Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler

This is not very easy to use without some practice. The tweak and tweez thing was a good idea, but I can never remember what they're for. The looper is pretty straitforward.

Tele>seymour pickup booster>vox wah>fuzz>jekyll and hyde>boss chorus>dl4>peavey C30

I like the delay sound a lot. You can tell the analog models are not perfect, but they're great approximations. My favorite is the memory man. The looper is pretty cool too. I use it for getting big sustain sounds, not to be a one man band (not enough practice). The reverse sounds pretty harsh to me.

One thing that I do not like about this pedal is that it seems to color the dry tone on all of the analog models. Maybe that's fixed in the newer version, but I doubt it.

I've had this for about two years, and the only problems I've had were dead batteries, but I use a power supply now. The 1spot and voodoo lab supplies work fine. It really doesn't take 1200mA. They just wanted to sell the rest of their pod supplies. If I were smart I would not have gotten it, based on the poor reliability reviews, but I must have gotten lucky.

I emailed them about what power supplies I could use, but got an auto reply from their support website. I got another email later saying that they had posted an answer on the web, but I had to register to see it (or something like that, I can't remember). They said you can only use the line6 supply, which was wrong.

I've been playing for about 5 years. I play Christian rock, mostly in church, and this is a great fit for me. It was a lot more than I wanted to pay, but I think it was worth it now.

Not as hard to use as the DD-20 but theres a reason for that.

I am biased because I now hate line 6.
I hated there amps. only cheesy three doors down style cover bands use line 6.
Like this band in Cincinnati called Langus. They suck dick. I hate them.
Anyway, when this thing works it sounds good, but it is such a piece of crap.
It's analog rendition is far worse than the Boss DD-20. The digital delay and reverse delay are about the same though.
I am using it with a Fender twin and a thinline tele. My only other effects are a Dod FX-17 Wah(very very underated) and a homemade fuzz from Awenda music(check them out these pedals are amazing and cheap)
That's it.

This is where this thing sucks. Right out of the box it was dead.
And i got it at guitar center! talk about fragile, cause I didn't just throw it in the trunk, ya know.
Took it back, got a new one, worked great.
First show the looper kept cutting off while I was soloing.
Took it home, it did good all week, next show, stopped working all together. I had to take it out of my line-up and play without delay.
Then i read these reviews and got the DD-20.
Line 6 sucks.

I didn't call the company, just took it back.
From the looks of things it sounds like they suck as much as their crappy merchandise.

Listen, maybe if you are a tone deaf, shredder, stoner, retard, "I play for the chicks and the booze" type. Yeah, Line 6 is probably the Shiznit.
But, if mommy and daddy don't buy your gear, and you appreciate a quality product and a good deal, leave Line 6 stuff alone. I know it is easier to have all the effects you could need right in your amp or right on your "pod". But it is the musical equivalent of selling your soul.
I guess if you are in a cover band it helps you out when you have to play "she f%cking hates me">"You shook me all night long">"super clever 80's medley where we play ice ice baby and act like we are the only ones who have ever done it", but who gives a shit about you besides the drunk chicks you let sing in the mic anyway?
Sorry I REALLY hate cover bands. But they do get all the chicks.

Back to the DL-4. This thing sucks. Save yourself 60 Bucks and get a DD-20. If you get an extra Tap Tempo switch with it, then there is NO reason to get the DL-4 instead. Unless you really really really really belive all that true bypass mumbo jumbo.
Folks, True bypass is only necessary for Wahs, Flangers, and Phasers(Phasors if you nasty). On any other effect it is just a selling point.
The Electro-Harmonix 16 sec. is awesome too, but not as much stuff and waaaayyyyy to rich for my blood.
Haven't tried the Akai Headrush but I did use to own a Digitech pds 8000. Those babies are sweeeet too. No reverse and not a long enough loop though. But they are great.

"Since when was banality considered a good quality for a role model to posess.....Play from your f%#king HEART!" - Bill Hicks, stand-up comedian, philosopher, visionary, sinner

Easy to get a good sound out of it, but not easy to tweak. You can't footswitch to looper, which sucks. Manual is TOO COOL (sarcasm). I got mine a while back, and I have been regretting it lately...

Sound quality is pretty sterile, when you think of what it is supposed to 'model'. It doesn't come close to any of my real analog delays, including my DM-2, and Korg tape echo. My effects have been screwing up lately, and the thing looks brand new!! I use it with Marshall, Garnet, Traynor amps, sounds OK, when it works (read on).

NOT RELIABLE AT ALL!! This rating should be zip, but it isn't only because it worked more than once. However, it doesn't work now, and I have barely used it over 3 years. Piece of CRAP, compared to other units. My reverse echo doesn't work, neither does the volume swell setting; the looper's 1/2 time reverse (tap tempo) button is intermittant and screws up now and then. This thing is worse than a tape Echo because at least, usually, you know what is wrong with a tape delay when it kaks out. This thing, however, will likely require hours of labour!! DON"T BUY THIS PEDAL!!

They answer questions quickly, but my warranty is up and so I'm screwed. Pedals that cost $300 plus should not fuck up after a couple years of light use-they just shouldn't!

I play spacey music, and rock, and etc. etc. I have been playing for 14 years. I have loads of vintage effects. This line 6 thing comes close, but no cigar. It f-ed up too much. I am very pissed off at it right now, because it should work and it doesn't...

Quite difficult to get to grips with quickly - definitely requires sitting down with to explore all the functions. The settings are quite sensitive - it can takes time to find the sound you're after. The manual for this pedal is fantastic - very well written and useful.

As most people have said, the only frustrating things about the DL4 are that you can only save 3 settings and that you can't dial in a sound, press the switch and get that sound (a la a Boss delay). This is a shame, but its sound quality and versatility make up for this.

My setup is:

2004 American Deluxe Telecaster > Boss DD5 > Boss RV3 > Boss OD3 > Keeley-mod Boss BD2 > Rat 2 > Big Muff Pi (USA) > Line 6 DL4 > Boss TU2 > Fender Twin reverb '65 reissue.

I already own quality digital delays in the Boss DD5 and RV3 which I am very happy with. I was looking for something that was more versatile and offered a greater palette of delay sounds. The DL4 is wonderful. I can't compare the modelled sounds to the original pedals as I haven't played many of them. My friend owns a Deluxe Memory Man and the DL4 pretty much nails that sound. But I'm not concerned with how true to the originals the DL4 sounds. I wanted lots of different delay sounds - i got 'em!

The looper is great. and I particularly like the Multi-head delay, stereo delay and volume swell modes (nail that Explosions in the Sky sound!).

My FX chain is pretty long and adding the DL4 didn't increase noise. It's quiet.

So far so good, but I've only owned it for a month. I would gig without a backup, but if I could afford a backup I'd get another!

N/A - touch wood!

Been playing for over 10 years. I play post-rock style music. Delay is extremely important to my sound. I love Boss digital delays and I love this equally. Very different beasts and both very worthy.

I love the sheer range of sounds you can get from the DL4 and hate that you can only store 3 of them!

If it were lost or stolen yes, I'd buy a replacement.

This unit not only sounds good out of the box but creating, changing and saving presets is very easy. Playing live I'll use the tap tempo and save it on the fly. I just wish it had room for more presets. Only 3 presets for a unit that has a dozen different delays is kind of a tease. I also dont like how to swith to the loop sampler you must turn a knob. Makes using delays and the sampler in the same song in a live setting difficult. The manual is very help and actually fun to read! (Then again being the gearhead I am I enjoy reading all manuals)

I Play a Les Paul and a PRS McCarty through a Mesa F-100 and Marshall 1960 4X12 and the delays sound great with my setup. When I use the loop sampler the sound quality of the loops sound good but even with the mix all the way up my drummer complains that he cant hear the loop when I solo over top. The unit is quiet and switching is silent. I like how the delay continues to decay even after you switch it off. I use this pedal at the end of my effects chain but in front of my amp. I know that modulation effects are supposed to sound better through the effects loop but for some reason whenever I've tried the effects loop on either my F-100 or my Rectifier it sounded HORRIBLE! Who knows maybe I'm a moron and don't know how to use an effects loop. I've noticed that the repeats are louder when on my gain channell. I like the lo-res delay and the sweep echo. The lo-res delay gives you that really dark sounding delay that Wes Borland uses and sounds great with my Roland Jazz Chorus. The digital delays and the rhthymic delays are great with low gain to get that Edge from U2's sound. This is the first delay unit I've had that using delays in time with my songs is easy. I love the tap tempo function. I've never tried the pedal in a stereo setup but I would love to hear the multi-head delay and the stereo delays.

This is the only delay unit I currently own and I RELY on it every show. I have no back up delay pedals! I gig at least 3-4 times a month and I've never had a problem. I was a little miffed that I had to buy the power supply seperate and it has it's own special power supply. I've owned my pedal for over 3 years. Not a single problem. After reading so many reviews with people who have had problems it makes me wonder if I got a magical one but then I remember I know at least 6 other musicians who own this pedal and I've never heard of them having problems.

Never had to contact Line 6.

This is a great pedal that not only sounds good but is very versatile. ALL the delays in this unit not only sound authentic but are also useful. There are very authentic sounding vintage echoes as wells as clear modern sounding delays. At the time that I bought this pedal there really weren't many units that do all this stuff except for rack gear, so if I had to replace it now I would do a little research to see anything else comparable has come on to the market. I'm also curious to try the rack version of this unit because I feel like I'm unable to maximize all the different delays due to the lack of presets. I would say that the tap tempo feature has allowed me to learn how to play with delay and use it rhthymically to write songs. It's a steal for how much it costs.

Like everyone else said, tweak and tweez are the kickers, hard to remember what they do sometimes, but it comes with these nice little stickers that you can stick right on the pedal that tells you what they do for each setting. Looper is easy enough to use after some time.

I'm playing a PRS McCarty through a peavy 5150 head and a 4x12 marshall 1960 cab
These delay sounds are awesome, a couple favorites of mine are the Auto Volume Swell Echo, Low res, and tube echo just to name a few.
Best sounding delays I have ever used.
The Looper was also a large reason I purchased this pedal. You can make some really cool sounds with this. Record a loop, play a phrase, record it, and you can play it back normally or...at half speed, reverse, reverse half speed, double speed, double speed reverse., its really cool, very fun

I would use it without a backup, these things are expensive, and I dont necesarrily need it, but I have played a couple shows without it recently because of power supply issues, and it wasnt bad, but this thing adds alot to my songs live.

Built like a rock too

havent had to deal with them yet, but I hear they are good

I play in an indie/dancy/rock band, there are a lot of things I can use this for. trying to write new songs using the sampler's craziness.

also play in a pop punk/rock/indie band
this thing has done wonders to our live show, and I will be recording with it this weekend for the first time

A chorus pedal is easy to use. A Delay modeler and loop sampler pedal with tons of crazy functions is not. However, for what it offers, I think line-6 did a very good job of making it user friendly. The loop sampler is pretty easy to use. I have got 2 guys in my band who occasionaly stomp on it during performances, and always do so correctly.

One of the things that really makes the delays easy to use is the tap tempo. It's usually pretty difficult to turn a knob and get the exat right tempo. The tap tempo makes it very easy.

The main complaint for ease of use is the Tweek and Tweez knobs, because they do different things for each different delay. So you either have to play with them, or read the manual when you get to a delay patch you are not familiar with.

If you have any trouble, the manual is fantastic. It has pictures and explanations of all the old pedals it is modeling. The manual is great.

I give it a 9 because, although it's complex, I don't see how it could be much easier.

The sound quality is fantastic. When using the loop sampler, your loops will sound EXACTLY as they did when you played them. They don't end up choppier or dirtier. The delay effects are very very good also. You can achieve many different sounds. My favorite is the low-fi delay. Which allows you to set the bit rate, and make it sound really low-fi, like some old analoge gear.

All of the effects are very good and very versatille.

I have had no concerns with reliability. I have had it for several months. It's very strong. I haven't dropped it, but I doubt doing so would hurt it. The shell is really tough. It's a strong metal. The buttons are all very reliable as well. They always work.

I do not have a backup, and the pedal has given me no reason to be concerned.

I have not dealt with customer service. I haven't had any need to.

I bought this pedal specifically for the loop sampler. I am extremely pleased with it. I would have paid $500 for this unit.

The loop sampler surpassed my expectations. You can reverse your loops, you can half time them. You can use a simple rythmic delay while sampling. You can layer infinately. You can record 28 seconds worth of material.

Another great feature is the dual inputs and outputs. When practicing with my band, I have my guitar plugged into it, and my keyboard player plugged into it. I loop something, he lays down some keys on top, and I loop them also. Then I switch out his keyboard input, and we put some bass on... then he switches to guitar, and we jam, with a really full sound. He is able to play 3 instruments this way. It's incredible.

And the delays are fantastic. I really don't use a lot of delay, so I didn't think I would be too concerned with them, but they are great. I find myself using the reverse delay a lot. You can play anything, and it reverses it in real time.

In one of our tunes we have a little interlude that is just keyboard. During that time I start to play with my reverse function. I play some notes in the correct key to provide a bit of background noise. Towards the end of that section, I scrape down the strings really hard, and I start tweaking the delay knob... which just makes everything go crazy! It sounds insane. You can create some really weird stuff this way. Everything from screeching white noise to a fast machine gun type sound.

I would also like to note that you can plug in any instrument that has a 1/4 inch connection. I have tried keyboards, bass guitars, electronic drumkits, and even vocals.

I have plugged vocals into it, and used the reverse delay with them. Hearing yourself sing backwards, in a live setting, is pretty fun.

no problems here.

nice. no major complaints here either.

mine was dead right out of the box! i wasn't surprised after reading all the other reviews. thought i'd take a chance on it and lost. exchanged it for another only because i thought that the DL-4 was the only thing out there that did a bunch of different delays AND could be used for loops. being a total gear junky, i'm embarassed to say that i was unaware of the Boss Giga Delay DD-20. so as you've probably figured out by now, i got rid of the Line 6, got the Boss and haven't looked back. (except for this review LOL) The Boss DD-20 is far superior, but that's for it's own review. what YOU should know about the Line 6 is that it CANNOT be counted on. it almost seems as though Line 6 is trying to hide the origin of this pedal's manufacture. take the back cover off and you will see MADE IN MALAYSIA printed on the rear of the mother board. you will also see that the four toggle switches connect directly to this mother board. i don't think i need to get into why this is bad. also- same thing with the rotary knobs on the front panel. rather than having the pot shafts anchored/screwed down to the pedal casing, they float on a PC board. it is obvious here that Line 6 shamelessly cuts corners when it comes to the manufacturing of their products. i bet what happens is that they spend so much money R&Ding it, that when it comes time to put it into production, they need to find ways to make up for all the money spent in R&D. that's just a guess, because most of Line 6's stuff DOES sound really good. an indication that some people put alot of time and effort into getting the sounds to be that good. i would probably own a few Line 6 products by now if i knew i could count on them. they'd have such a winner if they could just improve the build quality of their line. the problem isn't so much that it's made in Malaysia- it's just that it is DESIGNED to be built cheaply, and as such, you get cheap quality. period. do yourself a favor and check out the Boss. it's also about 60 bucks cheaper than the Line 6, and you'll sleep better not worrying whether it'll make to your next gig or not.

i can only imagine. shudder to think. they've GOT to be flooded with calls from people with broken down gear. no thanks, i'll pass.

a great sounding, but UNRELIABLE TOY.

It's easy to use, it's only a stompbox. The manual is good, it gives you a history of how they came up with all the different effects in the unit. The manual is thick cause it contains instructions for all the Lime 6 modelers, pretty cool.

Great sound quality, I use a marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100, with a crate 4X12 cab, Best sounding delay i have ever heared. The lead singer in Jimmy Eat World uses this same pedal, and i am a huge fan of their music. The Boss DD 20 thing, comes close, so i think it's just a matter of what you need it for, and here is the difference between the two in my opinion: The Boss has 4 user banks, and the line 6 has 3, but on the boss you only have one pedal to SCROLL throught the 4, so if you have an effect you like in the first bank, and a setting you like in the 4th bank, you have to scroll through 2 setting before you can get to it, no good for a live setting. On the line 6 there are sepatarte stomp buttons for each effect so you have them at any time you want. Both pedals do pretty much the same thing, but what i just described was the selling point for me. Try both and choose which one fits your playing style, dont buy one cause someone told you it's better

I have had no problems with this pedal so far, seems heavy, built like a tank

Never dealt with them yet

I am in a band and play emoish type music, and i need delay for almost all my songs, i think i will even eventually buy another one in the future, just for more delay settings. The only one thing that i wish it had was another delay bank, so there would be a total of four, or even more than that would be cool.

Well it's easy to use, nothing to say, BUT....


THERE IS NO MANUAL MODE! Everytime you move EVERY knob (or even if you turn down the effect for a while), the settings for delay time, repeats, tweak, and tweez.... ALL COME BACK to the default factory presets, unless you store them in 3 (three) miserable patches. I's a STUPID, ridiculous thing!

It's UNUSEABLE on a live setting. NO use for it!

Nice, nice delay sounds. Lots of delays, clear sound, truebypass, etc..

You can't use it on a gig simply because you can not have a manual mode.
Bad thing. More, it's ridiculous.

It's a nice delay box if you play at home, or if you want to record something in your PC.
But if you think to use it live, forget it.
I give it a "3" because of the incredible STUPIDITY of its features.
If you play live, don't absolutely buy this pedal.

I repaired my mistake: i sold the DL4 and i bought a Boss DD-20. Real manual setting,
4 user presets, more reliable, better quality of the sounds, 23 seconds looper.

Don't buy the line 6.

This is very simple to use, yet hard to master. I found that within the first five minutes of getting the dl4 i could use it. Only recently after having it 3 months have i now learnt how each nob will affect the sound and how it will effect it. Very basic setup though and good sounds can be achieved quickly.

a EXPRESSION PEDAL is essential for this. I use it constantly and without it the delay (for me) would just be a waste of money. The expression pedal adds so much more to the unit, allowing you much more room for experimental sounds and generally having fun with the thing without twisting several nobs at once. The use of the expression pedal in the DL4 is phenomanal and far surpasses the use of it within any of the other Line 6 products. DEFINATELY GET ONE, other wise, the pedal is rubbish, offering few features for live performance.

Excelent. I use a gibson les paul smartwood going into this and it sounds excelent. No problems here. However, it has to be said that the sounds always need to be tweeked but this again is easy to do

hasn't broke yet but i've bashed it around a lot. However, it has had to be restarted once or twice before as it loaded up all lights flashing and i couldn't stop it. However, the pedal has worked perfectly since then and no problems at all and so it was just a minor error

I've called line 6 once about a warrenty problem, i got straight through to a person (no call waiting) and the problem was solved imediately. Brilliant

I personally think that this is quite steeply priced. However , you do get a quallity sound out of it so if you have the money get it. Compared to the other delays on the market (eg. Boss delay), i think this is far superior. However, the reason it doesnt get a nine is because the loop sample is only 15seconds and it only allows 3 settings to be saved, which i think i very poor.

Because of this, if you have the money, i would recomend you look at the line 6 rack mountable delay which has a 60 second delay and is midi contrallable which allows more presets to be saved at the touch of a button.

But as i have said throughout, the dl4 is nothing without and expression pedal.

