TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay

TFC packed a lot of features into the ND-1, but the manual has helped me out a few times when I forgot which button to hold down to engage a certain feature. These sorts of quirks are outweighed for me by the relatively small footprint. I find I sometimes get confused between whether I'm in manual or preset mode - and kick into a song only to find something is way off. Easily remedied by holding down the on/off switch for a second and then tapping to the right preset again.

I use the ND-1 in a mostly true-bypass board with two loops - a drive loop and a time-based effects loop. I tend to switch between 4 presets - a dotted eight tap tempo with some modulation for U2 stuff, a subtle 300ms, a tight 40ms delay to thicken, and a 120ms slapback. Prior to the ND-1 I was using a Boss GT-8. Very versatile delay function with similar features, but the Boss A/D/A converters were not so great - really sucked tone. As noted by many other reviewers, the ND-1 is not true bypass, and it absolutely has an effect on the tone (on or off) when it's in the chain - but a vast improvement over running through a Boss multi-fx unit! Others have described in different ways, but I'll describe it like this - it sounds ever so slightly out of phase, ever so slightly less solid, with a very subtle increase in the high frequencies, maybe above 5k. I don't mind it, since there is no volume drop if you calibrate properly, but it does slightly change the character of the underlying guitar tone.

Seems reliable - I ditched the power supply and use the high-current output from a PP2.

I did contact TC about whether I could use different power supplies and they were responsive and helpful.

I play a wide variety of pop, rock, blues, and funk - and need delays with different colors, not just different delay times. Used a programmed midi rig for years that had specific delay times for songs, and this became a pain to manage, particularly when drummers were feeling something different! Now I tap in the time after drummers count off...

I've thought about the Eventide Timefactor but for the price, the Nova gives me what I need without really sacrificing my core tone.

There's a slight learning curve I suppose but with all the features crammed into a small package it's to be expected. After a few minutes you should be able to tweak setting and begin saving your own presets. You're able to switch between presets using the switches- very useful.

I use some Les Pauls and a Tele, a pedal board with the Nova last running stereo to a HRD and Epi Jr w/ ext cab. It's not noisey and theres is a reasonable bypass- on par with Boss. 1 or 2 buffered bypasses on a mostly true bypass pedal board will not kill your tone. It actually helps in most instances. The delays sound great. You can add mod (chorus) to the level you prefer and theres a tone knob to emulate analog, tape, digital, etc.

No issues so far.

Don't know.

Once you get it set up it allows you to have several great delay settings ready to go without tap dancing on a board of delay pedals.

Well
As of other TC products, I bought this without trying it first. And hey. Plug in, calibrate (according to manual) and presto - it works. For those of you that are blinded by the light.. Go to an optician and get your eyes checked - really. Or take your pill.. I've tried a LOT of guitar effects, and it's not that bright.

As I've read through a lot of the rewies, I gotta say it again. RTFM, I think everybody knows what that means. There's a reason to the fact that every sound tech or studio sound tech, with respect for themselves and the work they do, got at least one or more TC reverb/delay machines in their racks. A true story of life, don't leave home without it. So why should this peadal be of a poor quality? And if you use "high-end" gear.. Well.. Tubes hum and huzz.. Overdrive/distortion pedals, well they tend to fuzz.. Once again. RTFM. As long as you got enough headroom and timbre, it do not, and never will, change the sound of your gear.

One here states so prodly that he uses a PRS (I do to) a Fender (well so do I, with EMG DG-20 set) into a lot of things..
Yes it passes through a lot; Boss OD-3, TC Classic Booster+Distortion, TC SCF, Ernie Ball volume and into a Fender HotRod DeLuxe with copper marked RCA tubes from the 50's.And I use George L's coax cabels..
A true story.. You can't make gold out of nothing. It's NOT the guitar or effects that makes your sound. It's you, and you alone. The rest is called color.

