DigiTech

Digitech’s Obscura Altered delay pedal is – as its name suggests – an “altered” delay, offering several possibilities which can make its use all the more complex. It is a digital delay with an analog mode and max delay time set at 2 seconds. It can deliver an analog delay but it can also distort and lofi-ize the sound. It first addresses guitar players on the look for an unordinary sound. The box is made of metal, with outstanding graphics that still make controls less readable. Size (cm) is 11x6x3.5. It’s a true stereo pedal that does not sum the signals from both channels but renders them separately. Putting this pedal at the end of your chain, you can feed it with your modulation fx’s stereo signal instead of mono signal, while keeping your stereo modulation. The Oscura offers many delay types, with 4 of them being documented: - Analog : "bucket Brigade" simulation. - Tape : tube tape echo simulation. - Lo-Fi : based on an 8-bit digital delay. - Reverse : delays repeat what you play – but backward. A “Level” control adjusts the delay levels. When the “Revers” mode is selected and “Level” setting is at its minimal, no signal can be heard. The lower left knob has a dual function : - Time allows to choose the delay time - Repeats allows to set the number of time the signal is repeated. Starting at 3:00, you get infinite repeats through self-oscillation The Time control also allows to adjust the “Tap Tempo” when this mode is selected. Tap Tempo is selected through keeping the footswitch for 3 seconds. The last two controls are Tone and Degrader. The first modifies the delayed signal’s tone, from dark and hot to bright and shiny. The Degrader’s effect changes according to the selected delay mode. The footswitch is soft and features a multicoloured LED: red to just indicate the pedal’s switched on, it changes from green to yellow depending on the “Time” setting position. Up on the pedal’s front, there’s a 2-way “Tails” switch, allowing to choose the bypass mode (true or not). Overall: it’s a slightly complicated pedal, too much for me who likes to keep things simple. But it will satisfy those always on the lookout for new sounds.

(Originally written by astroperenoel/translated from Audiofanzine FR) I've been using it since 2002. I bought it secondhand. Effects: compressor, preamp, EQ, noise gate, wah, delay and reverb. - 4 modes: 1) Compressor; 2) 12AX7 tube preamp; 3) 4-band EQ; 4) effects: chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, auto panner, pitch shifter, wammy, envelope filter, fretless simulation, octaver. Separate 3-mode wah effect - 2 modes: Delay (or 3.5-loop sampler) and reverb. - Optical controller with different modes: wha, volume, reverb, delay, effect depth... - 3 wah modes: the first one is excellent and I find both others useless... - Very effective high-pass/low-pass filter without intensity parameter - Additional functions: tuner, bypass, biamp, stereo/mono, resonance attenuation - Hardware: S-Disc2, 24/48 bits, 1 x 12AX7 tube - Presets: 40 factory/40 user presets. You can download a very comprehensive patch bank on the website! -Connections: input, headphones plus 2 high/low outputs, 1/8" line input for a CD player Very responsive expression pedal Very rugged metal housing and nice design. Very good features for a bass guitar multi-FX processor. UTILIZATION Good configuration but I regret that the delay and reverb are not switchable via footswitch. Edit: Quite simple, everything is explained on the LED panel. User's manual: Very simple except for complex functions (resonance attenuation, 3.5 second loop sampler). Editing your own sound is not very easy. I finally found "my sound" after several years of use (I don't use it often). That's why the online sound bank is very useful: http://www.digitech.com/bp8/index.htm. SOUND QUALITY All effects are ideal for bassists except for the disappointing wah effects. They don't alter the original sound except with extreme parameter settings (the sound becomes cold, digital...). Effects description: - Very good compressor - The tube preamp is a delight with a good tube (Tung Sol, E-H, General Elec...) but I regret the lack of a dedicated control for the drive parameter. The FX Drive pedal is more flexible. - The parametric EQ is good but requires some learning time - Effects: extreme parameter settings make the tone sound digital. The sound is really good with adequate parameter settings. Digitech makes good gear! - Good quality delay and reverb This effects board is very good, the only cons are the lack of a dedicated delay/reverb switch and the steep learning curve. But it's very useful to learn how to edit an effects processor. I also miss a PC and a drum machine connection. If you want both bypassed and wet signals to have the same level the unit generates too much noise. You have to sacrifice either the bypassed or the wet signal level... It's very disappointing! OVERALL OPINION I use it for practice at home and a little bit with my band. I try to experiment new effects combinations because with such units you tend to always use the same configurations! - I like almost everything about this device and I find the effect engine very powerful although it creates a short delay with pitch shifting effects. - I rarely tested other effects processors and I chose it because it had the most features among all bass guitar units! Value for money: quite good considering its features. I chose it because I like to have full control over the whole effects chain... You can discuss a long time about advantages of analog or digital sound and it's true that some effects sound "cold" but it would cost much more to have a full analog effects rig... So if you avoid extreme parameter settings, this multi-effects processor is a good solution!

