been able to live with it.

No failures or problems so far unlike my other Korg unit, a 104ds distortion which is plagued by switching quirks. The 301dl hasn't let me down after a year of solid use. I don't own a backup since I can fall back on the Dan Echo. Finding a replacement might be difficult since they are no longer in production.

I've never needed customer support.

The Korg 301dl covers a lot of bases for me an keeps me coming back for more. I haven't found a better, more versaile delay in this price range.

I will agree with the other reviewers that the manual leaves a great deal to be desired as it is written for a variety of nationalities and covers THREE separate stomp box models. Its like Korg was trying to effectively explain this product to as many potential buyers as they could but, like the upcoming Olympics will no doubt prove much like the last one in my fair city of Atlanta, you cannot try to be everything to everyone. I am not saying that Korg has no business trying to sell globally, but they could have spent a little more time filling up the manual with suggestions, settings, and explanations to those of us who were born after the Ford Administration and who have never sat down with an old Tube/Solid State echoplex or a dusty old Dod/Ibanez/etc analog pedal AND JUST TOLD US WHAT WAS UP! They could have sent "continent-specific" or "nation specific" boxes out and saved alot of grief from the consumer. I am all for the joys of exploration and can say that in retrospect it has been fun creating my own versions of those old pedals/units that I've heard on tape over the years, but that is me and many of the reviews have expressed resentment and dissapointment over the vagueries of the manuel. Many have traded their units away and it seems that the line has been discontinued. It is sad because, as you will see, I believe the Korg Dynamic Delay is just that--very dynamic and useful. The delay is excellant in its price range and compact size for its ability to help you cover the history of delay and with a little the majority of the guitar players out there could find a few convincing, inspiring, and satisfying useful tones to play with. That is until some new thing comes along or they get their hands on an old echoplex (and go crazy with the tape, heads, limits) or some overpriced and noisy old analog box or the Line 6 model.
The editing patches, for example, are easy to use if one reads the afore-mentioned manual. The one strength of the manual is its basic blueprint of the simple, effective, and musical features of this pedal.

Others below explain the pedal as well but here is the basic layout: There is a row of four knobs and two footswitches housed in a metal and plastic frame. The switch on the left is the on/off and the one on the right controls the patches (green for one, red-orange for the other). In between KNOB TWO AND THREE IS A MINI-TOGGLE SWITCH and this controls the top or bottom settings for each knob. So for each knob, then, there are two functions. Korg was forward thinking in their emphasis on the up settings' inportance for onstage tweaks and such. The time, repeat, hi-cut, and level are all on the toggle up settings right where they should be. One does not have time to suss around between songs or sets even and deep editing must be done before a performance.

KNOB ONE: There is both a TIME control (up to a second--just, as I have read below, like an Echoplex and enough for some to create their vibe) and a PREDELAY. The predelay is particularly effective for slapback use and creating a little slap before the onset of a longer delay. It is like playing in a medium theatre or a hall and you get a blast of ricocheted (is that a word) signal before the sound decays in to the larger room.

KNOB TWO: The repeats are self-explanatory. They range from a single hard repeat (think Scotty Moore, Danny Gatton, or even the old Chess studios) to indefinite. With a flip of the center toggle switch, one can access the hi/low-fidelity universe awaiting the brave guitarist. Hard left to center is digital delay which degrades as one approaches 12 oclock; beyond 12 the sound becomes as some have described "swamy" or "distorted" or "muddy" but I kind of think that as the knob is turned to its hard left conclusion it starts to sound like my brother when I was 10 and he kept putting his finger in his mouth and pulling it out making that m

