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Line 6 DL4 - still good?


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I've made a little room on my board and calculated that I could fit a Line 6 DL4 on there, as well as power it with my PP2. Just interested in whether it's still considered a contender in the delay world considering the number of other multi-delay boxes that are out there now. Also, I love trails so I would be using the buffered bypass; how is it? Does it affect the tone in any way? Thanks y'all.

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it's absolutely still good. people on this forum are a bit...erm..jaded or biased or some other word i can't think of toward the new shiny feature-full pedals. I'm not saying the newer delays aren't good or even better, but for what you'd pay for a DL-4 now ($150 easy) it's a great deal, it's totally functional, and can make some really good sounds.

 

plus the looper is too much fun, and it's still one of the easiest to use IMO.

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love the lo res. i'd buy it just for that. you can use it for anything. just wish it had dotted eights.

 

 

I worked out a trick to get you some dotted 8ths. Will work in stereo but you'll only get your dotted 8ths out of one channel, so it's best in mono. Try this, you'll thank me for it.

 

Go to stereo delay mode. The tap switch sets the tempo of the left delay time (also accessible on delay time pot). The tweak and tweez pots set the relative delay time and feedback on the right channel. Tweak the right channel delay time to give you that quarter note + dotted 8th note gallop. If I recall correctly, it's around 11 o'clock on the dial but you have to dial it in JUST RIGHT - it's very sensitive. now you have the left side putting out quarter notes and the right side putting out dotted 8ths. When you re-tap the tempo, the dotted 8th stays relative to the quarter note. If you didn't really want quarter notes too then set the left channel feedback to minimum - you'll get one repeat, but at least you won't have that galloping quarter note + dotted 8th note U2 thing going on. Save that {censored}er before you manage to knock the right delay dial out of sync, because it's a ballache to get them to sync up in the first place.

 

It's not a perfect workaround, but it works.

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hit it! they're going especially cheap nowadays. The DL4 was my first delay pedal, and i don't think it'll ever leave my board.. loads of great usable sounds.

 

 

This. It does everything I need. Now a days there are "better" delays, but it doesn't make it any less of a solid, solid unit. The buffered bypass isnt even really noticeable with my setup. They're super cheap in the used market now actually, saw one for $90 the other day in a shop.

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when i wanted a big delay to do everything...

 

it came down to the line 6 could give me 3 different settings and tap tempo for them all..

 

none of the others like the dd-20 timefactor etc can do that.

 

thats why i got the dl4 and dont regret it.

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What? The DD-20 gives you 5 presets with tap tempo and the Timefactor gives you 100 presets with tap tempo.

 

The biggest downfall of the DL4 is the implementation of the tap tempo - you cannot tap the tempo when the pedal is bypassed, which is a {censored}ty feature indeed. You have to activate your preset before you can tap the tempo in, which means unless you keep it in a true bypass loop your delays are gonna be off tempo for a few seconds if you turn it on mid song.

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What? The DD-20 gives you 5 presets with tap tempo and the Timefactor gives you 100 presets with tap tempo.


The biggest downfall of the DL4 is the implementation of the tap tempo - you cannot tap the tempo when the pedal is bypassed, which is a {censored}ty feature indeed. You have to activate your preset before you can tap the tempo in, which means unless you keep it in a true bypass loop your delays are gonna be off tempo for a few seconds if you turn it on mid song.

 

 

That is indeed poor design. Might be a deal-breaker.

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What? The DD-20 gives you 5 presets with tap tempo and the Timefactor gives you 100 presets with tap tempo.


The biggest downfall of the DL4 is the implementation of the tap tempo - you cannot tap the tempo when the pedal is bypassed, which is a {censored}ty feature indeed. You have to activate your preset before you can tap the tempo in, which means unless you keep it in a true bypass loop your delays are gonna be off tempo for a few seconds if you turn it on mid song.

 

 

just meant has three buttons for the 3 presets.. no need to scroll through.

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I worked out a trick to get you some dotted 8ths. Will work in stereo but you'll only get your dotted 8ths out of one channel, so it's best in mono. Try this, you'll thank me for it.


Go to stereo delay mode. The tap switch sets the tempo of the left delay time (also accessible on delay time pot). The tweak and tweez pots set the relative delay time and feedback on the right channel. Tweak the right channel delay time to give you that quarter note + dotted 8th note gallop. If I recall correctly, it's around 11 o'clock on the dial but you have to dial it in JUST RIGHT - it's very sensitive. now you have the left side putting out quarter notes and the right side putting out dotted 8ths. When you re-tap the tempo, the dotted 8th stays relative to the quarter note. If you didn't really want quarter notes too then set the left channel feedback to minimum - you'll get one repeat, but at least you won't have that galloping quarter note + dotted 8th note U2 thing going on. Save that {censored}er before you manage to knock the right delay dial out of sync, because it's a ballache to get them to sync up in the first place.


It's not a perfect workaround, but it works.

 

Why not just tap in the dotted eight?

 

I just count "1 & 2 &" and tap on the "1" and the second "&"

 

:idk:

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Why not just tap in the dotted eight?


I just count "1 & 2 &" and tap on the "1" and the second "&"


:idk:

 

I can do either, I was just trying to offer a suggestion. I do prefer having a dotted 8th setting though, it's more natural to just tap quarter notes, and the more taps you enter the more accurate it gets because it averages out all the taps. Allows you to focus on your playing instead of your tapping.

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The lack of a dotted 8 preset or the little tap tempo draw back never bothered me. The DL-4 might have lost it's hipster credibility because of all the zillions of sweet sounding booteek delay pedlulz that came out over the last years...

 

But as far as I know none of them offer all the features of the DL-4. It's overal sound quality supposedly can't compete with that of pedals like the SuperDelay...But they cost A LOT more and all lack at least one or two cool features that the DL-4 has. My only smile gripe with my DL-4: The slight volume sag.

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