Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler

Very easy to use after a few hours...the sounds themselves are easy...the looping takes a bit to get it right...

I only use a few settings, and I bought it for the loop, hell if it only was a looper, I'd still use the damn thing all the time...The onther sound range from Okay (The DM-2 emulation is kinda funny and the feedback is wrong (I own two)) to Excellent (auto-fade and I really like the Sweep delay)

five months...the switch to turn on the loop has gone...piss me off...

I use two of these...for loops only...along with 26 pedals, two racks, a synth, and a vocoder...It's kinda insane, one man bad. I love them...there amazing, now if the switch was only a little more reliable...

I would have prefered footswitches to select the delay models/loop sampler instead of the knobs. Not very suited for live performances. this thing sounds right away. I got quality without even tweaking (or tweezinf?) the knobs. An incorporated expression pedal would have been awesome but the DL-4 is already an incredible value for the price. Let's not be too pecky! The manual is OK but could have been more detailed. The stick-on charts that explain the functions od the Tweak and Tweez buttons for the different delays are a very good idea.
I'll give it a 8 because it could have been more live-oriented.

All the models are of use and all of them sound great. Of course they won't sound EXACTLY like the originals but spending so much money for vintage stuff is a hype in my opinion anyway. Be wiser and spend your money well. Of course if daddy has his own Jetplane and a second house in Aspen (or if you're ready to save the money just for that one piece of gear) go for an Electro-Harmony 16 second Digital Delay or an Oberheim Echoplex...if you can find any. No particular noise. The loop sampler is awesome and would have been perfect with 16 or 18 seconds instead of 14 without usin the 1/2 speed function. I use mine with a Taylor 410 CE and the sound of acoustic guitars is not as good with the sample rate used in 1/2 speed recording. Cool thing: I got the sound of David Gilmour on "the wall" (you know the fast delay effect on "Another brick in the wall part 1&2" I'm talking about, right?) and I got Frisell's (my favourite) reverse delay after tweaking the knobs a little bit. Pretty neat. no bad patches. All are of great use.

Built like a tank. Only the LEDs look like they might need to be replaced somedays. The footswitches feel a little weak too. after all i'll give it a 9. (but maybe it's just me, I'm always paramoid about new stuff I buy)

Never had to deal with them. Registration online is cool.

I play acoustic stuff and rearrange songs for acoustic duos or trios and the machine does a wonderful job. I've been playing seriously for a few years and I own am ernie ball volume pedal (TOP) and a boss AD-3 (perfectly suited for acoustic guitars) I would definitely buy it again and actually I'll probably get another one someday to process my own voice. The best feature is probably the loop sampler that allows creativity and experimentation and is almost worth the money on its own. An firmware upgrading the sampling time to 16 or 18 seconds (is this possible without upgrading the hardware?) would be terrific. Reverse delays are fun and volume swells usefull if your rif doesn't incorporate a volume pedal. You might as well try the Guyatone SV-2 that specializes in that kind of effects (quality??)
sturdier footswitches and LEDs plus footswitches to select the diffrerent models would get it closer to the 10. Will help you and help your musical creativity. In conclusion, an outstanding value for the price.

Okay, this is "bonehead simple to use" (as the press states) but I definitely have a few problems with it. Firstly, there is no way to switch to the loop sampler as a preset. No combination of tapping/holding of buttons will do it, you have to bend down to twirl the knob. Even some obscure combination to switch would have been appreciated.

Second, the tap tempo is basically useless. Why? Because you CAN'T TAP TEMPO UNLESS A PRESET IS ENGAGED. What would have made far more sense is a simple mode where the tap tempo is always blinking, even in bypass. You can then tap out your drummer's rhythm or whatever, and engage the type of delay you want. As it stands now, you either have to stop, click a preset, tap the correct tempo, then continue playing, or set it up beforehand and not bypass otherwise you lose your tempo. That's pretty ridiculous, especially when the fourth button could have been used for another preset.

The sound is pretty great, mostly kinda accurate and very fun and evocative. Plenty of the other reviews cover this.

Built heavily, but again some poor thinking on Line6's part comes into play. The knobs are constructed recessed INTO the holes in which they sit, instead of coming out with flanges or whatever, like say on Fulltone effects. Result being, any little piece of debris on your shoe can fall off while your frantically clicking that tempo in and get wedged in one of the knobs. All manner of dust and particulate has found its way into my pedal, and I keep it in the box when I'm not playing. Then, when you bend down to try and activate the freaking looper, it gets stuck, and... well, you see what I mean.

My first version of this pedal was broken from the factory, nothing but static, but the store replaced it. Would've been nice to have gotten the a/c adapter with the pedal.

This is a great pedal for the looper alone. Delays are fun and a ton of famous guys use this because its basically the best going. However, its not my dream unit by far. I wish Line6 could offer a flash update or whatever, and give us some better switching options. Like I said, its very unpractical for anything like U2-ish synced delay playing, because of that tap tempo thing. If you're jamming, you basically have to decide whether you'd like delays or sampling before you start the song, otherwise you're out of luck. Regardless, a great practice tool and very inspiring for my playing.

I have all 3 of the Line 6 stomp boxes and this is my favorite. The models are simple, straightforward and sound great!

Unlike the other stomp boxes, the knobs seem to make more sense. You still have to remember what the tweak and tweaz knobs do on a particular patch, but it's more obvious than on the others.

I haven't tried the loop sampler. It's not reallyl my thing, but I understand that it's a little confusing.

Manual is OK.

I think this thing sounds great. A lot of people say that it sounds too digital. Not to me. I guess I don't analyze things as much as some others do, but I've been playing long enough to know what I like and I like this.

I am generally using it in front of an '89 Fender Twin with a strat or a Tele. I've tried it in the effects loop, but it sounds better in front. Also this allows me to split the signal to a Deluxe 85 or a Blues Junior for some cool stereo effects.

The basic delays (tape, tube, analog and digital) all sound fine. Perhaps not as good as the originals, but more than passable copies.

Some of the more exotic models (stereo, ping pong, reverse and swell) are killer. I would never buy a pedal for any one of those, but I love having them to play with. The stereo model is particularly satisfying. Some miss the mark. I have no use for the lo res or sweep delays and I don't hear much modulation on the models that are supposed to have it.

I've been able to create some really great sounds with this thing. As I said, I really like it!

Seems well built to me. No reason to expect problems.

Who knows?

I think this thing is an absolute blast. Don't buy it if you're a pruist and demand things that sound exactly like the originals. They sound close enough for me and for the price you couldn't buy even one of most of these originals.

The only gripe I have is the power situation. The batteries don't last long and the power supply is mandatory. It should be included, even if that drove the price up.

It would be nice if there was some sort of manual mode as well. (like the pod)

If I lost this, I'd get another one immediately.

Easy To use. read the manual like you should with anything.

This section is why I'm writing this review. I'm an impulse buyer , so I've gone through much gear and I wont settle on something unless I'm totally happy. I'll admit that there are some cool sounds in this thing and its fun to play with, but there is one problem that is unacceptable. Delay pedals are supposed to go in your effects loop. Its just a rule of thumb. If you run it straight into the front of your amp, when you switch channels, the delay is louder, and resonates much longer on the distortion channel.In the fx loop, the levels remain constant, and it will sound better overall.( this also goes for modulation type devices)When THIS unit is put in the fx loop, there is a MAJOR volume drop! I cant deal with that. Delays are supposed to take your sound over the top, and make your instrument stand out in the mix. I had the same problem with the mm-4. So if you use a distortion pedal for your sound rather than your amp, than this pedal is good for you. If you rely on both channels on your amp, you WILL run into the same problem i did.I checked under the hood on this thing to see if there was an overall level trimmer. no such luck.If your spending $250.00 on something, dont ou think that there should be a level controller? Come on, line 6. Great idea, but major flaw.

I've only had this thing a day and I'm returning it(see above). I wiil tell you this. I owned the mm-4 for a few months and suddenly about 50% of the time the footswitches stick. I would have to click them more that once. Also the paint chips like a bitch(if you care about cosmetics).

Havent dealt with them but i plan on letting them know the shortcoming of pedal that is truly too good to be true.Maybe they'll let me in on some secret function to cure my problem, but lets be honest.

Like i said this pedal may be good for some people but not for me.It is a little upsetting to spend $250.00 on a pedal that doesnt come with a power supply( $25.00 extra) and doesnt even do what any basic pedal should. If any one gives a shit about my set up and what type of music I play, Here we go. Prs -qtron - fulltone clyde wah(the best)- boss od3(looking to upgrade, but not bad for now) -boss tu-2 tuner pedal( i love this) In the fx loop i have An Alesis rackmount eq, rackmount 3630 compresser- boss dd-3(will have to do for now)I also tinker with a fulltone choralflange, A dunlop tremolo volume (great idea -in a rocker pedal) , a boss octave, a digitech whammy wah. My amp is a mesa boogie tremo-o-verb combo(awesome). I play crazy shit. Mostly funk/jazz influenced rock.

This pedal is pretty easy to use. The manual is preaty well laid out. The problems...1. The looper takes a little while to get the hang of, 2. Not enough presets (only 3)for all the awesome sounds you can create with this pedal. It should have a second bank (for 6 total presets that you can footswitch between. 3. No way of telling what delay model you are using until you activate a preset and you hear what it is. An LED to let you know which model was active would be cool.

I use this unit with a variety of amps (Vintage Hiwatts, Sound City, Marshall and Fender Reissues, Orange, etc) and American Fender and Hamer USA archtops. My signal chain (A buffered signal running into a MIDI loop switcher hooked up with Studio Pro 1000 Monster Cables) is...

Visual Sound, Rt.66 (for compression/boost and some overdrive > Fulltone, Full Drive 2 > Klon, Centaur > RMC3 Wah > Dunlop, volume pedal > Fulltone, Supa-Trem > Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe...The signal is then split into left and right channels.

On the left channel is...
Fulltone, '69 pedal > Line 6 Delay Modeler > Peavey Valverb (Tube Spring Reverb & Tremolo) > LEFT AMP.

The right channel signal chain is...
EH NYC Big Muff (used in conjunction with the 69 pedal on the left channel) > MXR Phase 90 > Vintage EH Small Stone Phaser > EH Small Clone > Vintage EH Deluxe Electric Mistress > Boss GX 700 (for wierd stuff) > RIGHT AMP.

