Over the past 4 years I have bought a few pedals. Had an EH epitome (interesting effect but did not keep it). I never realized how much of a difference in the altered state of the signal has changed between the effects pedals that you would want to stick in the loop. I will leave out the modulating effects such as chorus, phaser, flanger, and obviously the wah pedals (but may add comment regarding the Chorus as this is a modulating delay pedal). Delay pedals have to be my favorite type of effect for use with clean or gobs of distortion. Just for kicks I wanted to compare the Line6 DLP4, TC-electric X4, Boss Terra Echo TE-2, and the latest arrival in my bag of tricks the Strymon DIG. I strung them all up in a daisy chain since each one is a true-bypass (note the DIG can be configured to operate with a buffered function for getting delay tails but have not tried this yet). I have used them on a singular basis and have noticed a difference in signal amplidude, compression, distortion, as well as replication of the original signal in terms of tone. What really made a difference is when I compared them all at the same time. I was extremely impressed with three of the pedals (one being a chorus but I will leave that out for now).
For starters, three of the delay pedals have a mix pot to blend the dry signal with the wet. One has a effect level and may function the same.
I will start with the worse sounding delay in the group, overall it is not that bad but I favor it the least and wish I never bought it. It works well with my other amps (Roadster, and both RA100's) but seems to have an undesirable character when used with the Mark V. When I first got it, I believed it sounded good, has a multi function switch for different types of delay, analog to digital as well as modulation. But difference in signal character when activated is so dramatic it reminds me of an old Alesis rack unit I gave away for free. The looser of the bunch is the TC electric X4 (note this is the one with the crown on the face plate and not the revised unit that is currently available). Not only are the highs subdued, the signal is compressed considerably such that the mix control does nothing except for alter the delay in the signal. This is also one pedal that seems to add distortion to the signal. My guess is that it is not compatible with the Mark V loop. I will have to compare all of them on the front end to see if there is much of a dramatic difference.
Next up is the Line6 DLP4. It too has considerable compression as well as alteration of the tone of the signal. Mix does not matter either there is compression regardless of the setting when the delay is active. So switching between bypass and on, the signal level drops a few dB and compression is definitely apparent. I have not noticed signal distortion or fuzzy noise like I do with the TC X4.
The two definite winners in the delay effects: Strymon DIG and the BOSS Terra Echo TE-2. Both of these effects did not compress the signal by any means. It was almost as if they were transparent but yet the desired effect is well pronounced. No fuzz but you will get modulation if so set to have it (so that will alter tone somewhat). Both operate as what goes in comes out (of course with the effect added). Mix or blend controls do not alter the tone either. In other words, no compression, no fizzy distortion artifacts, just what you would want in a delay pedal. If I were to include the Chorus, the Strymon Ola is just as rewarding as the Strymon DIG and Boss TE-2.
For starters, three of the delay pedals have a mix pot to blend the dry signal with the wet. One has a effect level and may function the same.
I will start with the worse sounding delay in the group, overall it is not that bad but I favor it the least and wish I never bought it. It works well with my other amps (Roadster, and both RA100's) but seems to have an undesirable character when used with the Mark V. When I first got it, I believed it sounded good, has a multi function switch for different types of delay, analog to digital as well as modulation. But difference in signal character when activated is so dramatic it reminds me of an old Alesis rack unit I gave away for free. The looser of the bunch is the TC electric X4 (note this is the one with the crown on the face plate and not the revised unit that is currently available). Not only are the highs subdued, the signal is compressed considerably such that the mix control does nothing except for alter the delay in the signal. This is also one pedal that seems to add distortion to the signal. My guess is that it is not compatible with the Mark V loop. I will have to compare all of them on the front end to see if there is much of a dramatic difference.
Next up is the Line6 DLP4. It too has considerable compression as well as alteration of the tone of the signal. Mix does not matter either there is compression regardless of the setting when the delay is active. So switching between bypass and on, the signal level drops a few dB and compression is definitely apparent. I have not noticed signal distortion or fuzzy noise like I do with the TC X4.
The two definite winners in the delay effects: Strymon DIG and the BOSS Terra Echo TE-2. Both of these effects did not compress the signal by any means. It was almost as if they were transparent but yet the desired effect is well pronounced. No fuzz but you will get modulation if so set to have it (so that will alter tone somewhat). Both operate as what goes in comes out (of course with the effect added). Mix or blend controls do not alter the tone either. In other words, no compression, no fizzy distortion artifacts, just what you would want in a delay pedal. If I were to include the Chorus, the Strymon Ola is just as rewarding as the Strymon DIG and Boss TE-2.