Discustingly easy. i bought this pedal because it is the best for a live setting. There is a band near where i live called Moneen, their main singer uses 2, yes TWO DL-4's, and they are delay heavy, so that's why i checked it out. The presets are crazy easy to use live. Just hit it and you're good for that section, and as tempo changes BAM, you've got a tap tempo. A REAL TIME tap tempo, not some hold it fo a couple secods then try and turn it off so it gets all fucked up. So yeah, really easy.

amazing. its that good. you can get amazing overload sounds out of it when you spin the repeats to full. it emulates prettymuch any delay you could think of. if you want to hear what i'm talking about download some moneen. Mike from incubus uses em too. Damn good. I use the low rez echo, sweep echo, auto volume and analoge echo mostly. the low res, analoge, tube echo, tape echo and sweep give amazing overload sounds. Best delay i've ever heard.

always been there for me

never had to use em

we play music that is comparable to incubus meets thursday meets old green day meets jimmy eat world. i run it through a 5150 II, and it sounds great. i also own the digitech digital delay, and it doesn't compare to the line6. Yes, it is a decent delay for someone just stating out, but it falls wayyy short of the line6. the single switch footpedals just won't do it for me anymore.

it's a little complicated, but spend an hour or two and you can get great sounds. very easy after you put a little time into it.

this is the best sounding delay box I've used.

Here's the problem, it craps out often. I've owned it 3 years now, and the last year, the loop sampler hasn't worked. the output volume is much much lower than the input. BE AWARE: this is not due to the mix setting, which is set at 100%. Line6 has seen this complaint before and writes it off as the user not using his mix button correctly, this is not the case!

I just asked for help regarding the nearly silent loop sampler, check back later as i'll relate my good/bad experience.

Based upon sound quality, I'd give it a 10. Options, 10. But i justified the $150 i spent by having a solid reliable loop sampler to play with, now it's broken, which means i'm going to have to spend $300 or more on a boomerang. It makes me think I threw $250 away on this box. The standard delay functions, however, still sound great.

I do not see how anyone could use this effectively in a live situation if you need an exact sound setting. There is no just setting the knobs where you want and it sounding the same as when you step on the button the no matter where the settings are they revert to a default 12 oclock setting no matter where the knob is positioned. Hit a wrong fottswitch button and you are F****d.

The delay tone has a very tinny digitally processed sound quality to it. When I checked it in the store it did not then I bought one a few months later the sound is almost useless as it is very grating to the ear. I am going to see if a swap will help....maby they got a bad batch of chips..Until then I have to give it a 2

I can play any modern style and bastardize classical and flaminco but I am very concerned with tone and this device falls far from the mark as it has a digital tinny tone. It is not a day to day substitute for the other pedals you may have although it can produce some interesting effects (mostly lo fi) for studio...but they would be unlikely repeatable used live if you would need to move between settings within a song.

This product is extreemly easy to use once you get the hang of it. You can easly set a setting and tap tempo on the fly.

I'm using an american telecaster through a marshall jcm800 but ive used it through many amps including a vox ac30. The box is pretty quiet. but the effects sound very "cheesy" the delay is always muffled and just not clean at all. some of the effects on it are pretty cool sounding at times.

Well, im on my second pedal. The tap tempo pedal seems to break constantly and its starting to on the new one. When i tried to put it back on, the way it was designed you cannot get to where the pedals are because the motherboard in the back is in the way, and it does not remove.

Ive tried calling line 6 many times. no luck

I play many styles of music and ive been playing for about 5 years. im not a fan of boss at all, but their delay is cleaner. i would still rather go with the line 6 for ease. but there are many other companys out there to choose from.

Once you get the hang of it, this thing's simple as hell. Four buttons - 3 for presets, 1 for tap tempo, half-speed, and reverse. You can get pretty much ANY delay sound you need out of here. Dial in a delay type, tweak it to your liking, hold one of the preset buttons for 3 seconds, and BOOM, you're good to go.

Even though it's digital, I still think it's probably the best delay out there. The Analog delay w/Mod sounds just like a Deluxe Memory Man. Tape and tube echo are the shizzle... great decay on the echo. Sounds awesome on any setting.

Only had it for about a week and used for 2 gigs - seems pretty tough. Time will tell...

No contact yet, other than registering for warranty. Again, time will tell...

I play in a reggae/rock band, so I needed some delay action, and the DL4 exceeded my expectations. I've been playing for about 8 years, and this is the first delay pedal of any kind that I've bought, and I love it. Another nice feature is the 14-second loop sampler. You can keep piling on loop after loop, and this thing never gets tired! Other than the fact that it takes up a lot of room on my pedalboard, I love the shit out of it! I would recommend it to anyone.

Pretty easy if you've used a delay unit before. You'll need to check back with the manual to see what Tweak and Tweeze do for each model. Set up 3 fave sounds, plus a tap tempo for fine tuning.

Sounds good to me, I dunno about the original analog units it models, but there's plenty of variations in there. I was impressed with the flying saucer sounds you can get by turning feedback up and playing with the delay time knob - I thought you could only do this with a real analog DM-2.

I don't gig at the moment, so I can't really comment - my DL-4 hasn't been out of the spare bedroom. Beware of people describing this as being "built like a tank". Sure, the casing is a heavy chunk of metal, but if you open it up you'll see the switches are cheap and nasty. From the outside they look like standard footswitches, but they're not proper footswitches (like you'll see inside a CryBaby or a Marshall footswitch for instance) - the contacts are on the pcb. If a switch dies, you'll probably have to replace the whole pcb. Not good.

You get a lot of delay for your money, but don't be surprised if it doesn't stand up to prolonged stomping. We get to buy these things relatively cheaply, but anything made in China these days is made there because the company wants to cut corners.

I've had this pedal for about two years. Within that time period it has crapped out more times than i remember. It usually just stops working and then comes back to life a day or two later. It has happened once about five minutes before a very large gig, at which point i was about ready to throw it in the trash. But as usual it came back on the next day. It is currently working fine but it isn't going to surprise me one bit when the DL-4 truely bites the dust. What pisses me off is that i have taken very good care of this pedal. It has been inside of a rock solid pedal board since day one. I use to use it without a backup, but wouldn't think of doing such a thing anymore. If it didn't have a looper i probably wouldn't use it at all. Maybe i got a lemon, i don't know, but i definetly do not recomend this pedal for any one that tours or gigs regularly.

After about 3 years of owning this pedal, it's finally starting to show it's tempermental side. It's been on 4 tours - mostly in basements - and I think that being used excessively and being abused, as well as the power supplies in different settings have had a huge impact on this pedal. The sampler is very problematic - the footswitches are starting to not work when they're supposed to, and the pedal just acts very wacky in a bad way. It's a great pedal, but I think I'm going to start using it just for delay and rely on something else for sampling. If you buy one used, be warned.

I sampled it at the store so I had some Idea waht I was getting into. OVERALL Very easy to use, and a simple to learn on the fly. Each delay has a default setting by line 6, and all are tweakable. VERY easy and all defaults are programmed.

Look man, I don't make my living playing guitar, but I like good tone. Delay is not a huge part of my sound, but when required I need something WICKED and quality. I am using it as follows:
Les Pauls --> 535 Q Wah --> Analogman KOT --> Line 6 Delay --> Mesaboogie Rectoverb (2X12 Vertical cab with Celestion Vintage 30's). Not every delay works for me. I realy enjoy the reverse delay, its very cool as the band may change instruments (my garage band that is) and kinda gets a nice hendrix / aersomith girls of summer intro kinda vibe. I like the analog modled effects and the ability to tweak them. I am essentially getting 3 delay pedals in one shot as I have multiple presents. I get a nice delay when needed. I can play Metallica's Fixxxer now and get a nice screatching repeat, and U2 is totally achievalbe with this unit.

This UNIT IS SILENT.

YES. It is built like a tank. I bought it from guitar center and paid a little extra for their performace guarantee plan. I am insured for 3 yrs. If it breaks oh well, I can get a BRAND NEW one. No problems so far, and really don't anticipate any. If it breaks at a GIG, oh well I will survive, just turn up my reverb a little =). A delay breaking is not the end of the world for me. If my overdrive pedal busted or my wah, now I have issues.

I also take good care of my equipment. That should play a factor into all of this.

Never had to deal with them.

I play metal, Rock Blues and the like. It is a fun pedal, and is great to just jam on and get inspired as they say. I have been at this 6 yrs hard and heavy. If it were stolen I would buy again. The analog delays are cool, but WAY over priced and not as versitile. If you want an analog delay and one set sound get it. If you want a GOOD delay with many sounds get this. Its really not that bad for a digital product. I hate line 6 products, but this one is solid. It meets my needs.

The 14 second loop sampler is pretty useless to me. It is cool to hear how you are playing a riff though. I wish it was like a 5 min loop sampler, but oh well.

True bypass is HUGE!!!!!! All my stuff is TB and yes it does make a difference. GREAT BONUS.

In parting, I caution people reading HC reviews. SOme of these are bogus and all over the place. Mine is the real deal. I do not make a living off of playing, I just love guitar tones. I have no doubt there are bad units out there, but overall it is solid and works as they say it does. In the event you are worried go to guitar center and buy it. Get the performance plan and you can rest easier.

This pedal delivers in a good way. Hendrix, metallica, aerosmith, and even my own tone. Its Truebypass and it is solid. I tried the Maxon AD 999 and the various Boss delays. The Maxon is good, but to get the sounds I am getting with this pedal, I would need to buy a Tape Echo, a Boss Analog Delay, and a EH Memory man, and a unit for reverse delays. You tell me is it worth it, for how often you use it? It delivers and that alone is worth the cash to me.

I cannot stress how many pedals don't deliver. I believe my entire pedal board is solid and each pedal can deliver what it is suposed too.

Overall a pleased customer!!!!!!!!! For what I apid, and the tones I am getting, I need to give it a 10.

This is my first delay pedal and is extremely easy to use. It has a great manual to explain everything. If you can read, you can use this pedal.

I run this right before a boss chorus ensemble and after a variety of other pedals. It has an excellent sound and faithfully reproduces many other delay styles and textures.

Totally dependable. There are many people saying it is not reliable and is not a quality product, but if these things are true, why is this pedal on almost every major guitarist's pedalboard? (checkout pedalboard.com)

N/A

I play worship music with a variety of different groups. This pedal is a must have for my style of music. It is the best delay pedal out there.

I have to agree with the most recent reviewer. There must be competive companies submitting false reviews. This thing is very easy to use. You can save your patches. I highly recommend the expression pedal. It opens up so much more than just delay. The only for me that makes things difficult is that I like to see digital readouts of parameters. This doesn't have this. However, given the nature of the beast, I don't think anything like this ever will.

First off, I'm one of the biggest protesters toward the POD and other such modelling systems but this is a whole other beast. You can talk about other multi effects units but none of them have the variety of delay styles that this has. And there IS a difference between delays. I used to have an me-30 that I used for all my delay but now that I have options such as tape delay, analog delay, or stereo delay, I could never go back to a simple multi effects board

I used this thing for an opera that I did in the woods once. it spent three weeks being used outside. As everyone before has said (other than the industry folk who DON'T work for line 6) it is built like a tank

NA, and I might not ever need to

I play a lot of U2/ spiritualized/ wilco sort of stuff so this is perfect. There is no loss of tone and playing things in stereo is magical. As I've said before, the possibilities open up enormously with the expression pedal. Esp. it you get in to the psychadelic end of things. It really opened my eyes to the parameters and tones of delay.

I also like that there are stereo ins AND outs

I noted earlier that I used it for an opera in the woods once. I used several mics for a childrens choir and then I rented a couple of DL4's and ping ponged the delay to battery powered pig nose amps hung from trees all around the audience. What I ended up with was a terrifyingly huge totally stereo ambiant choir coming from everywhere.
It was awesome.

I haven't even mentioned the loop sampler yet

I am a berklee College of music graduate, A guitar teacher,Professional musician.
I play an old vintage strat with a nice old fender amp.
I have played on high end gear all my life..and have owned mostly analog delyas like the dm-2,eh memory man etc. Ive even owned rack gear like tc electronics g-force.I play through boutique gear or have and am a real tone addict.
Im 35 years old.I would not play through a vetta or any modeling amps like johnson or whatever because I do not beleive the technology is up to par yet...Im a real tube amp kinda musician...but...this line 6 delay is actually a line 6 product that I like.
THis is a good product. Ive played ALOT and owned ALOT of gear. THE dd-20 and the dl4 are both good products.
I personally do not beleive that "all" of these reviews are coming from real people. I think there is some product bashing going on by competitors abusing the forum which is really for musicians looking for unbiased takes on a product.
Yes,Im sure lots of these have broken down..ok...I beleive that some of the reivews are head on. But I do not beleive this product to be as unreliable as all of these reviews are making it out to be.
I own one. I know friends who have one.NO problems at all.
QUITE SATISFIED HERE>

every major music store carries both devices.
Listen to them and choose the one you like more.
Yes boss makes a reliable product. . THE design is great..the sound.....really gives you lush spacious tones.
It actually saves you money. You could not get all these sounds for less than 2oo anywhere. Are they exactly like the originals?
NO..and I cant see a reson to buy all of those either. Are they useful and close enough for a live gig? Yes...the music is in your hands and heart anyways...effects just color it up a bit.I beleive the line 6 delay contributes to my tone. Sounds good to me and I am one picky MF.
IS it better than the boss dd-20?
I dont know. I played both..and bought the line 6. I like the looks of it..the sounds of it and the quick access to 3 banks.I also like the expression pedal option.I know it sounds crazy but I also like the color green..yeh really...and it looks as tough as a tank chassis,its big and looks like it can take a beating should I choose to give it one.I could have been happy with either one..they are both great pedals.
-would I rather have three memory mans and an extra "tap tempo switch" to tap tempoeach one? sure but that does not exist as far as i know and I still couldnt loop or do long delay so Id need at least two more pedals on top of that..and by the time I hooked it all up my signal would be lost or feeding back...would I like to play three dm-2s with all seperate rates and settings? Yes..but it is not a reality. three dm-2s could cost 600 dollars.(still no looper or capability of switching between three different sounds if they include things like mod or long long delay.... The beauty of the product is NOT that it is a perfect replica of everything you need. When have you ever bought or known anything that fills every need you have? cmon people. Its 200-250 dollars.
go to the store..play it for yourself. THeuy beauty in teh product is that it gives you so many tone palletes and options for a price that gets you so many usable sounds. I got mine new as a demo for 200 so I jumped on it.I could have bought either one. I am sure there are some qc issues with the line 6.I beleive some of the reviews below are true..but just my gut feeling that not all of them are true.
I played a couple at the store and then bought one and it sounds great for what I need. If I have ANY troubles with it in the future I will report back to the forum as a non biased product researcher. SO far no troubles at all!I really give it a 9 but will put down a 10 to diffuse some of the bad blood.

so far so good.A friend has had the unit for three years and has had no problems.Ive played a beat up one at Daddys junky music...no probs there either.

I have dealt with someone from the company. He was excited about the new products and had a sense of personal responsibility about getting out the good name.
I have not had to deal with line 6 for any malfunctioning products.

sounds good. I use it for my unique sound. I am one picky person. no buzzes or toneloss that is worth mentioning.
I give it a 10 for fantastic value.Analog is better but digital is more usable in a live situation and its cost efficient. Just what I needed...and at a good price.

Not hard to get a decent sound out of it, I could imagine it being a bit complex to tweak and get a specific sound.

When it's working, it sounds great.

Here's the only thing I was looking to respond to. I just bought the pedal and got it in the mail today. I plugged it i nand began playing, and it sounded GREAT. One hour later, I was playing with the loop sampler. All of the sudden, it melts down and shuts off. I get nothing for 5 minutes, I reset it, and now I get an evil hiss from hell on every setting. THIS PEDAL BLOWS IN TERMS OF STRENGTH AND DURABILITY. It broke within an hour of me having it. Line 6 is onto something here, but they have to realize that it needs to be built to last longer than 20 minutes. After experiencing this, I'm never buying a product from this God-awful company again. Line 6 sucks, not because they can't make a good sounding product, but because their products are built to last a day. Screw them for putting this thing out, I'm never dealing with this company again.

Hopefully I won't have to deal with these idiots, since I'm shipping this thing back to the store I bought it from ASAP.

It sounds great when it works, but it doesn't work very long. Screw Line 6.

as multi-effects units go this thing is very easy, twist and go like the rest of the line6 stompbox range, so no worries there. it'll take a short while to get the hang of the "loop sampler" and all that that entails, but once ur sorted u'll not look back!

Fender Tele(Jap-2000), Boss NS-2, Line6 DL4, Boss BD-2, Boss TU-2, Boss CE-5, Dano Tuna Melt Tremelo, Boss BF-2, Marshall AVT50H and Cab.

i can get some grt sounds out of this thing. Just take the time to search thru each effect and play around and u'll be able to find the delay you want for a particular job. The "Sweep" echo is particularly funky, as is the "lo-res", whilst the "digital delay" will cater for all your classic/standard delaying needs.
Only critisisms would be that at times it can sound over-processed/digital, but then again what can you expect i suppose. Also, the fact that you can only store 3 delays is a problem. That said the tap tempo is a godsend; how guitarists can manage without a tap tempo on their delays i dont know!!!

no probs yet...i carried a Boss DD-3 for my first few outings but i dont bother now, am i tempting fate...?!

N/A

grt pedal, lots of options and tap tempo, could do with more than 3 presets, so no full marks...

Easy to Use, the manual is pretty straight forward.

Its Not noisy, and the variety of Delays are great. I really like the analog delay w mod.

No You CANNOT Depend on It, It worked alright for a few months. once i started giggin with it, it expired, The Delay wouldn't go on or off. then all the lights would start flashing and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. I took it apart and stretched out the springs which made the buttons work for a few more hours, but its back to nothing again. Its very annoying.

They answer the phone and all, but deny that any one has every had a problem like I'm experiencing. Furthermore, to have it fixed you have to send it to some local tech, most of whom charge a minimum of $65 to open it up and determine whether or not there is anything they can do, excluding shipping. So essentially its not worth it, once it breaks - its done .

It was great for everything I play, classic rock, blues, especially Garcia stuff ...But the reliability Blows. I can't justify spending $250 for another one, when I've seen the inside of it, and know the build quality is so weak. Besides the fact that its huge and heavy and take sup a lot of pedal board space. If they made a stronger one w/ better foot switches, I'd buy another. Until then - I'm a seller.

Super easy and monkey and can figue it out, if you can't you shouldn't be playing.

Absolutely suprised how good it sounds! I give the highest praise to the guys at Line 6. The secrete is using pro quality amp and guitar and most importanly you have know how to play not just be able to afford nice equpment!!!!!!All you idiots who are judgemental as to how this is not this and that are buch of a amatures and wouldn't matter what you bought, you still would sounds like shit!!

Built like a tank!!!!!

Totally happy and sounds unbelieveable with the right setup and a little editing!

Took less than 20 minutes to wrap my head around it. Bought it on Saturday, practiced with it on Sunday, gigged with the loop sampler on Monday.

Quite pristine. I use it as the last piece in my setup before the poweramp and the sound quality is really good.

Aarggh! I bought it on Saturday, and for the gig on Monday the darn thing went down in the middle of the gig. There is something seriously wrong with the loop sampler chip. It loops fine for about 20-30 seconds then starts warbling, slowing down and speeding up. It totally screwed an otherwise fine guitar solo. Took it back to the rehearsal space and used different batteries and the power adapter from from my MM4. No luck. It's toast. I'll be taking it back to guitar center this weekend and getting a replacement.

Haven't talked to them

Sounds great and functions real nice when it works. Really bummed that it died so quick.