Do not try this without some type of loop switcher and some signal buffering unless you had tapdancing lessons as a kid and you like your tone to really suck from the long cable lengths going through a shitload of boxes. Because I do use a loop switcher, a buffered signal and I use the best possible cables, there is very little signal loss. This setup is cool because I can have my clean and overdrive sounds uneffected on one channel and my effects on another making for a very strong clear sound. I can also get an uncluttered delay/chorus sound by running the delay and chorus on 2 seperate channels. I can't say enough good things about this setup. Sounds great and works very well for the noise pop and vintage rock and roll styles that I like to play.

I really like the sound of this delay pedal. I have owned several delay units over the years including a Roland Space Echo. The Line 6 doesn't sound exactally to the "T" like a vintage tape delay etc, but it's the closest thing I've heard. There are a lot of traditional sounds available in this box as well as some unique sounds. If it had a few more presets I would use a lot more of the sounds this box can generate, but for now I use the Tube Echo for slapback delay, the reverse delay and the Lo-Res delay set to 6 bits.

I'm very tone fussy and I can use this box without wishing I had real tape delay units and all that stuff. Again, not the exact sound, but close enough to make me happy (not an easy thing to do) =:p If you like putting your chiropractor's and your repair tech's kids through prep school, go ahead and lug around all the vintage boxes it would take to do what this pedal does. If you can't get into this pedal, perhaps delay isn't really your thing.

This unit is pretty solidly built. My only real bitch is the fact that the switches are mounted directly to the circuit board. I would have prefered to have leads running from the switch to the board for easier field replacement in a pinch. I also had a wierd problem with the reverse delay. One time it went from doing the reverse delay to being a regular delay. I reset the unit and it worked normally. I'm thinking about e-mailing Line 6 to see if they know what's up. Haven't had any other problems.

Don't know. Never had to deal with them.

As far as sound quality, design, reliability, flexibility etc. goes, this pedal is a real winner. If you use delay you would be hard pressed to find a better pedal or rack. I didn't even go into the cool things that can be done with the Tweak and Tweeze knobs. This pedal would be a perfect 10 were it not for the few bitches that I have about it.

very easy to use. All patches are killer. Awesome manual. no

Im using a single rectifier (mesa boogie). No noice. Sounds killer live. A custom strat. Scott Henderson from Tribal Tech, preety close.
All sounds are perfect to me.

I totally depend on it and it has killer battery life. If you use batteries the player should use the energizer E2.I always use the DL4 without a backup and proud of it. You can here what Im talking about if goto www.fusebox.cc.

Very helpful when I was a NAMM.

Rock and roll\ funk. Great match. 12 years. 2 custom strats and
single rectifier. I would buy it again. I love It makes sound like im in a stadium. The sweep echoe is my favorite. I compared it to everything because I have been in music retail for 3 years so I had the opportunity todo so. An octave patch. It helps me make music. I would love to endorse your product because I play out in San Diego every weekend and starting to pickup a good fan base after 6 years
I am 25 years old and I have been faithful to "Fusebox" for 6 years.

The unit tends to slip back into factory pre-sets easily. It is sometimes not terrible intuitive to program. Then again, I am a guitarist, intuitive and practical aren't exactly the by-words of our cultural sub-set. The manual appears to have actually been written in English originally. It is relatively straight forward.

It is excellent for what it is. If you are looking for the exact vintage vibe, perhaps this isn't going to convince you. This is especially true if you have very discerning tastes and ears. However, for the dollar, it is an excellent sampler of great delays. There are alot of variables in this. I use a Soldano Combo, with a Digitech RP-12, a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive, A Crybaby and Jim Dunlop volume pedal. All pretty solid, not terriby boutique-y stuff.

I have no idea. I've only owned it for a few weeks.

Don't know.

I play a combination of Celtic and Pop Music. I found this to be a grand compromise from having to buy and drag alot of individual delays. It adds color and texture and suggests different approaches musically. I would replace it if stolen. For the average hobbyist or low level pro, it is a great idea.

I find this unit pretty easy to fiddle with, although things are a bit different compared to your average analogue stomper. But read the manual and you'll be fine. It is indeed a digital processor/stompbox hybrid both in sound and use. There are some compromises made because of the digital nature of the device such as having to store to a patch before hitting bypass if you want to be able return to your settings. No serious drawbacks 'though, you'll get used to it. RTFM ;)

Some are bothered by the limited number of three presets. I don't really care, it's two more than my vintage tape-echo and because there's a tap-tempo switch on all models which gives the presets themselves much more versatility.

If you're realistic about what should be expected from a $200 unit, you'll probably be knocked out. If you expect this to emulate all aspects of vintage echoing devices such as sound, noise, size, weight, smell and pride of ownership: buy vintage and accept the shortcomings of the oldies.

My setup involves a Rickenbacker 330-12 and a japanese Condor ES335-clone (with retrofitted Bigsby and decent pickups) through a Marshall ED-1 compressor (for the Ricky), Marshall VB-1 tremolo/vibrato, Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe and the DL4 into a Budda Dual Stage 30 2x12" combo or Laney LC-15R at home. I also own a mid 70's Roland RE-501 Space Echo. So yeah, my gear is old-style, I'm concerned about true bypass, I own a very classy all-valve handwired combo and one of the vintage echo's modelled by the DL4 but I'm not a vintage purist by all means.

In my opinion the DL4 is very neat. No nasty noises (it's really nice and quiet) or digital coldness, close-enough emulations of old gear which are easily tweaked to my preferences and the reverse and looping functions which are not just added wackyness but definitely usable. My favorite models are Tube Echo (tape-echo with adjustable corruption of the delays, sounds bright but not harsh), Multihead (my Roland RE-501 will pobably stay at home now, the model sounds so close that I am wondering if I could tell them apart blindfolded in a gig-setup, sounds somewhat darker than the Tube model) and Reverse (after some careful adjustments I was able to come up with a very psyched Beatles-like backwards-solo voice).

I'm not particulary fond of the Sweep Echo but that's more to do with personal taste than with performance. You can't like 'em all, can you?
One minor but sometimes annoying glitch is the absence of seamless switching between presets. I work around this by going into bypass before hitting a new preset, I'd rather have them morph in one another, or have at least my clean signal running. But sometimes you just forget, and your solo will start with a split-second dip. A $200 compromise?

The metal case is pretty much bomb-proof, and the pots and switches are still OK. What can I say? It didn't break down yet and I don't expect it to, but it's probably like every DSP: most will do fine, some will probably cause trouble for no apparent reason. Mine doesn't, knock on wood...

Still, I wouldn't take the Roland with me as backup, it's just too bloody heavy anyway.

The website is OK, and it's a good idea to publish the manual in .pdf. Haven't dealt with them personally, so I just can't tell.

This unit is a definite winner for my style of music, which is british indiepop with ambient leanings such as the Verve, Coldplay and Ride (with some Beatles and Byrds thrown in). I'm pleased with the way above average versatility and quality, and the tremendous Backwards and Multihead functions. Frankly, I wished for a unit like this to become available for quite some years. So, it really inspires me to play and write music. I'd definitely get another if someone'd steal it.

Still, there's no such thing as a must-have unit for every player out there. If you're looking for a simple delay without outrageous delay times or looping capability, you might be much better of with a simple analogue or digital stompbox for a lot less money. If you're a vintage audiophile freak who just won't trust anything with a CPU in it, buy what you want in the first place: a vintage tape or analogue echo. Buy a rack-unit and foot controller if you prefer 256 presets and a LCD screen.

But if you like your delays a bit special and you might be interested in reversed and sampled guitar, you'd be foolish not to try this one.
It's good value, it sits on the floor and it sounds tremendous in my humble opinion.

I found the user interface to be difficult. I had to make a spread sheet to stay on top of the mutli-function/nonsensically named tweak and tweeze dials. The stickers for that purpose where too small to read, especially in low light situations. Where did the manufacturer intend them to go anyway? The control knobs themselves where too soft and ambiguoius feeling. Barely enough room between the switches for a size 12E shoe. Tap tempo function too tedious to keep up with live. Editing was fine, provided you spend plenty of time with it prior to performing. The manual was clear and easy to read.

I use a James Burton Signature Telecaster, with Fender Lace Pickups, simple tone-oriented floor effects such as the Boss CE3 and Boss GE7, and a Marshall JTM-60 watt valve combo. I run a very clean, somewhat reverby sound with a second channel for soft-clipped leads. The unit deserves much praise for being exceptionally quiet. I found the delay sounds to be weaker than other delay units and with a noticeable loss of signal gain. Out of 16 different effects the unit boasts, only the sweep delay, reverse, and looper where of any particular value. The other sounds were better achieved elsewhere. I found the sound quality to be a close approximation with limited parameter control.

It appears to be road rugged and worthy of travel. I recommend a slip cover for it to protect the knob settings, and finish. I don't have enough experience with it to rate its long-term dependability.

No experence here.

After one week of demoing it both at home and in rehearsal, I am returning the unit. The DL4 is better suited for the recording studio to zero in on a wide variety of both vintage and modern sounding delays than to play live. It is more ear candy and a fun to play with toy than anything else. I found it too complicated for live shows and too redundant sounding. More is definitely not better in this case. And about that god awful green color...

Not difficult to use but it is very hard to remember what the two multi use knobs do on each individual effect. You only get three patches but in all honesty that will do me since you can tap the tempo live negating the need for patches with delay time differences. Its all pretty straight forward really.

My set up (at least for this week) is a Fender Telecaster into a Line 6 Distortion Modeller, into this thing and then onto my Fender Pro Junior. Its not a gigging set up but I haven't gigged 4 ages anyway.

Its interesting how the accuracy of the modelling is of great importance for the distortion modeller but no one seems to give a monkeys on how close the models on here are to the originals. If this box is as close as the DM is then that's more than good enough 4 me!

To be honest I am mainly using the tube echo (maestro ep-1) setting since I get nice warm echo's with a hint of tube saturation too, it just rounds things off. I'm quite into Robben Ford and this box gives me some cool vintage echo's which he uses.

Basically I'm happy with it.

There have been many many stories of Line 6 kit going pop if you read the reviews. The units do represent excellent value 4 money and given this is also an emerging technology it won't be as robust as some solid state or hefty valve kit can be.

