Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler

I find this box pretty easy to use. I say pretty easy because there are a few things about the function I would like to be revised. First of all, the knobs each control a fairly wide spectrum for each effect, but they're small which means slight turns can make a huge difference. while I like that they are fairly stiff, so no accidental bumps, It would be nice if they were wider somehow, just a hair wider. I use this primarily for playing guitar in one band, but I run a synth through it in another and play with the looper function. I sometimes set the repeats to full, and then crank the delay time all the way up (to the left, fastest time) to produce a solid tone, and then twitch delay time back to create a laser-ish dropping noise, except the solid tone is always captured at a lower pitch than the note i used. that i find a little irritating, plus the delay time seems to function in digital stages rather than a broad analog sweep.

Yes I know thats a lot to complain about, but it does so many things right that it evens out to an 8.

The sound is really really good. That sounds general and half retarded, I know, but those are the words that pop in my head when asked this. The looper sounds pretty good, and then delays are all fairly excellent. The analog delays don't really sound that analog, but thats only a few settings out of a dozen. The stereo delays sound freaking AMAZING (especially when run through my boss digital reverb, which is stereo). Yes, there are better delays out there, and yes there are better loopers out there, but this thing manages to put a ton of really good sounding stuff in one box, instead of one amazing sound in one box. It's like buying a really good sounding value pack. Don't pick this up if you're looking for a bunch of decent analog delays. As far as I can tell from all of line 6's equipment, they don't have a clue what analog anything sounds like.

Ok here's the thing with this unit: I fried it within a month of owning it, got a new one via Long & Mcquade warranty, and fried it again 8 months later. Also managed to get that one replaced, but still. I think it's an issue with the power adapter (1.5 amps?? seems high), or the power input, as that has broken and needed soldering a few times. It's a good thing I find this unit so damn fun, because any box that fries on me twice in a year doesn't last very long.

I've never dealt with them. I've heard good things.

I play in an alt rock band and use this delay for blurry "sonic youth" ish noise occasionally, and have one preset for a quick doubling sound for choruses. I also use it with a casio cz3000 to make noise in a psych rock band using the looper and echo functions. it works out pretty well for these uses, it's so versatile. So, works well for noise, works well for blurriness, awesome stereo delay, suprisingly good reverse delay which I don't believe I have mentioned, looper and echo delay function is decent... boring sounding analog delays, and sort of unreliable, but just get a warrantee. long story short, it's a hell of a lot of fun, and worth picking up for the price.

The instructions are straight forward, so as long as you take a look at them for a bit before your start messing with it, it sounds great! The manual is really straight forward, so having that around is really handy when starting off with it.

I'm playing a Strat and a Hot Rod Deluxe, and it sounds great through it! The true bypass helps a lot with preserving your original tone and you can really tell. Some of the delays do sound the same, but most of them have a slight distinct quality in them that makes them stand out. I personally have presets for a moderate sweep delay, a slight tape delay, and a moderate analog delay

I've used it every time I've played out, and I haven't had ANY problems!

Never had to deal with Line 6.

Honestly, this is the best delay I've used. I've played a fair amount of the Boss delays, I own an Ibanez DE7, and Ive heard many others, and this tops them all!
My favourite part is the ocelation! It's crazy! The sounds you can get out of it are just ridiculous, and with a bit of fooling around, you can control it pretty easily. If this one ever dies on me, I'm going and getting a new one ASAP!

This is a re-review with a correction and "a new twist in the story", read the previous few reviews down...

As I mentioned in the previous review, the footswitches fail frequently. Well, now they failed for good! We were on a four-day trip on a ship playing five sets per day, and the f***ing piece of crap died on me right there on the stage! Luckily the uneffected sound went through it, but imagine my frustration... Kicking the preset buttons had pretty much every other effect but the one simple thing they sould do; the preset and tap tempo lights would start to blink in funny ways, wrong preset would go on (except the delay sound), or the preset engaged was nothing like the one stored, etc. etc. etc.

I almost threw the thing to the sea, but decided to keep it for home use because of the looper. Haven't tried yet if even that works - propably not.

Well, at least the unit worked for about 3,5 years... Ridiculous for the cost.

Oh, and a correction to my previous review: the case is metal, not plastic. It's just different from the one I had before (got stolen), don't know how - lighter, thinner, different paint...?

Haven't dealt with them, and won't. If the company released real deal guitar effects instead of toys, I might bother.

If i.e. a Danelectro Daddy O. just keeps rocking year after year, why won't a Line6 DL4? Obviously by saving in the wrong place Line6 manages to ruin otherwise decent product.

