Boss DD20 Vs Boss RE-20 Space Echo

The DD-20 definetly trails. I don't know for sure about the RE-20.

 

I use a DD-20 infront of my amp (no effects loop) and it sounds great. As far as what to go with, I'd go with the DD-20. It trails off when clicked off, there's not really any tone suck (you might have to have the tone set a bit high as I find the delay to be a bit dark) and the effects are really nice. It's pretty easy to use once you sit down with the manual for about 15 minutes and start playing with presets. Once you have it set, you're golden. DD-20 all the way.

 

I persoanlly like the tape/ambient sounds. I don't own the RE20, but have heard sound samples, and think the DD20 gets close. It's not going to be exact....but close enough for me.

 

I own the DD-20. I haven't had any experience with the RE-20.

I own a EP-3, DD-5, DD-20, AD-80, First Act Delay, Effectron and have sold many others.

I love the DD-20.... enough that I bought it twice. I have owned real tape Space Echos in the past and think the tape simulation on the DD-20 is pretty darn good. Nothing warbles and sounds as organic as the EP-3 but if I was told today I had to live with only one delay the DD-20 would probably be the one. I use my delay for spacey, ambient tyoe stuff as well as Built to Spill type stuff and the DD-20 works fine. I like the versatility of the DD-20.

 

No...I just have the tone on the DD20 set higher than the presets show because I find that with my setup, it's a bit dark. Not sure if it's like that with everyone, or just my combination of guitar and amp.

 

Here's something I posted a while ago about the DD-20. Haven't tried the RE-20, I'm sure it's an excellent pedal if your main focus is a tape delay sim. The DD-20 will give you more features, and it's really easy to operate.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/305270

 

I own a DD 20 and I love it! As far as delays go, you cant do much better for the price, and that being said, even high end models (T Rex Replica, etc.) can't do the variety of things that the DD 20 can (reverse, dual mode, etc). My 2 cents is this: the Space Echo does sound okay... and it will be good to add ambiance, etc. But I would stand by my theory that says with a little experience the DD 20 (and really, delays in general) they can be used to do what the Space Echo can, and so much more. True, there is no "ambiance" knob on the DD 20, but as you being to play you can begin to discover how to create tons of space in your playing. (Dont be scared of the controls... they're cake!) Hope that helps.

 

I've played both and now own a RE-20. I picked that because I really wanted a dedicated tape delay sim unit. The DD-20 is much more versaltile I guess but for what I wanted the RE-20 was the way for me.
The tape delay setting on the DD-20 is not bad but when you have a unit that tries to do many things usually they all suffer a bit so I'd rather have one thing that does it's purpose very well instead of several things just okay. Maybe you can get some qaulity time with each before you buy.

 

I bought a DD-20 when they first came out and it knocked a Line6 DL-4 off my pedalboard. So far even though I've tried several of the cool boutique delays nove have taken the place of the DD-20 for it's versatility and overall good tone.

I bought a RE-20 when they came out back in the summer and I thought it was great, very warm and "spacey" sounding. For atmospheric effects it's about the best non-tape echo I've heard. That said, after the fun of playing with the RE-20 wore off and it came time to get back to using delays in a more traditional setting the DD-20 still won out. One of the things that really killed the RE-20 for me (and I should have checked before buying it) is the fact that while you can tap in tempos, you can only tap in straight quarter notes (or eighth notes if you tap twice as fast ), no dotted eighth "Albert Lee" or "Edge" delays, and I use these quite a bit. In the end I sold the RE-20 because it wound up just sitting on the shelf. But like I said, it WAS cool to play with for the spacey, atmospheric stuff.

 

If the programability and extra features don't matter I'd have to say the RE-20 is the more organic sounding of the two, but not by a huge amount. Actually if you like EJ's delays hold out for the solid state version of the Fulltone tape echo that's coming

 

Old thread... But does anyone have any new options on the original post?

 

Do a search for videos using "dd-20 re-20“ as your search term. There are a few done after this topic was active, allowing you to hear for yourself.

The videos don't get into the modes which the RE-20 just can't cover, so if you will be using any of those and the comparisons are close just against the RE-20-like modes, that will also help you decide.

Happy watching!