TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay

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.

well after working with simple stomp boxes the tc is more complicated -manuallll..the sound is very good like a rack but with a lot of problems
who care!!!!

the sound is very good a lot of situations and patch combinations..
i used 335s and strats (vint..and new)

bad bad bad shame on you tc!!!!i never had lot of problems like that with gear
and its new!!!a lot of bugs ....when you work with preset the nova never remember your stored presets and i did all the options of this pedal(sub etc...)and after one or two howers the pedal stop to work but the lights blinking you need to take out the adapter and its come back to life what a sheat!!!

i am a pro guitarist 18 years(studio.. 600 tv shows. etc)that had every thing in the market for guitarist
i prefer realible eqip like boss,digitech or eventide for hard work

Its easy to use

Its has all kinds of delay that you would need. Great studio quality. The problem is that its color/sucks the original tone. Even when bypassed. =/ The sound became a litlle bit more liquid, i dont know how to explain...Maybe most people can't hear the diference, but if you have good ears you will notice this... The solution i have found is to connect this pedal in parallel using the send and return of the amp. So the signal will be mixed whith the original.

Very easy to program if you have any experience with recent gadgets. Manual is clear and helpful.

Using a PRS with a Mesa Mark IV. This delay is excellent, offering clean digital delays or analog imitations. Can ape my Boss DM-3 perfectly, or produce exact/clear digital repeats, as needed. Dynamic delay is great for uncluttered leads with sweet delay at any pauses. I can get everything from B-52's to Kurt Rosenwinkel.

No problems so far. (I've had the TC Electronic Chorus for ten years with no troubles.)

Play straight ahead jazz, original power pop and covers (since 1970). Also use a Deluxe Reverb II, 1978 Les Paul, newer Strat and Howard Roberts Fusion. This delay is really all you need and the only one you need.

Its very easy to use, the controls and display are realy good. And the only thing that is good about it is that you can precisely tune the delay time to your song's tempo. You can also change between presets, which could be also very useful.

Here is the problem, the pedal makes the signal lifeless, even when bypassed and the overall result isn't good. What I think is the case is that the pedal converts the signal to digital, even when bypassed. Realy tempting package with everything you would need from a delay pedal, but with out any soul. If the delayed signal was mixer with the original signal(not a converted one), then maybe it would have worthed keeping it.

When I took it home I realised that the plug coming from the adaptor was defective and the cable was poping out. I took it back and iexchange it with the TC classic booster distortion. Shortly I realised that the Gate knob wasn't doing anything I went to the shop again and took another one. So both the delay and distortion where defective. So I guess I have to rate the reliability low.

Never had to contact the company, the dealer was very helpful.

I like all kinds of music and mainly I make my own stuff. I also own an old tape delay which sounds fantastic but its not reliable its very big and heavy, noisy, difficult to adjust and also needs a lot of maintenance. I bougth the TC hoping to make use out of it but my wishes didn't come true. It has everything you might dream of for a delay peday
but without the sound. I realy couldn't enjoy playing my Les Paul through it. Maybe in the future I ll buy another digital delay but for now I am keeping my chain analog and I have other priorities. As a result I am planing to buy an analog delay instead.

Considering the power and potential this thing has to inspire and deliver the style you want id say its a great design. The controls are easy to understand, but reading the first few pages of each section in the manual would do you some good, although i haven't and it works absolutely fabulous for me. The stereo ping pong and excessive feedback options are wonderful. Almost a 10 because it continues to show off features down the road.

I cant say enough about this thing or the quality that must have gone into it. its like the people at tc sat there and went..."you know if we are going to charge someone 240 for this it better turn some heads." And it surely turns mine. Im a tone freak but not a guru, so my chain consists of a tonebone loopbone that has rev. chorus and the delay in one loop and mod and trem in another. it sounds so good sometimes i just want to keep indulging in the possibilities of complex harmonics delayed on top of chorusy riffs and leads. THESE GUYS DID A GREAT JOB.

Seems like the old vantage to me, if you treat it like you don't want to buy another, you wont have. to.

Never Dealt with them but i bet they would make sure your happy with their product.

