I have something to get off my chest about the Deluxe Memory Man.

[themusicboxstudios]

Even though I talk it up (and I've got videos to prove it!), the EHX DMM does in fact have quite a bit of flaws.

1. Tis Big
2. Volume Drop w/ a hot signal
3. Changes the original tone when engaged
4. Noisier repeats than some of the other high-end analog delays (some are quieter than others)

that said ... I stick mine in a true-bypass loop ... and all is well

It is in no way the end all of delays, but it works perfectly for my needs, but it may not work for you.

 

[TimH]

Well if it works it works. I know your unit is vintage but do you think some of the problems are more unique to vintage units than the new ones?

 

[cmloeffler]

Even though I talk it up (and I've got videos to prove it!), the EHX DMM does in fact have quite a bit of flaws.

1. Tis Big
2. Volume Drop w/ a hot signal
3. Changes the original tone when engaged
4. Noisier repeats than some of the other high-end analog delays (some are quieter than others)

that said ... I stick mine in a true-bypass loop ... and all is well

It is in no way the end all of delays, but it works perfectly for my needs, but it may not work for you.

I concur with all of these. The DMM is my favorite analog delay sound, but the negatives finally convinced me to sell it. That said... NONE of the "work a likes" I have played sound like it.

 

[The Whiz]

I concur with all of these. The DMM is my favorite analog delay sound, but the negatives finally convinced me to sell it. That said... NONE of the "work a likes" I have played sound like it.

Hi! I bought the DMM Mr Loeffler sold, or at least one of them. I agree that it is very noisy but, for some reason, if I run a buffer in front of it (be it a Boss DD5, Boss TU2 or an Axess BS-2 buffer/splitter) it is WAAAAAY quieter. In fact it's quite quiet now. And it sounds awesome. But without the buffer in front mine's unuseable.

I was curious and asked Howard Davis (the original DMM designer) about how the buffer in front cleans mine right up and he said that he couldn't see why that would happen. Odd. But it works great with mine.

Food for thought if anyone has a noisy dmm. Give it a try.
:BEER

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I love mine to death...I sold it, tried to go back to digital delay, and bought back my DMM a week later...to me, it has a certain magic that just MAKES my lead tone. It's subtle, but I can't go without it either.

 

[dividedsky]

I've had a couple and they didn't work for me but it sounds great when in your clips. Probably has more to do with the player than the individual units.

 

[Mojambo]

I agree that it changes your original tone when engaged...but I actually like the way it changes my tone. Gives it a bit more warmth

 

[Sid]

mine was modded to remove all the above

 

[Enjoyer]

Man!!!!!
You are spot on curehardy. This is the pedal I love to hate and hate to love. It is sooooooo close to perfect and sooooooo deficient in many, many ways. I truly love my DMM, but its quirks won't allow me to use it outside a controled environment. Perhaps, I have a lemon. Perhaps, they are all this way. When she is good, she is SO very good. When she is not, she completely interferes and destroys everything else I have going on. Mine gets a random feedback going on occasion. With this issue, I can't use it.

All that said, this is one of my all-time favorite delays. Again, it is so close to perfect in so many ways, I can't part with it. I certainly wish these issues could all be addressed. Sooooo close. So close.

Sid, what mods removed "all of the above" and who did 'em for you????

 

[Victor R]

I love my MM.

 

[Windup 43]

I accept whatever small flaws it may have (these apparently vary from unit to unit, mine is near perfect)- I realize that there's nothing else that will sound quite like it and I'd really reget it if I ever got rid of it.

 

[Daniel-San]

I love my DMM too and I don't think any other delay could replace it. It does indeed colour my tone, but in a good way...for me. I don't have noise issues though.

 

[mild]

mine was modded to remove all the above

Tell us more! Did they make it smaller, too? Who did it?

 

[GovernorSilver]

Even though I talk it up (and I've got videos to prove it!), the EHX DMM does in fact have quite a bit of flaws.

1. Tis Big
2. Volume Drop w/ a hot signal
3. Changes the original tone when engaged
4. Noisier repeats than some of the other high-end analog delays (some are quieter than others)

that said ... I stick mine in a true-bypass loop ... and all is well

It is in no way the end all of delays, but it works perfectly for my needs, but it may not work for you.

Is the above in reference to older DMMs or the one currently sold in stores?

 

[Jahn]

Somethin' about turning on a DMM and losing yourself in it...here's me in the throes of luscious imperfection:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naKu8RvWITQ

 

[themusicboxstudios]

Is the above in reference to older DMMs or the one currently sold in stores?

all of them ... vintage ones have a worse volume drop because of the buffered bypass, so its hard to get the levels set properly. a TB loop fixes this because you can adjust the level.

in my experience, the new one's are noisier as well.

the new ones oscillate a bit more cleanly as well.

i'll be making a comparison video today or tomorrow ... depends if my new DMM comes in the mail today.

 

[ChickenLover]

curehardy,
Could you clarify something for me? I have used a DMM RI for several years now...mine does not have true bypass although I did mod it to be true bypass at one time...then quickly changed it back to stock because of the volume drop. Sure, I tried increasing the Output Level but then it just starts clipping...I've had more than one and they all did it (i.e. clipped a little too much when you increased the Output Level to unity).

So I guess I don't see how a loop solves this problem. The unit still decreases volume a little when it's in the signal path and you can't get it back up to unity without clipping. So when you engage the loop you're either losing a little volume or you have clipping (see note below)...which were essentially the same problems when it was true bypass. IME, you just can't have true bypass (or a loop) with a DMM and not have one of those problems (either clipping or a volume drop).

Note: The DMM has a fairly sensitive input and if fed too strong a signal (anything more than PAF-type humbuckers) there will be some clipping. But the clipping mostly occurs in the echoes and I think that's where some of the 'magic' occurs. As long as that clipping is kept low enough...but at some point that clipping becomes objectionable.

FWIW, all the 4558 chips in it are socketed and you can try TL-072 or other 'cleaner' OpAmps to clean it up a tiny bit. I tried that and it may have helped marginally but it still has the same issues.

 

[slingshotmb]

 

[themusicboxstudios]

it just works for me. can't explain why. i bring it up to unity and it still sounds wonderful.

 

[gold_soundz]

They also have limited headroom meaning they distort very easily if you use humbuckers. You have no chance of a clean sound coming out of it with any kind of boost pedal infront.