Ok UTILIZATION Simple and practical. SOUND QUALITY Excellent. OVERALL OPINION Finally, an intelligent and unique multi-effects pedal. I didn't like older versions but this is not even comparable, it was a real surprise, a real clean whammy, with intuitive operation and a robust housing, not to mention not bad to look at. Moreover, TRUE BYPASS IN PLACE! Bye bye parasites, hum, crackles, murmurs, everything is clean (much more than other models anyway) micro dynamics loss has noted the engagement of detune, but it is a trivial concern compared to the efficiency and overall quality -I feel that this product will not be comparable if bought used, so I took the plunge and bought it new. Even though I don't like the color much, at least it matches the Christmas theme.  Aside from the absurd color which reminds me of severely beaten kidneys, it seems to be an excellent product. Nice one Digitech.

(Originally written by tazon79/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Very comprehensive effect set: compressor, distortion, EQ, wah-wah, whammy, flanger, chorus, phaser, delay, reverb, noise gate, intelligent harmonizer,speaker simulation... Digital technology. The small preamp tube adds warmth to the overall sound. Headphone output, stereo output and jam-along connection. Two big knobs allow you to adjust the output level and presence. The display shows the program number or the edited parameter. The LEDs display the active effects for the preset. UTILIZATION The LEDs are convenient to see the different effects and their position in the sound chain. The user's manual is quite comprehensive. Unfortunately, this footboard is not very easy to use. It's possible to get a very good sound but you'll need to spend a lot of time editing, considering the amount of parameter some effects have. But once you get passed that, this footboard becomes very versatile and can provide very different sounds. SOUND QUALITY The effects sound very authentic and can still compete with new multi-effect processors in the same price range. The preamp tube enhances the overall sound. Only the distortion section is not so good, especially if you want a fat distortion sound. It's impossible to get a huge and fat distortion for death or black metal. The footboard provides the typical Californian sound (like the whole RP Series of that time). This footboard is a high-quality tool that provides an excellent clean sound and very high-quality effects (especially modulation effects). I use it with an Epiphone Les Paul and a PRS Santana SE and the sound is very satisfying. The sound is great with a Club Reverb amp. It's excellent in a stereo setup with two amps. The sound color might be old and not trendy anymore, but it has a proven quality. OVERALL OPINION Right now the main assets of this footboard are the clean sound and the effects. The distortion sound is not so good in spite of the preamp tube. Compressor, EQ and speaker simulation effects are not on the same level as modern effects anymore. You'll need to be patient with this footboard, but you'll get a wide sound range in return . The device sounds great in a stereo setup. With a more versatile and authentic sounding preamp stage this device could have been a guitarist's secret weapon. I miss that small detail that would make this excellent unit sound exceptional. The sound is too clean, thin and accurate. Except for the GT3 from the same generation, few multi-FX are so interesting, and certainly no product in this price range can compete with it. This product is very attractive but you'll need time to get to know it. The value for money is exceptional nowadays and perhaps a better preamp tube (like an Electro-Harmonix) could add more warmth and punch to the sound. I would surely buy it again, even if I'm considering getting rid of it to get an RP 14, 20 or 21D because they simulate famous amps.

