Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler

If you are not used to these Line 6 Stomp Boxes, it can take a little while to tweak to get your preferred settings. The unit is easy to figure out and create really good presets. Instruction (Pilots) manual provides good starting points for getting the classic effects.

I really liked the sound that this unit produced. I got rid of my Boss DD for this, primarily for the 4 presets and the 14 second loop sampler. The digital delay is warmer than the Boss, and I found the flanged delay and the stereo delays very useful. I primarily used the DL4 in the effects loop of a Vox Valvetronix AD120VT in a home studio with the optional AC power adaptor. I play mostly blues rock, classic rock, pop rock, alternative rock, jazz, blues. I use many different guitars for different sounds and musical styles (I have two American Strats, one with Kinman pickups and pao ferro fretboard and ash body and one with standard American Series delta system and maple fretboard, Gibson L6-S Deluxe with SD JB & Jazz PU combo, Dean EVO Premium with SD Pearly Gates, Line 6 Variax 500). Besides the Vox (great modeling amp - superb sounds) I also have modded (Torres Pre-CBS)1973 Fender Twin Reverb with TAD power tubes and Eminence Texas Heat speakers (killer blues/blues rock amp!)and a mixed PA system which I use for vocals and to play the acoustic models of the L6 Variax through - nice. Also have a Zoom 1266 digital multitrack recorder.

OK, this is where Line 6 really has a problem. This unit worked flawlessly for about 1-1/2 years...then completely went berserk and shut down...dead, notta, nothing. This unit was handled with kid gloves, gigged very lightly but mostly stayed in the home studio. What a shame, don't know if it can be fixed and I'm certainly not dropping another $250 for a new one. I sure hope that my Line 6 Variax has better reliability because I really like it's versatility in my tone line up. The only other Line 6 product I currently have is the Guitar Port which has always worked fine (also used to own a DM4 which worked fine for the 8 mos. I owned it). From other reviews regarding reliability for the DL4, this seems to be a generic problem. Note: I guess I have been lucky with my Vox AD120VT as there are many reports of poor reliability (so far - two years - so good). Again, this is by far the best modeling amp I have tried, and when I bought this unit new I had tried them all.

Usually, Line 6 has been repsonsive to my inquiries and helpful. However on this issue, I have inquired about sending the DL4 back to Line 6 or a qualified service agency and have gotten no return response. I believe they know they have a generic problem (more than a few isolated problems) with this unit. This was a unit capable of great sounds and versatility, but sadly poor QC (typical of many PCB electronics).

I have been playing guitar and making music for over 25 years and find the music technology explosion to be great, especially for learning and recording music...but it is a double edged sword with some poorly contructed equipment out there. I hope Line 6 comes out with an improved version of this unit, but currently they have lost credibility of quality with me. If anyone has had a DL4 successfully repaired please email me, I would appreciate the feedback.

I did not get a manual for it but I downloaded one from their website. This thing is fun to play with but I do not see how it could be of any use live as the settings cannot be programmed and assigned to a patch number.
As it is it is very confusing to set up and get a consistent sound,

I have several very high quality amps and various high quality guitars of all makes and models.
It is not noisy but the sound quality of the guitar is horrible especially when high gain tones are wanted. I have tried it with many different guitar/amp combinations and all exhibit this tinny lo-fi ring modulator like farty tone. It is noticable on all settings although some more than others. When playing a clean amp with a guitar with low output pickups makes this audio artifact less noticible.
As for the loop feature, I have not been successful in using it where the inserts come in at the right time so it's of no value to me.
The only thing I can use this pedal for is for the reverse solo thing. It does do that pretty good and sounds ok doing it.

I do not think I would depend on it giving all that I have read here. But given the fact that the only thing I would use it for is the reverse lead thing, if it failed I do not think it would be a major issue as I can a play reverse lead sound using technique without a pedal to do it for me and how often is a reverse lead even used anyway?

I wish I could get my money back for this pedal. I did try one in the store a few weeks before getting this one from the same store and did not notice the poor sound quality. I actually though it sounded good at the time. I may just have a bad one or they may have been a bad batch of chips used. But getting anyone to admit there is a sound quality defect would be difficult as sound and sound quality is a very subjective thing.

One thing that bugs me about some of the reviews on this page is the reviewers lack of commitment to understanding their effects. One complains that presets disappear; if he had read the manual he would know that you have to hold in the stomp button for 3s. to store a new preset.

Although I'm sure some of these complaints are valid, I can say with some ceretainty that a portion of these complaints are due to the reviewers failure to read the fantastic manual. The manual even has examples of how to use the delay unit, something most other manuals dont even try to do. Line6 has gone a far way ahead of the idiotic boss pedals "suggested settings" (boss has yet to realize that every guitar player has a slightly varying set up: different guitar, different amp etc. and most importantly a different taste in how they want their guitar to sound.)