Would I gig with it? Yeah if any more gigs came up. I'm not going to be playing to thousands with my reputation on the line so I don't mind if something doesn't work, I just have to work around it. If it broke all the time then I would get annoyed though. I certainly wouldn't throw these things around either, I try to take good care of my stuff.

Nothing gone bad yet. From other ppl's opinion, Line 6 seem to do an alright job.

At 200 quid its about twice as costly as a normal delay pedal but it is far far more versatile. I wish you didn't have to buy a power supply seperate since its stupid using one without.

I love the tube echo model. Some ppl on this site want the absolute Mecca of tone in their kit and they can go spend the extra pennies on the real thing if thats the sound they really want. I once wanted to buy an electro harmonix delay pedal, a tape delay unit, a Tubescreamer, MXR compressor, Big Muff (the list goes on...). Instead I've got a couple of Line 6 things which keeps me happy without the hassle of trying to wire up umpteen pedals with there power supplies.

I reckon I get a good sound and that is all I want.

How could it be better? I'd like to see a spring reverb emulation in there maybe plus maybe an onboard table of what the tweak and tweez knobs do.

Seems easy enough except the knobs do odd things to the settings. Not suitable for live use as it seems to reset itself too easily. Fun to wind through the various sounds. Hours can go by. Get the feeling the makers have tried to squeeze one to may gimmicks in. Would prefer better user patch set-up routine.

Sounds great especially via a decent pre-amp in studio recording. Less good with the Fender Hot Rod deluxe valve gear I use.

Unreliable for live use. Cheap connectors, cheaper knobs and I find the software suspect. Would never risk it live.

No experience

For this kind of money I'd expect a truly professional product that would last for decades. I'm selling mine and getting a more basic/honest pedal that boasts less and delivers more.

This is relatively easy to use. The only difficulty is the various uses of the "Tweak" and "Tweaze" knobs. These change from model to model, and it is tough to remember all of them.

I use this with a reverend slingshot or custom tele (joe bardens), into a guyatone wah rocker> danelectro compressor> Danelectro vibrato> Carl Martin Hot Drive 'n boost> Tech 21 xxl> Danelectro octave fuzz> Boss Chorus Ensemble> Danelectro Tremelo> Line 6 DL-4> and out to either a Fender Blues Deluxe or a real honest to goodness Fender Tweed Princeton. This is not noisy. There does appear to be a little signal loss. I use this primarily for the tape echo (rockabilly sounds), reverse delay (real time reverse solos), and the gated delay (volume swell). I do like the loop function which is 10 lbs. of hip in a 5lb. bag. I don't know how accurate the models are, but really it is just best to determine for yourself if this is a useable sound that helps you to create, and this does. I am a little disappointed in the signal loss.

Yep this seems dependable. Don't gig though so I am probably not the best source of info on this.

Great website, but otherwise no idea on support.

Love it!!! Really I do. I am more of a hobbyist, but I play all sorts of stuff from rockabilly, country, and swing to zeppelin, zz top and parliament. I probably should be medicated. I would try to replace this if stolen, as it has become one of my most heavily stomped boxes, but ah the question of stackable tender.

This delay modeler is very easy to use and very easy to get a good sound. Since there are so many different effect on this modeler it is confusing sometimes but it comes with stickers to help the user. Line 6 should be famous for their manuals (or should I say books?). however there is nothing more fun than reading the manual for your new gear.

I use all Line 6 equipment so of course it sound wonderful but when i bought it I wasn't able to use line 6 and it still sounded great! I love this delay modeler because it is not noisy and and the effects always sound great!

I can always depend on Line 6 stuff. the first night I brought this modeler home I dropped it on my garage floor but it was fine except for for a little scratch. I would not bring a back up at a gig, mostly for the price, but because it will probably never break.

Overall I love this product and all Line 6 stuff! i would recomend it for anybody who is not satisfied with their delay or doesn't even have any delay. If in the tragic event that it was stolen or lost, if I had enough money to buy it agian I would not even think twice! I have owned or borrowed most of the BOSS delay pedals and this one is like all of them combined into one plus more. I chose this product because it has the 14 second digital recorder that allows me to plractice on my own and to learn new leads for my own music.

Certainly simple to use the presets, turn the dial and enjoy. The only trouble is to be expected: to model so many different types of effects, there are two wild card knobs that change function depending upon the context of the Modeler function Knob. But, still, with a little practice, I have the two major effects I wanted down pat.

The function of the foot pedal switches is a bit more complicated. I am still working on getting their functions down, and the timing to use them properly. Definitely requires setup and advance knowledge to use this live; I haven't played live for 10+ years and don't really care about setup time.

In summary, it is complicated, but only because it does so much with so few knobs. I am glad they didn't use all 50+ knobs that would have been required otherwise.

I use Hamer guitars (like the Steve Stevens), Duncan Custom pickups, vintage tube amps, and this pedal.

I really like this pedal. I cannot discern noise, the effects sound good (for the most part, there are a few questionable), and the presets are very usable.

As another reviewer stated, fiddling with the presets can quickly reveal weakness in the models at other than "normal" settings. This should be considered by the buyer, if you want the full functionality of the vintage pedals this emulates at all settings, don't bother: go get the real thing. If you want to generally enjoy a multitude of somewhat canned emulations of those pedals buy this.

Oh yeah, If you want a looper, this totally rocks. You can actually get 28 seconds of looping - just use the 1/2 speed while recording.

Looks tough enough, but cannot honestly comment on this yet.

Hasn't broken yet, can't say.

I play 80's style alternative rock, ala the Cure, and this is a great fit. Robert Smith must have quite the collection of vintage effects, and this emulates a lot of his sound quite well.

I have been playing for 30+ years, have been in retirement for 10+ years, previously played professionally.

I would have to buy it again, it is way too cool. In fact, I think I want two.

I love the multitude of effects, with especial love of the sweep delay, which is a pretty good flanged echo. I hate the color of the metal, it looks ultra fake.

I would say it is quite inspirational, the looping function alone is worth twice as much as retail. Definitely cool for song-writing.

Easy to use when you're messing about on your own, but becomes a pain in the arse in a live situation.

Not as good as it says on the tin! Its digitaland it sounds digital!
If you want something to sound analogue then buy something analogue, cos this still sounds as clinical and lifeless as the next digital delay!

Built like a brick, so it's sturdy, but It has a tendency to slip back to its factory pres*ts when you switch it to bypass and back again (real stompboxes don't do this). Also I don't want to have to worry about tapping the tempo in all the time.

I'm sure it's very good.But It's a bit cheeky making it so you can only use their mains adapter (Lovetone,Roger Mayer, Jim Dunlop etc dont do this!) and then stinging you for that on top of the unit! Why don't they just give you the adapter as part of the package(like Big Briar)? Greed?

I'm a great fan of analogue echos but not of this unit.Sorry Line 6 but it just don't make the grade! The Loop sampler is fun for bedroom stuff and (if you have a rock steady band that can keep perfect time!)
Live stuff but not really my bag! would I buy it again? I wish I hadn't bought it the first time! I've got an old valve watkins copycat upstairs and although it must be 50 yrs old it's got more zing and life in it than this limped thing can ever hope for!
If you're after vintage echos save your money and buy the real
thing!

Twisting all the knobs gets annoying, but the tap tempo is very useful. the manual is very good.

I use a Lonestar Strat --> dyna comp --> phase 90 --> teese rmc-1 wah --> metal zone --> line-6 DL-4. Great bypass sound. It isn't noisy at all. This is a digital effect so it won't sound quit as good as analog or tape, but you can get all of these sounds pretty close. I haven't had any problems with the sound quality.

I haven't had any problems after about 6 months. Seems pretty sturdy.

don't know... good website though.

I play rock mostly. this is the best digital delay out there. If you only want an analog sound, and you don't mind not having a tap tempo then get an analog delay. If you want a tape delay good luck finding one, and when you do you're wallet will take a beating. If you want all of these sounds, and tap tempo is important to you then get this pedal.

Easy to use. Needs more than three presets.

Very good.

Dont have a lot of faith in it, died on me after 9 months. See below for my experience with getting it fixed.
These things are just computers anyway, and anyone who works with computers for a living, like myself, knows that they have an uncanny tendency to die for no apparent reason at the worst possible time.

I'm mainly submitting this review to report on my experience with Line6's repair dept. I had my DL-4 for nine months, no problems, never abused it, when suddenly in the middle of a gig, in the middle of a song, it just started making this loud ticking sound and no guitar signal was coming through at all. I had to disable the thing for the rest of the gig. Back at home, I discovered it would exhibit this behavior after being on for anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Doing a hard (factory) reset would fix it only temporarily.
I emailed Line6 support and of course their first response was "do a hard reset". I responded that I've already done that, they replied I needed to call their support number to get a return authorization. After much phone tag, I was able to talk to a person, get an RA number and I sent the unit to them.
Less than a week later the thing shows up at my doorstep. I open the box, the unit is there, with no note or invoice telling me what, if anything, had been done to it. Not feeling supremely confident, I powered it up, programmed it, and bang, after 10 minutes, same problem as before. I call up support and asked what, if anything, did they do to the thing? He says they couldnt find anything wrong with it! I ask him if they've ever seen one exhibit this behavior, he says no (right). He says send it back to them, I agree and suggest they spend a little more time with the thing this time around. The support person was very nice and even sent me a prepaid Fedex airbill.
About two weeks later I got it back, still no documentation of any kind in the box, I hooked it up and so far it's worked OK. Whatever it was, looks like they found the problem. I dont have a lot of confidence in this thing now, however. I never abused it or dropped it, it hardly moved from my pedal board in 9 months.
And I would really like to be told what kind of repair was required to fix my pedal, as I would with anything I take in for warranty work, be it a pedal, car, computer, whatever...
So they did fix the thing, but it took two attempts, and I have no idea what was wrong with it. If you have one of these, I hope it doesnt crap out on you in the middle of a gig, like it did me. And if it does, you might be in for a time getting it fixed.