Well, part of what I'm going to say is my own fault because I never read a manual unless I can't figure it out by playing with it, so therefore I'm not marking down.

Anways, when I first took it out of the box and set it up, I was able to quickly get my dotted 8th delay from it. The thing that got me was whenever I'd switch from one type of delay to another, the tweak and tweez knobs seemed to be doing completely different things. When I read into it, I found out that it specifically says they do different things with each delay (Duh). Basically, this thing comes with stickers that tell you what each setting will do on each type of delay. I'd suggest sticking those right on your pedal. It's a really simple unit to use as long as you know what the knobs are adjusting haha.

The sound is pretty freaking digital. When you mess with your amp settings and this together, you can get some pretty good sounds, but it's not as good as analog delays. I think the boss delays might even sound more authentic than this.

Well, I've had this for about 9ish months and luckily it's still under the manufacturers warranty because it just died on me. I was a drummer in a band when I first bought this, and when that broke up, made a band as a guitarist. Luckily we've been very secretive and not playing any shows until we record in May because I guess if I did, it would've died on me a lot faster, and maybe even in front of an audience.

I babied this thing and never even moved it back and forth from my practice space and home, minus a couple rare occasions. One day, I unplugged it to plug in a noise suppressor for some pre-production recordings and when I tried to plug this back it, it would not come on. The guitar signal still went through to the amp but no delay. I am truly amazed at how this happened. I'm not gonna get another Line 6 product because of what I've seen happen to other people.

I'll find out soon enough

Overall, it was a fun thing to mess around with, but I can't trust anything that would just die for no reason at all. I'd suggest that maybe it was just a faulty, one-in-a-hundred but there are WAY too many other people that have had it happen. I didn't think it would happen to me. I figured maybe they just abuse it, but I literally left this thing in place for a 9 months, never performed with it, and it just died.

I was stoked at first, but now I'm dissapointed.

I say - BIG PEDAL ) The best utilized digital pedal . thats all !!!!

Sound very clearest !!! I love loop function - for my lessons . Cool gear !!!

steel box !!!

www.guitareffectspedals.com

John Frusciante playing on this delay !!! Buy it - you love it !!!!

Mine is a B stock. It came with no manual. The Line 6 web site has only the settings pages and the factory presets, but nothing about how to save presets to buttons, etc. I figured that out on my own, but whether most could I'm not sure.

Editing is easy: turn the knob. But because two knobs take on different meanings depending on the model selected, you need a manual to help guide you. I suppose you could just listen and mess around, but...

This B stock has a metal case! It's got some nasty blemishes on it, but I don't care about the cosmetics.

My B stock has no issues. The sound is stellar. It does not affect the guitar tone negatively except for models that imply it, like tube tape echo or analog. There are settings that go unstable, particularly when the repeat knob is set high. I think it's quite transparent and very quiet.

There's no way to tell yet. There's a flood of these B stock units on the big music web retail sites, so something must be breaking and getting sent back. If they did indeed go to a plastic case, having a metal case B stock means that this is indeed an older unit that's been refurbed. If it was returned under warranty, maybe it just layed around for several years and they finally got to fixing it.

It's built like a freaking tank as far as I can tell. I've been playing 40 years and never had a switch fail once, ever, and don't expect these to fail either.

No idea.

I play classic, progressive, alternative rock, lightweight jazz, country, pop, and bluegrass. Even polkas if the pay is good. I am a professional musical hooker. I have a wide assortment of Fender, Gibson, PRS, Heritage, Martin, Collings, Godin, Schecter, G&L, Yamaha, and various miscellaneous guitars, mandolins, and basses. I use amps from 1W to 100 W, all tube, driving anything from one ten up though four 12s depending on venue. My pedal board includes Mike Fuller drive pedals and Choralflange, I run a constant-gain fully bypassable loop with a Boss SD1 driven by an MXR dyancomp, all gated by an ISP Decimator to keep the noise out, all pre-set and switched in and out with one button as a group by a Radial Engineering loop switcher. The wah is a Roger Mayer vision with carbon fiber pedal.

The drawbacks to this thing are it takes a 9v AC 1200 mA supply. Well, that's not exactly a popularly available thingy. Since I had an original generation POD, I used its supply. I ordered one to keep with the new pedal board this will go on, but it cost me $25. That sucks.

The other thing is, its big. I like the three presets: better than what Satriani does with two separate identical pedals as far as I'm concerned.

Mine is a B stock. It came with no manual. The Line 6 web site has only the settings pages and the factory presets, but nothing about how to save presets to buttons, etc. I figured that out on my own, but whether most could I'm not sure.