The pedal in itself is near impossible to "get" through instinct. The tweak and tweez buttons have different functions depending on what model you've selected and there are a ton of features. (Ill get back to those.) But the manual does, like I said, more than make up for the enigmatic nature of the pedal.

My setup is either 1) A strat guitar with vintage singlecoils or 2) A Furch acoustic with fishman pro II-

I run this either straight into my effect chain or duplicate the signal and send one straight to the low input on my Badcat CubII amp while the other signal goes into:

A volume pedal->Budda Wha->My Distortion and overdrive boxes (Foxrox fuzz and octave, budda zenman ->Line6 Delay->Phaser and Pro Vibe and then into the high input of the badcat cubII amp.

Not a lot of unexpected "noise" unless you're tweaking the eq on the digital delay and analog echo models. The other noise is in my opinion good seeing as it is a part of that weird wild sound you get at extreme settings. My Boss DD6 beats the digital delay setting for ease of use, but the options on the Line6 Dl4 and the sounds you coax out of it with patience makes it the best sounding delay stomp pedal I've ever used.

Yes, I can. And I do. Economical reasons for gigging without a backup, but it aint failed me for the past three months (approx- 15 live sets at one hour each.)

havent dealt with them. I hear they're terrible though.

I play whatever I get hired to play: Toto, Gospel, Pink Floyd (My Big Idol is Gilmour if you haven't guessed; his sound is just perfect.) So the versatility of this stomp box suits me perfectly.

Have been playing since 1999. My set up now is:

Strat electric and Furch acoustic (Run the acoustic clean into a mixer through a DI for most live applications and run the duplicate signal into the guitar amplifier for effects that I use with the acoustic; mostly volume swells and pads but also some distorted solos and wacky sounds.)

Effects owned (at present not in the order they're placed in the chain): Budda wah and Zenman, Line6 dl4, Foxrox captain coconut 2, Frantone Brooklyn Overdrive and an old ibanez phaser that I put true bypass and dc power input on.

I love its versatility, its beautiful and its more artsy sounds (8 bit digital delay anyone?) I can play a beautiful set of TOTO songs, or Pink Floyd songs or I can play ugly psychedelic heavy punk with it. Its the best of both worlds.

The patches are ok for the most part. Some are useless. The real aggravation is that the knobs don't indicate what the setting is after you change patch. It's all "virtual" until you move a knob, and then the perameter is changed.
This does not take much time getting used to as far as playing with it. But "using" it is another matter.
It's a pretty good toy. I got tired of "imagining" what the perameters were set to whenever I changed a patch.
Programming, ie: storing a setting on the other hand is a snap, and the layout is quite good with four presets and a tap.

The settings are interesting. The chorus (mod delay) is weak, with zero tweakablity. You either love it or not. I thought the overall sound was compromised somewhat, like with any digital delay.

I had problem with mine. It was sitting in my bedroom for 3 mos. and worked fine untill just after the warantee ran out. then it inexplicably broke. Never gigged out with it. I think a knob went bad. I sent it to authorized service center (Local) and it was returned pretty much un-fixed, had to return to fix again. Sold it immediately afterwards.

Warantee too short

I bought this to loop with. The experience I had playing with the looper was less than inspiring. I think it is kinda hard to use the various loop functions, and get a clean edit.
Now that I think back on the whole experience, I beleive the sound quality was a tiny bit sterile, un-dynamic, over-compressed.
The whole experience made me suspect Line6 products on the whole.
Caveat Emptor

Pretty simple to use although at first it may seem daunting(lots of dials that all have different features assigned to the same knob)But other than that its straight forward.

Before making any kind of statement on this effect i thought i would wait a couple of months and really play around with this thing before i reviewed it.The overall set up of this delay is fine and the pre-sets are simple enough.The delays do bleed somewhat and are a bit muffled. But this can be cleaned up with time.I am comparing this to my second unit the Boss DD2.But the one thing that makes up for this is the choice of other delays they give you, if having trouble with one delay there are others that are similar enough in sound and pitch to use them instead.

I have had NO TROUBLES with this unit so far.But i cannot beilieve the amount of negative responses there are on this issue.This should be addressed/seriously looked into by Line 6 and their people.
That being said i have my good old Boss unit with me just in case always.So i will give this an 8 but will check back in if i have any troubles!.

I own a Spider 50 watt 1 12 amp as well as floor board, and a Verbzilla reverb unit from the line 6 people. And have not had trouble with any of them (the amps is 2 years old)

I play ROCK and have for over 25 years....and not the metal d-tuned two finger crap that passes for guitar playing now.My equipment is mostly Marshall's2203/JCM900 and cab's,line 6 spider,Roland JC 120,Vox..And Gibson and Fender guitars.
The DL4 is a good unit for what i use it for which is recording and some live.The choice of different types of delays and the power to tweek all these different delays is the reason i am giving this unit such high praise....that being said there are allot of very angry people who got bad units out there, so you will have to decide if its worth the risk...In my case it has.