Well, I bought this pedal like two years ago as a recommendation from a fellow experimental artist.
Since then I've trying to try to completely figure it out so I can use the effect to its 100% capability.
It is my sad duty to inform all of you that I haven't done it yet.
I thought it was me ('cause I am from the analog generation and don't assimilate Digital too much), but after reading all of these reviews I finally realized that it is this darn pedal.
First the manual doesn't take you through the matter like it is supposed to do. It is just a scrap of info about the pedal.
Secondly, it is almost impossible to replicate a sound you have found (after hours of tweaking) after you turn the effect off or change it.
It has three custom presets but that is definitely not enough.

I use it for guitar (epiphone dot, fender strat), bass (jazz bass), synth (Yamaha Cs150 analog synth) and even vocals through different kind of guitar and bass amps (mostly Marshalls for guitar and Ashdown for bass). The sounds are nice (not great). The auto volume is really cool but (again) somewhat difficult to manipulate. The Reverse is fair and the other types of delay can get the job done (sometimes). The Loops is the most useful tool for me from this unit. But it gets to the same issue again and again.
How in the world you are going to use this pedal on a live performance if you can save more than three presets of almost 15 different kinds of delay?
I agree with this people that are totally pissed off about it. I mean, it cost me $250.00 and man, it is way too expensive for what it does.
I mean, it works for studio recording if you are overdubbing guitars and stuff but as a live tool I barely use it.

It a tough unit although the switch buttons are kinda fragile.
No compalints yet.

I have never use it

I play mostly experimental music (ambient, noise, space rock, rock in opposition, etc.)It works for me but mostly on the studio. Kind of difficult to perform with it.If it were stolen I pitty the fool who did it and if lost I would not ever look for it. Definitely will NOT BUY IT AGAIN. I wish I could have my old ibanez analog delay I got from an old hippie friend of mine.
In overall; it has nice effects (specially the auto-volume, reverse and the loop)but FOR THE PRICE I BELIEVE IT IS NOT WORTH THE BUY.
I totally believe this is not a VERSATILE unit. It is probably good for a person with tones of cash to blow away. But surely not for me.

FACTORY PRESETS ARE A HORRIBLE IDEA.

When you move the model selector knob to a new delay model, the settings for delay time, repeats, tweak, and tweez all default to factory presets, REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE KNOBS APPEAR TO BE SET ON THE PEDAL. Why why why why why? It is by far the stupidest and most arrogant aspect of all the Line 6 stuff that the knob settings are irrelevant until you move them. Again, I ask - WHY?

Furthermore (and this has already been covered, but is so incredibly annoying, I need to mention it again), if you set your knobs the way you like and then want to have that sound turn on and off during a song, you need to use up one of only THREE personal saved preset spots. And what if you want to tweak that sound a little while you are playing live? Well, you are screwed. I can't overstate how horrible this is, ESPECIALLY considering that this pedal was apparently developed for use in a live setting.

Why do people accept this? It is ridiculous. Imagine if your amp were set up the same way. Let's say your amp head is designed so that each time you put it on standby and turn it on again, the volume defaults to maximum, even if the knob is set to "zero." It sounds totally ridiculous, which it is. But that's how the Line 6 stuff is designed. Totally senseless.

Even with these concerns aside, this pedal is not nearly as easy to use as most of the reviews seem to suggest. I would rate something like the RAT (with LED) as a 10 - you plug it in, set the volume and distortion, then fiddle with the tone knob. There's an on/off switch with a light to tell you when the thing is on or off, in case you are running two distortion pedals or are drunk or stupid or whatever...

I would rate a memory man as a 9 for ease of use, simply because there is no LED. If you are playing extremely loud and are using a somewhat subtle delay effect that only comes on periodically during a song, it is nice to have that LED.

Anyway, the Line 6 takes a little more getting used to, and there is way more to remember than "LED on = on, LED off = off." For example, the Loop Sampler for some reason is designed so that instead of just using one footswitch to start and stop recording, you need to start with one switch and stop with another. That's fine, but it seems like the convention for all other looping pedals I have used is that you have one switch for start/stop recording, one for start/stop playback, one for overdubbing, and one for reversing. If you want another example of un-ease of use, refer to the manual's description of the 1/2 speed/reverse switch.

Again, reviews seem to suggest that this thing is a miracle. It is very nice in that it is a cheap way to have access to a relatively wide array of pedals for a fraction of the cost. However, to suggest that the modeled effects capture all the subtleties of the originals is ridiculous. The memory man in particular seems fairly weak.

I think someone else brought this up, but the fact that Line 6 decided to "improve" upon many of the older pedals' maximum delay time by increasing it to 2.5 seconds (who the hell needs that?) is actually a detriment. How could increased options be a detriment? Well, because it means you have much less fine control over the delay times. A tiny move of the knob changes the delay time a great deal.

Built like a tank.

You can get the manual at www.line6.com. I haven't needed any other customer support yet.

I think I covered it in the ease of use. The presets are a HUGE mistake. Solve that simple problem, and this is a GREAT pedal for the price. I still consider it a very good pedal for the price, but kind of annoying.

UPDATE:
come on, is that the best line 6 can do?

no really, i'm serious. this pedal is ridiculous in terms of using it in a practical situation. i know i was beside myself in my review below but some time has passed and i've collected myself but i still can't believe how stupidly this pedal was designed.

THERE IS NO MANUAL MODE! it's not possible to dial in a delay sound, turn the effect on and then back on again!

let me try to explain this again for people who haven't tried it yet. you can program 3 patches. if you want to play with settings other than the patches you can twiddle the knobs and get the setting you want but, unless you save it, it's gone. GONE! you're back to whatever patch you started in!
basically, when i write music, i turn effect pedals on and off and twiddle with them constantly, making this pedal unusable as THERE IS NO MANUAL MODE!
you know how sometimes a multi-fx unit seems appealing if you know exactly what songs you want to play and with which effects? but on the other hand you have to have stompboxes for real-time twiddling, right? well, that's why they came out with the BOSS DD-20.
that's right, i switched from the DL4 to the DD-20, which everyone else who tries the DD-20 also does.
the DD-20 has FOUR programmable patches, MANUAL MODE, a display showing your delay time (EITHER in millisecs OR bpm!) AND a countdown while your loop is playing (not to mention a whole lotta other stuff!), 23 sec. loop + delay time, great sounding delays, etc!
and, no, i'm not a boss representative. just to prove it, i'll mention some things the DD-20 DOESN'T have: expression pedal jack, reverse looping (although it DOES have reverse delay and if you turn up your feedback level and play a phrase and turn the effect off, it's pretty much the same as a loop), looping of delayed signals (this can be handled in the same way as the reverse loop--in any case i have 2 other delays in front of the DD-20--besides the delay time possible while looping on the DL4 was too short anyhow), ugly green casing.
basically all of the things that the dl4 has that the dd-20 doesn't are things i don't really need anyhow.

not as good as the DD-20

i can't rely on it to have a manual mode.

line 6 supports its customers by convincing them that really high-tech, expensive gear that simulates real gear is better than real actual gear. amp modulator? come on! digital guitars? it's high-tech so it must be good. digital amp distortion? wow.

don't hate me if i just insulted your favorite pedal. just try the DD-20 and see what i'm talking about. i admit, it's not perfect. it doesn't have the some features that you'll find on the DL4. but it offers others not on the DL4 or headrush or anyother delay/looper. and basically the features it does offer are ones i need and the ones it lacks are mere bells and whistles to me.

Its got 6 knobs and 4 stomp switches, and its simple enough to get the basic idea, and the manual is great in helping dial in the perfect sound.

Hot rodded strat (2HB's 1SC) or semi-hollow ibanez artcore->Teese RMC2(Wah)->DL-4->Traynor YCV80 (2x12 all tube combo). The first thing I should mention is its a modeler, so it will not sound EXACTLY like an original tube ecoplex or what have you. That said, it does a great job of emulating some of the best delay units ever, and with true bypass, what more could you ask for for $250?. The loop sampler is incredibly cool! Its not true bypass in this mode but it hardly sucks the tone like some other effects. It may sound stupid but one of the coolest things I stubled upon when fooling around with the delay time and decay rate while playing. You can do some great pitch-bending type stuff, and acutally make the box self-oscillate, making some great synth sounding noises that I love. I give a 9 only because it's important to understand that this wont sound exactly what its emulating, but thats obvious, it has MODELER in its name, but all 16 modes sound cool and you can't beat that for this price.

The switches seem to be pretty solid, and the box is plasic, but not crappy plastic and it seems like it will hold up well. Im certainly not going to go out and buy another one, if it busts during a gig its true bypass so I'll just switch it off, no problem. For a 10 it would need an entirely metal box.

Never had deal with them, doubt they're any good though, nothing im sure compared to Geoffry Teese.

Over all its great save the power adapter. I have a pedal board with power supplies on it, and when I read the box it said 9volt power supply sold seperately, but I figured it was just a standard 9volt supply like the ones on my board, so I opted not to by the adapter. When I got home I discovered line 6 was nice enough to make their power jack a different size than everything else in the world. This could be because it needs a special adapter and they want to prevent ignorant people like me from plugging in the wrong thing, but it more likely is because line 6 wants you to buy their power supply. The icing on the cake is that this thing SUCKS batteries like that's its job. I wouldn't have a problem if it used batteries like my RMC2, but it seems like I only get a few hours of playing out of it before the stupid LED's start flashing. And it uses 4 C cells not one standard 9volt like most effects.

DOWN WITH LINE 6! SUPPORT THE REVOLUTION!
i just want to inform people who are considering buying this pedal how stupid the interface of this pedal is.
aside from having no display, this unit features none of the positive attributes of a digital delay pedal. but to be balanced, it has none of the positive attributes of an analog delay either.
briefly, analog pedals (and several digital units) are manually operated. you turn knobs and hear the effect of the knob-turning in real time. if you turn the unit off and back on again, the effect sounds the way you left it. digital multi-fx pedals are designed to be programmed and can usually store 10-20 programmed patches.

THE DL4 DOES NEITHER!

"THE WORST OF BOTH WORLDS!"

the dl4 can store only 3 (yes, 3!) programmed patches!

THERE IS NO MEMORY hardly!

compare this to any boss, zoom, or digitech ulti-fx unit! see what i'm saying?!

if you turn on a patch and twiddle a knob this puts you in what i will call manual mode for the time being. you can fiddle with the sound, switch on your favorite emulator, delay time, etc. then if you stomp on the switch to bypass and then once again to go back to the delay that the unit is set at, it's no longer there. it has returned automatically to the programmed patch!

THERE IS NO MANUAL MODE!

for me, the entire point of a good pedal is a versatility that encourages experimentation. this thing, because of its useless interface, simply gets in the way.

sure, it sounds okay. i'll give it an 8. what the hell. what do i care?
i will say, though, that it is overrated in terms of how well it emulates vintage effects.

if you had an o.d. stompbox that you set to sound like, say, b.b. king, and you turned it off and back on only to find youself playing a tone like pantera, would you consider it reliable? would you consider yr multi-unit reliable if you woke up to find out it could only store 3 patches?
see what i mean?
exactly!

i try not to be in contact with companies that produce all-in-one digital guitars.

"Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?"
gets in the way.
dude.
"Anything you wish it had?"
um, let's see... maybe usability.
after reading all of the rave reviews, hearing various musicians play it, and generally picking up on the whole dl4 vibe, i just knew it was for me. well, it's not for anyone who is looking for a usefull, practical, or versatile pedal.
i've sold it already. next week i plan to get the boss dd-20, which was what i originally convinced myself to buy before being sidelined by the dl4. i should have paid more attention to myself.

This is a very complex unit, and takes some reading to really get the sounds you want out of it. The manual is very comprehensive (probably the best I've seen).

Excellent sounds for being digital. It probably wouldn't fool me on the analog models in a blindfold test, but it gets damned close, and your audience surely won't know the difference. Use a Voodoo Labs pedal power with it. This thing will eat batteries like crazy and really needs full power to work correctly and effeciently. I had one die at a show last week because of batteries (my own fault for not replacing batteries/not buying an adapter for pedal power).

I use two-three amps in my setup with a DL4 in going to each; 66' twin reverb and/or bad cat black cat for clean into a a/b/y box (with loops in which the dl-4's lie) to a Bogner Ecstasy and/or Orange ad-140tc for overdrive/distortion. I can pretty much nail most delay models, except for tape delays, such as Jimmy Page on Led Zep's "I can't quite you baby." Now that is an incredible delay/echo sound, and can only be copped with a real tape delay. That being said, the DL4 does an amazing job of getting close and only discriminating musicians will know the difference. ALl of the models sound very good. I was using a Guyatone Md-3 (a very good delay) previously on my distortion amp and like the DL-4 a lot more, not only for its versatility but the sound quality as well. I especially like the multi-head delay and use it the most. It seems to be the most accurate copy on the unit.

I've never had any problems, but have heard horror stories. I've been using one constantly for about a year with no problems. I would bring a backup if I used batteries.

I have been playing roughly 12 years. I own an Sg Standard, Sg 61' reissue, Les Paul Special Doublecut w/ P-90s, 66' twin, Bad Cat Black Cat, Orange Ad-140tc, Marshall 4x12, Orange 4x12, Blah Blah Blah.
If it were stolen or lost, I'd get mad, get over it, and buy another. I love its ease of use, versatility, and the ability to have 3 different delays readily at hand (or foot). I also like using the expression pedal; it makes it an even more fun unit to use. The only thing I dislike is that there is a slight delay when switching between models. The only other dig are the Tape models, but I understand that it is probably nearly impossible to model digital fatness. To summarize, the DL-4 is an excellent and incredibly versatile unit with superlative sound quality. Perfect for the working guitarist.

Very easy to use. I thought it would take me time to get used to the loop sampler but I understood it without opening the manual once, I understood most of the pedal without the help of the manual. But the problem is, of course, adjusting the specific delay effect you use. It takes time, because there are so many, and the tweez and tweak in each effect offers a totally different purpose.

Amazing sound quality, I have to admit. The main reason why I bought this was because of the loop sampler which is amazing, but its problem is that right after u record the loop, when it playsback, the volume seems to decrease big time. Im not talking about the loop fading away or anything, im talking about the first time its played back. Maybe its got to do with the settings but I don't really now. The effects sound good though

Now this is where I have to complain. I've had this thing for 3 months, and yes, I did use it alot, but not in more than 15 jam sessions/gigs put together. This is what happend, I was playing at my college's talent show (in front of 3,000 people), and when it was time for me to loop, the loop didnt work. I just had to stop the song and i stared at the pedal. I tried looping again, but it still wouldnt work (and the lights were on normally) so i tried other delay effects and everyone of them worked well. So it was only the loop sampler that had the problem. I finished the show with one more song with the Sweep Delay effect and then i went home to try it out. Now all the lights were working, but neither the loop sampler or ANY effect wanted to work! The whole thing couldnt the guitar signals at all...

I bought the pedal after watching Howie Day play with it live, and I was astonished with what he does, BUT, then I came across this live video of his at this club called Crocadiles, and his dl4 died on him on stage....I should've seen that before i wasted 250 dollars.

I cant really comment on the customer support coz I live in Egypt. But i'm sure its terrible, coz of all the reviews i've read. So just coz I hate what its done to me, im going to give it a 1.

Very good pedal for acoustic guitarists, not worth $240 at all though. Believe it or not, it should be worth less than $100. First of all, the things life ends in 3-6 months, even if you really take care of it, and secondly, the loop sampler only lasts up to 14 seconds and thats pretty useless. Now after I lost the dl4, I'm going to get the Boomerang. I read it's reviews and i honestly think its a better pedal....you guys should check it out.

But in all honesty, it was good while it lasted, but there are better quality samplers out there, yes theyre more expensive, but im sure theyll last more than 5 years, unlike this piece of junk

Let's face it! it's easy too use, if you're used to stompboxes! the manual is great, easy to understand and nice to look at (pictures and descriptions of the old originals!). editing is easy also! i mean, just get your setting, then stomp on one of the three buttons for three seconds! a really wonderful and very professional feature ist the "always-there"-tab-tempo!
o.k., a display would be very usable. it also would be great if you could store your favorite settings for ALL delay-types! then you could have 16 + 3 delay and echo settings of your choice! would be great and maybe not to difficult to do, coz the factory presets need the space anyway!
so, altogehter easy to use, anyway, it will take some time until you get used to what the knobs will do to your sound (especially tweak and tweeze!) and to get your favorite sounds!

i read all the reviews before i purchased a model via ebay!
i think i had the same problem of choice than others here: boss dd-20 or line6 dl4 (or akai head rush, but that choice soon was out of my head!).
why i choose the dl4?
well:
i tested it first, and i'd recommend, that you should do so as well! it's difficult to describe a delay pedals sound! great or crabby won't do, and everybody's looking for different sounds. so - test it first!

i think it's not that interesting, but my rig is:
(almost) ibanez blazer guitars (like them, because of the many sounds you can get aout of them...and of course, the really beautiful neck!)>>digitech xp-100 whammy wah>>mf-103 12-stage-phaser>>line6 dl4>>korg a1>>hughes&kettner tube 50 top (i go for h+k, they got such a beautiful warm but clean cleansound!!!).
i play all kind of stuff, but my heart is with shoegazing indiepop and psychedelic pop/rock and even ambient (slowdive, pink floyd, flaming lips etc.)!

for my style of playing, the dl4 is an ideal tool! it's got the most beautiful delay and echo sounds (and i am a delay maniac!!!) and loads of it!

so far i can tell, that the sounds are very useful and really goodsounding! no hisses. even in the delay trail remain bypass, there isn't any change of tone or sound. to speak of the alternative baypass mode (effect lingers on and on and on after switchoff!): it's great feature to have! and - despite the boss dd-20 - it's a great feature YOU for yourself can choose whether to have it or not!

the only effects i don't use much or never are dynamic delay (which might be a good thing for heavier type of musics, coz the repeats don't mess up your sound in between heavy riffs. you only hear the delay when your sound gets calmer.) no use for me here yet! the other feature i don't use much is auto volume. if i want to do such violin effects, i use a e-bow or a volume-pedal, which gives you more control!

all of the other echo effects are great or at least great fun to play with! my favorite is multi-head, stereo and ping-pong-delay, reverse (the other reviewer might be right, no hendrix here, but hendrix sadly is dead anyway! there's other stuff you can do with it!!! i'm more for inventing, not copying! and therefor it's a great tool!) tube-echo!

now to the downsides, because there are some!
i'd say, it IS a professional gear, BUT therefore some easy-to-do-features would have been a MUST BE:
1. as mentioned above, it would have been nice (or even must be!), if one could store his favorite settings for ALL of the effects for himself! so you would be able to have 3 delay-effects for stompbox-use and 16 !!!! personal presets (you can restore the factory presets anyway!) (with the expression-pedal, this would've been 32 + 6 presets! more than enough!!!). but so you have to reduce your wishes for livegigs to 3 (with EP 6) presets.
it's almost like the guys from Line6 say:"here you've got about 40 of the best songs ever. you're allowed to listen to 6 only!!!

the only way to mess with this lack of programmability is to write down your favorite settings and change them between songs, which isn't often possible (even for shoegazers :-)!

2. delay trail off: great feature as i said. and great to choose if you want it or not. BUT - the trail off should also work in between the three presets. if you're in one mode and chance to second, the delay is cut off awfully AND there is a crack, which isn't very Pro!!!

3. one last - small thing i don't like is, that you can'T play it with headphones, unless you buy an adaptor for the stereo-outputs (plug in mono-left, and on your headphones it IS mono left!)

no big problem though.

all in all it's great sounding. the digital delay is really a dead-on copy of the original signal!
the loop sampler is great for writing songs alone, or practice or - freak out! very good one. much better than the boss thing! great feature is the reverse, and the play once (so you can use it even to

just got it.
i very much hope it's reliable.
but i must say, that i handle my stuff with care and it looks good built!