Editing is easy: turn the knob. But because two knobs take on different meanings depending on the model selected, you need a manual to help guide you. I suppose you could just listen and mess around, but...

This B stock has a metal case! It's got some nasty blemishes on it, but I don't care about the cosmetics.

My B stock has no issues. The sound is stellar. It does not affect the guitar tone negatively except for models that imply it, like tube tape echo or analog. There are settings that go unstable, particularly when the repeat knob is set high. I think it's quite transparent and very quiet.

There's no way to tell yet. There's a flood of these B stock units on the big music web retail sites, so something must be breaking and getting sent back. If they did indeed go to a plastic case, having a metal case B stock means that this is indeed an older unit that's been refurbed. If it was returned under warranty, maybe it just layed around for several years and they finally got to fixing it.

It's built like a freaking tank as far as I can tell. I've been playing 40 years and never had a switch fail once, ever, and don't expect these to fail either.

No idea.

I play classic, progressive, alternative rock, lightweight jazz, country, pop, and bluegrass. Even polkas if the pay is good. I am a professional musical hooker. I have a wide assortment of Fender, Gibson, PRS, Heritage, Martin, Collings, Godin, Schecter, G&L, Yamaha, and various miscellaneous guitars, mandolins, and basses. I use amps from 1W to 100 W, all tube, driving anything from one ten up though four 12s depending on venue. My pedal board includes Mike Fuller drive pedals and Choralflange, I run a constant-gain fully bypassable loop with a Boss SD1 driven by an MXR dyancomp, all gated by an ISP Decimator to keep the noise out, all pre-set and switched in and out with one button as a group by a Radial Engineering loop switcher. The wah is a Roger Mayer vision with carbon fiber pedal.

The drawbacks to this thing are it takes a 9v AC 1200 mA supply. Well, that's not exactly a popularly available thingy. Since I had an original generation POD, I used its supply. I ordered one to keep with the new pedal board this will go on, but it cost me $25. That sucks.

The other thing is, its big. I like the three presets: better than what Satriani does with two separate identical pedals as far as I'm concerned.

I do not see where anyone gigging or wanting to use more than one delay type within a song would find this pedal useful. The tweak and tweeze knob settings to change the character between the different delays is very difficult/ impossible to me/to adjust on the fly.

I have tried several of my guitars from Tele to Paul with a Marshall Plexi and a Tech 21. The pedal sucks the tone right out. Analog or digital modeling types all subtract from the tone and then adds a cheezy digital haze over the top. I bought it without personally demoing it and have not been able to find a use for this pedal.

I pulled it out of the box it was sitting in for the last 3 years and it still worked but still sounded bad.

I have used some older rack mount digital delays that I liked and did not eat the tone, Korg, Midiverb. The only use I could see for this pedal is if you were wanting all low fi delay effects. I thought the pedal would do both hi and lo fi but the one I has dosen't

Easy to use. Having three delay presets is nice, but I find that for playing live 4 hours at a stretch, I stuck with one sound I really liked which was the Dynamic Delay setting.

Sound quality is good, but I wouldn't say great. The only reason for that is I recently upgraded to a T.C. Electronic NovaDelay. After hearing the NovaDelay, it's been impossible to go back to the Line 6 pedal. Also, there is no way to get a dotted 8th note repeat on the Line 6 box. Forget about covering any mid-era U2 tunes. Put your guitar back in the stand and go relax with a beer while the rest of your band plays "Where The Streets Have No Name." The Line 6 box does have a loop feature on it. Don't waste your time trying to use it. It's utterly worthless since it does not quantize your rhythms.

I've read other reviews that talk about the problem of it being completely impossible to change out a switch that has gone bad on the Delay Modeler. I can verify that switches DO go bad on this pedal and replacing one is not impossible but is absurdly difficult. It would require A LOT of unsoldering and resoldering on the PC board to even get at the switch to remove it. Pretty stupid design flaw on Line 6's part. It shouldn't be that difficult to replace one of the least expensive moving parts on this pedal. To be fair, the pedal did serve me well for 4 years before the switch went bad. However, when you're spending $250 for the box plus $30-$35 for the power supply, I think the quality should be a lot better.

Left voicemail and sent email twice regarding my problem with the switch. No response at all from Line 6.

They get an "F" in customer support as far as I'm concerned.

I play mostly rock; classic to modern and I lead worship. My disappointment with the Line 6 stems from the disparity between the high cost of the pedal versus the lame design flaws and the apparent we-don't-give-a-rip non responsiveness of Line 6 customer no service. Like I said, the pedal served me well for 4 years, but for over $250 it should still be alive and kicking. If I had it to do over again, I would have started out with the Nova Delay, and never bought the Line 6 to begin with.