After you read the manual it's not too hard to work...

I thought it sounded really cool, you can do a lot of stuff with it... I would have loved if it could hold more custom presets

Just stopped working for no reason at all... I used their a/c adapter and everything... It just won't turn on... I have treated it very well, and have done nothing out of the ordinary, and now it's dead...

Well, the contact page on the Line 6 website is brroken too... Can they make anything that doesn't break???

It sounds cool, but if it breaks, whats the point???
It is truly infuriating and rediculous that these companies charge so much for a product that has no reliability and then don't do anything to rectify the situation... Their contact page didn't even work!!??!! So dissapointed/angry.

Ease of use was marginal. Not too intrinsic, but if you read the manual, its managable.

Muddied/colored the sound, and fairly weak, thin effects.

Absolute junk. The first generation of these several years ago were great. I just bought one from the recent generation and the first one was broken right out of the box. Then i exchanged it and after an hour, the bypass (which is not a true bypass) stopped working, and the delay was ALWAYS on. I returned it after 6 weeks. Complete junk. DONT BUY IT!!!!!!

Didn't deal with them. I went straight back to Guitar Center.

CRAP. JUNK. STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not too bad but I'd read the manual.

I have this last in my chain. I play an SG Standard through a SD-1, Dist. +, Big Muff, Dano Cheese Melt, and then the DL-4 into a 25 watt fender hybrid. I normall us the Low Res delay for the analog. Plays a petty convincing but not perfect. I put a bending mod on my which is fun but I would never use in a live setting. The pedal is really quiet when off and when on steals a little of my signal. When I bought this I was using it mostly as a looper and I found it easier to use that the Boss DD-20. Now I use the warmer delays but I wish now I would of got a Deluxe Memory Man or an old 70s MXR or DOD delay.

I can't afford back ups and from the other reviews I shouldn't trust this thing too much. In my live set up I sometime us my cheap DOD digial delay which sounds much better than this but only does one thing. One thing I noticed that drives me nuts is that when I turn off a delay setting and switch the same back on it not on the same delay modeler. It's like it goes to a default setting. Anyone else have this problem? So, it's pretty usless sometimes!

Fun but not really great. I wished I never bought it, but I've learned my lesson.

Not too bad to use if you read the manual. Tweek and Tweez take a little getting used to, but you can get the hang of it. Too bad it's such a crappy product.

I found the sound quality to be exxelent. Some of the stuff was bells and whistles but thats fine. I used this thing as a huge part of my sound for two years. TILL IT DIED WHILE ON STAGE.

This is the reason for this review, I bought mine hoping against hope that this thing would hold up on me. And it did for two years. Then poof, starts shutting off on me LIVE. Just shutting off. I was using the Line 6 power supply, all my other pedals are also plugged in and were fine, so it wasnt a sudden power surge or any of that malarkey. It just, ,,,,, stopped working. I babied this thing on a MKS pedalpad all latched down and snug as a bug. Never dropped it, never jumped on. Always treated it nice. And then after it dies, poof it comes back on again. Did that twice on me that day. I will futz with stuff when it goes in practice and I know stuff happens whenever you play live, but I have a Dano $30 PIECE OF PLASTIC that has lasted longer than this PIECE OF JUMK. Got my DD20 last week. Dont think it's a good sounding as the Line 6, but WHO CARES IF YOU CANT TRUST THE LINE 6!

If they want to come begging to me with a IMPROVED PRODUCT, I might talk to them, providing they give every customer on this board an APOLOGY for putting out products that THEY KNOW will not last. This should be a BBB issue, not a HC one. So Line 6, how about a apology for this hunk of junk? I am just going to sell this thing (and yes I will let people know it's junk) for cheap, I got better things to do than deal with crappy customer support and then pay to maybe have it fixed. Then only way to fix this thing is BETTER PARTS!

If you are thinking about buying this thing, I am telling you now, RUN AWAY. Got the DD20. I dont care how good this thing sounds, it's worthless if you cannot depend on it. You will be up there someday digging into a solo and THATS when it will go on you. You have been warned.

I think this is a fairly easy pedal to use. Nothing too complicated. Like a lot of Line 6 products, they like to pack in the features. The fact that the tweak and tweez knob have different functions based on what preset you're working in is a clue. Personally, I like that they pack in the features. For some, this might be complicated but I like it.

The "modeled" presets have varying degrees of authenticity. I mean the Echoplex models are close and by all means they capture the "essence" of the effect but they're not exact. I think the convenience of a unit like this balances out some of the "exactness" of the model. I think anybody can find a couple of models in this unit that they will keep as favorites. That's important and something everyone should consider if they're looking into this unit. Having a tap tempo feature for all the models is awesome! When I initially got the unit, I felt the loop sampler and or reverse setting were worth the price of admission alone for this box. Come to think of it, I still feel that way. I really dig this pedal. I actually have two of them on my pedalboard. One solely for looping and the other for delays. I recently sent in the one I use for delays to Robert Keeley for the mod he just recently started offering. His mods make this good pedal great! No lie!