I used to use a Eleven Rack and I was happy with it and had to learn to live with the digital sound . One day, after I got my tax return, I decided to treat my self to some new gear. I went into a small guitar shop and seen the Digitech 2112 SGS and decided to try it out. This old rack unit sounded much better than my Eleven Rack, those two 12ax7 tubes gave me some mind blowing tone and soon my Elleven Rack was sidelined for good. And with the Control One MIDI board controller, it just added more flexibility. I called Digitech and the nice lady that worked there printed out the owners manual and it helped me zero in on the features of this devine device. I have a Digitech RP-12 and RP-1 on my effects pedalboard. Even the presets on those floor units sounded great in my 2112 unit !!!! I went to my RP-12's harmonizer program and made a MIDI CC change that when I would push the root note go to the middle, the 3rd up go to the left and on the rightside ( from the 2112 ) a 5th down. All those notes were clean and prestine, just as good as my Eventide 3000. I gain stacked my distortions from my RP-12 and RP-1 so well with the 2112 SGS's overdrive, that I recreated my Carvin X-100 B, V3, Legacy 1,2,3, my VHT Pitbull, my Peavey JSX, Triple XXX with the tube distortion path and with the analog distortion path, I recreated my Randall Warhead, RG 80, RG 100, Carvin SX 300 and other amps. You can combine both the tube distortion and analog distortion or use them separately. You can recreate any amp ever made. The modulation; so many variations of chorus, flanging, the phasers, detune are unbelievable and flexable. I can recreate Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock or the Filmore East w/ the Band Of Gypsys, Dime Bag Darrell's tone, EVH's Brown Sound, David Gilmore's vast tones, SRV's Blues tone, Alex Lifeson's sound, Brian May's sounds , Metallica's sounds or the Edge's sounds and my own . Someone complained that the Wah Wah was lame, they just didn't have patients to set it up right. With the detune, I got a great acoustic guitar 12 string with an acoustic simulator sound and 6 string acoustic sounds with a Behringer AM100 Acoustic Modeler going thru a Decibel Eleven Loop Expander. I can now do Can't Kill Rock n Roll, Fade to Black, Revelation/ Mother Earth, Ramble on, Diary Of A Madman or Dead or Alive. You can place any of the effects any where in the program ...in any order . At the end, I always add a 6 band Parametric Eq to make this device to be an equal to any new modeler out there. Another great feature, you can add two more expression pedals, one from back of the 2112 or add another on the Control One pedalboard and that makes three expression pedals . And with the Seamless feature, I can have no pauses or glitches when I change programs. I can set it to overlap 2 to 3 seconds into the other program and it will fade away like a studio recording edit / punch in . Not bad for a device made in 1997 . Front panel ; ● One Input, Input knob, Output knob, Clipping light indicator . ● Gain knob to control the drive of the tube or analog / distortion, can go from Fender clean to Mega Rectified. And if the tubes are too intense or too weak , for your tube tastes, swap then out and you'll notice the difference. ● Bass, Mid, Treble and Mix knobs. ● Large Display screen. ● Program knob / Effect Wheel knob . ● Program buttons. ● Effects Library buttons. ● Solo button, give you the ability to get 6 dB boost for soloing. Back panel; ● AC Line Input, MIDI IN, OUT / THRU Jack's. ● Foot Controller Input. ● Expression Pedal Input ● High / Low level effects loop switch. ● Send / Return Jack's for the Effects Loop . ● Balanced Left and Right Outputs . ● Fuse receptacle. Over 40 different effect Algorithms that can be organized in your preferred order . With the gain stacking from my RP-12 and RP-1 going into the 2112, I can set the gain very low on the 2112. I can recreate any Distortion, Overdrive or Fuzz pedal or recreate any amp ever made . And if you stack your Modulation, Delays or Reverbs, you can add ambience that even Strymon owners could only dream about .