Not a piece of cake here. Had it since the year of the release, and still unable to remember the different functions of the knobs on different delay models... Mainly due to the fact I actively use only three of them, though.

With this unit, I've learned to hate digital effects. Changing a preset delay's setting (i.e. mix) is impossible to be done without turning the knob many times searching for the right spot. I strongly recommend an expression pedal assigned for the mix adjust, if used live. The best thing is that I just heard any passive volume pedal works! (in case of the mix adjustment) The point: on analog effect you can see the settings, and turning a knob does always the same - that's not the deal with DL4. Adjusting should be designed to be more straight forward and visual, and this sort of digital, "preset-oriented" machine, would benefit a lot from motorised knobs.

The manual is good, though, which is pretty rare I think. With a guitar stomp box you just shouldn't need one... (my opinion)

Just to make it sure: I ain't an idiot; it's not actually that DIFFICULT to use, it's just way too CLUMSY and SLOW to adjust the settings in live or otherwise fast situations.

My setup hardly has anything to do with the fuctionality of a delay effect. Just that I don't use the effect loop on my Laney LH20, and that the guitar's pickups and/or output level, volume, and other effects seem to affect the mix of dry and effected sound. Obvious? Propably. I haven't had or tested any other delay pedal with my gear, so can't be too sure.

The DL4 is not a noisy unit, and the actual sounds are awesome - once you've tweaked them to work with your other gear. That, the loop sampler and the versatility are the only reasons I still have this pedal...

I use mainly the Tape Echo, Analog Echo and Digital Delay as my preset sounds. With them I can cover pretty much anything needed on various styles fairly enough without constant tweaking - when on stage I want to perform, not tweak. And the sounds are great in quality too.

DL4 has two modes concerning affecting your sound when off: real, mechanical true bypass (default) and "Alternate Bypass", that keeps the DSP engaged. Which means, that when you kick off the effect, the delays don't disappear immediately like hitting a wall. I like this, though it has slight affect to the sound unlike true bypass. The affect is not that dramatic it would really change your sound's character. If you think it does, your only effect should be the cord.

The loop sampler is great! I once used it live, and if the pedal's footswitches don't fail you (which they frequently do) it's a blast! Due to the current situation (other gear than guitars not usually home) I can't practice and jam with it, but it's just great for that. If only it had a longer loop possibility - I almost always put it on half speed before recording the loop(s) to double the loop's length.

There are plenty of delay models to choose from, and I have to admit that I haven't used half of them. All tried once or twice years ago, but to really advantage from the special delay effects musically requires time and maybe another amp to go stereo. I have neither...

The first one I had had a metal case, the current one is plastic. Why?! The first one got stolen along with all my other effects... :( Luckily they were insured! Cannot find a couple of the vintage ones anymore though.

The knobs can't withstand any dust, they've gone all sticky in movement and feel like mounted in sand when turned. And I use, keep and transport my stuff properly in a pedalboard/case. I won't do a gig without shoes, though.

The footswithces are the worst thing. Nothing is as frustrating as this: I'm beginning a furious solo in the middle of a fast rock song, and the first two bars of the solo get half wasted trying to kick the delay on. Don't know what's wrong, but it's really beginning to piss me off. Though it's propably "just" dust in the switches' contact points (why did the dust get there?!), I'm going to buy a couple of analog delay/echo pedals and leave this piece of digital s**t to home/studio use. If cleaning the switches doesn't help, and it's a programming bug, I'll toss a bird with it. A gigging musician just can't trust gear that should ever need something like that. Could fail anytime, anywhere.

Haven't tried it, and won't. This is my first and last Line6 product.

I'm mostly into 60s/70s music, but since I need to get food on the table by gigging, the range is way broader. I play in a party band, that plays pop/rock music from 60s to this day, from Abba to Pink via anything in between and across. The DL4 manages good soundwise, but with it's poor reliability and clumsy tweaking it's letting me down more and more. Surprisingly many pros use this delay, though.

I've been playing electric for about 13-14 years, started off with classical few years earlier though. Now studying music and doing it for living.

If it were stolen (again), I would not do the same mistake I did before. Boss Giga/Nova Delay seems a lot better quality, if looking for a substitute. I'd propably seek for a couple of different analog ones - as I'll do in the near future anyway.

This question's great: "Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?" ... Haha, the circle completes: First it did help me get the sounds I was looking for when I bought it years ago - now it's a total drag with it's unreliability. Kind of like buying a new Fiat. New car is always good and the features suit you, but after a (rather short) while come the faults that make you frustrated. :D

So, I'm giving it a 5, mainly for the good sounds and versatility.