Yamaha DG Stomp

I was looking for something to replace my Digitech RP-7. The RP-7 is OK but it's harder to program. I also fell for the fact that it has a tube in it, thinking that would help get a tube distortion. Sorry, but it really doesn't help much.

Great sounds, ease of use, just turn the knobs to adjust sounds and effects levels. Doesn't get any easier. The only thing I don't like ie the tuner. It's tough for me to use it but maybe it's just me. The tuner on my RP-7 is a lot better. Maybe I'll keep it just for that but I doubt if I'll be using it for effects now that I have the Stomp.

The tuner is the only problem area I have found.

Steel box and mettal switches not plastic pads to step on. Should last a long time. I take care of my stuff. Also, I bought a wood music stand and keep the stomp at arms length away instead of on the floor. It's a lot easier to tweak this way, even while playing.

It's the best sounding, for my tastes, multi-effects box that I have found yet. I've checked out a whole bunch of them too. Digitech, Zoom, Korg.....None are as nice as this one. I really do love this thing!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Mars Music, $299. I was looking for a good travel amp.

To me, one of the best things about the DG-Stomp is the flexibility of this unit. IMHO, this little unit the best backup system yet... Here's why:
- You can use it standalone as a preamp (which really sounds pretty darn good) into an amp, or click the speaker simulator on to go direct to the board (if your amp croaks)
- You can turn the preamp off and just use it as an effect stomp box (if your effects croak)
- You can use it as a midi pedal (if your midi pedal croaks)
- You can use just the speaker simulator (in case you forget your SM-57)
- If you are direct to the board all the time, you can control the speaker simulator by program, so you can turn it off for super shimmery or weird sounds, or for an acoustic.
So, do you see what I mean? For something this small and cheap, this is the best little thing out there for the gigging musician!
This thing even does midi mapping, and can send and recieve CC changes. DAMN!
Very well constructed (metal, not cheap plastic). Buttons are the sturdy switch type. I have no fear of this puppy breaking down.

What is it missing? Noise Gate (for the places with relly bad power/RF). But hey, it is 299 bucks and your guitar has a volume knob. Use it.

Solid as a Mac Truck. Great switches, and the thing is METAL.

One of the best values on the market. Great sounds, portability, and flexibility personified. And no I don't work for Yamaha.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased from Ebay used for $225. Bought to provide recording & stage processing for guitar.

I've tried a whole string of preamp and guitar efx processors over the past year. New units from Line6, Korg, Zoom, Digitech, and the Yamaha DG Stomp came out on top of the heap. What I was looking for was a real tube-sounding efx unit that I could use much like an analog efx unit, and manually tweak the efx and controls in real time. I dumped all of them except for the DG Stomp. It has the most realistic and usuable tones and efx out of the bunch, including the Pod. Easy to use in real-time mode, you can turn on/off the modulation efx (flange, phase, rotary speaker), echo/delay, and reverbs, and program the foot switches for that purpose. The rotary knob allows you to select a wide variety of tube preamp tones, from very clean and spacious to outrageous metal gain. Those settings are also completely adjustable with the range of volume and tone controls on the preamp side. It also has a speaker simulator with a lot of speaker settings, but I tend to leave it on 1 setting for most everything. The overal sounds that come out of this box are real sounding, and not overly processed. If I had to, I could get away with just using the DG Stomp for recording sessions with nothing else. However, I do use an old DBX119 compressor/expander to eliminate the noise that comes from the DG Stomp (there is no noise gate), and I also use a Line6 DM4 Distortion Modeler footpedal to set up 3 preset levels of gain as well for convenience. The Stomp is built like a tank, and I've kept it and plan on keeping it where all the other units I tested I got rid of a few days later. The Stomp is a keeper.

No noise gate or noise reduction built-in but as mentioned I use an old DBX119 to get rid of the noise and unlike a noise gate it doesn't shut off the tail of a signal. I would expect that a Hush unit would work petty good as well. There is a website that discusses how to modify the Stomp to get rid of the internal noise floor (mostly present when the high-gain preamp settings are selected), and this involves removing all of the PCB board screws and isolating the grounding of the board but I haven't tried this method.

