Boss Digital Delay DD-5

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The DD-5 has four switchable delay ranges and 11 modes give access to delays from 1 ms to 2000 ms. Delay time can also be set in realtime using the Tap Tempo function. Hold mode lets you sample a passage simply by pressing and releasing the pedal.

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $239.50

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User Reviews of the Boss Digital Delay DD-5

Submitted by AULOS from Hereford Uk (488 points) on Jun 4, 2008
This thing is worth every penny. You can get so much out of it. I think my favorite function is the hold or the short function. You can really drag your sound out by holding a single note or chord then messing up the speed or repeats with the "Feedback" and "D.Time." The thing that I was looking forward to the most about this pedal let me down the most. I wanted a full on Reverse but the DD5 takes your note then reverses it after it has gone through. So basically it plays it then plays it straight after reversed. I wanted it to be reversed through but I can still get some good sounds. The reverse on the DD20 is much better.
Good Points: Hold function, Stereo/Mono output, Tap-Tempo, Infinite Feedback. Solid as a rock.
Bad Points: Reverse is not so hot.
Price Paid: US$134.00
Purchased At: Ebay
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Submitted by silith from Naperville, IL (8 points) on May 8, 2008
great digital delay. didnt really like the reverse mode, but everything else works well. self-oscillates like a dream.
Good Points: its boss. its solid. its reliable.
Bad Points: its boss... so its over priced.
Price Paid: US$109.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by Steven from Rosemead, CA (4 points) on Mar 3, 2007
honestly this is all you need
Good Points: all settings are awesome you got a wide range of settings and you got 2 outs!
Bad Points: probably the price
Price Paid: US$120.00
Purchased At: Guitar Center
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Submitted by caress from Allston, MA (48 points) on Aug 15, 2006
pretty good delay sound...better than the dd-3. panning is sweet and can be sent to two different effect chains. hold function is pretty great when you twist the knobs...just take the stomp cover off and tape the switch down...
Good Points: solid. panning. pretty good digital delay. hold function can create unique sounds. tap tempo.
Bad Points: some effects don't pan.
Price Paid: US$50.00
Purchased At: daddy's junky music (boston, ma)
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Submitted by tapesss from Brooksville, FL (344 points) on May 6, 2006
Really great delay. 11 different modes, i prefer the Hold mode, or one of the longer delay time modes over the others. This thing can pull off some pretty interesting tricks. This one doesn't self oscillate like other delays, but you can feed it back into itself. On setting 1 with the feedback all the way up, you can hear a very odd octave up type tone going on in the background..turning the delay time knob creates digital bit reduction sounds, unlike other delays which pitch shift when this is done. The reverse mode is alright, not something i will be relying on though. Panning mode is great, haven't used the tap tempo function yet. As usual, solid boss construction. my favorite delay thus far.
Good Points: wide variety of good, useable sounds and freaky little nuances. solid construction.
Bad Points: not really any other than the fact that it eats batteries like mad. use an adapter!
Price Paid: US$12.00
Purchased At: yard sale
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Submitted by spit + smudge from Savannah, GA (214 points) on Jul 20, 2005
Decent delay, lot of useful features crammed into such a small shell. I use it regularly now that I figured out where it was best suited.
Good Points: Delays are pretty good and the panning is pure fun! I'm sure the tempo feature is nice but I never use it.
Bad Points: That selector knob is a pain to read if you are in the dark, or at an angle. Changing the delay time results sometimes in funky digital garbage which I assume comes from the bit manipulation.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: trade.
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Submitted by the plastic heart project from Conneaut Lake, PA (8 points) on May 5, 2005
great digital delay. as usual with delay, mess around with the d. time and you can find some amazing noise. mode #7 is my pride & joy, turn the d. time all the way c-clockwise and you'll find some nice artifacts of digital distortion.
Good Points: you have a lot of control, and some tweaking can really glitch out your sound.
Bad Points: not all effects pan (sometimes pan out is a clean channel) and as other's said: there's a slight chop when changing from one mode to another.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: sam ash? like 6 years ago.
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Submitted by sclr from Portland, OR (220 points) on Mar 6, 2005
really useful. great delay for cheap. goes down to one millisecond! can stutter click and fart out some graet noises when in a feedback loop. messing with the d.time knob while running lots of sound through it can render some great digital sounds/noise. you can use the tap tempo without having to buy the seperate pedal. you just need to solder a button to a mono quarter inch jack, parts you can get at ratshack for cheap. it does have some slight delay when switching modes wich sucks but if you have some other stuff going on in the background you won't notice it.
Good Points: built well. great sounding delay. can get one for cheap. useful modes. messing with the knobs can give you surprising results.