The Digitech Digiverb is a reverb pedal with a couple little special touches. The Digiverb has several different models of reverb to chose from including; Room, Plate, Hall, Church, Gated, Reverse, and Spring. Digitech uses a four knob layout that is easy to navigate. The Level knob adjusts the volume of the reverb. The EQ knob acts as a tone filter and allows you to adjust the brightness of the reverb. The Decay knob adjusts the duration of the reverb. The Mode knob allows you to switch between the different modes of reverb. UTILIZATION This pedal has a solid metal casing and sturdy knobs, so it appears to be pretty sturdy. I’ve had no issues with reliability after a few years of use. This pedal works great at the end of your pedal chain before the front end of the amp, or even better in my opinion in the loop of the amp. If the spaciousness of the pedal alone isn’t enough for you, Digitech includes stereo outs to allow you to spread your guitar signal between two different amps or for use with recording equipment. SOUND QUALITY The different modes really do make a difference in the tone pending on what you are going for. All of my amps have spring reverb onboard so I use this pedal for more washed out sounds found in the hall and plate settings, but the spring reverb is very close to the reverb found on my Classic 30 from Peavey. You can pull in a very natural amp sounding reverb all the way up to full on, wash out pads of lushness. No major changes in bypassed tone were noticed and all the models sound good in their own ways. Reverse and gated are the two models I have little experience with, but the others work perfect for my needs. OVERALL OPINION Overall this thing is well worth the price they ask for it new, and can be a steal on the used market. I haven’t had any reliability issues with it, and it seems to be well built. The tones coming out of this thing were only available in large rackmount units or bulky outboard reverb tanks years back, so it’s great to have them all packed into a manageable pedal form. The Digiverb is budget friendly, useful pedal for many applications and genres of music from Rockabilly and Surf to Metal and Modern Rock.

The Digitech FS300 Footswitch is a three way foot switch that it designed for use with of course, a few different Digitech products. It's a really simple foot controller with three different switches, and is pretty compact as it's about the size of a normal pedal. The box isn't the sturdiest feeling on the world, but I've definitely never had any problems related to this. I don't know the full list of pedals and products that the FS300 is compatible with, but we've got one in the studio where I work for use with the Jam Man looper pedal. I can't say that I know if you can use it for other brands or not, but I would think not. I do know that it can also be used with the Vocalist Performer and the GNX3 multi-effects pedal. Basically, the FS300 has three separate foot switches and a single 1/4" jack. Depending on the pedal that you're using it with, I'm sure that the three foot switches can be used differently. Of course since it's specifically designed for products made by Digitech, they've decided that they are going to charge much more than what this pedal is really worth. Depending on what you want to use this with, you may or may not be able to find something from a different brand that does the same trick. However, I'd be cautious and make sure that whatever you do get meets the needs you've got, whether it be the FS300 or something else. The upside with the FS300 is that you know it will be compatible with your Digitech pedal, but the downside is the price. If you have a Digitech product that needs a footswitch, I'd probably recommend going with this one, but definitely explore your options since this one is a bit overpriced...