Hands down one of the finest pedals on my board, and id say just me pedal board alone would cost around 1000 dollars in pedals. It was expensive but it does its thing quite well. Im totally squared away in the delay department and that is hard to do since i am also one of those who cant stand the thought of the grass being 100 dollars away from green if you know what i mean. Maybe its a disease, but this pedal kicks ass and i wouldn't trade it for any other.

lots of features, i had a boss dd-20, which i thought was a little easier to see your settings on a dark stage, but other that,once you read the owners manual and learn about this pedal you will be blown away by all that it can do.

unbelievable. that is all i can say. And for recent posts who says it sucked the volume out of your guitar or the pedal was noisy, these people do not know what they are talking about. First, calibrate your pedal like it says to do in the owners manual. That will take care of evening out the volume when the pedal is off. Second, if you plug your pedal into a channel strip or outlet that runs your lights, computer, tv,etc. you are going to get noise no matter what. that is why it is always worth it to buy a good power source that isolates each pedal(ex. voodoo labs pedal power 2). this is by far the best delay i have ever heard. demoed the eventide timefactor and it did not sound any better. buy far best bang for the buck

built like a tank, love the switches.

have'nt dealt with them. There is no phone# for tech support, just email, which kind of pisses me off, so if i have problems with pedal down the road i guess i will find out.

great pedal, and for all potential buyers take it from somebody who knows what they are talking about instead of the majority of posters her who have no idea how to set up a pedal. If you calibrate the pedal like the owners manual tells you to do and isolate the power source, there will be no loss in volume and tone and no noise! by the way just purchased the nova modulater pedal and it sounds amazing also. Best two pedals I have ever bought.

If you are experienced with other delay pedals, both analog and digital, then it's fairly straightforward to work out the controls and get a fairly good idea of the range of this pedal's features.

The manual isn't the greatest but fortunately this isn't the sort of pedal where reading the manual is essential (providing you know what delays you want and the theory behind creating them) I'm going to mark it down in useability because the presets are simply not very gig friendly. As others have noted, changing presets on the fly is a bit of a nightmare.

I'm being really picky because this pedal is very easy to use but another thing that would have been good is a footswitch to select between modulation modes. It also isn't true bypass. Back on the plus side, the displays are bright and clear and there's virtually no difference in level between having the pedal on or off, great!

I play my trusty '80s Jap Strat through a menagerie of pedals and sometimes into a Line 6 POD XT in lieu of my Marshall amp.

The TC Nova delay gives me quality sounding crystal clear digital delay which can be warmed up by modulation and a "color" knob that sounds great half way between digital and analog. This is crucial for "warming" the sound up and getting closer to the old-school analog BBD way of things. It's incredibly natural sounding and sensitive to dynamics for a digital delay.

I'm a delay freak and as such I'm always interested in the various delay sounds of U2 - The Edge being pretty much the granddaddy of dotted 8th note rhythmic delay. The Nova is the closest thing I can get to the rack mounted units used by U2 since they stopped using the Memory Man. In fact I can get any delay sound that inspires me through the Nova Delay and make it sound very convincing with no other effects added.

As with all delays, this will do different things depending on where you put it in the signal path. Typically it should go after distortion and modulation - it's always worth trying out in the effects loop but delay should play well with other effects.

I'm still relying on my POD for gigs since I've yet to complete my collection of replacement pedals, so not much to say here... Seems well constructed, it's heavy, the footswitches are not quite as nice and clunky as I prefer though.

Not dealt with support

I play various styles of music. One of my two bands is a church worship band so I have to cover a huge variety of styles and often have to cope with dynamically shifting tempo. Therefore, tap tempo is a Godsend.

I tend to use the dotted 8th note pattern more than anything else, in both bands - it's very useful to be able to to set the pedal to that note division and then just tap on each beat to get in time. Not like the funky back-beat foot shuffle that I've had to do with other pedals.

My first delay pedal was an Electro Harmonix Delux Memory Man and I absolutely loved it. It did every kind of delay and my only gripe was the lack of tap tempo. I bought a Line 6 POD XT Live and found the delay models extremely useful but not quite on par with the memory man. However, the tap tempo feature really won me over to the digital side of things.