I love this pedal, but I dont have a lot of confidence in it now.
Would I buy another? Hard to say, let's see how long it lasts...

cant get much easier...editing patches is peculiar due to the fact that you have to move all the knobs before it responds completly. not to bad...may take some time

goes like this, AES-500 Yamaha>dl4 or straight to my marshall valvestate vs-265 with this in the effects loop...some noise...not horrible...the effets can sound very weak or very good, that all depends on you....i dont try to get sounds of my favorite artists.....the sweep is decent, reverse is odd,space echo is good....everything else just delays your sound....you can tell its digital...but hey it is digital

i suppose you can rely on it...if you believe in reliability.....its sturdy....i am poor white trash....so yes i would use it without a backup

ive tried to come up with a name for what i play....i suppose spaced-out phyco blues would be appropriate.ive been playing for as long as ive been jerking...i wouldnt but it again...instead i would by a shit load of strings...because its all about music not effects ...i dont love it or hate it because im too depressed to give a fuck....but it honestly doesnt inspire me, but that is me. id like to share that this country is becoming more like plastic everyday....very fake

Pretty easy to use especially with the tweek/tweeze chart from the manual. The manual is very well written and has some nice pics of the delay units it models. True bypass is a nice addition especially for a digital pedal, though the optional fade out bypass is quite useful as well.

The only delay pedals I've ever owned are an old 4 knob EH Deluxe Memory Man and an Ibanez AD-9 which I've always thought was the most beautiful delay ever. I don't use delay a lot, but I couldn't resist for the price, especially since this one does a really good reverse effect that I've yet to find in a pedal. My favorite models are the Boss Analog delay, tube Echoplex, reverse, and the Space Echo. The loop sampler is really fun to play with as well.

it's had no problems so far after about a month, but I can't say either way about dependability.

Line 6 has great customer support, fairly quick return of email and online forums are big plus.

Overall I'm glad I bought it. I also have the MM-4 modulation modeler which replaced 3 pedal from my board. My setup as of this review is either an Epiphone Casino or '62 Telecaster Custom reissue, Fulltone Fulldrive II, Lovetone Big Cheese, MM-4, DL-4, Vox AC15. My only complaints are that they modeled the Boss delay instead of the Ibanez AD-9 and I would've loved a model of a Fender Tube Reverb unit.

Incredibly easy to use. The only time I needed to refer to the manual was when I need to save patches. Manual was very thorough and entertaining.
In delay mode you get three programmable footswitches as well as a tap-tempo!

I wasn't very concerned with how exact the models were to the originals. I don't have experience with half of them anyway. I wanted something versatile and flexible. To that end, it is an awesome unit! Very interesting and usable sounds, unlike my Digitech Space Station. The sampler is worth getting it all by itself.
I have to admit that it takes some getting used to having an echo unit in front of the amp. I used to use a rack with my delays in the effects loop. Initially, I found the layering to be messy and bogged down. This unit is designed to go before the amp. Once I did some tweaking, I've found this arangement pretty satisfying.
There is slight signal degradation when in sample mode, but nothing too extravagant. In regular delay mode, you don't notice any loss if the effects are off.
Prepare to do some damage! You can hurt someone just in sample/reverse mode. Really, you gotta play with this thing! I can't even describe the sickness you can create with this pedal.

Construction is extremely solid...except for the cheap plastic dials. They feel ambiguous and inexact. Obvious cost-cutting here. Another negative is power. Don't kid youself into thinking you can live without the power supply. The batteries that were included were an absolute joke. They lasted an hour, tops.
Except for the two negatives, this feels like it can take a good stomping.

I haven't dealt with Line 6 regarding the pedal, however, I have a Flextone head and Line 6 has been very helpful. I've heard negatives from others, but since I live in Los Angeles (Line 6 is headquartered nearby), and I attend the User Group meetings I've gotten excellent service.

I play heavy, alternative (whatever that means) music. Since I'm not much of a guitar player (hey, I can admit it), I depend on interesting noise to get my point across. This pedal delivers! If all it did was sample (28 seconds!!) and provide the sweep-frequency echo I would love it just as much. I don't miss my rack at all now! The Echoplex models provide incredible Eddie Van Halen and Dave Navarro damage. This is a very important ingredient in my sound and I haven't delved that deeply into what it can do yet.

Good pedal. Vital to my arsenal. The manual is easily understandable. The crystal clearity fools me into thinking i'm a baby once again listening to it through fresh ears. Loops cool, wish it recorded longer, seems if it were 6 seconds longer I would be able to do 75% more stuff with it. Wish I could bring any of the effects in the loop sampler too. Then again maybe I can and I missed that section in the manual. Very quite. Hiss is a major pet peave of mine. It's a little un-user friendly in a few ways. If you'll fix that, i'll buy the next one. Delays rock. Overall good job. I gave it an 8 cause part of it sucks. Thanks anyway though.

This unit does EXACTLY what it says on the box, "Bonehead Simple to use". You just simply pick an effect and dial in exactly what you want from it. The controls are what you'd find on most delay pedals; time, repeats and mix along with "Tweak and Tweez". The latter two do various but similar things depending on the effect used and often repeat their function in different effect types (most commonly controlling bass and treble). Once you apply some logic to the situation i.e imagining that you have the actual pedal in front of you, you soon get to grasps of "Tweak" and "Tweez". Also the manuals are in everyday speaking English.

I'm from Ireland,(tiny country of population of 3 million ?) so I don't know about the rest of you guys but we simply can't get the original effects that this unit emulates anywhere here. One thing is for sure though, it sounds unlike any other pedal I've heard ever. Sounds from "Tube Echo" where you can dial in the amount of tape "wow and flutter" are just begging to be heard on a Radiohead album along with "sweep echo" which I think is a must for anybody trying some "Dub Reggae" beats. What is also unique sounding about this unit is the way it "feedbacks" on itself when the repeats are turned up full. Different effect types will feedback on themselves in completly different ways. All this with the easiest programmability (3 user patches)and tap tempo (no drummer jokes). I still have'nt mentioned the sampler. 14 secounds of recording, overdubbing, playing backwards and forwards,twice or half normal playing speed. Great fun!!

This is where my unit falls down BADLY !. Already it's been back to Line 6 (U.K.) once and it looks like it's going back again. The first time round there was a db level drop when the effect of the unit was turned on accompanied by a loud audio clunk from the footswitch. Now the unit is switching itself off when plugged into the power supply but works perfectly fine on batteries ?!?. (Don't ask). It looks like a return journey for this fella. (Luck of the Irish ? yeah right !)

In fairness to Line 6 (U.K.) they repaired the unit very fast and sent it back to the shop of purchase via next day delivery.The unit was out of my hands for 4 (max 5) working days. Excelent work in unfavourable cicumstances.

This unit will present a lot of new sounding delays to a lot of people, especially to the younger folk and people like me, who just never got the chance to hear the originals. All this with the ease and timing reliability of digital electronics. This unit has the construction of a tank and is begging to be gigged. When this unit preforms normally it's an excellent must have. Up till now I was using a Boss GX700 Multi FX rack unit, mainly for distortions and delays. This has now been replaced with this unit and the line 6 DM4 distortion modeler (which I'm glad to say is working perfectly). Though at IR#279, on the suface it first looks a bit pricey, but once you see and realise what you have, it really is a steal at the price. Put it this way, the "Electo Harmonix Memory Man" which the unit emulates, on it's own cost the same price,IR#270. Need I say more ?.

IT'S AS EASY TO USE AS ANY SINGLE STOMP BOX. STORING SETTINGS COULDN'T BE EASIER. THE MANUAL WON'T BE NEEDED UNLESS YOU NEED SOMETHING TO READ ON THE CRAPPER.

OVERALL, I WAS VERY SURPRISED AT HOW GOOD THE UNIT SOUNDED. NO OTHER PIECE OF MODELING GEAR HAS EVEN COME CLOSE. I OWN A DM2, SPACE ECHO, DELUXE MEMORY MAN AND A SOLID STATE ECHOPLEX, AS WELL AS OTHER NEW ANALOG DELAYS. I WAS ABLE TO ALMOST DUPLICATE EXACTLY THE SOUNDS OF EVERY UNIT OTHER THAN THE SPACE ECHO. PART OF THE CHARM OF THE SPACE ECHO IS HITTING THE INPUT HARD TO SATURATE THE TAPE, WHICH YOU CANT DO WITH THE DL4. ALSO THE WOW & FLUTTER CONTROL LEFT A LITTLE TO BE DESIRED. SOUNDED LIKE MODULATION INSTEAD OF TAPE STRECTHING. ONE VERY COOL EFFECT NO OTHER REVIEW HAS MENTIONED IS THE AUTO SWELL. I HAVE AN OLD BOSS SLOW GEAR THAT IS A PAIN TO USE. THE DL4 SWELLS ARE FANTASTIC. THIS UNIT MAY NOT REPLACE YOUR OLD FAVS IN EVERY SITUATION, BUT I'D TAKE ONE OF THESE ANYDAY OVER THE OLD ONES. TRY FINDING SPACE ECHO AND ECHOPLEX PARTS.

I HAVE ONLY HAD IT TWO WEEKS, BUT SEEMS TO BE BUILT EXTREMELY WELL. BUILT IN POWER SUPPLY WOULD HAVE EASED MY MIND A BIT.

I PLAY EITHER A TELECASTER OR A WURLITZER ELECTRIC PIANO THROUGH A DYNA COMP-TUBE KING-BLACK DOG-VL MICROVIBE-ELECTRIC MISTRESS-VL TREMELO-DL4-MESA DUAL RECTIFIER AND VOX AC30. MUSIC STYLES RANGE FROM RADIOHEAD, FUGAZI, PJ HARVEY, BUFFALO TOM, ZEPPELIN. THIS PEDAL HAS MOST OF THE VIBE OF THE UNITS IT MODELS WITHOUT THE HASSLE OF REPAIRING THEM. LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING THEIR OVERDRIVE MODELER

One of the main reasons I bought this thing was it was so easy to use... I wanted the range of delay options (multi-tap, stereo etc.) that are only offered in big units without having to go back to school and get a computer science degree. And the the DL4 is certainly easy to use, no messy effects chains... Still, only 3-4 sound presets is unfair and limiting, especially since this thing has so many usable sounds.

I can't compare how close it sounds to the vintage pedals it models, but the range of sounds the thing produces is breath taking... I thought the thing was just a delay pedal, but I've been able to tweak the thing in extreme settings to get chorus-y stuff, as well as this weird amsusical but very cool ring modulation sound and I also get this whispery feedback that is absolutely identical to the opening of of Radiohead's "The Bends" album. Oh, and it has very usable delays as well.

