Line 6 Echo Pro

Not rocket science.

As for the sound the unit is excellent. This unit is the best spoke in Line 6?s wheel. However (and a big however), the bypass sucks. Fuck true bypass if the unit kills the effect when switching back to the dry signal. Come on, we are talking about delay and echo. This is not a fucking phase shifter or a chorus pedal. What the hell is wrong with this company? WHAT WHERE THEY THINKING! Is it really that hard to understand killing the effect at the input and routing the dry signal so that it rings out?

As far as I know some TC Electronic, Boss and some DigiTech units can let delays bleed out or overlap when bypassed or the program is changed.

This is a major over sighting on Line 6?s part. They could have invented something really good.

I called them to personally confront them because I am so irritated by this idiosyncrasy. The technician that I spoke with couldn?t offer any logical explanation (nor did he seem to care).

I subtracted major points for poor bypass.

Haven't had it long enogh to really rate this area.

Fair.

I would think this unit would be best for studio applications. Put aside the short comings; the unit is capable of very good sounds when set up correctly.

I'm glad I didn't pay the orginal $500 list price or I'd be really pissed.

Pretty easy to use once you read the manual. Line6 has always been pretty good about user interfaces, and they write incredible manuals. I love how they setup the front panel, with the tweak and tweez knobs corresonding to their appropriate settings with indication lights.

Wonderful sound quality. Easily the best product that Line6 makes; even if you hate Line6, give this thing the benefit of the doubt. It sounds incredible, much warmer than any other modeled amp or effect system that they've put out yet.

I'm running this in the effects loop of a Peavey 5150 II w/ an integrated power tube quad (2 6L6's, 2 EL34's) with a number of other effects, but almost always with an EQ. I use several guitars, but its usually just my 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom Silverburst w/ Tom Anderson pickups, and a 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty. I like atmospheric sounds coupled with heavy sounds, and the Echo Pro definetly helps me out in that department. I love the Auto Volume Delay; I usually set it up with a setting that sounds like a REALLY good Slow Gear, plus the model has a built-in delay on top of the swell; badass. The analog and tape models are pretty damn close. I really don't care too much if it sounds just like a tape delay. If I cared that much, I'd just keep using the tape delay that I already have! Digital delays are, of course, among the best that you can get (apart from a Lexicon processor). The two greatest strengths of this unit are the 60-second loop sampler and the huge amount of control that you can give to a MIDI controller and/or a Expression Pedal. If you play live with this thing, they are a MUST HAVE...I cannot stress this enough.

It seems sturdy enough, although I've heard some incredible horror stories about other Line6 products, i.e. amps crapping out and POD's resetting themselves without the reset command. I've owned just about everthing that they've ever put out, and I've never had a problem with any of it. I'd like a backup for everything, but that just isn't feasable for most people who don't tour extensivly. For now, if it craps out, I have about 6 delays to choose from, from analog to tape to digital, so I think I'm covered in case the Mothership crashes....

Again, I've heard terrible stories. But everytime that I've contacted them, they've been extremely helpful and kind.

This unit is one of the best things to happen to my evolving rig. Our band plays agressive progressive hard rock, but has been leaning into the more rhythimic and stylized "smart" rock of King Crimson. Like I said, this thing is exceptional for atmospheric sounds, and 400% BETTER when coupled with a MIDI controller and an expression pedal. They're so cheap now that I'm thinking of trying the other Line 6 Pro Rack series (went down from 500 to 300 dollars!!)

They nailed it on this one. Line 6 has put out some crap before, but this is DEFINETLY their finest moment. Even hardcore diehard tube and analog fiends that I know are using either this unit or the DL-4 (pedal version) in their rigs (Sonic Youth, anyone?). Try this thing out, and try not to let the little round logo bother you; this thing will probably knock you flat on your ass like it did me.

too easy to use doesn't all the user to tweak enough. These are pretty fixed models with few adjustale parameters.