When I'm at home, my total pedalboard is always on, always 24/7. Never once has there been anything wrong. But then again, if you look at it, the only thing that's NOT TC is my Ernie Ball volume and my BOSS OD-3. TC chorus, and distortion. And the Nova drive will be bought soon. And after 15 years as a live soundtech. I'll trust TC Electronic to hell and back.

I've been in touch with both the Danish TC support and the one at Lydsystemer - who imports TC to Norway. And to put it like this. It ain't the first line support at DELL. They know what they are talking about. When I used the G-Major I asked them how I could alter a defective Wah pedal to use as a controller on the Roland FC-200 - to control the filter on the G-Major. It took app 24 hours and I got a wiring scheme in my mailbox.

As always. Read the f**king manual before you use things. I know a lot of the reviews have been written by men/musicians that have a predisposition on NOT/NEVER read a manual. They've used gear for several years, and the first thing that ends up in the trash, is the manual. Get down of your high horse, and read. You might learn something.

It's easy to get a good sound out of this unit. Set the delay tempo, the delay rhythm, the feedback, the mix level, and you're good to go. The manual explains it all easily. Setting and recalling presets is a snap. Lots of options and buttons, but you quickly realize it's all laid out in a simple and straightforward line.

Before addressing the primary issues, let me please address the several reviews stating that this pedal "sucks tone."
True, it is not true-bypass; it always ADA converts the signal. But that doesn't result in poor sound quality. People dramatically underestimate the ease with which today's ADA converters can handle high-quality sound.
There's a lot of "golden ear" audiophile talk about tone in these reviews, which may lead you to believe that if you can't hear this pedal sucking tone, you just "don't hear well enough." Not true. What is true is that, if you do not calibrate the AD converter per the manual instructions, the sound can come out either crunchy-thin or distorted, depending on whether your signal is too low or too high. That will lead to poor "tone." [Timbre, actually, but hobby guitarists don't seem to have ever learned the right word for their life's pursuit. Hint, guys: no amount of money will make your "tone" good enough to replace good taste].
Moving on:
I run synthesizers and bass modules through this, DI into my recorder. It is never noisy. The "modulation" effects have very little impact. The "color" knob, as far as I can tell, is just a low-pass filter. It's nice to have, though, because it gives you control over the brightness of the delay relative to the original signal.

It has worked fine for me. I would gig with it, no problem, although it does look much more at home on a desktop in a studio next to a bunch of other glowing digital equipment.

I sent in a request before buying the pedal to verify that the ping-pong effect would be active with both inputs plugged in. They got back to me with a detailed explanation of exactly *why* the ping-pong function would still work. Good stuff.

This is a great pedal for anyone who needs a delay pedal (which is anyone who plays a synthesizer, and probably basically anyone else, too). I play techno. It is a necessity for techno.
I've been playing for about five years, and have several synthesizers and drum machines, as well as a gob of distortion pedals and various other effects/filters/etc.
I got this pedal as a step up from my Boss DD-6. The reason I got and have kept it is that you can run true stereo effects (like stereo chorus) into it and still get the ping-pong delay type out. [If both inputs are plugged in on the DD-6, its delay time is the same out of both the L and R channels; you can only get the ping-pong effect if only one of its inputs is connected]. Another improvement: If you change the delay range or delay type on the DD-6, the delay just stops cold as the pedal switches over. On the ND-1, the old delay keeps going as you change to a new setting.
These two functions together go to show that the ND-1 is a much deeper and more versatile pedal than pretty much any other delay pedal out there. It's a lot of fun.
The delay times can be set precisely by the millisecond, but they can't be set precisely by bpm. You can get close enough most of the time, but it would be nice to have precise .1bpm control. You have to manually set the bpm to multiples of the base tempo for things like 1/16th note delay. The higher the bpm, the lower the accuracy. More delay rhythm options (1/16-note, in particular) would have been nice to help avoid this problem.
The auto-audio-tempo-tap function actually works like a champ. I am extremely impressed with that function.
There isn't another delay pedal out there that is as good as (much less superior to) this one for people who are interested in making technological music. It provides a lot of control and options to let you focus on other performance matters. There are other delays you can get for cheaper that will give you 90% of the functionality of this pedal. I have found, though, that TC Electronic obviously put a lot of thought into this pedal and realized that the missing 10% was exactly what would make a delay pedal almost everything that it could be.

horrow pedal ! I like line 6 DL4 OR EVENTIDE but nova is rely bad !!!

sound are buzzy , fuzzy and very bad !!!!

so small !!!