The only thing I wish this pedal had is a true analog BBD circuit built in as an option for real analog delay - much like the Pigtronix pedal seems to have. I was sold more on the clarity and quality of the digital delay and the TC Electronic U2 connection than on wackiness of the Pigtronix... I think have enough wackiness in my EH Micro-Synth and Fulltone Choralflange already!

If you want the best analog delay sound, get a Memory Man. If by a miracle you can find a Diamond Memory Lane then please tell me if it's better because I've never been able to get my hands on one for a comparison! However, if you want a very high quality digital delay with which you can pretty much nail any delay sound used by U2 since Joshua Tree, then get a couple of TC electronic rack mounted TC 2290s. If you can't afford that, get yourself a TC Nova Delay!

All in all the Nova Delay is easy to use as far ad basic settings. However, they do have a few setting buried deep so watch holding down the buttons and just trying things blindfolded.
Fairly easy getting around, editing patches, manual could be a bit better, but, not bad and certainly comes in handy for a few functions. My unit is current firmware

guitars used are custom Strat, Custom Tele, Gibson Les Paul Jr, Danelectro Prototype U2....
Doesn't seem noisy ..
One thing I have noticed on several of the new delay units (digital modeling/replicate Analog Delay) is that no matter where you set the balance, it just doesn't seem to sit properly .. to soft / too loud, delay wise. I have an 1982 or so Boss Analog Delay DM-2 tha only goes to 300 ms .. but .. no matter what you are doing or where you set the balance, it just sounds great and blends with your tone , enhances and just does it !
None of the newer Digital pedals get anywhere close to that.
It not a bad pedal, but I'm not in love with the tones or quality.

I purchased mine from Guitar Center Nashville > artist relation on 2/28/ 08 .. it apparently never worked properly. I had to isolate every pedal in my board to find the problem.
I am using there stock power supply they send with the unit.
What happens is. I lose my signal as if there were a master mute. All pedals still getting power, all lights still lit. For some reason, the TC Nova Delay just stops working .. no sound, but all appears normal as al lights are still lit. I have to unplug the unit, then power it up again and its fine ... for a short while. It is intermittent within an hour of use. On several sessions where I was using effects to track and had my pedalboard in the loop, we lost my tracks, had to punch in .. simply pretty much killed the artistic vibe of the moment .. plus, pretty much bummed out the Producer, Engineer and clients.

Well, I've been to corporate dinners with CEOs in the past (several years ago) and was certainly treated different then. It seems there support is geared at the user being a novice. SUpport seems to hold you off as long as possible .. pretty much corporate stuff.
After a week of emails, phone calls .. their support site didn't send some of my information, serial #, etc ............. I am told that they will send me an RMA and turnaround time I'm told i about 3 weeks. Guess I should have bought two or three to be safe .. or gone with the Eventide or Damage Control Timeline or Glass Nexus .. which is what I plan to do.
Support is nice and all, but very ineffective for the Pro Working Player. I had requested as GC said, to have TC contact artist relations GC to replace my Nova Delay, which certainly would have helped me .. but no.
I did receive my Rush RMA via email immediately .. well, after a week of emails and phone calls, will be returning it and it will be sold immediately on return.
I was going to give them a 1 rating here , basically useless as t really is for me .. but, they try and are bound by corporate rules.

I play mainly Rock /Classic / Blues / Rock~Country/ .. I've been playing my whole life , well over 25 years. My pedalboard includes a Paul Cochrane Timmy, Demeter Compulator, Xotic AC+, Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet, Ibanez TS-10 (modified), Original Rat (original Keeley Mod),Demeter Fuzzulator, Demeter Tremultor, Ibanez Bi-Chorus, Nova Delay and a few other things that come and go .. Vox 847 Wah (modded, Enie Ball Volume pedal, Boss EQ7 original, and more.
If it were lost or stolen, I wish it would have been before all this tech repair support started as it sure has taken a lot of time .. by time we get it straightened out, it will have been a month .. not including never really working properly or troubleshooting or lost tracks.
I use to have the original TC Chourus/Vibrato (I think thats what it was named) and I can say that there is no comparison between those two pedals by TC as far as quality and being great product .. the nova doesn't get anywhere close to the old TC Chorus !!!!!!!