The pedal has been accused of being too noisy. First, I use a well-regulated power supply and not a battery. I play 2 or 3 nights a week in a professional capacity here in Atlanta and practice 2 times as well (gotta keep those new members in top shape, right?) and with 5 pedals on my board, I could not swing the battery prices. I power the Delay pedal with its own separate adapter and daisy chain the rest with a Boss line which is powered by the next important part of my board: a noise suppressor. Set to lower and tolerable settings, the suppressor eats the little noise gremlins and audio monsters which reside between the single coils of my SRV Strat through the Ernie Ball volume pedal-Boss Chromatic tuner-Route 66 pedal-Boss Blues driver-the afore-mentioned Korg Dynamic Delay-the supressor and into my 72 Super Reverb which then powers a Rotating Horn cabinet for cool and unique phase/leslie/chorus. All of this is powered by a power strip that sits on my very crowded pedal board. The Delay sounds great with my G&L S-500 set up for slide and my Yamaha AES 1500. It is unobtrusive, comparatively quiet (compared to undependable tape units or old analog boxes or expensive new gear), and I just like it. So, I guess it would be noisy if your batteries are low or weak, your power supply was crapping out or was supplying the incorrect amount of MilliAmps (OH So Important), or you were not quieting a long effects chain down with something. Sometimes I put the DELAY through the noise suppressor's parallel loop because the Fender Super does not have an effects loop, but I can't stand effects loops anyway. It sounds like I am playing guitar through one set of speakers and with one set of effects and the delays are coming from a completely different place. One might say that I am simply not using the loops as they were intended, but there is only so much time to master one's guitar playing, tone, and creating of unique music and I trust my ears first and foremost. Effects loops sound bad to me and until I am told otherwise, I will still say that.
In terms of "modeling" the sound of other artists with the Korg Delay all I can say is that when I want to sound like that guy or that girl's sound/song/vibe I have arrived in the ballpark every time. I am satisfied with many of the sounds, but I know that there are better ones out there. The original units and the original album sounds as well as the gear, personalities, and philosophies of each and every player whose sound is just begging to be copped is nary to impossible. Does it sound good? Yes. Is it perfect? I don't know, but I would not sit and write this much about anything if I did not have an opinion.
To satisfy some of you out there, I will offer this: I am playing is what is referred to as a "Rockabilly Night" at a local bar here in Atlanta and someone usually comes up to me after a show or after soundcheck wondering where I am hiding the Tube Echoplex. We play Danny Gatton's version of the Sun songs "That's Allright Mama/Mystery Train/My Baby Left Me" as heard on his "Cruisin'Deuces" record and the slap back sounds very similar to the one on the records. The only difference I believe is that he was either using the Chandler Tape Unit or a Tube Echoplex Model and the sound was a little more driven and raw than the stuff I can emulate from this Delay Pedal. . . . The Line 6 model and countless echoplexes sitting in vintage resale shops and guitar studios probably are best a recreating those sounds . . . if you have lots of money to spend. (Just kidding, really it seems kind of silly to compare these things in this kind of setting because most every guitar player on earth I know would not only trade his/her current guitar(s), effect(s), amp(s), cords, switches, picks, tubes, transistors, caps, for something different (or the same as such and such), old (new), better (or worse if you are a Sonic Youth fan), or w

I depend on this, as I said, at least 4 nights a week. I use this without a backup if you don't the lead singer/rhythm guitarist's Ibanez Analog Delay that actually seems more like a fuzz box these days because the circuit or the transistors have aged like Thunderbird wine. It still is kind of cool, though. Yes I don't have a backup, but I really don't think that I need one anymore. I say anymore because I had a really hard time when I got this unit 2 years ago because the on/off switch would not work properly. Sometimes when I would stomp on it, I would get a half signal or a really muddy signal. I took it to (gasp) Guitar Center and was surprised and kind of relieved to that the thing, even though no longer under Korg's warranty system b/c the unit was discontinued (how convenient for Korg when their product is not selling to just leave those of us who did patronize the company out at sea) GUITAR CENTER, bless their corperate hearts, did prove to have a heart and sent the item back to Korg on the Guitar Center's warrenty. So I must eat my roasted crow and say that Guitar Center does not always suck and that some major Wal-Mart-like corperate entities do look out for their customers, even if the cheap bastard only spent about 70 dollars in their store a year and never buys that Bird's Eye Maple Highly Figured Mahogany PRS that they so desperately want to sell me.
A final note on reliability: Even hand made Klons or Dr. Z Amps come with a few problems from time to time. My little Delay unit crapped out on me in about September of 1998 and in mid-December of 1998 I got a brand spanking new unit (not my original, I could tell. They did not even try to fix it, they just gave me a new one) and everything has been fine, fine, fine. So everything turned out ok and I won't give them a really bad rating for the problem. I would be absolutely brutal if I had never heard a word from them and would have been stuck with a lemon, though.

This has been covered. Had a problem, got a new unit. Free. Who could complain?

My playing runs a broad gamut, but I am especially suited to Texas Blues a'la King/Hopkins/the Vaughns as well as Peter Green/Otis Rush stuff. I write orginals, play covers, and jam in an open mic setting so many other people are having a ball stomping all over my gear. Oh well. The salient point here is that the Korg Dynamic Delay pedal has accentuated my playing, inspired me, and has made me sound better than I probably was playing that night.
If it was stolen or broken by someone other than me then I would call up an old time posse and . . . no I'd probably be really bummed out and would check Harmony Central and ebay for people who were selling them. I might buy the new flavor of the month like the Line 6, the Hughes and Kettman tube delay thing ($650!!!!????), or some other thing to get me by, but you gotta figure that for as much time and energy that I have put into figuring this thing out (hell, in writing this review!!!) I would be at a definite loss for a while.
I have been playing for over 14 years and I have NOT played everything, but I know how to get a good sound and this particular pedal is a big part of my good sound. All of the parts of my tone chain are responsible for its sum and the other night an old bluesman who is an icon here in Atlanta mentioned that he had not heard a sound that good in a long time and that is good enough for this mortal.
Brass TAX: I love the hi/low cuts and the ducking and the fidelity knobs. I love the 3 seperate program possibilities. Could it have tap tempo, more presets, modulation, less hiss? Sure. It would not be what it is. (I hate syrupy chorus and I've heard Korg's factory chorus on their multieffects pedals and it would be a distraction in my book.) The hiss is not that bad. The presets and the tap tempo might make it bulky and noisier. I don't know, it seems good as it is. Case in point, the Music Man amps of the 70s replaced the vibrato that was standard on old Fenders with (blech) a really cheesy phasor control. I say let things be what they are and if you change things, be very careful not to really screw things up.

