Thinking about going all analog.

[trivial]

I am thinking about going all analog with my board. Right now that doesn't mean a whole lot as I only have a DD-20 that isn't.

My current chain is Fulldrive 2> Volume pedal> DD-20.

I wold like to have overdrive> boost> fuzz > volume> tremelo > delay (and possibly a reverb in there).

Is there any benefit to going all analog other than just to say so? Any recommendations before I begin figuring out specifically what I want to buy/try?

(I am a strat/tele guy into a Dr. Z Maz Jr. primarily. I play a little of everything... but think roots rock alt/country)

.m

 

[minjason]

you could keep your DD-20 and get a psionic audio triad. this would cover your boost needs and also give you an effects loop so that you can keep your DD-20 AND keep your signal analog.

 

[coolhand78]

analog rules!!! most of my pedals are analog...
the rotosphere is digital i think... but the others are all ana... and i love my tone!!!

i've had digital pedals in the past and whilst they are good, and i'd consider them in the future, i love the 'organic' factor of analog... i love the fact that they are wired by hand and that, generally, a PERSON has made them, sure there are exceptions... but in general, i prefer analog, for it's warmer more 'organic' quality...

 

[John Phillips]

I'm all-analog.

The advantage is that it sounds better, to me...

... although I have to say that digital delay does not bother me, if the dry part of the signal is kept analog and only the repeats are digital - which the Boss does. I like many digital effects too, just not really as part of my live guitar-to-amp signal path - it seems to do something to the response and feel, as well as the tone.

BTW, analog does not in any way mean they are wired by hand. Almost all of mine are factory-made and all have PCBs (even my ZVex Fuzz Factory, it's not an early one).

 

[hamfist]

... although I have to say that digital delay does not bother me, if the dry part of the signal is kept analog and only the repeats are digital - which the Boss does.

Good point John,and I'm just going to make it again for all the folks that missed it.

The DD-20 has NO analogue/digital conversions on the main dry signal. ONLY on the repeats.
So your main tone remains analogue, only the repeats would be digital.

 

[StompBoxBlues]

Good point John,and I'm just going to make it again for all the folks that missed it.

The DD-20 has NO analogue/digital conversions on the main dry signal. ONLY on the repeats.
So your main tone remains analogue, only the repeats would be digital.

Does anyone know definitively if this is the case with the Nova Delay?

 

[83stratman]

"if the dry part of the signal is kept analog and only the repeats are digital - which the Boss does."

Is this typical, or is the Boss unique in this respect?

 

[John Phillips]

"if the dry part of the signal is kept analog and only the repeats are digital - which the Boss does."

Is this typical, or is the Boss unique in this respect?

Boss isn't unique (the Akai Headrush is definitely analog-dry too), but some definitely do digitize the dry path (the Line6 DL-4 for certain).

There is no hard and fast rule, and if it matters to you, you need to find out about individual ones.

There's an easy way to check if you have some recording software - split the signal, one half straight to the computer and the other via the effect unit. Record in stereo, and have a look at the waveform of the initial note attack on both channels. If they line up even at the highest resolution, it's analog. Digital always introduces latency which will show up as an offset for the path that went through the effect, and you can measure the latency from the screen (the Line6 DL4 was about 1.5mS, FWIW.)

It's not so much the amount that matters (you can't hear that short a delay) but whether it's there at all. If there is any, you can't run the pedal in a parallel FX loop without setting either the amp or the pedal to 100% wet, or it will cause 'comb filter' cancellation and a nasty, thin tone. IMO even running the full straight signal - especially anything distorted - through the sort of quality of digital converters in an FX pedal just makes it sound bad anyway.

 

[Chadley]

The Nova converts your dry signal as well. Usually any pedal that has a mix knob that goes from 100% dry/0% wet to 0% dry/100% wet is going to have to convert your dry signal for phase reasons.

I ran some extensive tests on the DD20 a few months ago to prove that the dry signal path does remain analog. I posted them and you can find them somewhere here on the TGP.

 

[AfterDarkMusic]

Is there any benefit to going all analog other than just to say so?

Why would you even consider it if there wasn't anything you particularly wanted to or thought you could gain?

Analog delays just sound different. Typically more 'organic' or even 'noisy' if you will. I love the sound, some do some don't.

Check out the Deluxe Memory Man for a wicked analog delay.