This is where I'm unhappy... It's in the shop right now being fixed. One of the switches became unscrewed from underneath the casing. I couldn't get at it w/o tearing out the circuit board. I see the potential for this happening to the other switches as well. Still, this is a mechanical problem which is much preferable to one with regard to the electronics. I imagine this problem will be remedied in version 2.0

The damn thing is taking a long time to be fixed--it's a simple repair, but I'm not too mad at Line 6. This pedal is really popular, and deservedly so.. They're probably swamped.

Because of the rare combination of sound variety/quality and usability, I'd give this thing a 10. The stupid repair has me irked, hence the 8.

this thang is a no brainer.i thinkeven dimebag darrel could figure it out!once you get used to it you do not need the manual!!(great)!!!!you can edit like crazy its alittle odd at spots like.MORE BUTTONS TO STRE YOUR SETTINGS WOULD BE NICE ,YOU CAN ONLY STORE 3.and once youve made a good one itsso hard to have to give it up to make room.also its sorta odd when you switch between the different units emulatedyou have to move the various.knobs around before it wants to respond.great manual.very simple.

im using this thang with almost every thang.its great with guitars acoiustic or electric.if your into experimenting you will love it!lately ive been using it live with a zoom 234 drum machine with my guitar plugged through it.very cool you can create a drum loop in realtime very quickly.much easier than with the zoom mach alone!you just stomp it in time with the music you doing and make sure you hit your stop and start on the beat and .perfect everytime.amazing.the thang is very quite.all the effects are very cool .im using it alot with an crate taxi amp.and all kinds of stuff plugged into the front end .the thing seems very forgiving ofthe level thats put on the input.sounds good with almost anythang.the looper is amazing.

the thing is built like a tank .and about as heavy as one.i am using it with no backup...no problems.

have not had to deal with them......

i play alot of different style stuff with it.i play with a band thats a pretty straight sounding jamband.(i mean the guitars sound like guitars)and it works great for subtleeffect usage.but the thing shines when you use it for spacier stuff.you can get so weird so quick in realtime that its amazin.you would not believe your guitar is making some of the sounds you can get with this thang!!!!!if your into hillage or GONG type of stuff buy this thing now!!!the one thing that it is not real good at is if you like to move your delay time knob while your playing ,it breaks up in a very digital way,meaning nasty.the looper is amazin,only wish it was longer.you try ideas on it quick.like a four track or 80 track.very cool when you layer the old layers do not start sounding degraded.unjless you want them to.or you can go to space.imediatly!!!!!you can layer forward ,backward half speed double speed and mix em up.the thig is worth it just for the looper ...or justr for the effects c...together its the steal of the century,if only one year old ,but still!!!!cant compare nothing out there like it!!!just wish you could store more setups.and wish the looper was closer to 1 minute.

Plug and play dead simple. Storing patches is also easy: pick an effect, tweek it, hold down a button for about three seconds and you are finished. Line 6 should be praised for making all the other companies wake up and realize that scrolling through menus to get a sound is not practical for a live situation. The manual is good at describing the intent of each effect and what they were going after, which helps you know what to expect.

I use Hamer guitars with either Seymour Duncan P90s or '59 humbuckers into a HIWATT DR504. The unit is very quiet compared to many of the units it models. It also has better fidelity than the originals as well. I think what some people interpret as analog warmth is actually the unit draining your tone. I had a ROLAND Space echo, a Memory Man etc. and they all butchered my signal. The DL-4 sounds like you are running a buffer preamp on the front end - cool. The sounds are thick, organic and very usable - I even sing through one when I am recording to get the WHO slap-back echo sound. Through my HIWATT, I can get a mean David Gilmour, the Edge, Scotty Moore or any other echo freak out there. I got sick of maintaining my old units and I love the true bypass. When I am not using an effect I want it to get out of the way.

I have had no problems with the unit. I tour without a back up. If the unit loses power, it automatically goes into bypass - SMART!

I have had no need to contact them.

I play heavy, present power-pop type stuff. I do not tolerate any gear that bogs down my tone. I have been playing for twenty years. I have had alot of the gear it mimics and I am so glad that I have a pedal I can trust to deliver every night. I would by more of them and plan to. It is a great studio tool as well. I wish it had more patches to store other settings. The Loop function is also a great idea generator. You will spend many hours on this alone.

only reason i'm not giving a 10 here is because i'm not crazy about the actual pedal buttons, they take a bit of practice to get the feel right. other than that this thing is gorgeous. took it home the first weekend and quite literally played for about 20 hours over that saturday and sunday, and the only frustration was the the button thing. i was thrilled.

sound quality is great. clean stays clean, etc. the problem here is that there isn't a way to utilize the true bypass with the looper on. small price to pay, but i still wish that there was a way to turn off completely the built-in delay with the looper and just have it on true bypass when i wasn't looping. so there is somewhat of a tone sacrifice, being as having it on gives me a bit of that typicial (and unavoidable) digital "sharpness". i'm a pretty much devoutly analog fellow, i have a beat-up epiphone les paul copy running through an 69 bassman, no other effects except for occasionaly a boss overdrive/distortion for when i want to get bit noisy, so there is a slight difference.

so that would probably drop my sound quality rating down a few points, and if you would use primarily very few layers you may want to keep that in mind. but the fact that i can layer and layer and layer gives me *incredible* tone. just a simple melody can become exponentially better with a quick overdub, so that you would have two just SLIGHTLY varying notes happening together.

no problems as of yet, appears solidly built.

this thing will almost certainly change the way you play guitar, and for the better. if nothing else, its nice to go over riffs and scales and pick out little flaws in your technique that you might forgive yourself for on the fly. you can play something, give it a break, and come back for a more objective listening. mind you, this is stuff that pretty much all loopers can do, but this one still has me floored. with the price (250 or so), how much this thing can DO (reverse, 1/2 time, both together, record over THAT, back to original guitar line with hyper fast high pitched melody THING, and then maybe stutter it a bit...etc.... etc....) and the fact that the only actual sound qulaity problem i have is something inherent to anything digital, this little monster is well worth my time and money. and then some. the only reason i can see myself parting with this would be for the oberheim model, but even then i'd keep it around since the delays aren't too damn shabby at all. and i don't want to think about what one could do with two loopers in sequence...

suppose that's about quite enough. also great for picking up womenfolk if you are prone to playing on porches near college campuses. and i'm not sure if there's a price you can put on that.

Take some tweaking to get what you want. The loop sampler is easy to use with a bit of practice.

I'm not a vintage delay freak so I can't compare. But these delays sound very good, are quite varied and flexible and don't sound digital at all. more delays for the money than any other unit.

The loop sampler is amazing. It allows endless possibilities, especially if you play music that has a solid groove and few chord changes ie. JB's style funk. very good for practicing as well. The coolest thing is you are manipulating YOUR sound, not manipulating an effect. So as weird as you can get with the sampler, it still has all the organic/scratchiness/tone/feel whatever of your playing.

The expression pedal (optional) allows for basically an additional sound on each preset, but more importantly it allows you to fade in or out a loop that's playing. This is key because sometimes you want to adjust the level of your loop to fit with the band.

looks tough.

If you're into delays, there's a world of them here.

If you're even curious about using loops, you HAVE to get this thing.

It only gets a 9 because "Tweak" and "Tweez" are not intuitive names for what's going on. Which only means that you have to read the manual to figure it all out. No biggy actually. The built in tap tempo is really too.

I play a Fender Jaguar with humbuckers into a Jekyll and Hyde overdrive, Big Muff, Boss Chorus, Flanger, and Tremolo/Pan, into the Line 6 Modeler, and out to a Roland JC 90 and a Roland Bolt 60 (I'm trying to get rid of the Boss pedals except for the Tremolo/Pan. I play music from Nirvana, to the Cure, to Sonic Youth, to old Smashing Pumpkins.
This pedal is worth it just for the looper. The delays are fun also, and I finally can get rid of my Boss Super Phaser, probably the worst pedal I ever bought. You can even get chorus sounds that sound like the chorus setting on the Electro-Harmonix PolyChorus. I love that this pedal includes stereo inputs and outputs. Now I can run my stereo flanger at last, and ditch the old Boss DD-5. I can go on for hours about how much I love this pedal. Totally clean!

I'm only giving it an 8 beause I know I'll baby this pedal. I baby all my pedal, but I feel that Big Muff is more reliable just because its a solid tank. Perhaps because this pedal is so pretty, it makes it look a little fragile.

Never dealt with them, and I can't imagine that I ever will

The only thing that really sucks about this pedal is that you can't use the optional footswitch to use the mode selector. That almost seems like a no-brainer that if you're going to have a million different modes that you should make it easy to switch on the fly. Especially with the looper. So it gets a 9 because I'm annoyed.

Great presets to get you started and the manual is very well laid out. You do need it to understand tweak and tweeze because they react differently depending on which model you're using. Even without the manual it's an easy unit to experiment with.

For my tastes, the DL-4 sounds awesome! Okay, it might not be exactly like the vintage units it emulates, but it's close enough for government work, and there are 15 different effects (not including the 14 second looper!) for God's sake. Each effect is very good to downright excellent and, except for the most anal audiophile, useable in any situation. While the looper only provides 14 seconds of sampling time, it still is enough for most applications and is too much fun. There is no extraneous noise, 2 and 1/2 seconds of delay time, and you can get pretty much any sound you want, need, or can imagine out of it. I use it with a Modulation Modeler and another Delay Modeler (one is a dedicated looper) and soon (as soon as they come out) a Distortion Modeler into a Line 6 Flextone XL. The DL-4's and MM-4 run through my effects loop. Yes, there are better delay units out there, but none as versatile or as affordable. But who cares what I have to say, check it out for yourself. 95% of you will love it!

I've mine for over 8 months with no problems and I use 'em all the time.

Easy to deal with via e-mail. Never tried to call 'em.

I've been playing psychedelic, folkadelic, and long drawn out repetitious jams for over 20 years and Line 6 stuff is made for that. In fact, some songs I started in the 1980's are still going on. Imagine that? I'd get the DL-4 again without hesitation (although I really want an Echoplex Digital Pro). I have been very impressed with all of Line 6's gear and the types of tones and effects they have chosen to replicate. Anyone who understands the psychedelic realm can't be all bad, can they? I've had many different effects over the years and the Line 6 stuff won't get traded in for something else (which I can't say about most of the other companies' products I've used-except Lexicon). The DL-4 doesn't have the sampling time of a Boomerang but it sounds better. It sounds way better than the Akai Headrush (noisy noisy noisy) and it's comparable to a JamMan only more portable (with more features). Like I said before, if you're considering one of these, get off your butt and check one out. I'd bet you'd buy one.