N.A.

for my style of music and i must say i think for pretty much every other style as well, i think it's very usable! you can try to copy famous sounds (u2, jimmy page, pink floyd), but the better, you can "invent" your own sounds.

i play for about 14 years now, had a lot of stuff. my first delay (which i still got) was from ibanez (sadly they don't do multi-effects, coz i think their stuff sounds very very great and naturally!). this unit is one of the better things that are out there!

if stolen or lost, i would whether weep or become mr.hyde!!!

still it's not perfect, but most "multi-effect-pedals" aren't. it's clear: if you are looking for a great phaser. there are tons of good phasers to get. they do their work perfectly and you can choose the ONE phaser that fits your sound and money!
multi-effects (like i'd call the DL4) have to fit many peoples sounds, minds and money!

altogether it's a great delay-pedal, although i'd wish, the guys from line6 would have thought over a few features (especially the program storage as mentioned above!)

anyway. i'm glad with it so far. would buy it again!

Won't go over the top, just make a few comments and return later. It's very easy to get a good sound out of this unit, provided you read and digest the manual - it's friendly, helpful and actually quite easy to follow. Editing patches isn't a problem, haven't encountered any of the difficulties others seem to have had. So far so good.

Again, no complaints here - the models are very authentic...I would challenge anyone to discern this from the real thing. What you amplify it with is also important - before blaming the DL4 for compromising tone, look at your amp & the way you use it. I use Fender Pro Tube amps with a Custom Shop Strat, Gibson Les Paul and PRS Custom 22 Artist. The amp does not alter the sound of the guitars and the DL4 positively sings through it.

So far, so good. It's a very substantial unit and it's built to last, which it will, provided you don't, for example, use it as a hammer or shower it with beer. I will buy a second as a back up, though doubt I'll need it.

Never dealt with them, but they seem friendly and helpful enough.

A superb unit - I initially bought a Boss DD6, but when I heard this, returned & swapped it within a day or so, This does everything the Boss does and much much more - I found the Boss limited, but this is unlimited. The 14-second facility is fabulous and makes the 5.2 offered by the Boss rather puny, by comparison. It's studio/pro quality, yet rugged enough to take on the road and is the best delay pedal other than a rack unit. It also looks the absolute business!

As some other reviewers have pointed out, when you click the switches it goes to the saved patch and the knobs reset. To choose a new sound you will have to turn the knobs DOWN, then up again to your taste. It's a bit of pain and it takes a bit longer to choose a new sound by turning the knobs down then up, and you wouldn't want to do it onstage. It takes a bit of getting used to, but you can save three patches by holding down the switch for three seconds. Once it's saved it's there forever, until you overide the setting for a new one by holding the switch down for three seconds. So you can set the pedal up and then go on tour. The fourth knob is for tap tempo, so you can set the speed of your patches to fit the tempo. This is a godsend because you are unlikely to play at exactly the same speed every night, and otherwise you'd have to set up the patches again. A delay slightly mismatched to the tempo sounds awful and can completely ruin a song.

The tweak and tweeze knobs have a different function for each patch so there's lots to explore. You NEED the manual to explain what each knob does for each simulation.
The manual is informative, and has nice pictures and information on the classic pedals it is modelling.

There's more to this than a tubescreamer, but it's still easy to use once you set it up.

I use a tele with various effects.

The patches on this pedal sound exactly like the originals as far as I can tell. I have tried some, but not all of the originals. It is surreal to hear a DM2 sound with 2 seconds of delay time on this pedal. You can even make the sounds even darker and warmer than the analog originals, by using the tweek and tweeze knobs. The simulations do not handle exactly like the original - the knobs have different scales as you turn them, and only the DM2 and tape delay patches will self ossilate. There's lots of nice sounds to explore, from tape delays with adjustable wow and flutter, anaolg delays with chorus, digital delay effects and a reverse delay that turns me into syd barrett. The reverse is impossible to use live because you have to play a second ahead of yourself to get a true 100% wet backwards guitar, but it's still fun. You can set it 50% and use it as a reverse delay. I also like the volume swell delay that sounds similar to a slow gear.

For now I use one patch as the memory man reverb to get a tone simlar to Slowdive on the Souvlaki album, one patch as the reverse delay 100% wet and a tape delay either on the cusp of self ossilation or sometimes to get a Cocteau Twins-esque dark chorus effect using the tape delay at minimum fidelity. You can get psuedo chorus, flanging, reverse and resonating sounds if you experiment. I expect to discover new sounds in the future and change my settings.

The loop sampler is a useful practicing tool, and it's fun to make up multilayered soundscapes. One day I may do a gig with just me, my pedals and the DL4 and built up layers. You record and overdub 14 seconds, or 28 seconds in half speed mode. At any time you can play your loop at half the speed (double speed in half speed mode), or backwards my tapping or double tapping the taptempo knob. Unfotunately the unit forgets the loop when the unit is switched off. There is a simple pre delay so you can use a bit of delay on your loop but unfotunately you cannot use the modelling patches of the wonderful delay classics at the same time as the loop sampler.
None of the patches has a longer delay time than just over two seconds so any longer than that and you you'll need to use the loop sampler.

Seems solid enough but I haven't owned it long enough to comment.

NO opinion

I play a lot of textured soundscapes. I used to use 2 Boss DD3's and a DM2 to build up layers and I bought this pedal with the aim of selling these three and using the DL4 instead. I was disappointed to find that you cannot use more than one patch at once, so there is no way to build up mulitlayered delays. I very often use three cascading delay pedals all on at once in my music and this is not possible with the DL4. I am still keeping this pedal because it's a lovely bit of professional kit, and the loop sampler will be used in the future a great deal. I will still keep my other delays because I need to use more than one delay at once and I also miss the simplicity of a simple stompbox to use onstage when all I want is a slapback echo. I also play all kinds of music in several bands and it seems silly having a huge Dl4 onstage when a DM2 will be easier if I just want a simple reverby slapback delay in a surf band.
The patches do sound great, and this is a lovely pedal, well worth the money. If you wanted even one of the vintage delays it models it would cost you more than this pedal costs. However the DL4 did not fill it's function of never needing another delay pedal again. It does so many lovely sounds you will feel sorry that you can only save three patches and it's hard to choose. You cannot use more than three patches for a gig because of the hassle selecting new ones.

You need to order the PSU seperately because it's not included and it's different adapter tip to standard. This is an annoyence so it's lost another point for that. You can use 4 C batteries, and they last quite a while, but not too long. Not long enough to rely on to record a single or more than a few gigs.

Nice pedal, could be improved slightly by being able to use more than one patch at once. But then that's me.

very easy to use as long as you read what the different models are and what the knobs do for each one. the manual is very well put together and easy to understand.

the models are great-i don't know if they sound exactly like the originals, but they work very well for getting different sounds. slightly noisy only only on setting with distortion, but not enough to notice.
i use it with an SG, a strat, and a tele into a JCM 800, Vox valvetronix, or amplitube.

i've had it for a few months and it works fine all the time. get the ac adapter though. i would deinatly "gig" without a backup.

it works very well for inducing creativity, and gives me flexibility that i find is worth every penny. i would have a hard time buying just one delay pedal when this is so versatile. although the sounds may or may not be 100% authentic, they are all very good and i think would be useful in some situation.
i play mostly rock music a la sunny day real estate, and have been playing for about 10 years.
if it was stolen id get a new one the same day.

This thing takes a little getting used to. Thank God for the stickers that are supplied with this unit. The "Tweak and Tweez" knobs are a little confusing because they do different things for every model on this pedal. Once you get past that, it's not that hard to get a good sounding delay/echo. I tend to stay away from the models of the Digital Delays (they don't tickle my twinkie, too thin and "perfect"). I mainly bought this thing for the Echoplex's, Memory Man, Auto-Volume Delay, Reverse, and looping. The Manual is real informative, otherwise it'd be a real pain in the ass to figure out all the little tricks. I've owned this thing for 5 years, so I don't think it's been upgraded (if they have done this, I don't know).

This is where it gets tricky for me. I've owned a few delay units and I'm glad I have this item but it does have it's downfalls. Hope your eyes aren't tired because here we go.....
1. Setup - LP Std., '64 SG Jr., 60's RI Strat, 50's RI Tele -> Boss TU-2 Tuner -> Fulltone Clyde Wah -> Fulltone Deja-Vibe -> Line 6 DM4 (see review) -> H&K Rotosphere -> Fulltone Supa-Trem -> Line 6 DL4 w/ EX-1 -> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
2. Noise - There is no noise on this thing at all on any patch.
3. Effects strength - Here's where is tricky for me. What I really don't like about this item is the volume differences and drastic tone changes between the patches on here. Here's the list of what I've found on here between the different models. I know that the originals MIGHT have sounded like this but the volume issue is a total pain in the ass if you want a different delay for a song and your volume drops by 25% or whatever.
a) Tube Echo (Echoplex EP-1) - I love this old school echo but this is one of the models that drops the volume and makes your tone really thin and chimey. The tone change is a bit drastic and it really makes a guitar sound like a total puss. The wierd thing is when you turn the drive "Tweez" on this model up, the volume drops even more. Go figure. OTHERWISE, it sounds unbelievable.
b) Tape Echo (Echoplex EP-3) - This is the one I use the most because it doesn't drop my volume but it changes your original tone. It takes your tone and adds a lot of bass and makes it REALLY thick, but not to the point of being overbearing. Even if you take the "Tweez" knob (Treble) and crank it, it only adds treble to the delay only.
c) Mutihead (Roland Space Echo) - This one is interesting, because the "Tweak & Tweez" knobs change the "Preset Head delays" and then you kind of fine tune it with the delay time knob.
d) Sweep Echo - If you try to just use the sweep without the delay, it drops in volume, but if you just want to have a trippy background delay, it's really cool.
e) Analog Delay (Boss DM-2) - This one's okay, it changes your tone to a strange mid-range "woofiness". It's usable but I don't care for it personally.
f) Analog w/Mod (Deluxe Memory Man) - I like this one as well, even though they forgot to add the vibrato (Which I don't use anyways). This patch almost nails the original tone with a nice chorus swirl.
g) Lo-Res Delay - This is Line 6's own brew that's similiar to the Boss DM-2 with minor differences.
h) Digital Delay (Boss DD-5) - Sounds like a boss, whoop-tee-do.
i) Digital w/Mod (Boss DD-5 w/chorus) - Still sucks. I'm being bias'd, I know.
j)Rhythmic Delay - This one's pretty cool, bounces a delay with your strumming. Nice tone too.
k) Stereo Delay - Sounds a little to digital for me, and bounces too many notes back at me for my taste.
l) Ping-Pong - Sounds like the Stereo delay to me.
m) Reverse - This one's a trip, to get it to sound some-what-right, you have to set the delay time full bore and the repeats to nill or damn near, and the tweak and tweez to off and the mix to 100% wet. It's cool to throw it in and have people look at you and say " How the fuck did you do that!?!?"
n) Dynamic Delay - To be honest, I can't remember what this one does. I don't use it.
o) Auto-Volume Delay - This one's nice for those soft tunes that you'd normally use your guitar volume or a volume pedal for. DO NOT USE WITH A TREMOLO PEDAL!!!! It will sound like ass.
p) Loop - I really like to use this for having a chord being plucked on the strings individually and then thrown into reverse. AND you can fuzz it up and STILL add a delay on top of it and get stupid.

It's really hard for me to rate this item because some things are bad ass, some are cool, some are okay and some just plain suck for my taste. I'm going to leave this as a No Opinion.

It acted up a little when i first got it, then it started working fine and I haven't had a problem with it since. I do gig with it without a backup beings I don't own any other delay units. I just recommend to buy the "wallwart" plug because the batteries don't last that long. The Expression pedal is cool to have because you will use the shit out of it. Don't know if the EX-1 is really worth the 50 or so dollars. But they know you'll need it with this unit and the MM4 so they'll overcharge you for it.

no comment, see my DM4 review for this catagory.

I would most likely buy another if something happened to it. Either that or just buy another Deluxe Memory Man.
For the other questions in this catagory see the review I posted on the DM4.

pretty darn challenging. you really have to understand delays to know how to get the sounds you are looking for.

this is a good sounding delay. the variety of sounds seems endless. it can also seem like and endless enigma.

here is where it sucks. this thing goes down all the time, but nothing makes up for when it goes down on tour. worse is when the lights are off (making you think the pedal is off) but you cant shut the delay off (the delay is stuck on). first, it couldnt be shut off by pressing on the foot switches. then, it looked as if it was off (because the lights were off) but the delay was stuck on. this was embarrassing. no excuse. and if you are on tour, there is no way you can trust it. who wants to play a show and be thinking about whether your pedal is going to do this or not? it's back to boss and roland delays.

when your quality control is this bad, they should have a better warranty/customer support. this company has grown too fast. i doubt it will ever come back.

if you are gigging/touring, pass on this pedal unless you can deal with the insecurity factor. i think the more customers that complain about the problems, the better chance they might make this pedal right and help us all make better music.

I love the darn thing, but it has now died for the second time in 3 years. The first time was within the warranty period, and Line6 replaced the circuit board. It has since died again, 18 months after the Line6 repair. My local authorized Line6 repairperson said that it would likely need another circuit board, at a cost of $170 not including his labor. Apparently the power supply circuitry is very complicated, and is prone to failure.

Dialled in three usable patches and saved them in a matter of minutes. as i don't need more than three delay sounds, I am now set for life... haha! Which is good news, because editing patches is this unit's week point, as you edit each control setting, rather than just one, for example, the mix. Tap delay works well for me, as the unit is used in two live bands playing diffrernt tempos etc. No more guess work playing with rotary control knobs!

I Play an Ibanez and Aria Pro 2 Libra through a VOX chrome wah straight into a Trace Elliott Trident. The DL4 goes through the effects loop. and is primarily used to give more spae to my soloing.
For what I want it to do the unit is more than fine. I use a low mix repeter for a more expansive sound, through to a doubling, Pink Floyd delay. I haven't had the sound/volume probs others here have hi-lighted... but then the rest of my gear is superb.

had it two months (15 gigs, 10 rehearsals)... so far so good. Funnily enough, I got a discount when I bought it coz the chrome front cover was lifting!! Seems like I am not the only one to have this happen. As it is only cosmetic, that is not an issue, though. Actual build quality of the housing seems very rugged, and the non-slip base is built to last.

not had the pleasure - yet!

I play in two gigging bands, one a 70's & 80's soul, funk and disco band, the other a middle of the road rock act. The DL4 does exactly what I want it to. I've been playing for 21 years, and used a variety of different delays, and right now would say the DL4 is the most usable unit I have played through. It is the most flexible for what I do, and the tap delay means I can set up some cool grooves in time with the monkey at th back... I mean drummer!!

very easy to use. the manual is great it tells you what does what what and what effect is being modeled and even shows you a picture

In order my 86 Yamaha BB450 (thats a bass for all you guitarists) then the DL4 then a sansamp rbi to an ampeg svt 3 pro. Very low noise level true reproduction of your sound in the delays. the loop sampler works great and doesn't change your tone at all. if you make a good loop people wont even know your not playing.

cant tell yet

haven't dealt with line 6 yet but I hear their pretty good

I bought it mainly for the loop sampler so that I could come up with harmony parts to my guitarists lines without him having to play over and over. I was able to create new lines over what we already had in minutes and after a couple of hours of fine tuning the song was much better. I'm sure if i was going to use delay effects live this is what I would end up buying to its great versatility but the loop sampler alone is worth it for song writing and practice.

response to my response...no batteries were in it-i was using the adaptor

The DL4 is about as easy to work as is possible for a pedal with 16 functions.
Manual is alittle overkill. Mess around with it, its pretty cut and dry.

Tele>tuner>Reverend overdrive>Voodoo Lab Overdrive>arion SCH-1 chorus>Small stone>Whammy>line 6 DL4>(2) fender champs

Sounds very cool. Very little signal degredation.
I play avante guarde rock (radiohead, stereolab) and I find it very easy to get a wide variety in tones.

And, the loop sampler, why I don't use it, is really cool.

Its a tank. I trust it more than my car.

Haven't had to contact.

I like this pedal alot. Does things you'd need 5-6 pedals to do. Good price for what it is. Strong chasis, well wired. Good product. The ONLY Line6 item I like are their pedals.

This is just a reply to the below review...when the pedal starts blinking, the batteries are low. You returned it because of dying batteries...hahaha.

Quite easy after reading the manual-I also bought the contol pedal.

Equipment: Synth strat>GR30>BossComp>DigitechWammy>BossBluesDrvr>SansampTriAC>DL4. I had a blast with the reverse delay, and I used the control pedal to mess with it some more. I was able to get some trippy stuff out of it. The sampler was fun, too. Notice how I'm using the word "was"...

I've been reading this page where people gripe about how this pedal wigs out on them and thought, "THEY must not take care of THEIR pedals the way I do!" I'm quite anal retentive when it comes to taking care of my stuff, and was really enjoying this pedal and what it can do. Then, it happened to me...in the middle of a show, I was about to put on some delay, and the damn thing just started blinking at me! Luckily the guitar sound was still going through, but that was a HUGE buzzkill. I've never had ANYTHING go on the fritz like that before, let alone during a show. After the song ended, I did a quick power-down to see if the pedal would work again, but no luck. Luckily the pedal was on its 29th day of it's 30-day guarantee @ Guitar Ctr, so I was able to get a refund. I ended up trading up to a Boss GT6...not as much fancy delays, but more reliable (so far!). I've had better luck w/ Boss gear, and won't buy Line 6 unless they make a big statement saying something like "Sorry to those guitarists whose delay pedal fried on them in the middle of a performance. We now have a more reliable pedal."

I never called-I just returned the pedal to Guitar Ctr.

It was great while it lasted! Lots of cool features, but if it isn't reliable, what good is it? I'll never buy another one.

Just read the manual...every setting is very useful. Some guitarists get frustrated if they can't figure it out in a few minutes. This box is pretty deep. Lots of options that your audience probably won't notice.

I use this with a Tube Screamer and a Mesa Blue Angel. Sometimes with an Adamas acoustic for looping. It is quiet. I use it in NON true-bypass mode so the delays trail off after you shut it off. I also use the expression pedal- it is like getting 6 presets. Buy the expression pedal on Ebay, it isn't worth the $60 they charge in the stores. Maybe $25...and only maybe. Cheap piece of plastic. Anyway, the looping itself is worth the price of the pedal. And the delays go from grungy to crystal clean, with very little coloration of the signal. The tap tempo thing rocks- I am so happy they put that on there.

You really need the adapter since batteries will die in a few hours. But of course they charge extra for that. Grrr. My DL4 is zip-tied into my pedalboard..it is pretty safe from harm in there.

Line6 has a frustrating online customer support which essentially dodges direct questions.

People complain that the knob/preset setup makes it so you can't see you knob settings. There are only 3 to remember...how hard is that? Also, if you can't hear the difference in your presets, then your audience can't either. Just remember the 3 different delays, it isn't that hard. Use your ears people...why would you be looking at your feet anyway?
The manual is cool. I appreciate well written, informative, entertaining manuals. Check out Mackie as well. If you want to complain, look at a Roland Manual, or better yet, try to find a PDF of an Roland manual. Line6 puts them all on the website so you can see what they do *before* you buy.
The DL4 can double as a chorus box too..just use a modulation delay, and set the repeats to 0, delay time to 0.
It is a cool auto wah using the sweep delay- repeats at 0, delay time 0, and mix all the way wet.
Also, the looping is awesome for live vocals as well as guitar. Just use it in the aux send of a mixer.