I've read where a lot of people are having problems with their unit. I can see where a "mass-produced" effect like this could have problems with parts and switches. That's too bad because the idea and design of the unit really is great. I've been fortunate with the two units I have and have had no problems in over two years.

I did email them a while ago when I thought the power jack was producing some noise. I received a roundabout email response with some generic information. Nothing too specific or helpful. Even though I found out the noise was coming from another source and didn't need the service, I think their way of handling problems could be improved.

From my experience, I'm giving this unit a good review. I've had no mechanical issues with the pedal and the mod from Robert Keeley makes the sound quality even better. If you love the DL4 and have no operational issues with the pedal, I would suggest sending it into Rober Keeley for his mod. It's worth it. The pedal still sounds really good without the mod but if you're picky, get it! The DL4 provides a lot of sound possibilities from subtle to deep space nine. Check it out and if you decide to buy one, just make sure it's fully operational before you walk out of the store.

Reasonably easy to use but like all the other reviews say you can't change one parameter, as soon as you change one the others change to what ever the knobs are at. Because of the switches design (read below) it's very difficult to tap in an accurate tempo.

Sounds great. The sound quality is the only reason I've kept this stupid pedal. I love having the huge number of presets and the swells you can put on the delays. Also I love the delay that you can adjust the level while your playing (can't remember what it's called). It means when you're playing the delays don't mush up the sound too much but when you have breaks the delays come through nicely.

I also love the tap tempo (when it works)

Absolutly crap. It broke after about a month of having it. I would have fixed it myself but didn't want to void the waranty. What happened was the tap tempo switch went. It wouldn't work at all. I waited 3 long weeks to get it back (despite its crap reliability I do really like this pedal) and put it back on my board. I play in a church band and that night after tapping the switch about 4 times it went again. I was so pissed.

I decided to open it up and repair it myself this time. When I did I realised what the problem was. The switches are so badly designed. It's simply a large switch with a spring attached which presses on a smaller mementary switch on the PCB. The springs bend and move off the switch, especially on the tap tempo switch.

The repairer had simply moved the bend spring from the tap tempo switch to one of the other switches (I'll get to this in customer service) and now the new spring had bend off too. I've ended up chaging the springs for bits of rubber but this will probably break the small switches eventually.

Also if you tap in a tempo it canges speed. It tends to speed up during a song and sometimes it buggers up alltogether. And the tapped tempo changes if you switch to another preset the back again or if you bypass the pedal this switch it back on. I'm sure when I first got it it remembered the last tapped tempo but I might be wrong. It's kind of anoying if you're playing and you want to switch delays in and out during the song and you have to keep tapping the tempo in. People tell me I look like I'm trying to tap dance.

When I first took this pedal in the get repaired I had to chase them up to get it back and it took 3 weeks. This was not really line 6s fault as i was dealing with the store but what really bugged me was how they repaired it (just moving the springs) I couldn't believe they were that lazy and that I had to wait 3 weeks for something I could have done in 3 minutes.

Also just recently I noticed the problem I sepecified above of the tempo changing when switching presets. I sent Line 6 a question about it and they simply said it doesn't remember the last tap tempo. I'm sure it did when I first got this pedal but I might be wrong.

The only reason I have given this pedal a mildly good overall rathig is because of its sound quality. I love having 3 presets and the cool delays I can get with this. If I had of known all the problems this pedal would have had and I had of read some of the other reviews I wouldn't have bought this pedal.

I was kind of conned into bying this pedal and originally I was going to go with something boss but it seemed so cool when I used it in the shop i bit the bullet.

I'm torn between two worlds here in that I love using it but its so unpredictable that I can;t rely on it.

Impossible, it was broken outa the package!!!!

Well, it was stuck on the loop function and none of the knobs or dials did anything, the sound it did make though was lo-fi.

Well, I chose to ignore the posts here about its dismall reliability and bad build quility and buy one anyway.
MAN OH MAN!!!! From now on I'm really going to take all the reviews here seriously.
I was totally bummed, got a brand new one, not even out of its packaging, get it home, plug in.........and dead!! Broken, I could not fu%^ing believe it!! ?200.oo hard earned cash and the sodding thing did not bleeding work.
Took it to the store and they are getting another one for me, if that breaks I'm getting BOSS pedals.

Not even going to bother, took it back to the store where it came from.

PAH!! Seriously doubtful about line 6 now, Hope the replacement they get for me works!!!!!

Very easy to use. If you can't use it then i would take it in to your special needs teacher to read you the manual.

Never had a problem with sound quality. It usaully surprises me how good it is. Some people seemed to have problems but maybe they should check the rest of their rig. I play a Stratocaster and a Les Paul through a Marshall and it sounds braw.