Super heavy duty, you could throw it off a roof and it would probably be ok.

Great preamp and efx unit, both on headphones (use the spkr simulator) and into an amp (turn off the spkr simulator). Sparkling tones, realistic efx, I love it.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Everything has been said already.

UTILIZATION

Instructions: French incomprehensible places, gross errors, but with a little experience, is corrected. Reading is nevertheless essential unless you want to try the machine quickly without headache (but then, difficult to give a serious opinion).
Some supplements compared to what I've read in some reviews (and I do not ride for Yamaha!)
- The "Manual" mode (dedicated switch) allows the settings of all parameters visually with the buttons (pins 1-10 on housing + digital display in the screen, without going through the set points recorded in patches This is the real manual!) can therefore from a neutral base its no effect, all pots to 5, and invest the different parameters of amp types, effects, simulations of HP, etc ... ), then save without going through the patches recorded. We can also compare the recorded with the modified with the switch to "manual", very convenient patch patch.
- No need to stoop to balance the volumes between patches Saturated and clear with the pots, the machine saves the volumes and the gain for each patch. (The knob of overall output level is to be paid once and for all based on the input of the amplifier used).
- In "patches" fashion buttons for adjusting the various parameters "fixed value" function is essential to read the stored values ​​of the patch before editing (just make a round-trip knob to release the setting)
- I have not been faced with a procedure requiring the simultaneous mobilization of 2 hands to adjust effects,
- The procedure for selecting a patch number with swithes foot is a bit complicated (there are support to meet time), but by reading the manual 6 times, we end up not master the cha-cha-cha ; control by MIDI pedal is much more convenient.
- Automatic tuner is accurate and efficient (5 LED + LED switch the patch that turns the proper tuning), I compared my good tuner Zen-ON needle
- Except guitar hum, no need Gate because the machine is totally free breathing and background noise, even in saturated within search settings against nature sounds.



SOUND QUALITY

1. Fender Strat + U.S. in effect itself connected in front in Laney LC15 tube amp simulator HP disabled
Styles: Rock, Pop, preferably sounds rather clean
Clear sound: 1 Clean, wide, deep, clear, rich, good ratings parts, wide frequency band, but the corollary is a lack of attack and body, and it is not the compressor can be sth.
- Clean 2 more acute, great for funky styles.
- Crunch, overdrive, lead: realistic solo better with time, even if it can not compete with their lamps pushed into a corner; the crunch is the best, with the gain to 10, beautiful body attack and dynamics. on the other hand avoid playing chords more than 3 notes, it becomes clutter.
Effects:
- I confirm the compressor is not good, even metered light, sound is back, tarnished instead of being boosted, no attack, no body, less dynamic; there is a slight delay, probably due to the time analog-digital-analog conversion not good enough.
- The rest is pretty basic, but the simplicity is significant; modulations are average, the "rotary" is very successful (typical intro "The South" Nino Ferrer, it speaks to you?).
Stomp activated 2 In studio amp simulator HP DG.:
The cleans, as the guitar amp in front, lack of attack and body, no potatoes, and the compressor makes the situation worse!
If you want a rich acoustic guitar sound with deep bass and clear effects is excellent (with honors for "Rotary"). The funky style "Clean 2" is excellent.
Saturated sounds, it's not bad but it lacks definition, it is a little mess.

OVERALL OPINION

I tested it for 8 days, with all the time, I hesitated, then went to the colleague who had lent me for any purchase of 80 € occasion, because I will use it occasionally .
It is a robust and reliable device, which can be of great service with his MiDi function, well-studied features and sounds that may be of interest according to the music we play and the use made; and as always, according to the devices to which it is associated, a machine can be excellent or disappointing, is what explains the eternal quest for the Grail guitarist, who spends his life searching for a new little magic boiboite. .. and it's also what it says in the new factory every day by millions!
To return to the DG Stomp, at this price, this is an excellent deal for traveling light and have different sounds; and if you do want more, you can sell it without big discount!