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Boss DD-500 Digital Delay

Boss introduces the DD-500, a feature packed digital delay pedal with 12 distinct modes and deep editing controls.

Boss DD-500 Digital Delay

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The company declares that this is their most sophisticated and versatile delay pedal yet, with each delay mode having their own unique sonic footprint that you can tweak to your preference.

To achieve versatility without sacrificing tone quality, Boss equipped the new DD-500 with a high-powered DSP running at 32-bit/96kHZ. While the delay processing is digital, your guitar signal remains analog at all times, giving you the option to go true-bypass or buffered.

Going the buffered route is required if you want to utilize carryover, where delay trails are not cut off unnaturally when you are switching the effect. It also helps strengthen the analog dry signal especially when using long cables.

The DD-500’s advanced DSP allowed Boss to carefully craft the individual voices of the 12 delay modes. Going through the modes will let you go from warm tape echoes, gritty vintage delays, to complex delay features like filtering, pitch shifting and many more. You can start with basic echo, then branch out to the various emulations of classic delays, and you can opt for experimental lush spatial textures – all in one compact pedal.

For starters, Vintage Digital mode offers the first emulations of classic delay pedals from the ’80s, including the SDE-2000 and SDE-3000 rack units from Roland and the Boss DD-2, the first stompbox digital delay. It also includes other basic delays, warm analog and tape echo types, pattern-based effects, and complex modern delay lines that employ pitch shifting, filtering, and other unique processed delay sounds .

On top of the 12 different modes, the pedal gives you hands-on knobs that will let you shape essential parameters to create your own delay sounds. Should you require further tone shaping, you can each delay type also comes with semi-parametric four-band EQ, modulation effect, ducking, and various other parameters. This expands the sounds that you can get from this delay pedal even further.

To help you keep track of the many settings, the DD-500 comes with a large LCD interface that lets you monitor patch ID, delay time and many more. It is also where you can navigate the various parameters, presets and system management settings.

For even more personalization, the pedal features freely assignable controls. According to the press release, “With its freely assignable controls, the DD-500 offers unmatched creative expression and performance flexibility. By default, the A, B, and TAP/CTL switches provide control for two patches, bypass, bank selection, tap tempo, and more. However, they can be customized to operate in alternate ways, such as providing top-level access to three different delay patches, or controlling various real-time functions like Warp, Twist, and many others. Additional parameters can be controlled via an optional expression pedal or external switches, and MIDI I/O opens up even more options with advanced setups.

Check out the official video demo:

As if all the above features are not enough, Boss bundled this delay pedal with a 60 second stereo looper that can go up to 120 seconds in mono. This means that it can double as a nifty loop station should the need arise. Other features include USB connectivity, and MIDI control. Finally, the Boss DD-500 can run on four AA-size batteries or an optional AC adapter, making it easier to replace the batteries when needed.

The new Boss DD-500 Digital Delay pedal is currently available for pre-order with a price tag of $299. For further details, visit Boss.

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