This is definitely easy to use in my opinion. I only use stompboxes and i have a memory sooo setting knobs is easy as hell. ive seen people complaining about it. i am glad the knobs are big too a lot better to mess with then my boss dd6. the save function is pretty good. it really comes in handy, cause if you think of the pedal in sort of an analog way, you jhust bend down and set them real quick in between songs. and you cant mimic you are settings on a pedal like this in a show, you are a complete idiot who shouldnt be using a stompbox anyways. the chart thing helps with the tweak/tweez settings(what the hell is tweez supposed to mean). but just find your favorite delay setting and just get to know them. it takes practice but not more than 5 min unless you are totally helpless and confused. the tap tempo is also pretty useful. i dont like using it a lot but it comes in handy.

I use a Parker Fly Classic plugged directly into my Marshall DSL100, then sent out via the effects loop through a Crybaby Wah, Electro Harmonix Poly-Chorus wired to an expression pedal for a manual chorus/flange, Boss TR-2 tremelo, Electro Harmonix Qtron +, Digitech Whammy, Line 6 DL4, Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser, Electro Harmonix Black Finger tube Compressor, Electro Harmonix holier grail reverb pedal, back into the amp. People have said they notice a loss in gain when the turn the Delay on. I havent. I think it sounds amazing in my setup, that may have to do with the compressor. but i dunno. I really like how it sounds. It is really versatile, a lot more so than my boss DD6. I play music thats a cross between hendrix, and portishead, maybe kinda radioheadish, but more on the evil side of tool or something. i dunno its weird. but i do a lot of effects with ambient noise created by delay with various methods of playing. i think the sweep echo is retarded, it sounds really stupid i would rather just but the qtron after the normal echo. i also think the sweep sounds closer to a cheesy digital phaser(i never did understand digital modulation effects, they just plain suck). the lo fi is pretty cool is you set the res in the middle. but my favorite by far is the space echo (multihead) model. It doesnt sound like the real thing, but who really cares, its not the real thing. I also think the analog delays dont sound too reminiscent of analog delay. the tape ones arent too clear. but like i said, its not the real thing, im only 18 and have spent like 5000+ on instruments and effects in one year soo im pretty pleased at how cost effective this pedal is.

I have been reading on here that everyone hates this thing cause of this problem. I do too. I bought mine on wednesday of last week. it is now saturday night of the same week. and its already starting to break. It sounds ok and isnt dying or anything. but i am in the midst of a recording and as i was synching the tempo with the clock and setting up the multihead delay today for a song, i got it right, then saved it. then we ran through the song to the clock. and on the first part i used delay i switched the pedal on, and the setting wasnt what i saved. everything was the same except the delay time sounding like it was down to minimum. I tried to see if i just screwed up and tried to fix it like 15-20 times and it worked a couple. and then it stopped all together. it only seems to do it with the multihead delay. i dont understand i got realy really pissed and wanted to throw it at the wall, but i didnt. soo we didnt ge to finish our song and im really disappointed. im gonna go to guitar center on monday morning and get a new one

dont know i can get a new one without hassle from guitar center.

i never trusted line 6 to begin with. this is the first line 6 thing ive ever bought. i hate their modeling amps, cause they really just sound like shit. and i think the POD is a sorrry excuse for a multieffects unit. but i figured that there couldnt be too much wrong with a modeling delay pedal. it could only be better than a simple digital delay. so i decided to give it a try. its not the real thing, but its cool in its own weird digital way. i hope my next one isnt a piece of crap. ive been playing for like 10 years since i was a little kid, but i really only got into effects after you know experimenting with certain things at the young age of 15. since then ive gotten really into music, and really grown an understanding of music and how work all these weird little boxes. this pedal is definitely a good buy if you are poor, young, or you really just suck, or you are cheap. but dont buy it thinking it will recreate old devices that use 30 year old electronics that you cant really even find anymore. it does come in handy a lot. HOWEVER. ALLL OF THIS IS JUST GREAT IF THE DAMN THING WORKS FOR YOU. make sure you give a good beating for the first week you have it to see if it will be able to withstand the test of time. so that way you can take it back it get a new one without hassle!!!!!

Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of Line6 gear, but I must address some issues with their stuff that I CANT STAND!
1) That stupid owners manual. This thing was written for retarded 15y.o. musician wannabes. I'm suprised it doesn't recommend doing bong-hits before reading it. Hey, Line6? Sometimes professional musicians buy your gear. You might want to consider authoring your user manual so it doesn't sound like it was written by a group of ex-studio musician burn-out's.
2) As far as saving patches, this functionality just plain sucks. Please Line6, no more rotary switch patch selection. They really did a good thing with the new POD XT, which is the reason why NOW I will buy one. If I press a saved button location, I want to see an indication of what I saved, and what the settings were. that flashing LED tells me nothing other that I've altered something.

Good sounds, digital, but who cares. I can get a reall good variety of delay sounds from this thing from subtle to really whacked! I really like the volume swell, delay with mod, and reverse. I tend to not go crazy with delay so it's great for my purposes.

I'm very easy on my gear, and I've had no problems with this. One of the dials feels "sticky", but it hasn't caused any problems. Definaltely get the power supply, and the correct one. They should seel this with the DL4 for the money they are asking, but they know we are ultimately suckers...

Haven't delt with them...

If you are a die-hard analog gear fanatic, you may be dissapointed by this, but for me, it does a multitude of things quite well. It is nice to have three different delay types at you feet for gigs, and nice to goof around with when developing song ideas. I do mostly guitar driven psych-rock, similar to older Voyager One type stuff, ansd this thing can really deliver some atmospheric delay for my purposes. I hop the next generation has a similar interface to the POD XT. That would make it a much better unit.

There are some great things about this pedal, but there are some huge downsides to this pedal. I had mine for about 3 months and ended up selling it.

The good points: With some of the delays you can make some really cool sounds, especially when the feedback is set for a long time and then changing the delay time or vice versa. You can't easily get some Radiohead type sounding effects. The sampler is good and long and is easy to use.

The bad points: There are too many delays, some of which sound very similar. It would have been nice to have had about 1/2 of the delay effects and maybe some reverb or chorus effects thrown in on the same pedal. But then Line 6 couldn't stick you for another pedal.

Bar none, the worst thing about this pedal is the way you save patches. When a setting is store, you have no idea of knowing what the patch is except by ear. If you recall a preset and want to add some more delay time, the DL4 will save the other knobs as they are. That completely sucks, because can't really tweak your presets for a certain room/club unless you know what ALL the knobs were set to in that preset. That alone was frustrating.

I have a Tech 21 TRI-AC and the unit will tell you what knobs were set to for a certain patch by how the LED blinks. That is invaluable for tweaking a sound on the spot. By the way, Tech 21 makes the best distortion pedals out there.

If this pedal is already digital, why don't they go the extra step and fully have digital readouts and presets. This would alleviate most of the current problems. If a $70 Zoom pedal can do it, so can these guys.

I was using this with an Ibanez loaded with dimarzios through an effects loop on a Tech 21 combo amp. I found this pedal to add an unacceptable amount of noise in the system. This would occur even when not active.

The sampler is long, but doesn't reproduce anywhere as good as the Lexicon Jamman did. What do you expect? Lexicon is just a higher quality product in general.

The good effects are great, but there are many that I never used.

The DL4 is tough. I imagine it would last a long time.

never needed

I used this mostly for rock and it suspect most people would dig the pedal. I've been playing for 17 years and I live in NY. Since living here, I've tried to find portable gear for smaller gigs. I have a small rack (eventide, etc.) that I use on the better gigs, so for me downgrading to pedals for small gigs is hard to do. I'm used to having more control and loads of presets, so probably no effect pedal will please me. Still, for the price they want, it should deliver more preset in memory. I hate the way it stores a setting and then you can't change it without the pedal saving the knobs where they are at right then. That sucks.

This pedal would be great for leaving on the sampler/looping modes and getting delay from somewhere else.

I sold mine.

I'm writing this review to clarify some issues I've found in other reviews on this page, see below. It's easy to use, just listen for what tweek and twease do to the sound of the repeats, and find your sound.

I've used this pedal with carvin and fender teles, and through a variety of amps, bogner, mesa, marshall, fender, to name a few, as well as in conjunction with many stomp boxes. I need to say, this is a DIGITAL delay pedal, for god's sake, it's not going to sound like an analog delay 100 percent, because it's NOT an analog delay. It lacks a whole bunch of bucket brigade chips, and it has never been advertised as an analog delay pedal. That said, if you need a quality delay, that emulates analog delays, as well as some really nice digital delays, combined with a looper, than check this pedal out. For a live situation, this pedal can't be beat. Tap tempo is something rarely found on delay pedals, and it's usually difficult to use,forcing you to hold a switch down for two seconds, and then tap your delay time, and finally another two second hold, to get out of tap mode. The dl4 eliminates all that, by having a dedicated tap switch. Three presets, no matter what anyone tells you is more than enough for any gig situation, how many guys have five delays on stage anyway. In a studio, you don't need to change delays on the fly anyways. I have owned a maxon delay, as well as a carl Martin delayluh, and i do prefer the CM for certain things, the line 6 does an adequate enough job at the analog sound that I can leave my pricey analogs at home. I get so frustrated reading reviews here where people bash this product for not being the real deal. It's not and that's why it is called an emulator box!!

I've had this pedal for nearly four years, and I've never had a single thing go wrong with it. I treat all my gear with care, and don't let anyone near my rig when I'm not around, so maybe that is why it's still going strong. As with all pedals, if you throw it around, it will break!

I want to give a fair review, because I think this delay is worth it to anyone who plays out a lot, and wants versitility from a delay pedal. If you want to spend $300 on a maxon or carl martin go ahead, it may be worth it to you, but most people can not afford that luxury, and this pedal will get the job done for a lot less dough. I am not a fan of line 6's amps, guitars, or distortion boxes, but this delay, and the fm4 filter modeler are, in my mind, the best modelers out there. Go check one out, and don't believe the hype till you've tried it out.

Spend a little time with the manual. Everything else was easy.

Strat w/Kinman AVn Blues>various dodads of a True Bypass nature>Boss CE5 to split signal>DL4 stereo in & out>two Top Hat Club Royale 212s.

Very clean sounding. Since I like atmosphere but not a delay-type connoisseur, I'd have to say the sounds are incredible, seemingly "friendlier"--if not warmer--than my Boss DD3 or RV3 (definitely cleaner). I like the preprogrammability and Tap Tempo button very much. I use a stereo delay for that Brian May harmonizing stuff, a rockabilly slapback, and the Anolog w/Modulation that gets me into Jim White/Jeff Buckley territory.

Embarassingly unreliable, for all the comments below and my personal experience. Had it a month, rehearsed with the band a couple of times and it died on the very first gig. Fortunately there were only four songs to go. (Owned an AX212 that quit on me too; maybe it's me?)

I wish it didn't sound so good or offer such versatility in one package, coz now I think I have to either go through the pain of having it repaired (fortunately an authorized repair shop is ONLY 90 miles away) or get another one: I really don't want to have three or four delay pedals on my board.

While I've received responses for the AX212 problem, Line 6 was not as helpful as their authorized dealer/repair rep, Sweetwater Sound in Ft Wayne IN.

It's really too bad this thing isn't more reliable.

Almost foolproof; turn it on, dial in a delay model, turn the knobs, press a footswitch to save your sound, that's it. Tweak & Tweez are easier to figure out than on the Modulation Modeler, but you'll want to check the manual until you get used to them. Tapping in a delay time is much easier than with the Akai Headrush. The manual is short on real specs, and a little overboard with "how cool is this" text. Some nice pictures of old effects pedals.

PRS Santana SE into a Boss GT-3, into a string of delays & loopers. A lot of the time, I'm using a Roland guitar synth, as well. The DL4 doesn't seem to add any noise to my system; if it did, I'd junk it.

I didn't expect to get exact relicas of classic delay sounds from the DL4, I expected reasonable reproductions, which is what I got. Some of my favorite sounds are the oddballs, like Auto-Volume, which sounds like a Slow Gear patched in front of a delay, or Sweep Echo, which has a chewier sound than the Delay w/Mod. The Tape Echo models don't really do anything for me, but I'm not a devotee of old Echoplexes or Roland Space Echoes. The Panning Delay is nothing special, and neither is the Stereo Delay, but they fill out the list of standard delay flavors. I give the DL4 an 8 for sound quality, mostly because there are a few sounds that just seemed, I don't know, too mundane.

This is the issue that made me look through all the posted reviews before submitting mine; I was really surprised at the number of players who got stuck with dead DL4's. If I'd read these reviews, I probably wouldn't have gotten the DL4, becuase I hate to have my gear screw up. I bought my DL4 almost 3 years ago, and its never failed me! I use it live, I use it in my little home studio set-up, I use it all the time, and it always works. My 3 memory slots keep their presets, and I haven't had a C cell in the DL4 since the day I bought it. I don't know what happened to all those players who got defunct units, but my DL4 was made in the USA, and a couple of reviewers mentioned that their DL4's came from Malaysia. (I own a Malaysian-made MM4, which I bought used,and it works fine.) I usually have at least one other delay/looper with me at live gigs, so I always have a backup.

I play experimental guitar, using guitar synths and loopers to create dense soundscapes, or one-man-band performances. I got the DL4 primarily for the looper, which I like very much. I've been playing since Surf Guitar was born, and I own a pile of effects pedals, including a number of delays, analog and digital.

The DL4 gives me a few sounds I use all the time, the Looper, the Auto-Volume and the Reverse delay, but the Looper is the one I use most. Double-clicking to reverse the loops is a real pain, but I've learned to live with it. I've gotten some really sick, really fun sounds from the Sweep Echo, and most of the other sounds are usable, if not inspiring. The default-switching is kind of a pain. In a live setting, you're kind of stuck with your three user presets, if you need to change sounds halfway through a song; between songs, you can dial up a new sound.

When I got the DL4, it was the only delay/looper pedal I could find. Boss hadn't released the RC-20 or the DD-20, and I wasn't sure about the Akai Headrush. I wish it had one more switch, for reverse looping; that would be all I need. I give it a 7, because it's expensivefor what it does.

This an addition of my review of 07/24/2003.
It's a reaction on the last review of Derek, who wants 30 seconds of sampling time instead of 14 seconds.
You cabn easely make the SAMPLER-time 28 seconds, by pushing the right knob for one time, before you start recording.
There could occure a slight tone loss - I really NEVER did notice.
I use the 28 seconds-mode quite often.

Excellent!
It's very easy to dial in a great delay sound and wail away. It's pretty much a plug and play. That's one of the things I really dig about this little green machine. It's wonderful to plug in and go right at it. Once I kick in the loop sampler, I can get lost in it for hours. It's a great way for me to impress friends when they come over because they get not just 1 but 2, 3 4 guitars all at the same time making beautiful music together. I can dial in Edge sounds, Police, Eddie Van Halen, Incubus or any band that uses delay just fine. I'm more interested in creating sounds and can dial in great sounds very easily.

I just wish the loop sampler had 30 seconds instead of just 14 sec. I can't even finish a 12 or 8 bar blues to jam to. Oh well. Nothing is perfect.

I have a PRS quilt ten top Artist III http://prsguitars.com/showcase/discontinued/as3.htm
Very nice!

Use it in conjunction with either my Mesa Bogie Mark 4 stack or my Marshall Valvestate ( not nearly as nice as my Boogie ). I have several effects reanging from Keeley modded distortion pedals,



It is not noisy in my setup. I don't understand why some people say that. The delay sounds are vast. Although you will not be able to get the analog richness of the Space Echo, you will never be able to replicate those kind of organic sounds with any digital pedal. With that being said, the delay sounds are musical and sound very nice to my ears. For getting all of these possibilites in a pedal is awesome. I'm a happy camper :)

I have read some things about this pedal crapping out on this board. I originally purchased a refurbished model because they had no new ones in instock. It was beat to hell but reburbished. It would crap out on me so I took it back to exchange it for a new one at Guitar Center. So far, not a problem. I think if your somewhat gentle and don't slam on it like you would do with your Boss pedals, it would probably last frever. I also purshased the 1 year warranty at Guitar Center so if it has any problems, I can always swap it out for a new one :) No, I don't feel I would need a back up.

Another thing, the sticker that is on the front panel is coming off. I think I will swap it with another. They could have used some stronger glue to keep it on better perhaps.

I haven't dealt with them as of yet. Hopefully I won't have to. I would get an upgrade only if they offered more loop sampler time. Try more like 30 seconds please.

I play everything. Alerna Rock, Aggro Rock, Nu-Metal, Old school Metal, 50'2, 60'2 and 70's music. Jazz, Blues ( Santana like ), classical, Space Rock and more. It's all music and I love it all. It fits a wide range of styles wonderfully.

I've been playing for 19 years. If it was lost or stolen I would be very pissed and get anothe one or hunt the theif down. It's somewhat expensive but I would get another one.

Another plus is that now I can leave my costly boutique Space Echo at home to keep it in mint condition.

These are my current effects:

Space Echo re-201
Boss DS-1 ( made in taiwan )
Keeley Modded Ds-1 Ultra Mod ( http://www.robertkeeley.com )
Keeley Modded Ts-9 to 808 specs ( great for good blues overdrive )
Boss DM-2
Boss CE-2
Boss PH-3
Modded Vox Wah ( soon to try out the Morley Bad Horsie )
Boss PQ-4
Electro Harmonix Big Muff
Digitech Whammy Pedal
Line 6 DL4

As I said before, I love this thing. It's a wonderful unit and I have hours of fun using and expermenting with it. I call it my green machine. In fact, they should call it " The Green Machine ). hehe.

I don't hate anything about it except I wish it had 30 second loop sampler instead of 14 seconds. That is not enough and limits some of the use I can get from it.

I bought the BOSS DD-20 and took it back. The DD-20 is not as intuitive as the DL4. In fact, the Boss DD-20 is not user friendly at all and doesn't have the bonus of adding delay to your looping phrases like the DL4. Over all, The Line 6 DL4 sounds more natural and musical than the DD-20 to my ears.

It certainly inspires me to make some great guitar lines and songs. I love the reverse mode too. I can add reverse more to my recordings and it sounds just as the old tunes like Hendrix had when they would run the tape backwards to get the same effect. Alot less hassle. Really cool!

Finding effects that tailor to your sound is like food. It's all about personal tase. It suits me great! I just wish it had more looping sampler time.

The tweak and tweez thing can get very difficult w/o a chart, but then I decided to stick the a small reference chart on the chassis of the pedal (the chart came in the box). Though the chart doesn't have a "real" place on the chassis, it seems to work fine.

All of the models have pretty nice levels, as long as you master the TWEAK AND TWEEZ. Some models (tape and tube echo) can be a little weak in the sound category, but effects like ping-pong, loop, etc. make up for it.

I have played many, many shows w/o single problem. I have also dropped it many, many, many, many times. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

never had to deal w/ the company. see above.

You can't beat 16 different delays in one machine. This pedal is best for any kind of progressive rock, but it's nice to have the wide variety at your toes. For the money, the thing is worth it. It quickly became my favorite pedal, surpassing the Morley Bad Horsie Wah-Wah and the Boss Super Phaser. The nly real difficulty that isn't well explained is the damn tweak and tweez. Other than that the pedal is a must for sound junkies like myself.