DL-4 is really easy to use. Especially I appreciate the possibility to tap the tempo! The only difficulty I have had with it get it fitted in to my floor board. DL-4 uses either batteries or 9 Volts AC. And I have a 9 Volts DC-power unit in my floor board! Darn AC/DC-problem! But I solved it: because DL-4 uses also batteries, it means it accepts 9 Volts DC too! I soldered plus and minus cables from my 9 Volts power unit to DL-4's battery conductors and voila, no extra power unit mounting or hassle with batteries needed!

Great!

I've used it only 6 months and only couple of gigs, but the metal cover feels quite sound to me!

I haven't needed.

I play some kinda modern guitar oriented rock with my two Les Pauls and Vox AC-30. DL-4 has opened a new world of delay to me and it would be hard to go back to Boss Digital Delay! Now I spend my gigs tapping tempos and choosing different modes of delays! Looking like a fool I guess!

The delays are very tweakable, so it can get complicated. Everybody would like a few more features, stored patches etc. but seems pretty amazing for the money. The loop sampler is easy to use.

The delays (and I'm not a big delay guy) sound very good. Some nice weird ones too. I am not a fan of digital modelling, but these delays sound perfectly natural to me. I think comparing them to the boxes they're modelled on is a waste of time. Very quiet.

The real reason, in my opinion, to buy this thing is the loop sampler. Amazing effects are possible (esp. with reverse, and half speed modes) but unlike with other effects your are creating effects in real time with YOUR sound. So as weird as things get they are still very organic in feel. If you play funk, jazz, anything with a lot of repetition, one chord jams, etc. this looper is SO useful. Also very good for composing and coming up with interesting guitar riffs. PLUS you can finally play all those cool James Brown/JB's twin guitar parts...by yourself. Or you can get a cool lick going, and drink a beer while it plays with the rest of the band.

looks tough.

If you like delays, this seems to be the best thing around short of vintage units. If you're even curious about looping, you won't be sorry you got this.

Pretty simple to use, alot easier than rackmounts or the more complicated multi-pedals. The loop sampler takes some playing to get the motions down, and the tweek and tweeze knobs do different things for each setting, that can be sort of weird to remember but they give you handy stickers you can put on your mom or whatever.

Sound quality is GREAT. The quietest (outside of simulation-noise) pedal I've used. I've never used tape echoplexes or any of that, but this is a good sounding year 2000 delay pedal.. and that's how I consider it. I don't really believe the modelling aspect, but if it's a versitle unit with some nice tones, that doesnt matter. I use it with a smaller marshall head and sometimes just with headphones, and it sounds fine.

Seems fairly sturdy. Would use without a backup.

Great website from these folks, I was checking out the online manual long before I actually got it. It would be cool if the unit was upgradeable, (perhaps a rom chip swap), but I'm not holding my breath.

I do all sorts of improv-rock-noise and toy with electronics and computers as well. Although most people will purchase this box for guitar, the loop sampler is GREAT for creating loops in any style.. I've played with some pretty warped AFX/Squarepusher/Autechre type loops utilizing Fender Rhodes, PC shareware Programs, cheesy drum machine, and even tapping an unplugged cord, anything besides a guitar. Heavy manipulation of reverse/half speed/delay time during the loop recording is your friend here. I was seriously desiring the old EH 16 sec delay but this thing does that kind of stuff, and great delays too! The loop sampler has inspired me to try all sorts of stuff, and will definitely be a focal point of my setup from now on.

Gripes: I often don't like the digital noises it makes on manipulation of the delay time during a delay.. its too digital and whacky when used too much. It makes a nice detune sound when used subtley, tho. They don't include a power supply, thats kinda cheap. But the optional one is a lump-in-the-middle.. much better then walwarts. And my last complaint is that theres no way to preset the loop sampler. One thing I would really dig is a variable control on the loop speed, as opposed to the half speed switch.

I'd HAVE to replace it, if it was ever lost or stolen.

It's main competitor for me was the Korg Modelling pedal (the white multi-one) which had some nice tones, but in the end I chose this because of its ability to sit with other single pedals well.

But all in all, its a great delay-loop effect. My dad calls it Fripp-in-a-box and I'd have to agree. Hey, anyone have any idea where it was made?

It is very easy to get a good sound out of it. Read the manual. It is probably one of the best manuals I've ever read. Very thorough. It is very easy to use considering all of its capabilities. Editing and storing patches are easy - hold one of three switches down for a few seconds until the LED flashes.

I use a 79 Strat through two pedalboards, two 4U racks, and A/B/C it to either a Line6 AxSys212 (AC-30 emulation only), a Fender Deluxe 85, and a Vox AC-15. I suppose it can be noisy (i.e. tape hiss) on the Echoplex or Space Echo emulations, but that's expected. This unit is insane. Everything sounds so great. My fav is the EH Deluxe Memory Man. I can acheive a great Edge tone, especially "New Year's Day."

Yes. I gig w/o a backup. I use this unit a lot. I manually manipulate the delay time to create "sampled" noises. I try to create sounds that you know you've heard but can't quite place. I abuse the delay time knob but it still works beautifully. It's sounded great since the day I got it, which was the first day it hit the stores. I can't even remember when that was.

Never had to deal with them. I hope I never have to.

The music I play really can't be classified. Musically, I suppose a critic might say we have Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s sense of dynamics and emotion, Radiohead's ... oddity/sonic experimentation, U2's melodicism/ambience, and Coil's weirdness. I've only been playing, oh ... 3 yrs. But like I said earlier, I don't play "conventional" guitar much. I am more like the band's sampler, creating noises you know you've heard but can't quite place. My personal fav is creating the sound of R2D2 having a series of panic attacks at random, as well as a choir of birds, submarine SONAR blips, jalopies, motorboats, helicopters, etc. I play a little bit of everything really: acoustic, neo-classical, ambient, trip-hop, etc. But mostly I view my job to create noise. After all, all music is simply the manipulation of sound and airwaves. So, I play a few notes and twist knobs for a few minutes. :-) I couldn't do what I do w/o this pedal! I would instantly buy it again if it got stolen. I love everything on this pedal. The sampler is really cool. I love its endless tweakability. There is really no other digital delay pedal on the market that even comes close! It can do more things than any of my Korg rack delay's can; however, the Korgs have more flexibility as far as modulation goes and sound-quality, IMO.

I can't complain here. It works like a delay should. All the controls are well thought out and clearly documented. The manual covers everything you need to know and there are even decals to help you remember what the tweak and tweez knobs do for each model.

Okay, this is where this pedal shines. No, its not the same as having the original effects that it models...but it is really close. If you are willing to tweak the knobs a bit you can get some really great recreations of the originals. I've owned an EP-3 echoplex, and I was able to dial in almost the all the sounds that I loved the EP-3 for (except the cool runaway feedback sound that you can get from a real echoplex) The best part is that there is no tape to break, or parts to keep oiled! Its incredibly quiet too. My old echoplex made a good bit of noise! Personally, I like the EP-3 model better than the EP-1 model. It just sounds more realistic to me! The other models are good too, I really like the volume swells that you can get with this unit. I've been able to get a very close recreation of a violin with this model. Thats almost worth the price alone. The sweep delay is pretty cool as well. I also can't say enough about the loop sampler. I've had more fun with this preset than all the others put together. Once you get the hang of which footswitch to hit...its a blast. You can even layer backward loops into the mix.
One thing (hey Line 6 are you listening?) There is a delay that can be placed before the loop sampler but its just a simple delay. You can't have the echoplex model and the loop sampler at the same time. It would be nice to have a firmware upgrade that would allow one delay model of your choice to be placed before the loop sampler.

It seems roadworthy, but I would'nt throw it in my bag of effects without some sort of protection. The knobs feel a little cheap, but they are recessed on the front panel at least. The switches feel a little soft as well. They just don't have the positive "click" that I'm used to. (like an old MXR pedal for instance)
At least the case is not plastic like the POD For what its worth, I could have done without the lime green paint job. The distortion modelers navy blue looks much nicer (hey Line 6...how about using glow in the dark paint for labeling the footswitches...this would be great on a dark stage!)
The other problem with the reliability is the fact that Line 6 decided not to include an AC adapter. They instead included a cheap set of 4 non alkaline "C" cell batteries. (the manual recommends that you use only alkalines) This is insane for a unit costing over $200.00, considering the fact that it eats batteries like candy!
If you buy this unit, be prepared to shell out another $25-$30 bucks for the power supply (9VAC 1200ma)

I've not had to deal with customer support. I did order the power supply from the Line 6 website with no problems though.
My guess is that you might do okay with these guys since they are still a smaller privately held company.

I play a little bit of everything so this unit is great for me. It has at least one delay for everyone! I use an '83 Fender elite Strat, a custom made strat with Seymour Duncan Texas Hot antiquity pickups as well as an Epiphone Sheraton II usually through a Peavey Classic 20 or an early '70's Fender Twin Master Volume. Ocasionally, I'll use a Crybaby wah, a Roger Mayer Octavia, and a MXR Phase 90.
I've been playing for about 15 years now. And this pedal has brought back some really cool memories! I'd have to replace it if it were lost or stolen, no question about it. As far as I can tell there is nothing else out there that can come close to this unit in terms of features. Its really been inspiring to call up some of these classic sounds and have them be reasonably close to the originals.
If you are looking for a reasonably priced quiet multi-function delay unit this is the jack of all trades!

For all that it does, pretty well laid out. There are stick-on labels that say what "Tweak" and "Tweez" are for each model; that's a big help.

I did a side-by-side between an Electro Harmonics Deluxe Memory Man and the DM4 model of it. The DM4 has 2.5 seconds of delay, vs. 1/2 second for the MM. The DM4 has a variable mod speed instead of a two position switch. But, the DM4 doesn't go into runaway feedback, which is one of my favorite effects with the MM. (The DM4 does runaway feedback with other models, though.) Also, the DM4 doesn't have the MM's Level knob, which lets you overdrive the echos.

For tone, the DM4 is a very good emulation, although the MM is a little bit "beefier" and "creamier". The DM4 seems to have a wider and maybe flatter frequency response; it comes off a little weaker and "unsaturated". It also seems a bit weak in the bass. The differences are not very big, though. There is some stepping in the DM4 when changing the delay time.

