Eventide

120 Guitarist October 2007
BOSS, TC ELECTRONIC, EVENTIDE & DAMAGE CONTROL DELAY EFFECTS £152-£399
EFFECTS
Bright LEDs should help you avoid any onstage confusion with the Timefactor
The bottom line
BOSS RE20 Space Echo
We like: Realistic recreation of
the RE-201 sound; ease of use;
updates added without
changing the original character
We dislike: Power adaptor,
not supplied
Guitarist says: An analogue
classic revived in digital form.
TC Electronic
ND1 Nova Delay
We like: Compact size;
ease of use
We dislike: Preset recall by foot
a little awkward
Guitarist says: A great set of
facilities for the price while
taking up a modest amount of
pedalboard space.
Eventide Timefactor
We like: Huge sound creation
potential; future-proofed by
USB upgrade capability
We dislike: Complexity doesn’t
lend itself to onstage tweaking
Guitarist says: Rackmount
facilities in a stompbox-
attention to detail creates a
real versatility for stage or
studio use.
Damage Control
Timeline
We like: Built like a tank;
WYSIWYG control; movable
virtual tape heads
We dislike: No delay time
setting in milliseconds
Guitarist says: Brilliant sounds,
stage-friendly but would you
want to spend £399 on a
delay pedal?
Damage Control solid curvy
casing holding a couple of valves
that add a nice character to the
sound. This pedal offers just about
all the traditional options that a
digital delay can with a rotary
switch that selects slapback, long,
dotted eighth, ping pong, multi
and reverse delays, modulation or
looping. That switch can also
access one of the four banks of two
footswitch-accessed presets that
the Timeline is capable of storing.
There are no digital readouts
here, just colour-coded signals
from the central ‘Magic Eye’ and
the two valve windows to let you
know what you have selected.
Control is hands-on via four
rubber coated dual concentric
knobs, the first of which sets delay
time and repeats while the second
sets modulation depth and speed
or the relative positions of two
extra virtual tape heads in multi
mode. With the remaining knobs
you get control over the wet/dry
mix and the character of the delay
with ‘grit’ adding in a bit of dirt,
‘filter’ changing the EQ of the
notes to sound like an older style
tape or analogue unit and ‘smear’
softening the attack of the repeats
for blending purposes.
Although you can’t directly set
the delay time in ms or BPM the
Timefactor will sync to MIDI for
precision if you need it, but the tap
tempo is well implemented and
includes the trick of holding down
the button and hitting the strings
like in the TC. Getting sounds is
all about juxtaposition of the
knobs and there is an incredible
range of excellent sounding
modulation and echo effects on
offer here.
Final thoughts
The easiest pedal to use among
those on test is the BOSS, which
can immerse your sound in a
warm bath of echoes and reverb.
Compared with the other pedals
here, it might be viewed as a one-
trick pony but it is an excellent
trick. It's not just for nostalgics
and vintage freaks either, because
it has been updated with a couple
of thoughtful touches to make it
more amenable to modern-
minded players.
The compact-sized TC is a good
option for the pedalboard of
anyone needing a versatile variety
of delays of different tempos
during a set. It’s dead easy to use
as a straight delay with plenty of
useful attributes for tweaking the
effect to your exact liking.
Spending more money won’t
necessarily get you better sound
quality but it will get you more
facilities. Versatility is the name of
the game for both the Eventide
and Damage Control with looping,
delay-based modulation effects,
(flanging, chorus, rotary speaker
etc), and all shades of delay
including widely adjustable multi-
taps. These two are indeed the do-
everything pedals as far as delay-
based effects are concerned and
their pricing reflects that.
Of the two, the Damage Control
is perhaps the more intuitive to
use and is stage-friendly with
instant results from simple knob
turning and the green, amber and
orange glows in the window
instantly showing your status.
The Eventide with the dual delay
lines and more in the way of less
conventional sounds needs a little
more attention in the setting up
but it has its own advantages in a
digital readout for every single
parameter and the ability to
exactly set the delay time in ms
and BPM without recourse to
MIDI, plus 20 programmable
presets that can be stepped
through in a set.
This is not a shoot-out at the
Echo Corral so there are no
winners and losers – each of these
does a fine job of the basic delay
tasks but each takes its versatility
in a slightly different direction.
It’s really down to just what you
need your delay pedal to do for you
at a price that seems reasonable.
Valves add character to the Damage Control Timeline’s sounds
GIT295.rev_delay 120 11/9/07 14:43:37