It's not very hard to use...the tweak and tweeze thing can get a little weird.

I've been trying to like these things....I'm a delay freak....I put echo on my alarm clock in the morning....however I have owned three of these units and I must tell you I think they sound absolutely awful.
I keep one on my pedalboard ONLY because the loop sampler is killer....WAY better sound quality on playback than a Boomerang. In my opinion that is all it has to offer.
I use Roland RE-501 Space Echo units religiously....to me they are simply the best sounding echo devices money can buy....hands down. They are dead quiet,totally organic,and they have TONS of personality....I have three of them.That being said,I must say that these Line 6 products pretty much symbolize all that is wrong with society today. People trying to skimp on everything thinking that this sounds "good enough"....or "close enough to the real thing".....I have news for you....it's not. Just like the folks who try to talk themselves into believing their Pro Tools rigs can sound as good,or even close to a good analog 24 track 2" tape machine...it's not as good. Think your Pod sounds as good as a real 1964 Fender Deluxe Reverb that's tuned up right and mic'ed properly? It doesn't. Now I understand that all these devices have a very important place in the music world today....they compromise sound but they give back in reliability,editing capabilities and low cost. I swear I'm not a gear snob...I try every piece of new gear with a totally open mind. If I could find a modern delay pedal that sounded even 80% as satisfying to me as a Space Echo I'd be using it and leaving my Space Echoes at home so they will last a few more years.....unfortunately that doesn't exist....the Memory Man is too noisy and it has a weird low midrange coloration that you can't get rid of.

If you think your DL-4 sounds good,do yourself a favor and try a real Space Echo,just so you can gain a little perspective on things.
I realize the DL-4 is 200 bucks,whereas a good 501 Space Echo is 500 bucks....I also realize that a 501 doesn't have tap tempo,
it also requires an ocassional tape replacement and maintenance. It doesn't matter,if you can afford it,buy the Space Echo. The Line 6 box is a TONE KILLER! The overall sound is thin and spiky in the mids,making your guitar sound like it's echoing in a toilet.....and if you try to use this device on a live gig you'll quickly notice that you mysteriously lose gain every time you engage the delay....which is exactly the opposite of what you need in a live performance. If this unit had a volume control for the effect only sound like the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man it would be a whole lot cooler....but it doesn't.
Everytime I walk in a club or hear someone playing live I can always tell they're using a DL-4....it leaves me limp.

I haven't had any problems with my DL-4's breaking....although I thought about breaking them myself a few times.

I'm sure the Line 6 folks are nice and very supportive....people are buying the hell out of their products....they should be very HAPPY!

Here's another thing I hate about the sound of the DL-4....if you try to set a moderately long echo with multiple repeats to get a lush trippy delay sound you'll notice that the very first repeat only is twice as loud as all the following repeats....thus making it impossible to get a smooth trail off that doesn't completely kill my buzz. I know I'm being tough on this thing,but I do sincerely think that if you're a beginner to moderate level guitarist you can enjoy this box....if you start trying to seriously record,or if you've ever experienced the joy of real tape delay.....you will find it very unsatisfying....it does do a lot for the money,I must admit that.

Here at last a short review.
After changing my POD2 (it didn't work in combination with my tube-amp Marshall 4140 combo - it sucked the tone totally - review POD2 04 04 2003) for a DL4 and MM4, and I must say it's one of the best moves I musically made. They sound both great! But now to the DL4.
A good sound? The factory-settings are great already, but if you've got time to alter the knobs, so many good sounds occur to many to mention. I really don't make time to make to turn the knobs quite often, but when I got a spare moment - for example in rehearsal - most of my great sounds are made. Saving it, pushing on one knob for three seconds, and writing the knobposition down for remembering everything for later.
The manual is very easely written, right for to experiment.
But you have to invest to get maximum results.

American Standard Fender Stratocaster, Vox Wah 847, two Ibanez TS9's, Rat2, MM4, DL4, Marshall 4140.
the DL4 (and all the others) go straight in the amp, and the original signal behaves great! With true bypass no loss whatsoever, with the DL4 on it does what it should do, it modulates just as that! It gives that extra's you're lookin' for, but your tone stays fully intact.
I enjoy it very much and every day it's possible that I 'invent' new great sounds, and that makes me play and play. It gives me more musical wings.
Noisy? Not for a bit!
All of the effects are great on their own, but it's up to your own needs which one you prefer. I like the Memoryman (analog delay with modulation) very much, also the analog delay, the swell-setting and the multiheaddelay. But there are still that many settings I still did not have discovered. In long term, I defenitly will come closer to all!

Still no problem whatsoever! I play once in a week and I have confidence in it, it never let me down.
Only the paint isn't that great! But it makes your DL4 recognaisable, is also a certain beauty!

I once contacted them by e-mail for the factory-settings of the DL4 and MM4. They responded me immediately by mail with all the asked settings. By the way, they have a great site, where you can find many answers.

I play melodic rock with influences of fusion, jazz and blues for 37 years now. If stolen, I buy another one immediately. I'm very happy with it. It has become a part of my sound! Especially the Memory Man De Luxe path, which is better than the original that I had (it only lacs the feedbackoverdrive-future, but I can live with that easely!), NO noise and five times more delay-time! What could you want for more?
So many possibilities in a small box. Okay, just three memoryslots - for me it's enough - and if you want, you can change by hand - not a big a problem!
The more I play it, the more I love the thing. Thanx to Line6!

It's been pretty easy for me to get whatever effect it is that I'm looking for from this pedal. The manual is sweeeeeet...lots of tips and tricks to do some crazy stuff with the loop sampler.
However, sometimes it's really hard to get the loop sampler to be in the groove of everything else...requires very precise footwork.

I play an American Standard Strat, a 50's re-issue Telecaster, and a 50's re-issue Stratocaster with Silver Fender Lace Sensor Pickups, and I have a Crate Vintage Club Series Amp. All the guitars sound great through this thing.
Sound quality is superb with clean tones, but tends to break up a just a little with heavy distortion (a little less so with the telecaster). Not really a problem for me though, just figured it out while messing around at home.
The loop feature sounds great as well...

Contrary to EVERY other review I've read for this thing, mine has held up great. I haven't experienced ANY problems from it. I don't take it on the road or play tons of gigs with it, however I use it quite a bit jammin' with friends and at home, and when I do play gigs. It's seen it's share of drops and bangs over it's 2 years and it's still going strong for me. And yes I would, and have, used this on a gig without a backup.

No need to deal with 'em...

I do a lot of jam/funk/reggae type songs...and this pedal is ideal for this type of music. If it were stolen or lost, I'd buy another, most definitely. I LIKE THIS PEDAL!!!!!!!!!!

fairly straight forward. Good, clear, dumb-ass proof manual...pretty typical of Line 6.

I use a Ibanez RG 570 through this with multiple amps ans effects and it is pretty consistent. The delay sounds are always good. ONLY real complaint is that when you loop stuff the underlying parts tend to break up and crackle if you play to aggressively over 'em. I use this mainly as a noise maker by setting it on "sweep echo" and twistiong all the knobs. It's good for that.

yes. No probs always dependable.

nadda

This is a great pedal. Does better with clean tones..but aww well.

This thing is fairly simple to use,although the "tweak/Tweeze" knobs are reconfigured based on which delay model is being used.The manual is great and easy to read,giving you pretty detailed info on the loop sampler.Pretty straight forward if you are used to using processors or rack effects(like me).

I use this thing second to last in my pedal setup,becuase I have a reverb pedal last,so my effects go in this order:Boss flanger and pitchshifter(set to detune)/Ernie Ball volume pedal(modulation pedals go first so I can kill the noise of them when my volume is down)/Line 6/Digitech reverb.This all runs into a BBE Sonic Maximizer,then into the effects loop of a Peavey Rockmaster preamp,into a Mesa/Boogie 50/50 poweramp.My guitars are a Ibanez RG570 and a trashy Epiphone V.I really like most of the unit's sounds,especially the regular digital delay! Very,very clean delay indeed...cuts through even with massive distortion.I like that I can add a third modulation effect by using the onboard one(I use a preset w/the "memory man" model)and when using the loop sampler you can add delay and modulation to it as well! Very cool.I use the sampler as well as the presets,so it kinda sucks that you can't save it as a preset.This would really make it easier live than turning the mode knob! But you can save the delay and mod' settings in the mode,which is good! One gripe:you cannot set the tempo of your delay when the unit is off! This is a pain in live settings where I want it to be in time BEFORE I turn it on! The Boss DD5 lets you do this,but this does not.I suppose I could buy the expression pedal and set the wet/dry level with it,leaving it on the whole time,but that adds another pedal(plus$$$spent)to my board.Other than this,no complaints at all...I have never owned a "real" old tube Echoplex or anything so I cannot say if the models sound similiar,but they work well enough for me.

I used it on tour and at practice and have never had 1 problem with it(knock on wood haha)...though the guitar player in the other band we were on tour with had a problem at a show where his stopped working! I do not have enough dough to cough up for a backup...so hopefully it will keep working!

No opinion here...the company is VERY close to where I live,so if I had a problem,it would be easy enough to go talk to them.

I play metal/hardcore(in the style of old Cave In,Dillinger Escape Plan,Converge etc. and death metal similiar to old european style(Morgoth,Carcass,At The Gates)and have been playing for about 7 years.What I listed is all I really own(besides my stock Marshall JCM 900 straight cab)and,if this were stolen I would HAVE to go track down the f@#$er and get it back,for I am very poor haha!!! I like everything about it except for the tap tempo problem...from what I've read it seems to be finicky,but I have not seen problems so far...keepin' my fingers crossed here!!!! This is a great unit to have in my arsenal for the loop sampler alone,so I don't have to record a riff on my 4track and play it over and over to figure out harmonies and parts...that alone makes it worth the $$ for me.You really can't go wrong buying one of these for all the features,and your own 3 presets....very hip! I wanted to get a Boss DD5,but this one ruled out for the features(mainly the sexy loop sampler)and sounds.Worth every penny!

couldnt be simpler, you turn some knobs and there you go. When I first got it I was a little dissapointed that you couldnt alter the presets on the delay selector...until I realised how ridiculously easy it is to call up a great sound. Even mid song you can bend down, fiddle some knobs and there you go. It still would be nice though, so for that reason it gets an 8

I use alot of delay, loads of it. Very big floaty stuff covered in lemons flying around on little fluffy clouds in a deep blue sky before descending into an ocean of deep blue stuff type delay. I have to say that the DL4 is the best delay unit I've ever used. The sound quality is fantastic. Ok, so the multihead function doesnt really sound like a roland space echo, but for me it creates a sound of its own. The digital delays sound clear and crisp yet still sound natural, the tape delays are lovely and warm, the analogue are fantastic and if you fiddle about with the time, repeat and mix nobs you can get your guitar to sound like the chemical brothers. Then you have reverse which is a genuis addition and of course the echo volume swell which is perfect for whale impersonations. You can even create modulation effects on this, in fact I got rid of chorus pedal because this recreates what I trying to do with it anyway

I use every single aspect of this device in conjunction with a second delay pedal (digitech digidelay) a cry baby wah, boss sd1 and there is nothing I dont like about it.

Its built like a tank, mines been through hell and back and it still works. But mine is only 4 months old. No problems so far

N/a

Its expensive...but its quite simply the best delay unit money can buy. it wont colour your sound, it does things nothings else will, it has a sampler on it (great for using live). you can reate a whole range of very unique sounds on this things and its made to withstand a nuclear blast...very solid casing

I love it and wouldnt live without it!

not very easy, but he has got 16 different delay effect.
the manual is complete and really help you to use correctly the pedal.

i like so much this sound, i use only 3 effect analog digital and rithm delay.
I like the raw sound of analog delay, i use it for enigmatic song final or space bubble sounds.
the digital is very good and the sound response is perfect for me.
Good is the rithm, i set a very short delay, with deep deph to have an alternative chorus effect. (I hate chorus i dont have it in my pedalboard)

the other effect was very good, you can find from beatles reverse delay to U2 stereo delay. intresting is dinamic delay..

i think is made for oad use, it appears solid and heavy.
i think it can be used for a lot of gig

I play rock, this effect make my sound good, i think the best thing is the incredible variety of sound you can obtain.
If you play from rock to jazz, from death to new age.

This pedal made for you

It took me no time figure out how to work this thing. But like others who have described it, the Tweak and Tweeze knobs will confuse you at first if you don't have the manual or go into it not knowing that they change up on different delays. The knobs can be picky sometimes... but it's not a big deal. I wish more delays could be saved on it though. That and you technically lose your settings when you hit another switch or change delays. But if you move the knobs slightly and put them back in their original position... you get it back.

Gibson SG Standard Limited Edition > Roland GR30 > Line 6 FM4 > Boss Dimension C > Line 6 DL4. It's not a noisy pedal at all. I like all the delays on this thing... especially the Lo-Fi and Analog w/ Mod delays. You can recreate many classic delays in just one box. The Loop Sampler is great too. Now I don't have to worry about recording riffs on my computer to figure out other parts for songs.

When I got this pedal (via Ebay), the far left footswitch didn't work. So that meant no Loop Sampler or 3rd saved effect. I took the unit completely apart and put it back together. From there it worked. So I'm kind of shaky on it's reliability. It hasn't let me down yet.

N/A

I like this thing alot. Though I did complain about wanting more spaces to save delays.... if you think about it, any other pedal gives you only 1 and not 3. So I can eat my words on that one. Very clean (unless you choose to add noise/distortions on the delays that allow it) and gets great sounds. I love this pedal. Perfect for progressive/experimental. If it was stolen, I'd buy it again. I just wish that you could use the delays with the Loop Sampler.

Manual essentially accurate but chocked full of cutsie lingo we could all do without.

The vintage effects the DL4 draws its inspiration from sound nothing like the real thing, but I bought the unit for looping so this was not an issue for me.

Not presently working. Its a bit too old to be repaired under warranty. It died far too young.

One day the loop function just collapsed. The service people here want $300.00(!) to fix it or $40.00 in charges just to retun it broken.

I wish it worked! In 30 years nothing I've owned has been costlier to repair than to buy new! This is a cheaply made unit designed to break down even faster than a VCR. Those 4 big metal switches are attached to the motherboard (cost cutting measure) and probably caused mine to crack. Yours probably will too from what the tech told me.

Very easy to use. The manual explains everthing well.

Very acceptable sound. I like the multi-head feature but it does not sound like my Space Echo 201.

This is where it will let you down in a big way. One preset switch has failed. Also, mine has begun to lose its ability to save your settings. This is definately not good to find out when you are on stage warming up and you find out the unit has forgotten your settings and then won't remember your settings when you try to reprogram the thing 5 minutes before its time to perform.

It pissed me off so bad that I don't even want to talk to anyone from the company. Also, it's out of warranty as I have had it for just under two years.

Lost or stolen? I wish someone would. The delays are very acceptable repros for the money spent. The reliability factor is the reason I won't have another one.

This box is lots of fun. I play hardcore/guitar and bass driven tribal drum punk (for lack of better terms) and haven't found much realistic use for it there. For reggae/dub or experimental stuff this green machine is beautiful. Surprisingly versatile with bass guitar. Line 6's manual is complete and cohesive. "Firmware revision" sounds like some sort of men's sexual aide, no my unit hasn't been upgraded.

I use a cheap mexi p-bass into a dunlop m-80 bass pedal into this green brick, into (ironically enough) a Fender m-80 guitar head, everything comes out through a Randall 2x15 bass cab. Sampler feature is killer, you can be your own rhythym section if your guitarist is being a dick. Effects sound natural and not watered down, good stuff, you could start a Hawkwind cover band with this thing.

I am the third owner of mine, after two guys who are notorious for beating on their gear. I have had Zero problems with switches, excess noise etc. I did have to buy a new power supply for it though, as the one Line 6 offers, sucks. I wouldn't play a show with this unless the audience was under the influence.

All musical equipment customer service folk have one foot in the gutter, one thumb up their A#$! Surprisingly, when calling just to ask basic operational questions, the line 6 guys were great! Complete, helpful and good listeners.

I have been playing for well over a decade and have never played around with something this cool. I would encourage interested parties to find one used as retail price is a little far out. This is my first and only delay device, as until I opened my mind I thought delay on bass/guitar was for "fags". If it was stolen, I'd go to guitar center and steal a new one from those retail rape-hounds.

This is a follow-up to an earlier post:

If you don't have a solid power source (i.e. if the power in the club tends to flux) this unit will cease to work. If there isn't a solid 120 on the power conditioner, the unit will shut off (drop the selected patch) - cannot function without a clean/constant power feed.

Has been a terrible issue. Also affects my MM-4, but not as significantly - i.e. not as frequently.

I play professionally and have spent week long engagements on the road without the use of either the DL-4 or the MM-4 because of power conditioning issues. That's a problem!

I promise, I never had these issues with any of my Boss Delays or even rackmount processors like the a Digitech 2101/2120, TC Electronic G-Force or even an old Alesis QuadraVerb.

Bottom line, I don't think these are roadworthy. Maybe acceptable at home, a demo studio or an occassional gig, but not as a required piece of performance gear on the road.

Line6 never responded to my emails regarding this issue.

Toy...you get less than you pay for.

To get the most out of this unit, a little time with the manual is helpful. I learned things about it after I had it for about 8 months that I didn't understand from just messing with it.

I love this thing! It is an integral part of my sound. But, I am writing this review to warn about the reliability problems that I will set forth below.

Here's the rub. For such a great, versatile pedal, when it stops working, you're screwed. My first one lasted about 19 months. Then, during a gig, I got this ear-piercing shreik when engaging a present, and weird hum-scratch when the pedal was not engaged. Of course, this happened after the warranty period was up. The first unit hasn't wigged out in the loop mode, but that surely cuts out a lot of the features. "Resetting" the unit fixed the problem for a while, but it came back. Nasty experience when the amp starts squealing in the middle of a gig.
But, I love the versatility and sound, so I bought another. This new one I have had for 3 months. I notice that it shorts out if I use heavy distortion in one of the modes. I could live without doing this, but I do think it is ridiculous to pay $249 for a pedal that has about a 6 month life expectancy.

I contacted Line 6 about the problems mentioned. They suggested "rebooting" the unit. They were kind enough to tell me that I had no warranty left on the first one.

I love using this thing, but I am disappointed in the build quality. You should know the risk if you want one of these. When it works, it's heaven. When it doesn't work . . . well, it's pretty damn disappointing.

It hasn't worked long enough to find out.

The DL4 started off with screeching static which remained on every channel selected!!!! We reset the factory settings and it sounded OK for about 10-15 seconds when the screeching static started again. We put in new batteries and reset the factory settings with the same results.

Dead On Arrival!!!!
Based on all the reviews and our experience, I would say that Line 6 needs to improve the design and/or quality control of their products.

I guess I'm going to have to drive another 90 miles to the Guitar Center in Cherry Hill New Jersey this week to get my money back.

This product takes a little tweaking to get a good sound, but it is in there. Easy to use with little effort, most factory presets are pretty good and usable as is. Tweak and tweez? They dont do much, not much of a noticeable difference.

SET UP:Les Paul standard, Tom anderson, keeley comp, various voodoo lab products, Buddha Head,Marshall 1960 classic cab.
Pedal is not noisy at all.
Effects are usable as is, But I use effects sparingly, and like a suttle mix so its ok for my use.