I'd get the real pedals if I could, but this is great for the price. Also, the Loop Sampler is a blast, expecially when you layer up overdubs recorded at different speeds.

This unit comes loaded with useful sounds right out of the box. I immediately utilized several sounds (dynamic delay, auto volume, filtered delays). So far as editing goes, you turn knobs, you like the sound? You keep the sound. Read the manual to LEARN how to utilize the tweak and tweeze knobs. The book is well written and will guide you through it.

I use this unit through 2 Fender Pro Juniors (retubed with Eurotubes, awesome sound from little amps). The stereo feature of the delay makes this set up quite nice. Guitars used are a Warmoth strat with EMG DG20 pickups, Ibanez AS200, Fender Mustang, Chapman Stick and effects are MXR Flanger, Phaser, up front. The delays qualify for usefullness, balancing wet to dry ratios is important with this unit. I subscribe to the "less is more philosophy" and the effects are lush so it can get slushy! You can get as "Spacey" as you like or "season to taste" with this unit. It is very quiet in operation, more so than the other effects I use. The dynamic delay setting and looper setting are my favorite settings with this unit.

This is where it gets touchy, I ordered the power supply for this unit, because it came without one, ridiculous for a unit costing this much. When I first used the power supply the unit shut off for some reason, a couple of times actually. I tryed using just the batteries and it worked fine, once I powered off everything and started all over with the power supply connected it worked fine and has done so up to now. For gigs this was a major set back, I would certainly have a back up delay of some sort just to be safe. Dependability is questionable.

I have had no contact with Line 6. Maybe I should e-mail them about the power glitch but the unit has been working fine so far.

I play ambient style music with a leaning toward experimental texturing. I have been playing for 15 years and have recently acquired a Chapman stick which works quite well with the rest of my gear. Before purchasing this delay unit I read the reviews extensively and found them to be very accurate. I considered the new T.C. Electronic D2 but for the price difference and variety of delays you can hardly go wrong with the DL-4. I would definitely replace the unit if it were lost or stolen. I am very impressed with the usefullness and especially the sound quality of the DL-4. You can do alot with this unit.

Fairly easy for how much this unit does, and it does a ton. {Do not
buy it if you think you're getting a built-in 'Boomerang'. This
is only 7 seconds, vs. 120 seconds for the 'Boomerang'- almost loops
an entire song.}

The unit is fairly quiet, but the sound is what I describe as
'sterile'. It is an amazing pedal for how much the engineers put
into it- a real award winner. I bought one when they 1st came out,
but for really warm echoes, with GREAT sound quality, it does not
compare to the SIB Echo Drive. See my comparison/review
of the Echo Drive under SIB.

I'm sure it is very reliable if you buy and use the optional
"mega" wall-wart. I would not use it on stage with internal batteries
alone for a full night.

I'm sure they would be fine- but have not needed customer support.

I spent a long time with back & forth comparisons to my old faithful
Boss DM-2. The real DM-2 sounds better, and has more control. The
Line 6 DL-4 is one heck of a 'jack-of-all-trades' unit. But the best
sounding and playing echo unit I have ever heard is the new
SIB Echo Drive. If you love rich and WARM delays, or hugh /cavernous
reverbish echos, you MUST try the 12AX7 Echo Drive! I own them both
now, and the Echo Drive is the one on the pedal board. Less features,
higher price, but way BETTER SOUND you can hear and feel as you play!
I am not knocking the Line 6- a lot of bang for the buck, indeed.
But I feel strongly that the Echo Drive is a superior-sounding unit.

I am re-submitting as it seems that my original submission has never been posted.

Very easy to get good sounds BUT get them before the gig. Except for delay time (thanks to the tap tempo feature)Tweeking params on the fly can result in unexpected sounds doe to the fact that you must capture the knob setting.

Here is my setup(s) Inknow it sounds like a lot but is is effective(no pun intended) for my needs. Large gig Custom Strat style or Les Paul ->Boss Compressor ->Expandora ->VooDoo Labs Chorus ->V.D.Labs Trem. ->V.D. Labs Micro-vibe ->Morley Bad Horsie Wah ->HOT CHILI TUBESTER DS-1 ->Ernie Ball Volume and Korg Tuner ->Line 6 DL-4 in FX loop of Fender DeVille or DeLuxe x2 or Mesa Subway Blues depending on size of the room.

So Far the Delay has performed like a thoroughbred. I use a Med. EP-1 sound for my main stay Then a multi head delay for country gigs or a modulated delay for more pop sounds and the last preset is a ducking delay for distorted sounds to avoid mud. I always spend some time before the gig to tune the sounds to the room.

I haven't had it long enough to say for myself, but several of my friends have line 6 products and report no problems.

Same as above. Line 6 has a stelar reputation for customer support. I e-mailed one time and got a response in 12 hours.

I use delay as part of my basic sound i.e. it is rarely if ever off. I tend to use about half or less reverb than one might for the tone I tend to use. In fact a bass player I worked with for the first time the other night commented on the clarity of my tone using this method. Because of this I need a really quiet, reliable ad most important a good soundidg delay line. The DL-4 is it.

I had to do a gig using only the DL-4 due to the physical size of the "stage Area (LOL)" and found that the Modulated delay sound could replace my chorus in a pinch. That alone is worth the price considering the E-H on which it is modeled goes for $40.00 less by its self.

I play a large variety of music in 2 regular bands plus pickups and casuals and I do some studio work, generally in small studios. This device has shortened my set up time increased the variety of sounds I can produce and even has my Keyboard player excited about the looping possibilities. (looping was not even a consideration for me in the decision to buy it.

Generally easy to use but you need to have the right presets before you start the gig. I tend to tweek the delay for the room (size, hard floor, windows etc.) and doing this on the fly is tough (except delay time --thanks to tap tempo button). You have to capture the knob setting before anything happens -- this can make for some lizzards if you are not careful.

My full setup for stage / studio goes like this: Custom built strat or Les Paul -> Boss Compressor ->Expandora ->VooDoo Labs Chorus -> VooDoo Labs Trem. ->VooDoo Labs Micro Vibe ->Morley Bad Horsie ->Hot Chili TUBESTER ->Ernie Ball Volume -> DL-4 in FX loop of 2 Fender Blues DeLuxe or Mesa Subway Blues or Fender Blues DeVille or some combination thereof. Seems like alot when I write it down. For small gigs I use a box W/ a Boss CE-2 chorus and a Blues driver and a Boss Compressor then in to the DL-4.

In either of these rigs the DL-4 is stone quiet and gives me the sounds I need. I set it for a Echoplex (Model 1 or 2 depending on the room) then a Modulated delay then a ducking delay which I like for distorted tones as it does not muddy up the sound.

I have recently started playing in a band which sequences some material and the keyboard / leader is very excited about the looping possibilities. Truthfully it was not even a consideration for me in the purchase of this device.

No opinion thus far but I have several friends who have been using these products for a while and they report good reliability and excelent cust. support

See above

I want to say that I had decided to buy the modulation modeler (and I still might) and the thing which canged my mind was the modulated delay. If I were really pressed for space (like last night) I could (and did) use the DL-4 as my only FX. Delay is intregal for my sound -- I use little reverb. This device has met my needs better than any other single device I have owned (And as you might guess I have owned a bunch)

If you're looking for an excellent delay with a 28 second looper/sampler then BUY THIS UNIT! Yes I said 28 seconds. They advertise this as a 14 second looper but if you activate the half speed setting before looping you get 28 seconds of looping with overdub and the same audio quality! The half speed will remain active until you deactivate it so you can always have 28 second loop capability.

I use a pod going into a genz benz uc4. It is quiet as can be. I haven't had much time to spend on the delays but my quick review says they are excellent.

It is very sturdy. I have no doubts of it failing during a gig. HOWEVER, sometimes the looper doesn't shut off when I hit the button. I may have a flaky button so that's why my score is lower in this category.

I haven't dealt with support since the damn things are so easy to use.

I was considering the akai headrush since it had 23 seconds of loop but only 11 with overdub. When I discovered I could get 28 seconds out of the dl4 with overdub and reverse plus amazing delays it was no contest. I get alot of enjoyment out of this dl4! I highly recommend it to anyone.

Relatively easy to use--the hardest things include knowing what the hell the tweek/tweez knobs are doing in the various modes. It changes in each. But they give you a good book and even stickers to help remember it with. Also, the tap/tempo button is great and easy to use, but it gets a little wild when you jump to the looping mode--I'm not complaining, but it took a while to figure out how to use it to reverse your loop!! Can be as easy or hard as you want to get.

Good sounds overall--once in a while its digital/modeling nature shows up (when turning a knob while using delay, the modulation on a couple effects, etc.) but overall it's a very versatile, natural, warm pedal. True bypass is a must for any pedal I buy. I >LOVE< the looper--set it to 1/2 speed to record in (doesn't hurt tone that much!) and you get 28 seconds of sampling. A mini-Boomerang!! I jam with... myself! Allow myself to introduce... myself. Haha. My gear includes a strat w/Fralins, Vox wah, Fulltone Fulldrive 2, Voodoo Labs Overdrive, Fulltone 70's pedal, the DL4, then a Fender Deluxe amp. I wanted something to let me get some echo/Freddy Jones/Radiohead style echos and noises, and I got a sampler in the process. Great package. I play in the style of Ian Moore, Radiohead, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Big Head Todd, Phish, Dire Straits, Hendrix, etc.

Metal body. Seems tough!

Unsure but I've heard they're good. I like the fact that the guy from Way Huge pedals is now with Line 6.

A good pedal. It made more sense to me than the modulation one because of the looping tool, and the warmth of effects. In some of the delay's/echo's you even get modulation tools (chorus, etc.) It's a good pedal and if you take a look at my signal chain above, you'll see that it can handle some juice coming to it before adding the delay! True bypass in the off mode is so nice (you can set it to have soft-bypass too to have your delays fade out naturally!). I like the old Way Huge effects and it's nice to know he helped with this one. Go for it! I didn't like the POD, and go for natural sounds only, but I still like it a lot.

As complex as the beast is, it doesn't completely lack elegance. However, with four switches and 5+1 knobs and 10,000 features, there is a significant amount of feature overload.