I've had mine for nearly six years and it's been in the shop because i broke the delay rate knob due to over use. My fault. The people who have problems must have bought some cheep ass mexican copy or smething. Oh, if you use the right power supply it'll be fine. Don't be a retard and use something that isn't recommended or you may fry the circuitry and get problems.

Never had to use it.

I couldn't live without it. It's been gigged to hell and back and still works like a little trooper. The bad reviews of the DL4 don't make any sense and are probably down to mongoloid users.

You need to spend some time with this unit in order to find the sounds you like. It's easy to just twiddle with the knobs, or use the tap tempo, to set up a massive range of delays, with a maximum 2.5 second delay - which is more than enough. The range of sounds you can get is very impressive, and the looper is lots of fun. It's useful to make notes on what settings you like as well as saving presets as the palette of tones is so vast.

Fantastic tone. Much better than my Boss DD-3 which I've had for years, and until now was all I considered delay to be. However, as delay is my favourite guitar effect I figured I'd like some more versatility - and some presets so I didn't have to keep bending down and tweaking knobs between songs. The analog echo effects are gorgeous, and you can add modulation too for some spacey sounds. The swell and reverse delays are wicked fun, and on the whole I can see myself getting some use out of most of the delay models.

I've read a lot of horror stories about these units - and Line 6 gear in general. I've only had my unit a few weeks, but I can't see it mucking up as I look after all of my gear really well. I'll definitely gig with it, and if I have any disasters I've got my Boss DD-3 as back up, which is very reliable but limited in tone.

These units are absurdly expensive in Australia, so I decided to import one from USA. It cost about half the price. They are great units - lots of fun, and very versatile. I play atmospheric instrumental music and use lots of delay sounds, so this is what I've been looking for. I can see this leading to lots of great songs in my band, just from messing around. Highly recommended, especially if you buy new - that way you don't have to worry so much about reliability as you'll have the manufacturer's warranty.

easy if you have the manual

strat/tele/les paul into fender bassman. The effects are really good. Its truebypass, cool. It sounds great -if it works- see below

sorry, the horror stories are true. You can't use it live. This thing stops working in the middle of a show. I mean it goes crazy, it shuts down and you cant do anything about it. Well, then it decides to start working again sometime when you dont need delay. It can really turn the show into a nightmare. Dont say I didnt warn you.
I know other people that had the same problem.

If it does work, it sounds great. Its a shame you cant depend on it. I had to buy me a Boss DD-3.

Very easy to get a good sound out of this unit: most of the presets sound great and are instantly useable. Very 'tweakable' unit; easy to make lightening-fast adjustments to sounds 'on the fly', even at gigs, due to the large knobs. I see some people have critisised it for
a) only having three presets
b)no screen so impossible to tell the parameters of your saved patches.

I take these points, but I have never felt either of these to be a great problem. In answer:

a) It's so easy to set up good-sounding patches; I regularly re-programme if I've got jaded with the three presets I've got. Anyhow, who uses more than three delay sounds at a gig?

b) this unit reqires you to USE YOUR EARS rather than gaze at parameters on a screen. Tweek and tweez, my friends!

In summary: A refresingly 'analogue' style interface after all those effects processors with tedious and hard-to-access menus.

Tap tempo switch is superb: great for syncing up long delays live.

I would give this unit 10 out of 10, but the foot pedal is, frankly, shite: a real let down! Whatever presets you assign it to change (even if it's only 'level') it always changes the tempo aswell: how crap is that?
It's a piece of overpriced cheap plastic, with a joke budget lead. Not worth the money. Anyway, I never use it, and the unit is fine without it!

Excellent live gigging unit:
Being true stereo (two inputs and two outputs) gives this unit fantastic flexiability for me. Through the left channel I run my string instruments (electric guitar, bouzouki) and through the rignt channel, my reed instruments (button accordion, harmonicas.)

I generally use a slap-back type echo, a deep, long echo (Memory Man preset is fab, and easily synced-up with the tap tempo button) and either a 'sweep echo' or 'reverse' for something wacky and wild on my palette!

It always sounds brilliant: nice, rounded, warm, organic sound that works equally well for acoustic or electric instruments (accordion, especially!)

I sometimes take this unit into schools and get the kids to dabble with the sampler for crazy vocal experimentations: great!

I have played hundreds of gigs with this unit: Generally very solid, sturdy and reliable: (only problem: just after a year, a switch broke. (see below)

I regularly gig without a backup: no problem: although I'm glad i've got some spare switches!

After about 18 months use, No 2 switch broke: to be frank, this had been a worsening problem from day 1: sometimes working, sometimes not, untill one day it totally packed in!

Line 6 UK were easy to contact, and very responsive.
They offered me a repair: ?50 : (Rip off! I'm used to UK manufacturers like Microvox who fix this kind of thing for committed users free of charge.)Instead, I elected to do the repair myself, and Line 6 helpfully supplied me with several switches free of charge.

