EWSEthan
Active member
Just wanted to start a new thread for this topic because it seems of interest for a few people. donbarzini had given his thoughts in Marco's thread and he didnt see it comparing favorably to the Timefactor. Im having a pretty different experience with mine. Ive only used it for an hour, but Im pretty sure I already prefer it to my Boss DD-20. Now... neither the TC or the Boss are true bypass. However, to my ears, my tone still sounds damn good when either is in the signal path. Do they both affect tone? Most likely. Almost everything does, but like I said, my tone still sounds incredible so Im not sure I care. I definitely do not hear the half-cocked wah-wah type sound donbarzini is getting. I have no loss of high end that I can tell and I would think the wah wah sound would be a pretty noticable tone change and Im just not hearing it. Maybe his pedal is busted? Anyway, Im going to put the pedal in a true bypass box tomorrow night and see if I can really tell the difference (when Nova Delay is off) when its in the signal path or not. Now... onto the actual delay sounds...
The Nova Delay's delays are stellar. Really pristine, hi-fi digital delays here. Though there are settings for analog and tape, this baby sounds digital so if thats not your thing, you should look elsewhere. I happen to like that and think the crisp delay sounds are awesome. The modulation added to the delay is a little suble from what ive experienced so far, but I need more time to mess with that. Im not sure it could replace my Jacques chorus pedal with a preset but I need more time to determine that.
One concern I had is that the switches seem a little flimsy compared to the rest of the iron-clad construction. Im sure theyre fine, but compared to the Boss (which is a tank) they feel a little more sensitive. However. TC stuff is used by lots of pros (G-System on tour with Vai) so Id think they'll last.
Also, the "audio tap tempo" is definitely cool but useless if you use a parallel loop. Sure it mutes the pedals output, but if your loop mixes it in only 30%, you still get 70% of your pure dry amp (non muted) signal blasting through. I guess its only for serial loop usage?
Basically my initial thoughts are that this pedal is a great value for what it does. I think its going to replace my DD-20 but I need more time to be sure. I like the size. Its about 2/3 the size of a DD-20. For me, I dont need to spend the $400 on an Eventide because I dont need the extra features to justify the cost. If you want a hi-fi digital delay in a small box at a pretty good price, you should at least check this thing out. Maybe you'll hear what donbarzini does and it wont be for you, but I recommend you give it a listen if youre in the market for a digital delay stompbox.
-Matt
The Nova Delay's delays are stellar. Really pristine, hi-fi digital delays here. Though there are settings for analog and tape, this baby sounds digital so if thats not your thing, you should look elsewhere. I happen to like that and think the crisp delay sounds are awesome. The modulation added to the delay is a little suble from what ive experienced so far, but I need more time to mess with that. Im not sure it could replace my Jacques chorus pedal with a preset but I need more time to determine that.
One concern I had is that the switches seem a little flimsy compared to the rest of the iron-clad construction. Im sure theyre fine, but compared to the Boss (which is a tank) they feel a little more sensitive. However. TC stuff is used by lots of pros (G-System on tour with Vai) so Id think they'll last.
Also, the "audio tap tempo" is definitely cool but useless if you use a parallel loop. Sure it mutes the pedals output, but if your loop mixes it in only 30%, you still get 70% of your pure dry amp (non muted) signal blasting through. I guess its only for serial loop usage?
Basically my initial thoughts are that this pedal is a great value for what it does. I think its going to replace my DD-20 but I need more time to be sure. I like the size. Its about 2/3 the size of a DD-20. For me, I dont need to spend the $400 on an Eventide because I dont need the extra features to justify the cost. If you want a hi-fi digital delay in a small box at a pretty good price, you should at least check this thing out. Maybe you'll hear what donbarzini does and it wont be for you, but I recommend you give it a listen if youre in the market for a digital delay stompbox.
-Matt
