I have on loan from a local pro-audio dealer the new DOD Dimension 12.
As a "looping device" it has serious flaws.
I'll be brief:
Wall Wart.
Audio is mono.
No level indication of any kind.
Has a mono Hi-Z input jack, a stereo line level input, but only MONO output. (actually there are 2 outputs, but one is labled "Main" and the other "Monitor" they allow auditioning samples out one, and routing through input audio to the other.)
You can record four 6-second samples, which can be looped.
You can play either 1 & 2 or 3 & 4 simultaneously (2 voice polyphony)
You cannot listen to one sample while recording another.
You cannot overdub on a sample.
The 4 big buttons on the front panel do not play the stored samples, they 'select' them THEN you can press the 'play' button....
Samples can be played backwards.
Pressing the delay mode button wipes the sample memory.
Delay has infinite hold mode. ("loop" button on front).
Delay time cannot be adjusted with a knob, so no tuning of 'loops'.
Modulation of delay is 'destructive' in 'loop' mode. (If you apply modulation to the held delay loop, it is now a permanent corruption of the signal.)
MIDI input only receives program change data.
MIDI input only controls "sampler' functions (not delay functions).
Has a footswitch input, 3 button proprietary. In delay mode said to control "sample/hold" (maybe the same as the 'loop' button on the front panel?), 'Tap" and "effect on/off" (the "effect" button on the front panel turns the modulation on).
'Looped' delay cannot be edited, reversed or copied into a Sample location.
Delay has a 'Tap-Tempo' feature, tapping slower tempos will 'multiply' current loop (as on Jam-Man).
Has a nice 'reverse delay' mode which samples input signal for the selected delay length, and plays it out backwards, during which time it mutes the dry signal.
No loop, feedback or modulation while in reverse.
Delay time only adjustable in 10ms increments up to 10s, then 100ms.
(from a later post)
Two more things,
The input circuit has a nice sounding overload.
There is no bypass function. Nowhere.
Follow-up questions and answers:
Hi Chuck,
a few questions:
- Does it have any sync functions, to midi clock for example?
- any display for delay time or anything else useful?
- what's the audio quality spec'd at?
- is the interface intuitive or confusing?
>Wall Wart.
boooooo!
>You can record four 6-second samples, which can be looped.
can the lengths of these samples be independent of each other? Does it let you do one 24 second loop, or are you stuck at 6 seconds?
>The 4 big buttons on the front panel do not play the stored samples, they
>'select' them THEN you can press the 'play' button....
Is there any sort of retriggering?
>MIDI input only receives program change data.
>
>MIDI input only controls "sampler' functions (not delay functions).
any more details on the midi functionality? Does it just replicate the front panel buttons? Are you able to trigger samples with midi? (although triggering them with program change would be a bit different from the way any other sampler does it...)
>'Looped' delay cannot be edited, reversed or copied into a Sample location.
a fluff piece I saw said you could edit sample start/stop points. How well does that work?
thanks!
kim
Reply to Kim from Chuck:
Kim,
This device has a LONG way to go before it could be very useful to anyone here. For instance: If you could play 4 samples simultaneously, record and trim samples while the others played, trigger samples with MIDI or footswitches, copy delay loops into samples, reverse the delay while overdubbing, use audio inputs to trigger samples, even stereo direct signal pass through.
Please imagine what you would like to be able to do with the box in a performance setting, then re-read the review and this reply.
-Chuck Zwicky
>- Does it have any sync functions, to midi clock for example?
NO
>- any display for delay time or anything else useful?
3 digit LED display for time
>- what's the audio quality spec'd at?
No Spec given
>- is the interface intuitive or confusing?
Confusing and idiotic. Pressing one of the 4 front panel buttons selects (doesn't play) the sample. Pressing two of them clears the memory. With the modulation unselected, turning the depth knob glitches the audio.
>can the lengths of these samples be independent of each other? Does it let
>you do one 24 second loop, or are you stuck at 6 seconds?
TWO 6 sec can be played simultaneously from one "group", i.e. 1&2 OR 3&4
LENGTH can be independant, however:
You CANNOT listen to one sample while recording another.
You CANNOT overdub on a sample.
>Is there any sort of retriggering?
NO. There is a 'Stutter' button, which alows retriggering, but you have to SELECT the sample, then tap the stutter button. There is no way to trigger all 4 samples quickly.
>any more details on the midi functionality? Does it just replicate the
>front panel buttons?
YES
>Are you able to trigger samples with midi? (although
>triggering them with program change would be a bit different from the way
>any other sampler does it...)
NO
>>'Looped' delay cannot be edited, reversed or copied into a Sample location.
>a fluff piece I saw said you could edit sample start/stop points. How well
>does that work?
Fine, as long as playback is stopped. Otherwise it gets locked in a mode where the loop gets shorter and shorter. 10ms accuracy only.
Chuck Zwicky:
> This device has a LONG way to go before it could be very useful to anyone
>here.
This _sounds_ like an exaggeration. It sounds like the DOD Dimension 12's _delay_ mode is quite similar to the Jamman's _delay_ mode, which is pretty much the only way I use the Jamman because of the limited resolution of the feedback setting in its other modes and its poor design for sustained overdubbing (in loop modes, when you lay down the initial the first layer, you're booted out-- it doesn't automatically switch to overdubbing; and if you're overdubbing and switch loops, it drops out of overdubbing).
The ability to set the delay time directly (which I know the Jamman can't do directly, and I've never heard any evidence that the Echoplex can do) seems like a useful bonus.
This is not to say that everyone on this list can live without the "missing" features. And certainly you might be paying for a lot of sampling features you would never use.
Sean
Reply to Sean from Chuck:
I think that the older DOD delays have better features than this one for looping. For example, being able to tune the captured loop. I rely on the Jam-Man tempo LED quite a bit in solo performance. Synching to MIDI is not possible in the DOD, and no tempo LED compounds the problems in a 12 second loop.
Just my opinion.
I think that this list could be a great resource for any company developing a looper or delay. It's too bad that DOD will probably drop the product due to "lack of interest in looping", when it really only needs more development.
-Chuck Zwicky
Reply to Sean from Kim:
Sean T Barrett wrote:
>This is not to say that everyone on this list can live
>without the "missing" features. And certainly you might
>be paying for a lot of sampling features you would never
>use.
From the feature set and Chuck's descriptions, the sampler features you would be paying for wouldn't amount to much either. It is being touted in their marketing lit as some sort of phrase sampler for dj's, which seems a little misguided. (I don't see many dj's using rack gear, or modulation effects for that matter....) If you are looking for a sampler-like device in this price range, I think you'd be better off with similar (and much better thought out) phrase sampler devices from akai, yamaha, and boss, or the ones built into some dj mixers. Better yet, save a little more money and get an actual used akai sampler. That's my opinion, anyway, being a bit more of the sampling persuasion.
I'm kinda baffled by this product, actually. Seems to me that DOD is very confused about who the market for it is, or what that market might be interested in. I guess we'll see how long it lasts.
kim
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