Boss

BOSS DD-500
DIGITAL DELAY
£275
An almighty echo-heavy addition to the tenacious DD series
BOSS DD500
REVIEW
BACK
in 1983, Boss was
the fi rst company
to create a stompbox digital delay
with the DD-2, making pristine
repeats and longer delay times
available to all. Fast-forward to the
early 2000s, and – kickstarted by
Line 6’s DL4 – delay pedals entered
a new stage of evolution with
presets and multiple models, and
Boss’s twin-footswitched DD-20
followed suit. Now, the company’s
latest fl agship echo is in
competition with the high-end
Strymons and Eventides of the
delay world. The solution? Push
the DD format to its limits.
At fi rst glance, the DD-500
mirrors its forebears, with physical
knobs for key parameters: 12 delay
types, time, feedback, level, tone
and mod depth are all to hand,
with your delay time displayed on
the nifty LCD screen, which can
also be used to dial in tempos and
relative note lengths for ultra-
precise delay times. However, hit
the edit key, and you’ll fi nd an
obscene number of parameters,
from mod rate to EQ damping,
ducking and stereo panning, not to
mention mode-dependent settings
– but more on that later.
A whopping 297 patches are
available to save your carefully
crafted tones – you can access any
two patches at once, assigned to
the A and B footswitches, while
tap/control offers tap tempo or a
host of assignable functions: you
can freeze current repeats, rapidly
increase the delay rate for
pitch-bending insanity or use it as
a momentary footswitch so the
delay only sounds when your foot
is down, plus dozens more.
Alternatively, you can access three
patches on the fl y by changing the
pedal to A/B/C operation – it’s this
The DD-500 ranks among the
best high-end delay units
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
fl exibility that’s among the
DD-500’s greatest strengths.
You can always rely on Boss
to produce great-sounding
delays, and the DD-500 doesn’t
disappoint. From crystalline digital
reproductions to furry DM-2-style
repeats and a choice of Space Echo
and Echoplex tape echoes, you
can’t fault the integrity of the tones
on offer. The DD-500 can get weird
with the best of them, too: Slow
Attack applies fade-ins to each
repeat, while Filter twists and
turns them with a choice of three
LFOs. SFX is our fave – nothing
beats adding bit crusher and
tremolo to delays for destructive
mayhem. Likewise Pattern’s
assortment of glitchy rhythms, and
Tera Echo’s delay-meets-reverb
ambience. Shimmer is the only
setting likely to divide opinion –
although it offers a full range of
intervals two octaves up or down,
its tonality and tracking don’t quite
stack up to its stompbox rivals.
While delay junkies may argue
that Strymon and Eventide have
the edge in the tone department,
Boss has them beat in terms of
fl exibility and value for money
– we haven’t even mentioned the
easy-to-use looper, which boasts
up to 120 seconds of loop time.
It all ensures the DD-500 ranks
among the best high-end delay
units available today, and makes
a worthy successor to the Boss
digital delay throne.
Michael Astley-Brown
76 FEBRUARY 2016
TYPE: Digital delay pedal
CONTROLS: Mode, time/value,
feedback, effect level, tone, mod
depth; down, up, exit, edit keys
SOCKETS: 2x inputs, 2x outputs,
control/expression, USB, MIDI
in/ out, power
BYPASS: Buffered or true bypass
POWER: 9V power supply (not
included), 4x AA batteries
CONTACT: Roland UK
01792 702701 www.roland.co.uk
AT A GLANCE
FOOTSWITCHES
HIT A and B together to
bank down through
presets, hit B and tap/
control to bank up; hold
A or B for two seconds
and you head into
looper mode
CONNECTIONS
BESIDES the usual
stereo ins and outs,
you can plug in an
expression pedal, sync
tempos via MIDI, plus
swap out presets from
your PC via the USB port
EDITING
THE DD-500 offers
bountiful parameters
for each delay type, as
well as the ability to
choose buffered or true
bypass and assign
functions to the tap/
control footswitch
TGR276.gear_boss.indd 76 18/12/2015 12:25