?

damn pedal, don1t buy this f. gear

Very easy to use, the easiest delay pedal i have ever came across. A great feature is that you can scroll through your presets by tapping the tap tempo switch and then tapping the on/off switch, to choose which preset to select. Rather than bending down and clicking the preset button.

Well it's hard the get a good sound from the nova delay. It goes from my boss tu-2 - fulltone ocd -nova delay and out into orange tiny terror.

The problem with the nova is that it takes a little bit of tone from the circuit. Even if i use george l's cable.

It has never let me down. I would gig without a backup no problem.

Never dealt with tc electronic.

Easy to use, sounds great, no problems, gets the correct sound using the color knob.

Hopeless.
Red digit display is always on - I mean always. Blinds you to the other controls. You need a miners headlamp on to operate this thing.

When you can see it - it is fairly straightforwad to use.

I used (past tense) this in the loop with a high quality 30W class AA tube amp, high quality speakers 2x12 and valves etc, expensive low capacitance cables, high quality true bypass effects - 2 in front, 2 in loop (including this, PRS & Fender guitars, blah, blah blah i.e a quality guitar rig.

The Nova did a fantastic job of making $K's of painfully crafted guitar tone sound like a $100 Line 6. Gee thanks TCE.

When I plugged this in and heard it my heart sank like a stone. It's the most un-inspiring, sterile, lifeless thing I have ever heard. Took it out and it all sprang back into life again.

Here is why.

This effect digitizes all of the signals - wet and dry. So when you engage the effect there is very little tone change. It sounds like true bypass - yes. But the thing is it bypasses all of the bueatiful organic living breathing tone of your guitar and amp as well. Go straight to Line 6 land. Frankly, I couldn't even play my guitar with this effect in it. I tried to get a tone out of it - but there isn't one there.

It might be fine if you are into high gain, distorted, screeching, shredding mush - you won't notice the difference. But if you're like me and you invest in your tone and play in response to the musicality of your sound - this is one to avoid.

If you think that this is true bypass - you should get a new hearing aid.

TCE should bring back the discontinued Vintage Delay. It's the same as a T Rex Replica - which I ended up with - sound fantastic. However, this is a gizmmo - not a quality guitar effect.

I normally detest guitar snobbery - each to their own. But if you are tuned into tone I want to save you the hassle that I had with this thing.

I guess it's pretty well built. However, you couldn't gig it - you can't see it to change settings due to the blinding display. If you looked down at it without sunglasses it will blind you.

I tried to contact TCE for help with the tone. They don't want to know. Got single line e-mails - one every 3 days. They are really looking for the cosmic kids with too much pocket money - they don't know the difference.

The only good thing about this was that the UK dealer that I purchased this unit from Absolute Music Solutions are an excellent outfit. Excellent pricing, delivery and service. Top quality - use these guys - they are great. Not only that they do a great magazine that you receive with your purchase. Excellent articles in there especially if you record etc. Thanks guys! The AMS guys score 10 - but TCE are poor.

I play Jazz/Rock/Pop/Funk electric and Classical guitar. Been playing for nearly 30 yrs. Own all kinds of stuff.

I would make this availible for theft.

Watch out for this fully digitized signal thing - it's a dog. It sucked the life out of me.

Ended up with a T Rex Replica instead - it's expensive - but heavenly.