Bad Points: slight delay in sound when switching modes.
Price Paid: US$50.00
Purchased At: music store
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Submitted by Jacob from Davis, CA (6 points) on Jan 25, 2005
Got this for the panning feature and i love it. The digital clicks that it creates when tweaking the time could be a bad thing if trying to do something clean but i am into what they add to my signal. The reverse feature although kind of cheesy is nice if you have a rumble of things going. overall i am into this, although i use another delay pedal as well for clean time/pitch changes.
Good Points: its a boss pedal, it won't break. stereo outs
Bad Points: no direct out digital glitches with real time changes (if that is bad)
Price Paid: US$65.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by D/A A/D from Halifax (410 points) on Jun 24, 2003
One of the best delay pedals ever made, so virsitile it makes me sick... And now you can find then relivly cheep, and you should... It does a lot, just an all round decent delay - and surprisingly warm for digital (not as warm as my boss dsd but oh well). more modes than you can shake a stick at...
Good Points: Boss, long delay times, warm for digital...
Bad Points: lag in between switching modes....
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At:
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Submitted by Beavis from Afghanistan (258 points) on Feb 18, 2003
Okay I have to agree with previous reviewers. This sounds good (not great) reliable. Cool panning mode. Very versatile and clean. Will survive nuclear holocaust. I have many delays and traded this for a DD 3 and a tremolo.
Good Points: Well made, nice panning mode.
Bad Points: I think its too clean sounding. I know they are probably the same, but i prefer the DD 3, its sounds warmer to me. Reverse mode is shite!!! Too many modes!!
Price Paid: US$90.00
Purchased At: London
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Submitted by J. from Atlanta, GA (44 points) on Sep 4, 2002
The DD-5 is a fairly decent delay pedal, but not the best. Altering the delay time while playing produces somewhat unnatural results - I prefer the analog delays in this instance. The loop mode is cool but like the others have said, not reliable - you get subtle shifting that might be undesirable for situations where the focus is on the loop. Reverse sound is also cool, but again not the best reverse effect out there. The pedal is versatile, and sounds good. Construction is excellent, and mine has been going strong for 6 years now and it hasn't degraded in any way. If you're like me, you'll probably want a number of different delay devices.
Good Points: Good construction, good sound quality, impressive range of delay options, very easy and intuitive. Works well with pretty much any sound source.
Bad Points: Expensive. Loop mode not reliable, digital distortion when altering delay time mid-sound
Price Paid: US$155.00
Purchased At: sam ash NYC
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Submitted by gr-eh? from Detroit, MI (398 points) on Feb 12, 2002
a beasty white delay with a grip of features inlcluding reverse, hold, tempo, and 1-2000ms of delay. an general purpose pedal and one you probably shouldn't be without. i was happy to dig up one at this price, its easily worth twice as much. my favorite feature has to be the stereo panning, in tandem with more effects behind each out.
Good Points: lean and mean boss quality. rockin' stereo delay. tap-tempo support. multitude of delay effects in a tiny box. did i mention sweet panning delay?
Bad Points: tweaking the d-time on mine gives off some odd noise sometimes. not sure if this is common, but this thing was 99%new when i got it. plus sometimes it can be hard to tell which mode you're in via the selector. that's it for the negs.
Price Paid: US$65.00
Purchased At: used record store
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Submitted by matt from Billings, MT (126 points) on Jan 24, 2002
this pedal is amazing. you can do so much with this pedal. infinite repeat, reverse effects, it has 4 settings that allow you to repeat a sound in a certain rhythmic pattern that can be adjusted with a tempo pedal. you can get crazy sound dives with the decay knob. a must have for any noisician.
Good Points: excellent delay effects, reverse effects, infinite repeat. all good points
Bad Points: none
Price Paid: US$150.00
Purchased At: hansen's music in billings, mt
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Submitted by nemoq from Edinboro, PA (18 points) on Dec 16, 2001
a delay pedal is, in my opinion, the most important tool to a noisician. The more features a delay pedal has, the more experimental the artist can get. the dd5 has many features, including Reverse delay, tap tempo delay and looping. the looping mode is a little funky, and hard to time correctly, and ive used different DD5s that worked differently in loop mode, so yeah... its no DOD DFX9 or Akai headrush... i rarely use the loop mode. one of the coolest things about the dd5 is that you can manipulate the sounds by turning the delay time knob while its delaying or while a signal is going into it. in all the modes except loop and reverse, turning the d. time will create a distortion that can sometimes be used to the artist's advantage. in reverse mode, turning the d. time has a more smooth delay manipulation. the sound is like most other digital delays, digital sounding and kinda weird, but to a noisician its a necessary tool for sonic devestation
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Price Paid: US$100.00
Purchased At: used
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