When I first got mine ( a tape reel graphic version ) I was not that impressed. I placed it in the serial effects loop of my Mesa Boogie studio .22 and powered it with a 9volt adapter (soundlab pedal power). The levels seemed quite low, I couldn't really get a satisfactory balance between the dry signal and the effected signal. The delay times were pretty short and the tape quality knob added a kind of grainy distortion to the repeats the more I turned it clockwise. So it was okay but not great, certainly compared to an Arion SAD1 analog delay it didn't really stand up very well.
So next I tried it in front of the amp. This was a bit better and gave me a better balance between the guitar signal and the repeats. Set up like this I would have been happy enough to use it as a slap back/short echo.
BUT then I bought a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ and like a couple of people have suggested, I tried powering it at 12Volts. WOW!! It made a MASSIVE difference to this pedal. The levels were much higher, the delay times much longer the repeats carried on far longer. The tape quality knob completely transformed. Before it added a grainy distortion to the repeats but now all the way anti-clockwise it darkens the repeats, turn it clockwise, the repeats get brighter. I can also get it to self ocsillate easily, something that it wouldn't do before at 9 volts.
At 12volts this thing sounds brilliant and I now prefer it to the SAD1. The pedal is supposed to simulate a tape echo, at 9 volts it really didn't convince me at all. The step up in voltage actually made this pedal what it claims to be.
Reliability/Durability:
Mine was second hand from ebay but it was New Old Stock and was pristine condition. Nothing has broken yet...
The switch is plastic and doesn't feel that great but the rest of the unit feels robust enough.
Ease of Use:
Right, this pedal seems straight forward enough to begin with. It's only got 4 knobs so how hard can it be? Well, as another reviewer has remarked, I think DOD has missed some important info in it's manual as I will sxplain...
Customer Support:
No need to contact them thus far.
Overall Rating:
At 9 volts through the effects loop I would have given this a 5.
In front of the amp a 7 but with it running at 12 volts it goes up to a 9.
If you have one of these and haven't tried running at 12 volts then give it a go (entirely at your own risk of course!). It really did make a huge difference to mine, it was like getting a totally different (much better) pedal. It just shows that you really need to experiment with some pedals before deciding they suck...
For the money this was great value and I'm really pleased with mine.