The Digitech X-Series Main Squeeze is a digital compression pedal designed for electric guitar but suitable for any electronic instrument. The pedal has a 1/4 inch input and two 1/4 inch outputs and is powered by either a 9 volt power supply or battery. It isn't rackable as it is a stomp box. UTILIZATION The make up of the Digitech X-Series Main Squeeze is quite easy to follow and users shouldn't have much trouble at all figuring out how to use this pedal. It has parameters for level, attack, EQ (tone), and sustain. These are pretty basic parameters as far as compression pedals go, so those who have experience with guitar compression pedals should be used to this pedal before even using it. Even if you don't have experience with compressors of any kind, the make up of this pedal is easy enough to follow that you don't need a manual and will be able to figure it out on your own. SOUND QUALITY The sound of the Digitech X-Series Main Squeeze is sub par in my opinion. While it will indeed get the job done as far as compressing your signal, to me it sounds too digital and colors your sound a little bit too much. Like a compressors, it will definitely add some sustain to your sound, but as far as playing rhythm parts, for me it really squeezes your sound too much and doesn't give it much room to breath, even if you don't have the compression level up too high. This pedal will work if you are just trying to mess around with compression, but I definitely wouldn't use this for recording and I would also look elsewhere for live shows as I don't think that the sound of this pedal is up to par. OVERALL OPINION While the Digitech X-Series Main Squeeze provides a cheap option for guitar players looking for a compression pedal, to me you can spend just a small amount of more money and get a much better pedal. If you want a good compression pedal, take a look at the Boss CS-3 or the MXR Dynacomp as they are similar in price and are much better sounding compressors in my opinion.

The DigiTech Jimi Hendrix Experience guitar pedal is a multi-effects unit designed after classic Jimi Hendrix guitar tones. The pedal was actually designed in tandem with Eddie Kramer who was Hendrix's audio engineer. The pedal has 1/4 inch connections and is not a rack mountable unit. It is powered by the specific power supply that comes with it. UTILIZATION The configuration of the DigiTech Jimi Hendrix Experience pedal is pretty basic as it four knobs that each have a few uses. The first knob has an upper and lower and dial for gain and level while the other two have dials for four different types of controls. The knob all the way on the left is to choose the mode, which there are seven to choose from. Each mode is different tone modeled after specific Hendrix tunes. The manual for this pedal is pretty thorough but is easy enough to use that you don't really need it. SOUND QUALITY The sound quality of the DigiTech Jimi Hendrix Experience pedal is overall very good. It has a wide array of different tones as it has seven very different modes and plenty of parameters over your tone control. I usually use this pedal with a Fender Strat or a Gibson SG plugged into a 1976 Fender Twin Reverb amp and I'm always happy with the results I get for recording or live shows. While the tones on this pedal aren't exact replicas of the classic tones played by Jimi, they are definitely pretty close and accurate. Regardless of if they are exactly replicated notes or not, they definitely sound pretty great no matter whether you are trying to emulate Jimi's sound or not. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the DigiTech Jimi Hendrix Experience for about a year and its not only a unique and great sounding pedal but is extremely fun to play around with. If you are a fan of Hendrix, which just about every guitar player is, this pedal is a worth a try. The different modes and parameters make it versatile and its awesome to be able to replicate so many different Hendrix tones in one pedal. I think DigiTech did an overall great job with this pedal and it is a must try for any Hendrix fan.