Relatively intuitive. The manual settings allow you to dial in repeats, level, time, etc. in a pretty standard way. It has lots of indicators so you don't forget exactly what settings you're on. A little tedious when it comes to cycling through patches, but it makes up for only having 2 buttons, by it by not being huge. Plus, your settings remain on the screen when the effect is in bypass mode, so you know what you're clicking into when you turn it on. No complaints here.... probably the best user interface I've seen on a multi channeled digital delay.

Great quality. no noticeable tone suck when in bypass. Not true bypass, but a good active bypass system nonetheless. fairly accurate reproductions of analog/tape delays, with extremely crisp digital delays. Plenty of headroom with the 12V adapter.

THIS is where the problem is. If there was an option for -10, I'd choose it. Horrible. Unreliable. Terrible. I can't stress this enough, which basically makes the rest of these responses pointless. I wouldn't gig with this with 10 backups, and here's why. The unit I got (and PLENTY of others from what I've read) has a problem where it will randomly lock up. However, unlike many other digital products, when it locks up, it locks into the mode that you were currently in. If the delay is on, it's locked on. the tap tempo won't work, the on/off won't work. NOTHING will work. Your signal still passes, which is nice, but if you're locked onto a long delay and you need it off, you're screwed. When it decides to act up like this (that's the other thing. NOTHING seems to trigger this.) It will continue to do so for a couple of days. Figure that out? You can unplug the unit, plug it back in, it will work for about 10 seconds and then lock up again. Sometimes it does this twice a week... sometimes it does this once every 2 months. I dealt with it for 8 months because the pedal itself is THAT good.... but I'm finally getting rid of it after THREE trips to TC to have it "repaired." It's almost like it knows when you're at a gig also. It hardly ever malfunctioned during rehearsal... but live... ALL THE TIME.

I must say... they're prompt, helpful, and great people. I suppose it's not tech support's fault they have a sucky product. I contacted them about a power supply that I lost, wanting to buy a new one. They mailed me a new one for free, and it was in my mailbox within the week. Generally they respond online within 12 hours. Very courteous, helpful, knowledgeable

I can't give it higher than a 1 because what's the point of a great effect that DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK?? Sorry TC. You really hosed a lot of people with this one

For sometime I have been after a small foot print standalone delay pedal with presets. I gig in a covers band and compose my own music. I use delay frequently and needed a pedal with a little more flex than the standard Level, Time and Feedback controls.
My Nova is in my FX loop so I can still use my amps drive without ???clashing??? delay. I use a few other pedals (OD, Wah, Phase, Chorus).
There are now a few multi delay pedals on the market; notably the Boss DD-20, Line6 DL-4 and TC Electronic NOVA.
I opted for the Nova based upon the TC-2290 pedigree (though I???ve never played one!) ??? I was not disappointed. 2nd choice would have been the DL4, but I've heard that these pedal suffer from reliability. In addition I???d tried an Echopark and wasn???t impressed. (I sold a Boss DD-5 and Echopark after buying the Nova).

I won???t go through all the Nova???s features as there are too many ??? you can download manual from the official web page. My account will allude to those most relevant to me.

So, what do I like about the Nova??

1) You have 9 presets available. In order to change between them you have to cycle through them i.e. to go from 3 to 1 you have to tap 7 times (3-4-5-6-7-8-9-1) !! In this respect the DL4 has the upper hand, but the DL4 is limited to 3 presets PERIOD.
That said the Nova???s switches are extremely responsive and I have never found ???cycling??? a burden if you plan the presets order carefully. You can also "limit" the Nova to however many presets you like ??? see the manual (p16).

2) Footprint. The Nova is a reasonable size for such a feature packed pedal. More compact than both the DL4 and DD-20.