So far so good...repair however was very, very fiddly: micro-swich soldered to PCB that took ages to prise off and replace. (no hints or tips offered by the manufacturer.) Much better would be to have solid switches seperately attatched to the chasis. Yes, I take some of the previous reviewers points, innards of this thing look a bit 'mass produced' and not user-repair friendly: (The pots were also attatched to PCB, and the knobs neeed to be taken off to remove the chassis, and put back afterwards): one would expect a bit more for a ?200 unit!Line 6 need to look at this...

Have played roots-rock music proffesionally for 20 years.

Have used this brilliant sounding unit for 5 years: Great to use live, and in the studio. Some minor quality niggles, but would probably buy another if this went: It's become an integral part of my sound: Easy, intuitive to use, helps me make creative music, Oh yes, indeed!

Can be confusing to get the delay sound you want at first. This is because this unit has so many things packed into it. Multiple types of delay, loops, tap tempo, 6 knobs, and 4 stomp buttons. All of this will come in handy later in about a week, but will be confusing at first. First, you'll need to figure out how to access all of these valuable features and understand what everything does. Once you program in 3 delays, it's very easy to access these while playing live. Just stomp on the either of the 3 buttons which is why this delay is chosen over many others. This pedal is layed out very well and is the best choice if you want lots of delay choices while playing live. I also love the tap tempo and how you can see the actual delay time by the LED light blinking on the tempo you've tapped in. You'll also need the manual to figure out what the tweek and tweez do for each of the 15 different delays and loop sampler.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard - Vox V848 - Pro Co. Rat II - Ibanez TS9 - Boss BD2 - Boss DD5 - MXR Micro Amp - Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (1x12 tube). Not noisy at all. Delays sound very good. There are so many choices which will easily suit your needs. I wish the analog delay sounded a little truer and their was true bypass.

-Tube, multihead, analog, digital, tape, rhythmic, and stero delay are useful and normal sounding delays on this pedal.
-2 choices provide chorus to the delay.
-Sweep, Lo Res, Auto Volume, and Reverse delays add a very weird effect to delays that sound very cool and could be used if you want a unique sound.
-Ping pong bounces the delay back and forth between speakers.
-For the dynamic delay, the volume of the delay is adjusted depending on if you're playing or not. If you're playing, volume is turned down. When you stop playing for a moment, volume is increased to fill in the gaps.

14-sec loop mode is useful for soloing over your owner rhythm parts.

Great for any music that needs a delay. Slapback, long, reverse, modulated delay. Tons of variety. Best feature is the tap tempo. You can see the time you've tapped in by the blinking LED light. I love being able to tap in tempo on analog delays in which you can't on the originals in the 70's. If you need lots of delays and looping, this pedal is the way to go. If you just want simple delay, go with the Boss DD-5. Wish it had a little better delay sounds and true bypass. Loaded delay pedal. Very pricey.

It's very easy to use. Unfortunately, you have to switch between delay models manually. Oh excuse me--you can use their 3 (count 'em) presets which, by the way, can't be used with the looper. But don't fret--they allow you to have a pre-delay to use with the looper which subsequently sounds like crap.

The sounds are great. No complaints about the sounds. However, if I had the choice over again, I'd buy something else. The looper is great, but not worth $250 for 14 seconds. PLEASE!!!! Read the next section.

Nope--I've had mine for a year. I bought it after reading every single review on this site ayear ago. I knew when I bought it that I stood the risk of it breaking because Line 6 stuff is easily broken. Well guess what? The switches fall inside the unit. The effects just turn themselves off. The modulation effects turn themselves on--isn't that exciting when I'm taking my big solo in the middle of a Church service and it starts spitting out atonal spatter. These effects can't be trusted in a live situation. For recording--I'm sure you can dial in a decent sound and enjoy it, but don't expect to be able to do it live.
At one point in time I thought of getting the upgade to the DL-4--the echo pro rack unit. It turns out that Line 6 discontinued all rack effects--probably because the break down. Read the echo pro reviews!! If that's what happens on their big products--then what chance does the less expensive (and more stepped-on) Dl-4 have? I've owned three at this point and can honestly say: none. They all broke in their unique "CHEAPLY MADE IN TAIWAN" way. A 3 in this category is generous.

I called them to find out what I could do to fix my pedal--first, the never called me back. Just recently I called, but alas: no over the phone support. They did however give me the name of someone who could fix it, but since it didn't fall apart until after the warranty was up, I'd have to pay even more money to fix this effect that seems over priced in the first place. You Line6 people really are spineless. Why can't you stand behind your cheaply made products and offer some real support--or how about coming up with a product that doesn't fall apart when a strong gust of wind blows by. You'll never get any more of my money.

Sounds are good if you can keep the pedal working. The looper is good, but it's only for 14 seconds (oh wait if you have it in 1/2 speed and record it blah blah blah...it sounds like crap...trust me...I'm an optimist). Buy something else.