As far as I know, you can plug this into a computer. The effects are a basic chorus, flanger, and other basic modulations, pong, spread, and mono delay, with distortion and other amp modeling and various effects built in as well. It is digital technology, or at least that is what guitar center told me. The main cool aspect of the pedal is that the effects are all editable. I believe you can edit them on the computer, and if not, there are forums to help you through the effects making process. The manual is somewhat unclear, and as it was easier for me to mess around on my own rather than read it, I believe that it is pretty vague. There are the basic midi and audio jacks, with headphone jack and the adapter outlet with input and output. UTILIZATION The Digitech BP200 is, in my opinion, only good for beginners. This pedal is good for those who want to just dab in effects or get started learning and making there own unique sound. The pedal starts off as an amazing purchase, 80 different effects, a built in tuner, and an expression pedal. It is built solid enough to travel with, and isn’t unbelievably bulky or heavy. The first couple effects you make will be lackluster, but will slowly start to be acceptable. The built in tuner is normally decently accurate, but you will need to be able to tune by ear to get your tone exactly right. The cons of this pedal outweigh the positives. The tuner may be right half the time, but as said before, it will make mistakes. The pedal also Another large negative is that over time, one of the stomp pedals wears out, and over time, will stop working. My main complaint though, lies in the effects themselves. Each of them, other than the extremely odd or cool ones, have one that is almost exactly the same. When editing the effects, you run into the problem of everything sounding alike. The menus are also very confusing if you have no idea what you are looking at. The amp modeling often times comes out with either too little or too much gain, which is adjustable to an extent, but really doesn’t help it. Everything also has a tendency to sound really digitalized, which some people want, but this doesn’t sound very real. The only part that is really awesome about this pedal is the strings effect, the expression pedal, and the ability to make kind of cool effects if you know what you are doing. If you want to get a really good multi-effects pedal, go with the boss ME series or the GT’s if you have a lot of extra money. SOUND QUALITY The effects all sound kind of animated and digitalized rather than fat and solid. The chorus, strings, and the ashdown amp model are my personal favorites, but the delay synth and distortion are alright once you get used to them. The worst effects, in my opinion, are the overdrives and the basic effects, as they all sound the same unless tweaked. The I use a Dean bass with EMG's and an Peavey amp with this pedal, and I have no problem with my guitar on the clean settings, but once I plug this in I get hissing. I have used three different Fender cords and they all did it. OVERALL OPINION I have been using this product for nearly 8 months, and my favorite thing is the ability to edit the effects. My very least favorite thing, however is that the effects like to change themselves when they are not being used. Despite all the setbacks, this pedal is still better than the lower models. For the price, the list of effects is impressive, but the sound quality is horrid. Overall, I would say that the pedal needs to be a little cheaper, or more authentic to the actual sounds of the effects. Adding to that, I probably would not have bought this bass pedal, but rather the Boss ME-50B.

Manufactured for digitech by IVL technologies, is a High voltage mic tube pre amp, line level input, 4 band Eq, spdif and AES/EBU digital out at 18 bit 44k or 48k user selected, low cut, 20db pad, phase, and 48v phantom power, analog rms meter. Does a real good job warming things up. Nice OD is achieved using input and output gain knobs. Insert points are handy too. 2 rack space is needed for the massive power transformers. EQ is switchable to A/B adjustments. Clip meter is helpful to reproduce OD on things like snare and certain vocal sounds to imitate that vintage edge. Line level inpust are not good for instrument applications such as non-active bass and guitar. UTILIZATION Simple to use and better results than the sub $75.00 low voltage stand alones. SOUND QUALITY Good sound quality. Does not color the sound unless you add gain. Slightly overdriving a top snare mic or vocal really brings details out and adds a harmonic quality like a good old fender guitar amp does for guitars. OVERALL OPINION Great value for price. I've had this for over 10 years and paid retail. Find one used for a lot cheaper. I've used it in live FOH mixing, tracking, mastering, between pods/sans amps and DAWs. Very rugged and reliable. Would buy another to add more tube front end to my DAW. I like scooping the 2 bands of sweepable mids on vocals and kick drums. Replaced the stock tubes with EI 12ax7.

Delay/looper/almost-flanger, non-editable effects, no tap delay: Its starts to be outdated! Audio only, one input and 3 outputs (dry, mix, phase) and also three connectors for control via footswitch. UTILIZATION The manual has lots of blanks, you need to scribble what you find on your own so you don't forget it. All buttons are on the front panel, it has no presets. SOUND QUALITY I hadn't used it for some time and its warmth surprised me! It's very nice, it makes you want to use it. Excellent for guitar. OVERALL OPINION Granted, as delay and looper, you can find much more modern stuff! (I bought it around 1995) But it has some nice manual controls that make it a pretty surreal tool. Bill Frisell ─ before turning to a cleaner sound and music ─ made a wonderful use of it (the RDS 8000 or 4000 pedal version).