3) Tap Tempo. Tempo can be altered real time, and the delay interval can be set to a specified musical subdivision (subdiv) e.g. 1/4 note, dotted 1/8 etc. Further more each preset can be assigned a subdiv for the tap function. The Nova has a choice of 6 subdivs. 3 of these generate single mono delays; 3 generate a dual ???stereo??? delays where a different subdiv is sent to each of the left/right outputs e.g. 1/4 note LEFT, 1/8 triplet RIGHT. These dual delays really thicken your sound!! When used with a single amp, the left and right signals are summed to a mono output and sound great. So single amp users (me included) can benefit from all subdivs ??? mono or stereo.
Another interesting feature is that tempo can also be set via audio input i.e. strumming the guitar with quarter notes. I have found this useful and at times more accurate that tapping in tempo.

4) Bypass quality. To my ears, this unit has a unity gain buffered bypass which is very high quality and keeps the integrity of the original signal. I notice no difference whether the unit is in or out of my chain.

5) Modes ??? the Nova has 6 delay modes. Some of these are stereo (e.g. ping pong, pan) but again they are summed to mono when using a single amp. Ping pong especially sings ??? see below.

6) Intuitive controls ??? the Nova has a lot of functions and controls which appears bewildering at first. However the controls are very logical and clearly well thought out. Makes operating the unit live a breeze.
The unit is well laid out and has an LED for on/off and a flashing LED to indicated delay interval.
Delay tempo can be displayed in either Milliseconds (ms) or BPM.

Simply excellent ??? its hard to be critical. Using the standard ???delay line??? mode (with no colouring) you get an extremely pure high-quality sample of your source signal but??? delayed. No more, no less.

I have purposely not used the ???warm??? and ???cold??? terms because using the colour knob you can alter the high reqs of the repeats accordingly. This enables the delays to stand out instead of sounding too similar to your original signal. With the colour at full cw, you have high quality repeats. At mid position (analog) repeats are darker and more natural ??? I hate to use a U2 example but this setting is close to the ???One??? solo. At full ccw (???Tape???) the hi cut is quite severe but creates wonderfully rich dark undertones ??? when used with 1/4 note delays this can give a riff/melody an ethereal quality.
Generally, I like to use 75% colour as standard (somewhere between digital and analog).

**Modes**
I normally either use the ???delay line??? or ???ping pong??? modes.

Ping pong is brilliant!! As stated above I use it through a single amp (where stereo ping pong is summed to mono). The results are superb. It kinda sounds like 2 delays at different intervals, but some of the repeats are louder and some softer. It sounds very musical ??? especially when used on the dotted 1/8 sub div. I do find you have to blend more wet signal when using stereo modes mono, but no great shakes.

Dynamic mode cool but IMHO ducks the signal too much while you???re playing - I cant find a use for this. The manual advises you calibrate the unit accordingly and I have tried this but am still dissatisfied with the results. Apparently the dynamic mode is a descendant from the TC-2290 ??? however the TC-2290 has the ability to adjust the ducking threshold which is not available on the Nova.

Reverse is also a little pants ??? this seems to come on all delay pedals and I am still to find a genuine use for it.

A ???Hold??? function would have been appreciated but given the other features of the unit I am not too worried.

**Modulation**
In addition to colour you can also add some modulation (chorus-type-wobble) to repeats similar to the EH Memory Man. There are 3 types of mod available ??? they all have a chorus quality but just vary in severity (1 being lowest, 3 highest). Once you select the mod type, you dial in the mix using the mod level control.
Again, this can make the delays stand out in your mix ??? or it can fill out you overall band sound. Great for giving the impression of a keyboard part. I have used it in an arrangement of Fleetwood Mac???s ???Everywhere??? to replicate the intro.
Would have been nice to have 3 distinct types of modulation for further variety perhaps. Chorus, Vibrato and Wow/Flutter.

I probably should mentioned that settings for mod type, mod level and colour are all stored into presets for instant recall. NICE!