Easy enough...don't like that once you set a patch you loose the "settings" as soon as you tweak another. Be nice if it had a digital/lcd readout w/patch parameters.

Really sucks the tone. Almost compresses the signal - high end sizzle gets muffled and the low end looses some of it's clarity. Like the flexibility of the pedal, but it's not worth the effect it has on the tone. Better to stick with 1 analog and 1 digital stomp.

Very sensitive to power - even with conditioners (Pedalpower2 or out of a Furman rack) it gets 'confused' and switches patches (i.e. hit a pre-programmed button and some unknown delay comes out) or locks up (won't shut off when stepping on buttons) or changes delays mid stride for no reason. Very unreliable. I've been using this for a few years and it's been subject to such events when venue power is bad.

Never bothered anyone...not worth the hassle.

Professional studio/touring musician.

Nice toy.

Better to use a rack unit w/controller OR have 1 analog/1 digital delay on the pedal board. Much better reliability/control.

Pretty easy to use but not very usable, if that makes sense. I bought mine used and it didn't come with a manaul but I figured I could download it on their website. The manual that is downloadable is not the fill manual!! They oly give you pages 11-21 or something like that. The parts that actually tell you how to program it are missing! This manual only tells you what delay pedals the prestes are modeled after.

This pedal was super noisy when on. I mean noisy like you could hear it in mix noisy. It also affected the tone of my amps. It made them sound muffled and muddy even when turned off. There is no way it is true-bypass. I liked the options that it had and all the things you could do with it but for the money it's kind of cheap. I am going back to my old Boss delay pedal. It may not do as much but it sounds a hell of a lot better.

Did not have it long enough to see if it would crap out. Judgeing by most of the reviews on here I am betting that it would.

No idea

I play alt rock with a mix of clean and distortion. I try to be a lttle ambient with my playing so I figured this would add some new flavors to my style but it sucked. I do not recommend this pedal.

Dead easy to get a good sound out of it... editing is pretty easy. would have been nice to be able to switch between effect on/off and a manual mode.

no clue as to how long or short the delay settings are, no LED display or anything like that. Which is pretty poor really, when you're paying out 200 quid on a pedal that is 100% digital.

all the literature in the box is pretty useful, covers the whole range of line 6 stuff.

Used it on guitars (godin sd, fender jaguar), through amps (marshall JCM2000 combo, marshall VS265, but mostly keys (yamaha QY70 -> big muff -> DL4 - PA.

noise levels are generally okay, nothing special. The sounds themselves are fantastic, in particular the sweep filter delay, tape delays (echoplex copy) and analog delay (electro harmonix).

Using it on keys it adds incredible depth to my various "whoosh" noises and lead sounds, some excellent little short delay sounds that sound good on electric piano.

The lo-fi delay is good for experimenting with noisier sounds (the johnny greenwood sound at the end of Radiohead's Karma Police)

It sounds great, true. But this is the least reliable piece of equipment i've ever had.

Read the posts below for more details on what actually causes these problems. I gig regularly on a professional level and really need to be able to depend on gear.

Needless to say when this one came up with an intermittant fault (only seemed to be a problem at gigs at first, then more and more in the rehearsal room and the studio) it got binned. Free pedal, anyone?

Got a Boss DD-20 to replace it. Ultra reliable, LED display, longer delays, proper manual mode. Delay sounds don't have quite as much depth, but as a trade off for a pedal that actually works it's a fair compromise.

This was my first Line 6 purchase. It will also be my last. Cheers, Line 6.

After reading the other posts about it being cheaply produced, i've not even bothered. Don't want anything more to do with it. Might break it into little pieces and send it to their MD.

I play mostly atmospheric ambient keys and guitar.

Playing keys since i was 12, guitar since 16, i'm 23 now. I own lots of gear, too much to mention here.

Thanks for the stolen idea, might put it on the doorstep with a sign on it saying 'steal me, i'm pants'.

Love the sounds, hate the fact that it's made cheaply, you just can't gig it or tour it. Favourite feature is the box. leave it in there.

Rubbish. Don't bother. Get a Boss DD-20 instead.

This is a multi effects pedel so it takes a little bit of time to find the perfect sound. But it is very straight forward. Just have to read the manual about what the tweez and tweak knobs actually do (they change for each effect). But beside the basic fideling it is very straight forward. There are some "hidden" functions which again the manual explains how to use them.
Saying that the manual is very good. Its best to listen to the effect as well as read the book, that gives you a much better idea. The manual also cover all the other line 6 modulators which is kinda handy if u wanna go out and buy another, it kinda gives you and idea what they have to offer.

My main set up is:
2004 Gibson Classic, Ibanez RG570, Vantage VP795 ->MORLEY Bad Horsie 2 Contour Wah -> MXR Dime Distortion -> Line 6 DL ->Marshal TSL 100 head

This pedal sounds perfect. I hate digital pedals but i find with an echo pedal it's ok as long as it does it properly. This simulates valve and tape echo's very nicely and also has some incredible clean ones. There are 1 or 2 effect that sound like absolute shit but the amount of good ones makes up for it. The 14 second loop sampler isn't too bad either.
NEVER USE THIS PEDAL WITH AMP DISTORTION!!!