I am frustrated insanely by this family of pedals' relation with its switching system. Buttons A, B, and C all call up presets (that are easy to set and use). However, you cannot dial in a sound, switch the unit off, then switch that sound back on unless you stowed it in one of the precious preset slots. Very annoying.

The expression pedal opens up a huge new territory and was designed to be frighteningly flexible. You can assign states to the heel-down and toe-down positions, and rocking the pedal sweeps between them. You can modify delay times, tweek&tweez settings (like wow&flutter, feedback, modulation depth/speed). In practice, however, I find the pedal setup methods to be capricious at best.

The loop/sampler has been talked about enough. Pretty straightforward except I'll add that the tap-tap-pause-tap to get into half-speed reverse is not only awkward, but introduces the intermediary tap-tap (reverse) sound before the half-speed enganges.

With the knobs stuck in one place, presets set and sounds ready to go, it sounds awesome. Warm, roomy, spacious... Line 6 is to be congratulated for doing what this old luddite thought could not be done.

The bad part comes whenever you tweak knobs while a sound is playing (this includes the expression pedal). This is where this machine sounds truly digital. Sweeps are ridiculously stepped (very unlike analog smoothness of the modeled pedals) and the modeled feedback of pedals like the DM-2 and echoplexi sound ridiculously contrived.

My guitar player and I got two simultaneously. On my pedal one of the switches ("C") was non-functional and on his, there was a nasty digital click on each of his.

I have no doubt that Line 6 will take care of us with utmost care and since neither problem is life threatening, we will use them until we get the replacements.

Sounds great when you don't touch it, sounds like digital cheez when you start tweaking live. It seems to be concensus among other Line 6 users that they design products for studio use primarily - while I'll get plenty of use out of the modeled fx, this unit will be completely obsolete when my vintage pedal + boomerang collection gets more complete.

To those who say this is a difficult pedal to use/understand I say they should learn to READ. The manual is very accessible and fun to read (and a bit educational). Once I fiddled with the unit and got into the manual I was flying. Without the manual it DOES take patience, but all guitarists could use a bit more of that anyway.

I'm using an American Strat through a Fender Vibrolux. Various other pedal configurations. This is such a fantastic box. I was a hardcore vintage guy before I heard about this pedal. I was interested, but not convinced until I got it home and spent some time with it. So many options/configurations are available. I usually use three seperate delay/echo effects in my setup- but I may just get another DL-4 and go from there. Some great space type effects and the stereo delays are actually very good/clean if you want them to be.

So far it's been great. It seems to be built like a tank. However, I cannot comment on the actual reliability because I've only had this for six months...I've got a few more months and gigs to go before my "safe period" ends-who knows, but I have faith. These guys seem to have made a great product.

I have dealt with them. I ordered a power supply direct from them and they were a little punchy, but I think it was a bad day. I haven't had to deal with "problems" yet.

I mainly work as a sideman for singer/songwriter types and I also have a "post-modern" rock band (so they tell me). The box works for what I do. I've been playing for about 10 years. Gear...a bunch of random crap (e.g. old blue/silver MemoryMan). If my DL-4 were to be taken I would form a search party and kill...actually I would just buy a new one. I love the flexiblity and "tweek-ability". I haven't used the Loop Function to its fullest yet, but so far it's nice. I do wish it had a few more user presets. If you're a vintage junky, but you're tired of dragging your Space Echo and Echoplex around...get this unit.

Confusing thing is that as soon as you turn a modeling knob the PRESETS are kicked in, and not the settings on the other dials. Move any other dial, and now the dial settings are what you hear.

The only digital piece in my chain and you CAN notice. However, digital may be appropriate for the kind of band you're playing with.

The responded to my email very well

Very versatile, but probably better for a studio than for a live performance. Not enough presets. The dynamic rhythm setting is useful. Sampling at the 28 second length gives you a poorer sample, BTW.

for as complex as the unit is, it is very easy to use. set up out of the box, and i was consumed by the variety of adjustment, and control. after reading the manual (several hours later ) i realized how complex the set up is. all the controls have multiple purposes, some of which change depending on what sound you are modeling. i don't like that feature, but after i get it narrowed down to a half dozen favorites, it will work out. no trouble patching my own presets. overall very easy to use, set up, and figure out.

this unit is so quiet you can't tell if it's on, or off. the quality, coloration, tone, depth, etc. all change with each model set up, some clean, some dirty, some weaker. i imagine if you had all these units set up they would each show their own characteristics, so i would expect that here. does it copy the originals? don't know, or really do i care, i'm not interested in copying others, as i am an artist in my own right. i've been playing 35 years, the sounds i get from the dl-4 bring back memories of some great sounds. i'm much more interested in creating great sounds in the present. i play a custom made dual humbucker solid body, neck through body design. i use a carvin x-100 combo amp, all tube with two g12m-70 greenbacks. i play anything from blues to new age. the combination of my amps clean channel, and the dl-4 produces a very clean, multicolored, brilliant variety of sound. the loop is cool, i am reserving opinion on that aspect because it is a complicated procedure, and i simply haven't explored it well enough to form an opinion. i messed with it a little, and see that it is an awsome tool. but with variable speeds, and ability to change effects with each overdub, it will be a while before i can really explore it's potential

i hope it's reliable, it looks like it would survive a nuclear war. score an 8 because it appears to be well made, and judging from the sound quality, it must have high quality components.

don't know, but there web site is friendly. the manual is very user friendly as well.

excellent buy. i did a lot of research before buying this thing. i never bought line6 before, but i wanted a noiseless echo-delay. i looked into multi-effects types with a zillion presets, and options. just too much stuff i never use, might play with it like a toy, but never really use all the variables. i also think you get what you pay for. a little more for one type of effect compare to 8 lower grade effects for a similar price. at any rate i am very overwhelmed by this unit. it performs great, it's easy to use, and it is full of sounds that i will actually use creatively. i would recommend it to anyone looking for these type effects. i can make this thing accent a clean jazz sound, or roar like a harley, there's a lot more in this thing than the adds tell you, or than you'll discover in a guitar shop try out. i rate it a nine because it could be improved upon in some areas.

see below

I never ended up buying the pedal yet i feel i have to make a submission. The sounds and quality of the pedal are astounding, i base all my music around new and vintage delay pedals. However, this cannot be used live with only 3 presets. i was frustrated just playing in the shop that it automatically sets back to the line 6 presets. I really wanted to buy one, but will only get an updated model further down the line when u dont have to fiddle with knobs every time u want to play.

This pedal is fairly easy to use if you start out with the factory presets and just mess around with them you can find the type of delay sounds you are looking for. However, since there are so many types of delay it can be hard to figure out which one you like the best ( I was spoiled for choice). It is also a bit hard to remember the functions of the the twitch and tweek buttons for each effect. I liked the fact that you get three presets and that you can use the tap tempo for each preset however i can't wait to get an expression pedal as line 6 says that you can use this to change one or several parameters at the same time ( example: delay time repeats etc)which should make this unit nearly as flexible as a rack effect, without the hassle and with a much better sound (except for maybe TC electronics or Lexicon).

I am recovering from a major dose of rackitis and have decided to use pedals instead as i started feeling more like an amateur engineer than an amateur guitarist. my set up is a musicman luke I into an Ibanez TS9 tube screamer, a prescription electronics yardbox, the DL4 and an Engl screamer amp.I have plugged the DL4 into the front of the amp rather than the fx loop since I wanted to get a more vintage sound (old fenders and marshalls don't have effects loops).I bought this delay because I was sick of cold digital delays and the analog type delays like the Ibanez AD99, Danecho, DOD FX 96, have short delay times, no true bypass and bad reputations. I have no idea what an original echoplex sounds like (apart from on pink floyd records) but I liked this unit straight away although the delays are made using digital modelling the unit produces very warm delays. I especially liked the reverse setting which gives that hendrix type effect, the dynamic delay which emulates the TC 2290, and the trippy psychadelic effects you can get when you play and turn the control knobs (this pure radiohead and pink floyd.

Only time will tell if this unit is reliable but I know a few people who have Line 6 products and they've never had any problems. I would definetly use this at a gig as I can get most of the delay sounds I need however in view of the price of the unit I won't be buying a backup unit even though the unit is great value for money.

I play mainly rock, blues and funk. My main influences are eric johnson and david gilmore. This unit allows me get close to the type of delay sounds they use which is one of the reasons I bought. I reckon that you can get any type of delay you need out of this box especially vintage ones. If you have owned an echoplex or any of the other delays the unit emulates don't expect to get the exact same sound rather the same type of sound without the noise or the hassle of vintage units. I would recommend this unit to anybody who is looking for those vintage delay sounds or someone who owns these type of unit but would not drag there units out to a gig. For the price and for what it does and is capable of doing this is by far the best delay pedal out there and even sounds better than a lot of racks. I have yet to find something I dislike about the DL4 but then again I'll wait and see just how long it runs before I have to change the batteries.

Not too hard. Read the manual and you'll be alright. It's fairly simple to set up and get a good tone in a matter of minutes.

I'm using the DL4 with a Strat, a Les Paul Junior, and either an SG or Les Paul. It sounds good, it's not noisy at all. I run it into a Marshall Bluesbreaker. I use it mainly for the tape delay simulations. They sound really good, but there is a definite tonal coloration when using the tube echo model, even with the tube drive control all the way down. It seems to boost the signal a small amount, with a slight increase to the top end. Another thing I have noticed is as you turn your volume down on the guitar, the relative level of the echo effect doesn't decrease, so whatever your guitar's volume, the echo level remains constant to the level in regards to the mix. I would prefer to hear the effect level decrease with less signal input. Minor thing, no biggy.

Seems reliable so far. I'll let you know after finishing a world tour. :)

Heard back relatively quickly when I sent a question to the company regarding using other volume pedals for the expression feature. They gave me the info I needed, which was cool, since that would mean I don't have to buy their Expression pedal.

I play rock and pop, currently working on my first solo record after releasing material on RCA and A&M. I wanted a relatively portable, reliable substitute for a real Echoplex. It has the ability to store three preset echos, and seems pretty well built. My only beef is I would really like to keep everything analog in my signal path, but whatever works. I previously owned a Way Huge Aqua Puss, which is the analog delay made by the designer of these pedals, and it sounds as good as the Way Huge, in a much more flexible package. My only beef is I'd like the effect to react more to the guitar's volume, and I'd like less tonal coloration on the tube echo model. All that aside, it is a great sounding delay.