**U2 fans** Yes, the Nova does the dotted 1/8 (3/16) delay very well. Yes, you can tap to this interval or use the audio tap. Will this unit make you sound like Edge? Yes ??? and No. Edge uses a high quality delay unit for his delays ??? in this respect the Nova excels and is a good basis on which to build. However, it???s the other elements of his rig that make Edge stand out. I.e. even a TC-2290 alone will not give Edge???s sound as it is just a delay and does not have the other necessary components which make up Edge???s arsenal; namely AC30, Herdim pick, compression, reverb, overdrive and the coveted ???shimmer???. The Nova (and other good delays) can get you in the ball park with a high quality delay line (comparable to the TC2290), but you need other effects in the chain to give you the Edge???s sound.

**Noise??** I have never experienced ANY noise with this pedal. None. I use a generic 12v switch-mode power supply (see reliability). No issues here whatsoever.

I owned the unit for 7 months and have had no issues with reliability. However, I do have some comment.

**Build Quality**
The Nova is built well ??? but is not full proof. The sides, back and footswitch panel are brushed metal (steel?) but the display is (understandably) made from perspex and could be scratched easily if care is not taken.
Knobs feel solid but pots are probably PCB mounted so it would be a nightmare if pot shafts were accidentally snapped off.
For the price the build quality is fair but the Nova is something I wouldn???t keep at the bottom of my kit bag for fear of damage.

**PSU**
My major gripe with this unit is the PSU - this is why I score a 6 for this category. The PSU adapter cable is quite inflexible. Within a month of purchase the cable on my PSU split near the transformer strain relief exposing some of the copper wire. Not Good.
I appreciate that different units may be shipped with different PSUs so not everyone will have this problem.
The PSU was cheap to replace. I ended up buying a general 12V 500ma switch-mode PSU from ebay (??3). Simple enough. However, I expected a better PSU to begin with for the price I paid.

No comment ??? have never asked for customer support.

TC electronic???s website is very comprehensive though and has easy access to forums and manuals (which may sound obvious but not every company does that!!). They also seem to support products long after they have been archived.

I like to think that TC electronic would have replaced my damaged PSU but I never asked them to do so.

I depend on this pedal and it delivers which is why I rate this a 9. It???s a reasonably sized box rich with features and sounds that you would normally only expect to find in a rack mounted unit.

Sound quality is pure and excellent; the colour control can help to get more organic delay sounds. Dynamic mode could be more ??? well ??? er??? dynamic, but not certain where I would use that anyway.

Considering a new Boss DD-7 is ??110, the price for the Nova (??150) is excellent value for money.

The Nova does not brag the capability to capture the sound of several old-skool delays units. It only does one thing VERY VERY well ??? that is providing a pure sounding high quality delay line with useful variable parameters that can be stored into upto 9 presets. If this is what you???re after then don???t hesitate. Buy it. You wont be disappointed.

U2 fans should definitely consider one of these above those old decrepit korg units you see popping up on eBay.

This pedal is not too tricky, but you will need to keep the manual handy to remember all the features. With all the dual-function buttons, it can get a bit confusing. The manual is great though. As far as on-stage use, i don't really like the footswitches, they sometimes take a bit more than your regular stomp to engage the pedal.

Using with a Shecter 006, with a G2D overdrive and tuner, into an old alron 25 amp. It is never noisy, whisper-quiet. I like all the sound options, how you can select from digital to analog sound, which does a nice job of making the repeats more in your face, or in the background. easy to get nice U2-ish rhythm delays, still haven't mastered the quicker slapbacks, but that's coz they're not really my style. I like blindside, kings of leon, deftones, dave matthews band, and this pedal is great for my style of music. i use it at church and in an original band.

Seems dependable, but like i said earlier, the footswitches sometimes don't quite work normally.

Not sure

I play rock, i would probably get this pedal again if stolen. Maybe try an Ibanez AD-9 and fit it with an expression pedal to control delay time for spacey warp effects.... fun! Sometimes i think all the options could be over the top for me, but maybe i'll use them all someday. Best things on this pedal are absolutely no noise, pretty good bypass (no change to sound i can hear), and all the foot control available.