If you can find one, try it out fellow players. They are probably used, cheap, and fun. They most likely would not come with an owner's manual, but refer to this posting as many times as you would like, explore, and if all else fails, email me and we will see what we can do.

Have fun.

Very easy to use for anyone who has ever owned a delay pedal. The controls for echo quality and ducking are great fun to play with and the sounds they give you will produce new songs. My only complaint its that the switch that chooses the control settings. Korg really should have just added four more knobs to the pedal. It's a hassle. So once you save your patches, be sure to write them down or you'll never know what they were.

Pretty quiet pedal. Note: there is an audible click when you engage/disengage pedal, but it's tolerable. Like I said, it does all the standard delay sounds but its greatest strength is the echo quality control. It gives you a whole new palette of sound to play with.

Very solid. Metal encasing is going to protect it until the end of the world. Beware, the metal is also kind of sharp and can scratch your other pedals. I've had mine for three months and it's still running fine.

Never dealt with Korg.

This is a great pedal for those who are sick of the regular choices for delay pedals. The new Line 6 ones look sharp, but really, $250 for a delay pedal? The Korg has just as many features and is much cheaper. Delay better be an integral part of your sound if you're going to spend that much on a stompbox. But if you just want some delay every so often so spice up your sound in a unique way, get the Korg. Of course they're not made anymore but you can still catch them on eBay every so often.

I've read through the other reviews on this pedal and agree for the most part. I'm just going to elaborate here on the pro's and con's that I think weren't stressed enough in the prior reviews. First, the manual is pathetic. It was written not only for this pedal, but for the 3 other pedals that Korg manufactures in this series (distortion, multi-effect, etc.) Also, the manual contains Spanish, French, and Japanese instructions so it's kind of a pain in the ass to find the section that pertains to your particular concerns. Editing is also difficult due to single knobs being assigned to multiple functions, but with time you can get used to it. Don't plan on adjusting this thing during a gig in the dark. Also, I've seen the price of this unit dropping every time I visit the local music store and I believe that this delay might have been discontinued due to poor sales. However, don't shy away from this pedal because if you can pick it up for a good price (I've seen them selling as cheap as $59 bucks) it's really a great addition to your pedal board.

I got rid of my Boss DD-5 (and DD-3) pedals and replaced them with the Korg 301DL. If you take the time to tweak this pedal, the sound it really good. My personal opinion about effect is that they shouldn't totally mask a guitar sound, but rather give color to an already good tone. In this regard, the Korg succeeds. The echo/delay is warm (yes, it's a tad noisy), but the underlying sound is still your guitar and your amp. If you plug into a crap DOD multi-effects processor (e.g. FX-7), it doesn't really matter what your playing with because everything comes out sounding the same. I use this pedal with a Bogner Shiva amp and a PRS Custom and 57 RI Strat. I could stand a little more delay time for deep wailing feedback, but honestly, sound quality is the one reason that I keep this pedal on my board (and I went through about 5 different delays before finally settling on this one).

Reliability is questionable with this pedal. It has bubble memory - meaning that even without power, the pedal is supposed to save your two preset delay patches. However, I've found that my delay settings have been "lost" if the pedal is left unpowered for long enough. I have learned to alway check all settings on this unit during sound checks because as I've indicated, adjusting this thing during a show is next to impossible. Also, my first 301DL flat out died and began making buzzing noises and simply would not retain sound patches. I guess it's a testimony to the sound quality and features of this pedal that I bought another one to replace it. (I found the second pedal for $60 during a close-out sale at MARS music. So far, pedal #2 is working fine. Finally, this pedal draws 150 milliamps of power, which is more than most stomp-boxes (i.e., Boss, DOD, etc.) I had problems powering this unit off of the multi-power supply built into my SKB pedal board and had to purchase a Voodoo Lab pedal power power supply to keep everything in good order. That solved all the problems.

Forget about trying to reach Korg. I couldn't find a number anywhere on the packaging when my first pedal died. Also, their web site has no e-mail address to contact the company. You can only add your name to their mailing list so that they can inform you via spamming about all their "exciting" new products. This pedal is pretty much a $70 gamble. If you get a year of solid use out of it, you've gotten you money's worth. Don't count on getting a broken one repaired.

Well, for all my complaining, I now own two of these units. Read through the other reviews for features, but I do agree that the ducking feature is one of the least common and most useful features of this pedal. Apart from reliability issues and power consumption (the unit oddly runs off 4 AA batteries), the sound of this pedal is stellar. For me, tone is king, so I'll continue to tolerate the problems to get the benefits of this stompbox. I've never owned an Echoplex, but I believe this is about as close a digital emulation (with a few extra features thrown in) that you're going to find. Also, now that they're being phased out, it's pretty easy to score a good deal on a pedal that orginally retailed for almost $200.