I've had this pedal for about 4 Months now and i've performed and practised with it heaps. It hasn't stuffed up on me yet. Only thing is don't even think about running it with batteries, It'll chew them up so quickly it's not funny. YOU MUST USE A POWER SUPPLY!

Haven't had any problems

This pedal would be the best echo pedal on the market in my opinion. You can store 3 different echo types which makes it versitile. Highly Recommended

I'm in a heavy metal band (Godsmack like) and i also play blues and rock n roll. This pedal suites every style of music. i've been playing guitar for 15 years. Some other gear i have is a Dunlop Original CryBaby and High Gain pedal, A Franpton guitar with Seymore Duncans and a Vesper Steel String Elecetric Accoustic Guitar.

it's easy to use and get a good sound out of it. takes some time to learn what "tweak" and "tweeze" do, but overall it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. the manual is informative and easy to read.

i have an ibanez aw100ce acoustic guitar with fishman electronics as well as a fender california strat. i plug them into the DL4, then straight to a 15-watt fernandes amp. good sounds on both guitars, although i see myself using the acoustic more.

the effects sound great, and while i don't know what the original gadgets are and how they sound, the ones i get from the DL4 are extremely versatile and really expand my acoustic guitar.

best of all -- and this is what i bought it for mainly -- the looper is great. very easy to use and i can sound like any number of guitars playing at the same time. i can finally jam with myself, and i see myself playing before live audiences with it.

as has been said many times before, it's built like a tank. looks very reliable, and i'd gig without a backup. not that i can afford another one, though.

i was disappointed because i asked a question about the power supply and didn't get an answer. however, when i took the time to scan the website, i found what i was looking for, so i guess you could say they foresaw my problem and had a ready answer for it.

i play many styles -- rock, blues, gospel, beatles, etc. -- and this sounds great with all of them. i've been playing seriously for 20 years and this is what i have always lacked, particularly the looper. where i live there aren't a lot of acoustic guitarists who think and play like i do, so the DL4 is the answer for me. if it were lost or stolen i'd do my best to buy one again.

i love the looper, although i wish it could go for more than 28 seconds and that it could be in stereo. i also wish i could use the modeled delays while looping, because in that mode i only have one kind of delay and some chorus.

i was also looking at the boss rc20 loop station, but i think that one is less versatile because it can only do one thing: loop. i need something that would also give me lots of sounds because i am a musician on a shoestring budget.

the DL4 definitely makes me create music because i can create leads and melodies over chord progressions i make. it's a great practice tool and will sound great live. and when i play with our church band, i have a new arsenal of sounds that i can call up.

Pretty easy to use. I mostly have used for the delay effects, which if you have decent amps, and other pedals are good, it sounds quite awesome (not cheesy if you know how to tweak). I recently started using the looper and it is pretty easy as well.

For the money, this is the pedal - no doubt. Very cool effects here. You need to spend the time and come up with three presets on your own that fit into songs you are doing. I have used this live many times and get lots of compliments on songs. Especially for U2 songs. Does it sound exactly like Edge? Hell no, but it sounds cool and again you after consider the price. I also run stereo into two amplifiers - I switch between a Fender Twin, Ampeg Jet, and Crate Stealth all with very good results. It sounds awesome having delays bounce from one side of the room to the other.

I have been gigging for a couple years with this - I can't afford a back-up and I have never had an issue.

Don't know

This is a nice product. Preset capability is the stuff man. Wish there was more than three. I would replace if it broke - no doubt.

Takes some serious tweaking to get usable (I mean toneful) delay sounds.

Let's be serious here (for a short period anyway) this ain't no serious professional delay as much as it is a special effects toy. Almost all the delay 'models' are thin sounding with poor EQ. I use the delay models where I can adjust the 'bass' and 'treble' to the delays (Analog delay, digital, and tape delay). The others are strictly tinny, harsh and cheesy sounding (OK for special effects 'noises' but not for overall 'tone' and quality replication of the original modeled delay). I use a Maxon AD900 for a 'toneful' delay and then use the Line 6 DL4 as a noise making special effects toy. This delay would really rock if Line 6 developed a way for us to access the EQ parameters of each delay and gave us parametric as well as shelving EQ (TAKE NOTE LINE 6 DESIGNERS!!) if they did this... and kept the price reasonable, true bypass etc...they would corner the delay market. Still a 'keeper' because of the cheesy special effects/noise making ability...even the reverse delay sucks tone (noticable drop in volume and fullness) from the original source :(

Mine works so far....

Heard horror stories but mine works fine...

This is a fun noise making tool, versatile but cheesy sounding (mostly)...but hey! it's a $250 pedal, not a $1000 TC 2290.