It sounds clean... too clean. Most of the models don't come close to the original. They might sound similar at standard settings but they lack the range of the originals. The Tape Echo models are the best, but then for editing it you have a rotary knob to turn tape heads on/off instead of a switch--this is awkward and terrible for live tweaking. As expected(by me at least) the Regeneration(repeat) on the Analog and Digital models doesn't resemble the originals. The Boss DM-2 and EH Memory Man models don't come close. Sadly, they give you a Lo Res Delay but it lacks modulation which made the old lo-fi digital delays so great. Then the give you a Dig. Delay w/Mod but the modulation frequency doesn't go very high. Stays well out of the audio range which made the MXR Blue Face and others great. The range is .005-9.40hz which is not sufficient.
This unit seems to have a fairly low output even with hot signals going into it.

Overall, I'm very dissapointed with this and returning it tomorrow. It just isn't very flexible, they really limited themselves by only providing 2 paramaters to adjust for all these models. The models only sound like the originals with in a certain range of settings. The tape echo is pretty good but crippled by the interface. The Echo Platter is very lame and this was the one I really wanted to hear. The Dynamic Delay is very nice and perhaps my favorite but still very limited by the interface.
Bottomline-- don't expect to be able to get rid of any of you vintage delays, however, if you don't have any--this box will give you a lot for $299 which is the new reduced price. I do experimental music mostly and this lacks the more weird and extreme effects that the originals provide, so if you like it tame and stick with pretty basic settings you may get a lot out of this box.

It took me less than an hour to figure out how to edit and save paramterers.

I don't want to write a full review here, but I just want to let everyone know that I own both an Echo Pro and a Roland RE-201 space echo, which is one of the models available in the Echo Pro. I A/B'd them last night, using similar parameters (mode 4 on the Space Echo, Heads 2 and 3 on the Echo Pro, similar feedback, speed and mix settings) and I couldn't really tell them apart. That's how good the modeling is!

I'm extremely satisfied at this unit, it's just wonderful!

Don't know yet

Don't know

Great!

Editing patches couldn't be easier. The controls and displays on the front are clearly laid out. For those of you that have owned the equivalent DL4 stompbox, there are some very cool enhancements. For example, there are indicators next to the Tweak and Tweez controls that display the relevant parameter to control for that particular model, eliminating the need to constantly refer to the manual. Also, I particularly like the speed display, which you can opt to display in Hertz or BPM. You can save any changes to any of the 99 spots available to you.

I love the Line 6 manuals. Most technical manuals seem to assume you are either an idiot or a technical genius! The Echo Pro manual tells you all you need to know (including all the really techie midi stuff in very easy-to-understand format), even giving you a rundown of all the classic effects units that the models are based on. You can tell from the manual that they guys at Line 6 obviously had a lot of fun making these modelers.

I bought this unit at the same time as buying a Filter Pro and Mod Pro. I am running them with a Tech-21 Sansamp PSA-1, a Mesa/Boogie 20/20 Valve Poweramp and a 2x12 Marshall cabinet. I control everything using a Behringer FCB1010 Midiboard. They are all set up in this order:

Sansamp
Filter Pro
Mod Pro
Echo Pro
Mesa Boogie

I mainly use an Epiphone Les Paul.

OK, one of the most important things about this and the other studio modelers is that the conversion is 24-bit. What does this mean to you or me? Well let me tell you a story. I have struggled for 5 years with a Digitech 2112 Preamp/Effects because I was determined to get a great sound out of it. Even on bypass, my sound was muddy and lacked any clarity. It certainly wasn't my Sansamp, which sounds incredible direct into the poweramp. It was down to the fact that the DigiTech was using 16-bit conversion. It makes all the difference, trust me. Now, my sound is clear and precise when running through the Line 6 units. I can hear myself when the band plays, instead of my guitar disappearing somewhere in the middle frequencies!!!

The effects themselves are incredible. The Loop Sampler itself is capable of entertaining me for hours on end. The other effects are so flexible it's unreal. I particularly like the fact that there are built-in modulation effects for the delayed sounds.

