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Published on 04/08/11 at 14:39The Boss DD-6 is probably one of the most well known digital delay pedals out there. During its time, it was one of the most feature packed delay pedals on the market. It features stereo inputs and outputs, 5200 ms of delay, a hold function for playing back phrases, tap tempo via the stompbox itself, a warp mode and a reverse mode for reverse delay. It has an effects level knob, feedback level knob, delay time knob and a rotary switch to choose between various modes.
UTILIZATION
Boss did an amazing job at packing tons of features into this pedal without it being overly cramped or overly complicated. Since it's housed in the famous Boss enclosure, it'll withstand the toughest touring situations you can throw at it. It's a FET based bypass, so keep in mind that it does suck a little bit of tone, I've found. That said, it shouldn't be so bad that you need a true bypass, but it all depends on how anal you are about your tone. The Boss manual does a great job at explaining what all the features do and how all the knobs work, so if you're confused about anything, just take a look at the manual.
SOUND QUALITY
The pedal sounds fairly digital to me. The repeats can tend to sound unnatural and a bit harsh. Thankfully, with a 3 way switch and a few capacitors, you can fix this issue in about 10 minutes time with a drill and soldering iron. That aside, there is also the issue of tap tempo. The Boss DD-6's tap tempo isn't exactly quick. I prefer the way the Boss DD-5 did it, actually. Those aside, this has a good bit of features, and it can be used for anything from quasi-reverb to extremely long delay lines.
OVERALL OPINION
The Boss DD-6 is starting to show its age in today's pedal world. It's a solid delay pedal, but it's not perfect. There's some tone sucking issues, the way the tap tempo works is a bit funky, and it sounds like a digital delay. If you find one cheap and need a delay pedal for your board, I actually recommend checking out the DD-3 or DD-5. If you need stereo delay, you're pretty much stuck with either this or one of Boss' more expensive products. If you need the best delay pedal out there, however, I recommend checking out the Eventide Timefactor.
UTILIZATION
Boss did an amazing job at packing tons of features into this pedal without it being overly cramped or overly complicated. Since it's housed in the famous Boss enclosure, it'll withstand the toughest touring situations you can throw at it. It's a FET based bypass, so keep in mind that it does suck a little bit of tone, I've found. That said, it shouldn't be so bad that you need a true bypass, but it all depends on how anal you are about your tone. The Boss manual does a great job at explaining what all the features do and how all the knobs work, so if you're confused about anything, just take a look at the manual.
SOUND QUALITY
The pedal sounds fairly digital to me. The repeats can tend to sound unnatural and a bit harsh. Thankfully, with a 3 way switch and a few capacitors, you can fix this issue in about 10 minutes time with a drill and soldering iron. That aside, there is also the issue of tap tempo. The Boss DD-6's tap tempo isn't exactly quick. I prefer the way the Boss DD-5 did it, actually. Those aside, this has a good bit of features, and it can be used for anything from quasi-reverb to extremely long delay lines.
OVERALL OPINION
The Boss DD-6 is starting to show its age in today's pedal world. It's a solid delay pedal, but it's not perfect. There's some tone sucking issues, the way the tap tempo works is a bit funky, and it sounds like a digital delay. If you find one cheap and need a delay pedal for your board, I actually recommend checking out the DD-3 or DD-5. If you need stereo delay, you're pretty much stuck with either this or one of Boss' more expensive products. If you need the best delay pedal out there, however, I recommend checking out the Eventide Timefactor.