FWD: [AH] Line6 DL4 modifications

[Legion <legion@voicenet.com>]

This is a forwarded review of the DL4 with some questions written by
Haible Juergen on the Analog Heaven mailing list. if anyone can help him
please follow up to his address at: jhaible@debitel.net 


---------------------------------

> I got my DL4 Delay Modeller last weekend. This
> thing needs some modifications.
> 
> Does anybody on the list have the dedicated
> expression pedal ? I need the pinout of the connection
> (pot wiper on ring or on tip of the plug ?), and the resistance
> value of the potentiometer.
> What to do with that ? First, use one the pedals I already have,
> second, use a CV from the Modular to morph between the
> DL4's parameters.
> 
> Next thing might be a dedicated switch for backwards mode.
> Something that produces the required double click from
> an extra switch and a little oscillator.
> 
> What I wanted to do most of all, sadly might not be possible.
> I wanted to add a negative feedback loop around the whole device
> to get an adjustable fade out of the loop contents in Overdoub
> mode. But apparently there is also some considerable delay
> of the external (analogue, negative) loop compared to the internal,
> digital loop, so you get a weird flanging instead of partial 
>cancellation.
> Would have been too nice (;->).
> 
> How do I like it, btw ?
> I got a mixed impression. I do not regret I have bought it: I wanted a
> loooong loop sampler, and I got one for DM 650,-. That's what
> I was ready to spend for this function, so the other modes are
> just an extra bonus for me. I was curious about the quality of
> the "vintage" FX emulations, of course. Some I did like better, some
> I didn't like at all.
> 
> My favorites are the "low res digital delay" and the "digital delay with
> modulation". The decrease of quality with every reflection sounds
> very similar to many digital delays I've heard. It's nicely emulated
> (but then I think it should be easy to emulate, shouldn't it ?). The
> modulated delay sounds like a slow vibrato in the feedback loop.
> I haven't heard the original Electro Harmonix box, so I cannot really
> compare, but I like the sound. It's as good as on the other digital 
>delays
> with LFO that I own.
> 
> The "tape echoes" are some funny programs. I own a real Roland
> RE-201 (the reverb-less model RE-101 is emulated as "multi head
> echo"), but none of the other two emulated tape devices
> (called "tube echo" and "tape echo"), so my opinion is restricted to this
> background.
> "Tube echo": Wow and flutter of tape emulation: Not bad. Better than
> I had expected. Tube drive & Tape saturation emulation: What, only
> one knob for both parameters ? I did not like the sound of this 
>distortion
> at all. (see below)
> "Tape echo": Treble and Bass, but no more tweakable tape saturation?
> Hmm ...
> "Multi Head Echo". Ok, this is where I can really compare with the 
>original.
> There is some tape distortion and wow & flutter, but it's not adjustable.
> And it's way too much "dirt". I do not doubt that there are worn and run
> down Space Echoes out there that sound like this, but I'd rather have
> a simulation of a *good* one. I mean, my RE-201 has that nice chorussing
> tape speed fluctuations, but it doesn't sound bad or "low fi". It *can*
> be overdriven, and sound quite nasty, but it also can sound very clean
> even after multiple echo repetitions. The DL4 sounds nothing like that.
> It probably shows how "dirty" a RE-201 *can* sound, which is a tiny
> fraction of the original's possiblities. The adjustable parameters
> of the "tube echo" model are much better, but the distortion is still
> not as nice as on my (non tube!) RE-201.
> "Analogue echo": This is funny. They have implemented some artefacts
> that that occur when a BBD delay's delay time is tweaked in real time.
> The artefacts are impressive, but they are somewhat different from what
> I've expected. I have played with the delay knob of many BBD delays
> and got a similar effect on all of them, but quite different to the 
>effect
> the DL4 produces. I cannot tell about the particulat Boss delay they
> emulated, because I don't have the original. So I may be wrong here.
> 
> Bottom line: As I said, I bought this box because of the Loop Sampler.
> I like it very much. it's my first "real" Loop device, and it's so 
>intuitive
> that I recorded a song with it on the first day. I wished it had a knob
> for "feedback" that works in the overdoub mode. Sometimes you don't
> want to build and build and build up, but you want to gradually erease
> your previous stuff and build up a new loop in real time. I'd rather
> have this than the extra delay function that is built into the Loop 
>Sampler.
> 
> The other models are nice. A nice addition, and some of them really
> pleasant. Just don't expect they can replace an original tape echo.
> 
> I guess this mini-review part was a little off topic. But don't forget to
> give me feedback on the expression pedal.
> Ist there a special mailing list for these boxes ?
> 
> JH.

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