Can I depend on it? Well, every time I depend on something it breaks down. I've never owned anything by Line 6 before, but I have friends who have owned the stompboxes and the POD and have never had any trouble with them. Those units go through far more abuse than I am ever likely to give my racked units.

I haven't had these long enough to say how reliable, so I'll leave this one blank.

Don't know.

With the Echo Pro there is instant fun from the moment you switch on. In fact, I had to switch it on and off several times just to watch the light show that you get on starting up the machine!

This unit helps me to get to the places I want to go. Sometimes I want to play pretty straight rock music, other times I want to disappear into sonic realms that haven't been discovered yet. If nothing else, it is just incredibly good fun messing around with that loop sampler!!! If it was nicked I'd definitely buy it again.

Real knobs for each function! Thats so much better than scrolling through endless pages of parameters.

I currently use a Soldano and a Dual rec. with les paul customs and the T.C G-force. The echoplex used to be my friend and staple of my delay sound but times have changed and equipment is much cleaner sounding these days. The thing I love about the echo pro is that you can really "play" with the thing you'll get that great wow and flutter effect on just the reapeats (if you desire)

I dont think i would need a backup although its not as solid as TC's stuff

I dont know

The echo pro is a great delay for guitarists. It gives you any delay sound that you could ever want. At first I was very sceptical of buying a modelling processor I never would have thought it could be better than the real thing! (Echoplex, Spaceecho, 2290 ect.)

Very Easy to get right into the unit. Features about 100 banks for saving and/or changing sounds. Editing is fairly straight forward and easy to do. Configuring is excellent with the scrolling text readout to help you figure out the system acronyms. Manual is prolly the best I have ever read, easy to understand and provides pictures and a brief history of the echo models simulated within the unit. They are even nice enough to give examples of bands using some of the classic delay units.

Setup involves connections with unbalanced -10 1/4 inch jacks and +4 balanced XLR ins and outs. This is a nice touch considering line 6's pro units are used considerably in studio/recording environments. Quality of sound is amazing using 24 bit processing. The choice of delay models are wonderful and evenly distributed among different classic echo/delay boxes. The analog and echo platter delays are excellent, and the clock syncing is extremely easy to accomplish. My only two suggestions would be A: digital ins and outs (simple s/pdif) and B: dedicated filter controls on all effects (which I can understand they didn't two since some of the delay models didn't have this feature and they want you to buy the Filter Pro:)

The unit seems rock solid although I had a strange quirk with the unit shutting off (either the unit shut off or power was lost to it on my end) and it turned back on and one of the channel input lights was pegged into the red. Shut it off and restarted it (by the way the start up light sequence is groovy) and it seems to be fine. Hasn't been a problem since. I wouldn't be concerned using it in a live situation unless it happened again and if it did, I'm sure the problem would be remedied with another unit.

I have not had the need to deal with customer support although I'm sure that it's great.

Overall I am ecstatic about getting it. I actually was turned on to the unit specifically by a friend who has the stomp box version. Also having worked in major recording studios and seeing the Line 6 Pod used on numerous hip-hop and pop record, I have been interested in picking one up. I think now picking up a Pod Pro has moved up on my wish list after the satisfaction I have been getting from my Echo Pro. As far as purchasing a dedicated unit. The echo pro is like having all the classic delay boxes in one, compact, clean sounding unit. Even the TC 2290, Memory Man, Echoplex, and Roland Space Echo, are included. Definitely a Jack of All Trades and Master of All of them. I'm sure Line 6 will have many a happy owner of the Echo Pro.

The unit is very easy to use and the manual is well written. It's easy to manipulate the existing patches and save them. The buttons are lighted and clearly marked.

It's connected throught the effects loop of an amp and sounds great. The digital delay is flawless and the models of the analog delays also sound quite authentic. It seems to have a low noise floor.

I have only had it for a short time, it's hard to say.

I've never had any contact with them.

I believe this is a great unit for the money. It will replace a number of other delays and it outperforms them. I give it my highest rating yet, 8 thumbs up.