The result is the ability to create a tape delay effect that can be of studio quality, or studio apartment quality. Despite being an analog delay pedal, the dTape Echo has a patented Sharc DSP Technology integrated into it, giving you complete control over every single aspect of the Tape Echo. This includes machine health, tone aging, delay time, tape age, and more all within that rich and warm analog sound. The first consideration with a delay pedal is whether you want to go for an analog or digital delay. Typically digital delays will be cleaner and give you more out-there effects, whereas analog will be richer and darker.

However, if you’re that 80s hair metal dude, this is a case of “not my job, not my prob”. Tap Tempo I like the idea of the effects loop, although I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of the sounds you could design using that feature. I put my flanger in there sometimes and it sounds pretty great. Haven't tried it, but pitch-shifting seems like it could be pretty cool in the loop. As well as being able to be used as a tap tempo for syncing your delay time with your music, holding your foot down on the Tempo/Regen switch will It's got more going on that a typical analog effect. However, it could be drawing less if I'd used a more efficient op amp than the 4580. I regret this. However, if you use an expression pedal extensively, be warned that the technology isn’t at 100% and is more for limited use.Probably DOD’s most celebrated pedal - the 250 is most desirable in 741 chip edition - which funnily straddles both grey and early yellow edition boxes. It’s one of numerous 200 series pedals that were later reissued - a little bit like Boss’s Series 2 pedals - which have tended to overshadow later editions. DOD’s original pedals were 200 Series, then these were updated and expanded for the 400 Series, and finally 600 series.

Finally, the third consideration is power draw. Some of these delay pedals draw a ton of power, and you may find you’ll need to upgrade your pedal board power supply to accommodate. This one is pretty simple – if you want the repeats from your delay to be in sync with the tempo of the song, you need tap-tempo. The Meatbox had been riding high on my wishlist on occasion, but that has now really been supplanted by the Way Huge Atreides. Most likely next acquisition is probably a 741 Yellow Box 250 - if I can find one in good condition - and at the right sort of price! It has 12 individual delay modes, as you would expect of a device of this type, and has tap tempo functionality. Further, it has MIDI and stereo I/O connectivity, which, when combined with the Source’s Neuro app, gives you a ludicrous amount of options to play around with. For this reason it’s important, if you are one of the guys from Explosions In The Sky, to have a clear idea of what types of delay you want in your unit, and then make sure the delays you’re looking at cover all those bases.

Honourable mentions should probably go to a number of other highly collectible DOD pedals - particularly in the 'Lamb Series' - including : The interesting point here is that while all of the original 70's grey editions contain the typically more desirable 741 chip, a lot of the early 80's Yellow versions had that same chip too - with the 351 chip though gradually taking over later on. So you have the Grey 70's editions as the most sough-after, then the early 80's Yellow editions, and finally the 90's Yellow reissues. All are discontinued now - while some Reverbers are wrongly calling the late 90's versions vintage now - which I would dispute. (Vintage > 40 years). The Boss DD 500 allows you to save a massive 297 patches, and with the granularity of control you have over the delays in this unit, you might just use them all. The killer thing about the Timeline is you’re not just getting a pedal that does a few things well – the Timeline does a high-quality job at traditional delay types, as well as introducing a range of less conventional delays that bring a whole new sonic palette to delays. For this reason, it’s important to know if the pedals you’re looking at allow you to save your presets – and just as important is how easy it is to access them.

While I personally don't particularly like the aesthetics of the 'FX' designation DOD pedals - a large number of them still sounded great, and in fact some fetch some quite silly prices nowadays!Controls:Value / Time / Repeats / Mix / Filter / Grit / Speed / Depth / Bank Selector A&B / Tap Tempo / Delay Type Now that we have covered the main controls we can now discuss the footswitches. There are two footswitches labelled EFFECT ON, and TEMPO/REGEN:

There is incredible range to be found here - as long as you have the patience to dial those knobs in diligently. Of course with that much range, you can also get all kinds of odd tones too - which tends to be the focus of the detractors.

You could say the FX96 and Memory Man were starting points, but the final design doesn't resemble either. The second is how much delay you need. If you’re trying to spice up some solos with a little delay, you do not need the huge array of options in a Strymon Timeline. If you want to make vast audio soundscapes, an Echobrain is going to be too limiting. GAIN/TONE: The gain knob allows you to shape the delay signal. The tone knob allows you to brighten or darken the delay signal. These features are controlled by individual, clear mini knobs that also double up as multi-colour LED status indicators. It does require a 150 mA power supply (a fact which, although not pointed out in the product specs, can be seen in the gallery picture which shows the input/output connections), so that"s something to keep in mind if you don"t already have one of those in your personal box o" stuff.