Heres my problem. can I depend on it NO. I have had it for about 9 months. I play about 5-6 nights a week, in a couple of bands. It is strapped down in a pro cushioned pedalboard that has a lid, and this and all my pedals are taken care of. Several intermittent problems at about 7 mos., now it is in the shop.
Some of the problems were as follows:
1)not working at all,
2) preset sticking and not turning off,
3) signal drop when pedal is engaged
4)signal boost when engaged
etc, etc...
Now many of these problems did happen during gigs, many of them very important shows including a Label showcase so you can understand my frustration.
I would not buy this pedal again, and am currently contemplating selling. If you use it, and need delay get a back up.

I have dealt with several people at the company, some of them were very cool and helpful. But, however a couple of them were mis-informed and tried to throw fault at another pedal as the cause. For example they wont tell you that several of the tech guys in the back who do repairs etc.., are currently using Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2, in the shop. And that they are totally compatible with these stomboxes.

I play all types.
Playing for 10+ yrs.
If lost or stolen...see ya..I would buy something else.*********
*********BOTTOM LINE******
You get what u pay for. This is an attractive pedal because you get 3 settings plus a sampler(sampler option did not matter to me), at a very low price. If experience has shown me anything it is: buy a product that does 1 thing and does it great vs. a pedal that does many things fairly well. You pay more but get a better product, I still have stomp boxes I got 20 yrs ago they are 1 trick ponies but hey they still sound great and work.:)

Simple to select delay model, but the "Tweak" AND "Tweeze" knobs do different things depending on model. Comes with a little decal to stick to the unit to tell you what knob does what on which model, so its not as difficult as it sounds. All it all, easy to get a decent sound in a short amount of time.

Very clean delays! I'm using it in the following setup:

Epi Les Paul '56 Goldtop or Fender Highway 1 Strat --> DOD FX10 Bi-Fet --> MXR DynaComp --> Boss SD-1 --> Boss OD-2 --> Big Muff USA Reissue --> DL4 --> Behringer VAmp2

Using good quality cable, this setup has given me minimal noise. I was using the on-board delays of the VAmp2, and this thing blows them away. Very clean where you would expect it, gets dirtier on the analog and tape models.

I have used about half of the modeled delays, and the Line 6 emulations stand up very well. Not exact, but quite nice. Certainly nothing you will hear in a mix. Not digital sounding at all.

Cant judge this yet. I've had it for a week!

Again, only had it a short time.

A very nice unit. Highly recommended. I compared it to a couple of older rack delays, and this was just simpler, and let me get down to making music much faster. I might trade it up to the Echo Pro at some point in the future, just to be a little more studio friendly (i.e. sync to MIDI clock, more patch storage)

Pretty easy to use. "Tweak" and "Tweeze" are stupid terms, but if you just start spinning the knobs, you'll get the point.

None of the other categories really matter if the pedal doesn't work. Had the DL4 just over a year (took excellent care of it)and it developed bad static on all switches. The repair estimate was $175. I'll keep my $175 and buy something that works. As stated by others, the knobs and switches are cheap. One year warranty is not very impressive for cheap components.

Didn't deal with Line 6. Dealt with shop authorized to repair Line 6 products.

Delays are pretty good, but the pedal is unreliable. If you gig with this pedal, expect some delay-less shows. The DL4 was the first line 6 product I have owned. The DL4 will be the last Line 6 product I own.

Not easy, but spend some time with it and read what "Tweek and Tweeze" do and you'll figure it out.

I rate it a "9", but I'm giving it a "10" to make up for the "1's" that "ANONOMOUS" gave this is pedal back in '01 (read his highly intellectually stimulating and informative review below). That guy probably still thinks ADA MP-1's and bullet belts are "aaawesome".

Seems well built. Tough casing. These have stood the test of time so far, and, not surprisingly, the Delay Modeler is the most popular of the "modeler" pedal series (like I knew they would). The modulation modeler is decent as well, but the delay modeler is the best of the bunch.

I've heard good things, but never had to call or contact Line 6...

Actually a "9" overall....but I'll make it a "10" to make up for bonehead "ANONOMOUS" review below filled with "1's". (Check it out for a good laugh). What a clueless wonder. Anyone who's owned tape, analog, and the various digital delay effects/pedals/rack processors generally knows what they are talking about, and can weigh the pros and cons of having tons of "vintage" rack gear, or pedals, vs. having one medium size footpedal roughly taking up the space of three compact pedals.This green box is quite an accomplishment for what it is, and does. My other favorite "delay models" are found on the FENDER CYBER-TWIN (two thumbs up for their tape echo models and analog delays!). If FENDER puts out the "CYBER TWIN MODELER", I'm there and might sell you my LINE 6 DELAY MODELER.

Pretty easy to understand the basics, but what tweak and tweeze do for each different model is quite hard to remember.
The loop sampler is easy to get to grips with and REALLY useful live.You can set up a short loop and play over the top of it and then just bring it in with the footswitch when you need it.
The tap tempo is probably the thing I use most and it's really handy for setting your delay times on the fly (C'mon you know how your songs are always faster live than when you're rehearsing them)The manual is great and very detailed.

Nice and warm. From memory, most of the models are pretty accurate, I've used most of the original units this thing models (not for a good few years though some of them: )
At the moment, I have my 3 settings programmed to:
1- Slapback 75 ms with 1 repeat

2-Ducking delay which dips the volume of the echo while you're playing and raises it when you stop (great for overdriven solos)

3- Tube echo with some wow and flutter (gives a great subtle flanging on the delay only)

In conjunction with the tap tempo switch, these settings give me all I need for most gigs.

I play numerous styles with various Teles, Strats and a 335.
My signal path goes : Boss CS2 Compressor - Dunlop Crybaby- Line 6 Distortion Modeler - Line 6 Modulation Modeler - Line 6 Delay Modeler - Electro Harmonix Holy Grail into either a Hiwatt Custom 100 stack or a Fender Hotrod Deville 2x12.
I don't use the amps send and return and I have no noise or clarity problems using it this way.

The silver cap flew off the tap tempo switch once but after nearly 2 years of at least 3 gigs a week, everything still works perfectly.Considering how many times I step on the tap tempo switch in the course of a gig, I think it's amazing it hasn't left the building a long time ago.

Haven't needed to contact them

I'm really happy with this unit, it does everything I need and I'm proud to own it.

The only thing I know about this after playing with it a week is that it is a loop sampler with a delay. I bought it b/c of the sampler, that's all. The delays are cool, but can't be used with the sampler?? oh well

Sounds great. The sampler that is. Exact... no flatness. It comes out exactly like it goes in unlike some other samplers I have heard.

I can and will depend on it. JB Osborne uses the same pedal and has done some great gigs with it

Havn't had to yet. Hope I never have to.

I play it all... Howie day, john mayer... stuff like that.
Again, I bought this pedal for the sampler. The boss loop station would have done but, it was a little more expensive and I have used the DL4 before and was comfortable with it. If you do a solo thing, then at least try playing with a sampler, you'll be suprised at what comes out!

The pedal's cool at first and it get's way better when you get to know it.

BUT--- The expression pedal option does have a HUGE bug in it. Like another reviewer said, you can't change the tempo while using the ex. pedal without hearing the worst garbled distortion ever known when you use the pedal again.

There are two small and only slightly cool fixes that I have found.
(neither of which will work in a live setting but they do help out in prepping for one or for studio work)

I'm only offering this info here because Line 6 won't acknowledge this problem and they won't give you this info!?

While using (any of the three) presets you can either:
A: set the exact same tempo to both the bottom and top pedal settings
this can be a really annoying thing to attempt (and close your ears while swithching between settings) but if you're successful you'll keep all your different parameter (tweek tweez, repeat, mix) settings

or

(this next fix is fast but it only saves the down position settings, you'll have to reset the up position settings)
B:When you find a new tempo (by tap or whatever) first unplug the expression pedal. Then save the new setting (Three seconds on the switch) and plug the xpression pedal back in. Now you'll have all of the bottom pedal settings and the new delay across the whole pedal.
No more B.S. sounds.

Of course every time you change the delay time again you'll have to go through one of these steps. If you try to do this live you're crazy!

If all that is too annoying for you - just turn this thing to loop sampler and have a blast.

Hope this helps somebody and saves them time...

I'm using this exclusively with acoustic guitars. A Baggs Para Acoustic DI boosts the signal from either an under the saddle transducer or a sticker type trancducer pickup.

This thing has great sounds for current acoustic pickups.

yes, but be ready before the gig.

I've never been as angry at a music business rep as when I got my B.S. e-mail response from them on the subject of the expression pedal bug.

They need to change this and adress user concerns.
Especially with the ridiculous $50 price for the expression option.

Fairly easy to get 'o.k.' sounds. Near impossible to achieve the same effect twice unless you use one of the three user presets (kinda skimpy on this one), or one of the pretty terrible factory presets. The manual is somewhat informative with plenty of juicy pictures of over-priced unattainable effects that do not sound similar to this unit. The overall sound palette is not very diverse but it has it's musical moments , more on this later.... a confusing number of buttons and knobs, huge size/weight, crappy power supply, and lack in musical sound diversity = expensive as hell?

I have been putting this unit to use for approximately three years now with a 73' Gibson 335 dot, 72' Telecaster ustom re-issue and a 62' Telecaster custom re-issue, hum-bucking and single coils. The unit goes into the front end of a Mesa mkI (teak & wickercane), and an Ampeg Superjet. The unit is extremely quiet no-matter how i use it in this scenario. I love the 'lo res' delay and the 'reverse' which sounds pretty good but I have found the delay time on this option quite useless in playing live reverse guitar. The 'Loop sampler' , in my opinion, wins hands down as far as usefulness deespite it's pathetic sample length. Tip : sample time can be doubled using the 'half time' octave down button at far right when recording a loop. One more thing, Using a delay BEFORE a good tube amps inherent warmth and saturation/distortion really sucks desireable tone out of the setup and I would suggest playing at more moderate levels due to the fact that you'll sound a little better clean with this monster. If you want a time-based-feedback-washout effect similar to what Radiohead is using a lot of these days, well, I've seen them use this thing. If you want warm, analog-sounding delay (think deluxe memory man) with musicaly versatile tone-shaping abilities, good luck. Tape 'flutter' emulation and 'sweep' functions are cheesy at best when not used with extreme caution and taste.

So far, it's held up to three years, give or take a few months, to non-abusive use. I would not carry a back-up unit as I do not want two of the DL4.

I stripped the horrid green finish of this bastard with alchahol and doubt if this action qualifies it for warranty service. I'm not concerned with 'looks' or 'vibe' so much as the color reminded me of furniture likely to be found in an apartment full of cats and lonliness. I'm sure they follow through on warranty procedure.

Let's face it, time-based effects sound much better the further they are down the chain. In a sense, I have found delay to be much more useable after the guitar speaker ie, before tape or harddrive or what have you. This unit is hours of fun using "loop-sampler" and "lo-res" functions and all in all quite diverse using these two functions. Besides these two settings, I have to admit that I've found the other fourteen funtions and three factory presets to be the same boring crappy sounding digital delay effect found first on the dial. The sweep, tape 'wow-and-flutter', and tube echo make me want to sell this unit, or at least be fully refunded and allowed to keep it for the sake of being so thoroughly insulted as per my intelligence dedspite being a poor speller.

manual or not this sultry lady takes some time to really get into. The loop is pristine but takes some element of coordination to get right. The knobs all have different designations, and though the manual might give a literary description, to really know how they work you will need to dail up a delay and play with the knobs and learn each sound nuance. Storing presets is easy enough (just push and hold) and once you sit down and get into it, you can get lost for hours in layers of lasting wetness.

this divine digital delay drops dripping dashes of deep delay. With a wide array of tonal choices the stereo outs makes this sexy sadie a must have among pedal afficianatos. Clean, wet, often striking a spokky resemblence to true analog delays. The Loop is quiet and clear, with no degradation of the tone whatsoever. I am not kidding this delay will bend your mind.

Built out of solid metal the entire pedal is some form of alloy, no plastic except for the knob covers. The on/off switches are metal, the casing is this sleek shiny forest green reminiscent of the green goblin. Never had a problem, and I use her in my line up live, in the studio, and for miscelanious jam sessions.

Wouldn't know haven't had any problems so I have never tried to contact Line 6

Some peolpe say (I did too initially) "this is wat too expensive for freakin" dealy pedal. stero or not!" yeah man, but it'll be the last delay you ever buy. People who know what it is, know what it is. I play all sorts of music from experimental indie/avant gaurd jazz to pop-rock and this pedal is usefull accross the board. This pedal will last you the rest of your natural life. Think about not buying it, ot selling it. maybe you should see a doctor.

Delay really isn't that hard a concept. Plenty of good sounds in this thing, although "tweak" and "tweez" are a bit obnoxious.

Generally runs into the front end of a '65 twin reverb or through the effects loop of a mesa dc-3. Good results either way.

Sounds digital if you want it to, and can get pretty close to analog sounds. "Wow," "flutter," and other deterioration effects sound a bit cheesy.

Extremely flexible, and true bypass is nice.

Still can't quite match the warmth of a deluxe memory man.

Very well built. It's taken a few beatings and come back every time.

Probably won't replace a deluxe memory man or a dm-2, but a very flexible and well-built all-purpose delay.

Okay, the basics are covered thoroughly in others reviews, but I found a MAJOR PROBLEM within the first 15 minutes of use. Here's the deal:

The DL4 has tap-tempo which lets you adjust the tempo of a preset's delay by tapping in a new tempo. (one of the main reasons I chose the DL4).

The DL4 also alows you to use an expression pedal to vary any parameter in real-time. (the other main reason I chose the DL4)

Both features work great independantly, and will help my live sound and creativity immensely -BUT- THEY WILL NOT WORK AT THE SAME TIME!!!

You program the expression pedal by setting it in heel-down, adjusting a knob, setting it in toe-down, adjusting another knob. Now the expression pedal sweeps between those two settings. Fine. But now try adjusting the tempo with the tap-tempo. Now the expression pedal has "learned" your new tempo, and in addition to sweeping bewtween your original settings, it sweeps the delay time. Anyone who has tried knows that changing the delay time results in pitch shifting. Which leaves you with echos of warbles and dive-bombing pitch that totally overwhelm your sound. Don't get me wrong, it's quite an interesting sound, but you wouldn't want it ALL THE TIME!

I've called and emailed customer service, and while they were very friendly and helpful, their answer was that this is just the way it is (barring a software update, which is not likely).
This is not a problem specific to my DL4 or to me *this is just the way it is designed*. I really think that someone should have discovered this problem in R&D. A real deal breaker.

Also, on a related note, the tap-tempo is not global. Meaning that you have to readjust the delay time (by tap dancing on your pedalboard) every time you turn the delay off and on. You cannot tap the tempo in at the begining of the song then have it ready to go halfway through... :(

For what it is, it sounds great. The presets are different and each one is usable, no filler. The only "real thing" I can compare to the models is the Space Echo, and I have to say it's pretty good. I'd use the DL4 over the real thing live any day, but I'd have to stick with a real Space Echo for recording. (The model is great, but it doesn't have that real old-tape grimy-ness to it, the DL4 is just a shade more restrained...).

We'll see...

Their email response was super prompt. They responded quickly to my presale questions and to my -frown- post sale frustrations. They even offered to (and did) call me back after waiting too long on hold. Now lets see if they'll relay my frustrations back to the main company.

Well, sometimes the sounds aren't everything. For the sounds, a nine. For the interface...well, still a three. I'll use it to record, but I think the interface is severely crippled (as a live tool) by the problem I described above. It would be fine if I never wanted to adjust the tap-tempo or tweak parameters with the expression pedal, but that is why I was willing to pay over $250 dollars. If I wanted a delay without those features there are plenty to choose from for less than half the price. In this case, I would choose a pedal with a well-designed interface, over a pedal with tons of analog models but a poorly thought out interface.

Maybe if enough owners and prospective buyers raise a stink Line 6 will release a fix! If this problem was fixed I would have no problem giving this pedal straight 10's.

Easy to use. Will need the manual, but it's simple and to the point.

Patch editing is easy...simple to tweak and save.

Found this pedal to alter the tone a bit. Not transparent when engaged - seemed to compress the tone...took the presence edge off the signal. Not bad for the price. For most applications, the listener will never know (PA/ambient noise live...post production tweaks in the studio).

Like the flexibilty provided by adding the Continuous Controller. Do wish the patch morphing from heel-to-toe was a bit smoother - is too abrupt.

Has intermitten problem with selected patches turning themselves off when playing in a club.

NA

I play all kinds of music...and this pedal is a good fit. Tap feature is handy as is the morphing/realtime control flexibility of the Continuous Controller. Also, rather than 3 patches you can (if you'd like) actually have 6 (one setting for heel, one for toe for each of the 3 buttons).

Was sold on this unit after I learned the number of top session cats in Nashville using the L6 gear (MM4 and DL4). If it works for them it'll work for me. Makes it easier to pick up artist gigs or cover material in a club when your road gear is similar to the stuff the guy cutting the album tracks used.

The footswitches mounted right on the circuit board scares me...might do a point-to-point rewire soon for better reliability. Otherwise, solid little unit.

You push buttons and twist knobs... nothing difficult here folks. When you change a preset and then want to change a setting, you have to turn the knob once before changing the setting to your liking. Since i've played a lot of line 6 products, i'm used to it. I like how you save a preset by holding down the desired bank button. As far as interface goes, the only down sides are that there are only 3 availible presets, and the loop function cannot be stored as one of them. The manual is ok, and the little reference stickers you get with the DL4 are handy.

Here's my rig: Boss Tuner -> Wah -> 5150II head & cab. In the FX Loop I run the DL4, Boss CH2 chorus, and an old ibanez delay. As far as i'm concerned, The DL4 is an awesome pedal. Some of the whacked-out models like the sweep delay and the lo-res delay make for great atmospheric effects. I wasn't around in the 60's or early 70's, so I really don't give a f--- if the DL4 accurately models a vintage echoplex. The DL4 has really helped me develop a more signature sound.

It's big and metal... Built like a german war tank. However, if you are going to be playing with this live, buy the ac adapter... that's a no brainer.

dunno yet...

The DL4 is definately worth every penny (especially since I paid $170 for it using a friend's music store discount). It's easy to use, sounds the balls, and you can stomp the hell out of it. I play in a hard rock band looking to go pro, and the DL4 has helped us shape our sound.

Tricky to figure out, but once you get it down it's pretty easy. I'm talking about the looper of course - 15 delays are far more than what I need. Editing patches is easy, but when you decide to use a delay and you want a different delay time, it comes up as the preset and you have to stomp on the tap tempo switch...bleh. Anyway, I downloaded the manual and that explained everything that wasn't immediately obvious.

I use this with a Marshall JCM 800 2203, 2 Mesa/Boogie 2x12 Rectofier cabinets, a Danelectro Dan-echo, an Electro-Harmonix Clone Theory, an Ibanez FL-9 flanger, and a Digitech Digiverb. The looper sometimes sounds weird compared to my normal tone, but it blends in very well once I tweak the mix knob. Sometimes I fuck up, but for the most part it's very cool. The half speed and reverse play options on the sampler make for some very cool options when making ambient/experimental music. In fact, I would almost reccomend this pedal to people making that type of music instead of guitarists - there are too many delays here. I'm more than happy with my Dan Echo, but that's just me.

I've never really had any problems with it, but it would be nice to have something to back it up. I tried a Boss Loop Station and since I don't have an effects loop, I have to run my effects in front of my amp. The Loop Station took away a lot of gain from my amp and this pedal didn't.