 

[trivial]

Why would you even consider it if there wasn't anything you particularly wanted to or thought you could gain?

Analog delays just sound different. Typically more 'organic' or even 'noisy' if you will. I love the sound, some do some don't.

Check out the Deluxe Memory Man for a wicked analog delay.

Eh, I guess I just thought it might be an interesting discussion.

.m

 

[gang twanger]

I've found that my tone is more "real", more authentic, more "me", when I keep it as analog as I can. I mean let's face it; digital distortion, or even digital amp tone does not compare to analog. I think most electric players would agree; not all but most. I try to keep my sound mostly analog. If I do want to use something digital (such as a tuner or digital delay), I run it through the effects loop, and keep all the analog stuff going straight into the amp. The only thing digital (besides my tuner) that I'm using right now is a Korg AX1500G, which I pretty much only use for delay and sometimes reverb. Digital delays tend to be more flexible for the money and with my budget, I'm willing to deal with the tradeoff as far as sound quality is concerned. Analog delays are predominantly warmer and more organic-sounding than digital, whereas many people feel digital delays aren't as lively-sounding, lack depth, and sound more brittle.

I've been way into the whole vintage thing throughout most of my years playing guitar, so I guess that's my excuse.

 

[jgyn]

The main reason I don't use an analog delay is that I currently use long or reverse delays, which is only possible (at a decent price) with digital.

 

[trivial]

The main reason I don't use an analog delay is that I currently use long or reverse delays, which is only possible (at a decent price) with digital.

Yeah, this why I bought the dd-20, but I find that I don't usually use more than 600ms and I only use reverse for volume swells, which sound ok with other types of delay anyway...

I do like my Boss, but I have always been intrigued by the memory lane (dotted 8th mod).

.m

 

[guitbeef]

I would say keep the DD-20, and don't sweat it at all. In the past I have been a real stickler for true analog and for running delays and tone-sucking devices in parallel and/or in loopers, but I have lightened up a lot in recent years. I made the jump to a DD-20 because I just got tired of lugging my Rocktron Multivalve around in a rack (the Multivalve does internal parallel mixing), and I've been very, very happy. It has been a relief for me to learn that it does keep the dry signal analog.
FWIW I haven't had trouble getting what I need from digital devices for the most part, though I do prefer, without a doubt, analog as a whole. For example, I have dialed in patches on my ME-50 to SOUND almost identical to some pedals I have (RC Booster, modded SD-1, old-style Burn Unit), but the feel and reaction to my guiitar's volume knob is different though, and not in a good way. But hey, the real world application for me is when I do a fly date I can pack my ME-50 in my luggage with my clothes, get to the gig, run it on batteries thrrough a backline clean amp and get tones very close to my regular pedal board. Yeah, it's not quite the same, but hey, I just try to put it the diffference out of my mind and focus on playing some music.

Having said all that, I still prefer analog, but I like having different types of delay sounds in a relatively small footprint on my board, so I use my DD-20 as my sole digital pedal and I'm happy.

 

[-analog-]

did the same thing, I had digital chorus, flange, bunch of crapoid boss distortion boxes that really just sucked tone and made any guitar sound over processed, the worst tone I ever had was using a digital chorus / delay/ distortion setup! Analog is better-

I see recording studios purchasing 2" multitrack decks again just because they sound better. Thankfully there still is a good portion of people that believe in voltage control

DD-20's for a digital delay really dont sound too Cold! They retain allot of the signal quality. The DD20 is the only digital piece on my board thats in my signal chain & it doesnt seem to have much effect on my overall tone

You can go crazy $pending to get a good analog delay to compete with the DD20- non really can compete in the feature/function realm. You'll get better tone from an analog delay warmth wise. But no tap tempo, presets etc. or even Stereo in/out

if you put the DD20 on the bottom corner of your pedal board and surround it with Analog pedals it will feal threatend and force itself to behave and not mess up the tone, otherwise the analog pedals will kick its arse in

 

[TDJMB]

The last digital unit I used was the Digitech GSP2101 - which is a quality unit and has 2 preamp tubes. It's easier to use in many ways - just grab some presets or program your own and cycle through them. But I've switched over to analog because I think it sounds better. It may be noisier and it's harder to get to the knobs on the floor and there aren't 100 increments to each parameter and it requires a bunch of cables and power supplies. But I think it sounds better.