It's good but it's certainly not worth $250 unless you're a delay purist and you really need all of these delays, or feel like you do. Actually, it's pretty handy if you want a good analog delay, a good tube echo, and a good digital delay and you don't want to shell out money for all three. However, I don't think I would depend on this for my primary delay since all I need is a good washed out sound and a somewhat slapback-ish sound. I dunno. Like I said, I'm happy with my little Danelectro unit, but the sampler on this thing is really nice.

Just like any million-in-one pedal, keep in mind that all of these are the same basic effect - there's not a whole lot going on other than the subtle variations in each one. I would rather have a Memory Man.

Check it out and see if it's your thing before you spend the money.

Not the easiest box in the world to learn, but once you get the hang of it you're golden. Three presets and a tap tempo which is on the money. Manual is EXCELLENT, and covers the other Line 6 stomp boxes as well. Don't loose it though. It really does help you to dial into what you want, and you need to know what Tweak and Tweez does for each effect. If you loose the manual your screwed, so take advantage of the presets.

Sound quality is excellect based on the fact that every effect is customizable. I don't think it's a good idea to use the presets on any pedal. Every amp is different, and you might want to take some time to set it up to match your amp. I do notice the level drop off on some of the delays, so I stay away from the two or three where it's noticable. One of the best things about this pedal is the loop sampler. I think it's the best way to write guitar solos. Loop a riff for a new song you wrote, and jam on top of it for hours. This feature alone has improved my soloing substatially, and you always have someone to jam out with when your not practicing with the band...YOURSELF! I will never go without a loop sampler again.

Solid as a rock. I would (like with all pedals) slap it on a pedal board. All your gear will last longer if you lock it down. Durable switches, no worries.

Never need it.

I play straight up, original, hard rock and roll that uses a healthy dose of distortion. I ususally kick this thing in on solos and quiet lulls. Adds a great ambiance to your playing without making it muddy, and with out making it sound like you rely on effects. I play a Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat-->Boss TU-2 Tuner-->Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modeler-->Boss CH-1 Super Chorus-->Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler-->Boss GE-7 EQ-->Fender Hotrod Deville 4x10. HUGE differece in the sound of Line 6 gear through a tube amp vs. solid state. Solid state will make their effects sound really digital, but a nice tube amp will warm this thing up like you wouldn't believe. Highly recommend the distortion modeler as well. Line 6 is as close as you will get to the real thing, but you do pay for it. If someone stole it I'd kill the bastard. Looper has given me so many ideas for new songs it's ridiculous. Just a great tool to have in your back pocket.

Lots of buttons, but not that hard to figure out. The looping function is real easy to figure out, as well. The manual is clear and gives detailed instructions.

I used this with a strat and Les Paul, through various overdrives, wahs, envelope filters, etc. into a few different Fender amps.

It sounds pretty good. Not exactly like the originals, but what did you expect? Tinker with it some, and you can get some very interesting delays going. It doesn't muddy up your tone. It does add a weird, digital-sounding bit of high end prescence. It's not that noticeable sometimes, and other times, very noticeable. Overall, it's very usefull and sounds better than many delays I've tried.

OK, here we go. I got this unit, played it for about 2 hours, and it died. Stone cold dead. It was an ex-delay unit. So took it back to the store, and they gave me another one. I should have just gotten my money back, but no, I got another one. It worked flawlessly for over a year of heavy gigging then it died, too - just like the first one did - no lights, no sound, nothing. It worked perfectly, I unplugged it, plugged it back in, and it was dead. I took it into the repair shop - an authorized Line6 repair shop mind you, and the guy there said that basically these units are not made very well, and that he's seen this same thing over and over again. He also said that if something other than a switch or jack breaks on these things, it will need a whole new circuit board. A new circuit board runs $150. So for the price of buying a DL-4, which I mainly wanted for the looping feature, and the repair, I could have gotten a Boomerang.

Unfortunately, since the warranty was up on my DL-4, I'm just out of luck, and didn't even bother contacting the company.

I'll give it a 5, since it does what it claims to do well, but poor design and weak construction make it a big risk. I certainly wouldn't pay $250 another one, since I've now had 2 of them die on me. It seems like a good value, but I guess the whole "you get what you pay for" adage seems to be accurate on this one.

I had a carl martin delayla. I got 2 defects in a row, said screw it and traded it for the line 6. First of all, you can't beat the price. Vintage stomp boxes can be a downright rip! Most guys that bitch about this unit probably couldn't spot it with a blindfold. It may not look as cool as the dinosaurs but I am sick of paying thousands of dollars because something is old and funky looking. If your label is buying your effects, go vintage. If you aren't rich this is just for you. I paid 250 bucks. Remember, it's the indian not the arrow! Aside from that, it sounds damn good! I was a little intimidated at first cause I hate alot of knobs. Within an hour or so I figured it out. If you like the boss pedals, you'll love this. It's better as a live tool. I could hear a little pulse on the loops when recording. Overall I say thumbs up and I've been called a music snob. I run this through an old deluxe reverb and play a les paul. If you have thousands of dollars and know someone to work on your old pedals, you won't be better off but you'll feel cool!

I am running this stereo through a 70's deluxe and a matchless 2-12. It doesn't sound like all the original pedals but it's unrealistic to expect that. It's cool for what it is. It's also very damn versatile. Screw their amp, screw their sad excuse for a leslie, but this is cool.

Too soon to tell but it looks really solid. I paid 300 bucks for the carl martin delayla tape echo simulator and it wouldn't do 1/10th what this will. Like I said, I went through 2 carl martins in 2 months. They kept breaking and have delicate switches. I think this comparison is important to mention. If these damn overpriced stomp boxes were half of what the vintage nerds claimed, there'd be no market for the line 6!

too soon.

I play drugged out, spacey rock. I've been playing 25 years. I would get another if this was stolen. My favorite is the 14 second loop. What other delay does this? Live it's awesome and seems real road worthy. Boss fans will be satisfied beyond belief. Vintage junkies will bitch no matter what. It helps me live because it does everything! This is fact: if we concentrated on perfecting our craft as guitarists as much as we search for the right pedals, we wouldn't need the damn things!

This is pretty simple to use and set up. Plug in where it says in and out where it says out. The manual is pretty good and it may take some people a while to get the presets to where you like them but hey everyone is different.

This unit is not noisy at all, it has true bypass. The delays are excellent, the analog delays are almost analog and the digital delays are just that. It has been said many times with Line 6 stuff that it is an imitation of the real thing they are not the real thing. So if you expect to set it up for a Maestro Echoplex and expect to have sound EXACTLY like a Maestro Echoplex then you might as well go buy the real thing.

Never had a problem!

Never dealt with them but I heard they are excellent

This thing gets an overall ten. It is a great little delay unit that covers all the basis. For people like me who need more than one delay and who are too lazy to bend down between songs to switch settings this thing is a God-send. Great sounds!

The DL-4 is easy to use, but since the knobs serve different funtions for each delay/echo type, there is a certain amount of practice required to memorize the "sweep range" of every setting. The unit comes with two stickers which show you what those settings are, but there is nowhere on the unit to put them... I imagine they were intended to be stuck to a guitar...

As with most virtual instrumnets, the sound quality is excellent. The only time this box sounds dirty is when it's supposed to.

The line 6 units are sturdily built, but the paint leaves a lot to be desired. My FM-4 Filter Modeler and DL-4 are both intact, but as I was trying to purchase the last remaining MM-4 Modulation Modeler from the "local shoppe that never has anything in stock", I noticed some nasty chipped corners; when I inquired as to what happened to the unit, the simply said, "That's from people trying it out in the store". Line 6 should ditch the free batteries and apply an extra coat of laquer or something to that effect. Minor gripes aside, this pedal will no doubt last a really long time.

I have yet to deal with Line 6 for technical assistance.

I got the FM-4 a while back, and I'd heard good things about the DL-4 Delay Modeler too, but circumstances made it so I had to wait to get one... Now that I have one, I can't believe I lived without it for so long.

As a long time delay fanatic and user of vintage boxes, I was skeptical that this unit could deliver as promised, but deliver it does, and in spades. I've owned several of the units it emulates, and I'm very impressed with the results. One unit I haven't owned which is modeled on the DL-4, the tube "Echoplex", is so convincingly tube-like, that I feel like I've just unearthed a mint, vintage unit from a long forgotten corner of a warehouse. Of course, the main advantage here being that you don't have to fuss about getting replacement tapes and hardened pinch-rollers, and that there is no hum accompanying the "Memoryman" echoes.

Line 6 have also shown extra intelligence by adding a nice 800ms echo to your looper, so you don't lose your echo effect when doing sound on sound stuff... I do wish the Adapter was included. I use this pedal a whole lot, as a STUDIO effect, and the first time I attempted to buy it, the clerk at the "local shoppe that never has anything in stock", they didn't have them, and i cancelled my purchase, pending the arrival of the power supplies, which took another 6 months. I'm sure they were already available from Line 6, it's just that most stores never have the adapters, cables, racks, cases, stands, etc. that you need when you need them. All in all though, a properly powered Line 6 DL-4 is just about the best delay unit I have ever had the pleasure to use.

this pedal is very simple to use once you understand line6's control dials. once you touch them you can't find the original settings again.
once you tweak a setting to your likeing save it and it will bw there
but remember what position the dials were at in case you need to make adjustments. small switches sometimes make changing patches on the fly difficult.the manual is helpfull in understanding "where they are coming from" when creating effects.

i'm using this mainly with Les Pauls or PRS's through a Dual-rectifier
halfstack.it's noise free(like all line 6 stuff so far)sometimes i do loose volume especially with the loop sampler.some effects seem to do the same thing. the sweep is very cool and the tap tempo button at your feet makes it easy to change delay times quickly.

all line six stuff seems to be reliable i've had this for about 2 months and it's been great.don't use it with batteries playing live get the AC adapter.(which they should include)

their customer service is very good they have helped me before with some amp questions.i haven't needed them for this unit.

i've had several different delays, i bought this because it did it all and i've had great experiences with their amps.i play in a hard rock cover band and it gives me the ability to play different styles of music without always bending down and tweaking my pedals.i've worked in some major music stores and i've screwed with every pedal out there and this does the job better then anything i,ve played.unless you want 16 different pedals on stage.they make great stuff and it models what its suppoded to very well.besides how many people can REALLY tell the difference?????

Basically it is easy to operate.But you have to go back to the manual once in a while.

I use this unit in my "top 40" set up. EB-Vol.--Cry babie--Jekyll&hyde
--Carl Martin compressor--DL 4-- clean tube amp (Fender).
The effect quality is very good. Not noisy.
I never used a real tape echo. I don't care.

Footswitch had to be repaired. No big thing.
Do not depend on batteries. Better use AC.

I have been playing for 20 years. I own lots of stuff. I do blues,
funk, rock, jazz.
3 presets are enough for me and 16 models almost too much...
I love the loop , i know there are more sophisticated ones.But once the unit is turned off, the loop has gone.Pity.
To my mind they should have put 2 or 3 reverb models in this thing and leave out some of the delays. Then the DL 4 would be real mature.And it would have been clever because there is no serious reverb stomp box on the market..

Dead easy to use, once you've read the manual. The only areas that aren't immediatly obvious are the use of the 'tweak' and 'tweez' controls and the inner workings of the loop sampler. However, 15 minutes play with the manual by your side and you should be OK. There are only 3 program patches (effectivley doubled to 6 if you use the expression pedal), which is slightly limiting but only because there are so many useable sounds on board. Look at it positively; its still offers 2 more programs than a BOSS pedal!

The pure sound quality of this unit to my ears is excellent. All the models are very quiet and realistic. It s great fun hearing the wow and flutter of the tape delay emulations. The analogue versions run away into a satisfying grungy 'thump' if you set the repeats high enough. The digital delays are crisp and clean and the loop sampler is intuitive and great fun. You could certainly use the looper for a solo piece, but i'm not sure that I'd be happy trying to get it to stay in time for a middle 8 break though!

However and its a BIG however; This pedal is next to useless to me!

I auditioned the pedal in my local music shop, plugging straight into the guitar input of a small combo and as you'll gather from my comments so far, I was very impressed. My amp set up is a Marshall JMP1 pre-amp feeding a 9100 valve power amp, which I run in stereo, with all effects fed by the loop. Unfortunately, although the DL4 sounds excellent through the loop and in stereo, there is an obvious and very noticeable drop in volume when a patch is selected. The JMP1 has a number of send and return level options, but the DL4 would not behave whatever combination I tried. Absolutely every other effect(either pedal or rackmount) works fine within the loop. Incidentally, I've also got a small Peavy Bandit combo with a loop and through that the DL4 works perfectly! I've spoken to Line 6 in the UK (more below) and it appears that the unit will just not match up with my Marshall.

The point here is that you MUST audition this unit with your own amp if you want to use it via an effects loop.

For pure sound quality I'd give the DL4 a 9, but obviously the volume drop problem means I'll have to mark it down.

The chassis is built like a tank, the knobs feel slightly flimsy, but should be pretty well protected in normal use. The volume drop problem isn't a fault so I see no reason to doubt it for reliability, but I've not had it long enough to give a meaningful opinion.

I e-mailed Line 6 in the UK regarding the volume drop issue mentioned above and received a response within 2 hours. We exchanged a further 4 or 5 e-mails until they admitted defeat in coming up with a solution. In terms of speed and quality of service they've been excellent.

I play a weird mix of stuff influenced by film soundtracks and late 70's/ early 80's 'alternative rock'. I've used delays of every type over the past 25 years or so and it is a very importnat element of my sound. I'm sick of multi-effects and wanted a standalone decent quality delay unit, and the DL4 does everything and more that I wanted. In terms of the quality of delays and (limited) programability, this Line 6 pedal is perfect. Unfortunately the volume drop problem renders it useless in a live situation and consequently its gone back to the store and I'm still looking for 'that' delay pedal. One can only hope that Line 6 will rectify this presumably simple problem in the near future, in which case I'll be first in the queue to buy one.

As above, without the volume problem I'd give it an 8 or 9, but for me it'll have to be a 4

It's very easy, it does have a few quirks but the manual is very helpfull in that respect.

24 bit Sound. It 's great. I'm hard to satisfy and this does the job right. I play a Parker Nitefly through a Peavy ultra 112 and run this throught the effects loop. I can do so many different sounds with this it's insane. I will sit and tweak it all day if I can. It's a lot of fun. The loop feature is so Great I can't even express how usefull it is. (Although there are better loop units out there) My tip is to record long loops in slow mode you get twice the time.

I've never had any problems

Never had a need to use them but their web page is really great. They haven't responded to a question I had about guitar port yet though.

Sounds Great! If you like you delay with Variety this is the pedal for you.

This is a follow up to a previous review where I slagged the unit badly. It appears I had a defective one.

It's easy enough to use, but I still wish there were more options to using that tap tempo.

Now that I have one that WORKS, it sounds pretty jammin. The volumes seem to be consistent now. There's only 3 presets that you can make. Kinda a shame since there are a LOT of cool delay types.

Hmm tough to say, my first was kooky. This one seems prety solid. Advice: Check the actual unit you buy before taking home.

I'll give credit here still, callbacks were quick and courteous, and usually quite helpful.

It's expensive for a non-boutique pedal (mass-produced), but it does its job well. Lots of cool sounds, with a few small exceptions good for improv. I don't use the looper much. I'm kinda old school that way I guess. Currently it is also working quite well as a chorus/doubler pedal in addition to a delay.

Here is my story.....

You will notice my posts all over this page.

After 5 months, line 6 had LOST my first delay modeler.....So the store replaced it.

It has no been to a gig.

I has been in a smoke free house.

It has not been dropped or abused.

It has barely been used.

And my new on is DEAD. 20 different Duracell Batteries, a adaptor, nothing.

No light, no sound, nothing.

So, the first on broke 3 times in under a year, and the brand new replacement is now broken.

There repair team is slower then the second coming. And they LOSE GEAR. How do you lose a piece of gear sent in on repair? Do they hire nothing but Deadheads having endless flashbacks?

Buy a Akai. At least they last. Hell, buy anything BUT this POS.

Easy enough. Find what you want before improvising a song, though.
Timing is everything. Turn some knobs, perfect the tone, and play.

I play a Fernandes Tele (EMG's) and an 80's Fender Jap Strat (emg's) into a Boss Compression, the DL4, Boss Chrous, Trem and Acoustic Simulator, Nobles Phaser, Marhsall JackHammer and Gov'ner, Peavey DirtyDog, Crybaby and Volume and into my 1x12 Fender Deluxe. Now, through all of my pedals, I figured that the DL4 would sound muddy when travelling through all those chrods. But since it is digital, I was surprised at the result. It still came out pretty clear! The only trouble is changing the tempo onstage after a song. You look like you're dancing trying to hit the banmk, tempo, save, etc etc
I can get everythinh from crappy Pearl Jam live dealy, or sweet, smooth Edge "U2" dealy. I like the reverse delay for crazy songs

The knobs look cheesey, and I don't think it's as strong as all my Boss pedals, but sturdy non-the-less.

Didn't have to use it.

I like it, except for the fact that there are not enough user preset (saving banks) to use it for different songs without changin tempos)

Once reading the manual, it is VERY easy to use. I have to give it a 10, considering mine didn't have a manual, but i managed to work it fully within a day

I think line 6 probably made a mistake by claiming to exactly recreate the tones of all this old gear. I think this pedal sounds wonderful, and i do not give two flying fucks if it doesn't sound exactly like the echoplex that you have to change tape regularly and breaks down mid song. A nine just because I don't like all the sounds

I had a problem with the second from right switch that if you engaged it there was a volume drop, but other than that totally 100% reliable

Never had any help, but that coz I live i the uk, and you don't get a warrant for ANY gear over hear

This has been an integral part of my band since i got it, and would definatly replace it if it were stolen/lost/broken. My favourite sound is lo res delay, which is supposed to simulate shite early digital dealys, and it does just that-it sounds shite

Not the easiest thing to just pick up and rock out with, but if you read the manual, it is actually quite simple. It even comes with stickers for you to put on the faceplate for reference. if you are stumped, RTFM

I am using this thing on a '64 Fender Jazz Bass and on an '81 SG Firebrand. The Bass Runs through the pedalboard to a Hartke kickback then to PA. The SG runs out from the same pedalboard split to a SuNN Stagemaster (eww.) Of course the guitar sounds better, but the DL4 handles Bass Frequencys remarkably well. Other reviewers are right, in saying that you want to run your distortion in your pedal chain before you get to the DL4 but that is also in the manual, (see above.) If you think it is cool to whip around and poke a button on your amp instead of casually hit a pedal for your distortion, you may not be cool enough to own the DL4.

My only gripe is that when activating a preprogrammed type, there is a slight pop. Not usually noticible live, but I wouldn't record with it unless I were doing Delay last. Tap tempo is silent... this is better than most adjustable pedals.

I met a violinist in Redmond Wa, who just uses this thing. When I first heard him, he was using the loop sampler, and I couldn't tell he wasn't a quartet. Amazing.

I would easily gig with this thing. It is as sturdy as an sm58. It even ended up down a flight of stairs once...

some people have mentioned that the loop effect occasionally wigs out... this is true if you have recorded a loop, and haven't succsessfully stopped recording, or have budged a knob while recording. You have to be careful with that.

I haven't dealt with their customer service directly, but I am giving them an 8 because they have the manual available for download on their website in a .pdf file. How cool is that?

I love the shoegazer stuff, alt rock and play experimental. This is the first pedal I would replace in my lineup if my rig gets ripped off (save the Boss Tu-2, most valuable pedal on earth.)

There is a BOSS delay and reverb combo unit that I reccommend if you are toying with the concept of delay, or if you are new to the game.

The DL4 is for the hardcore.