Boss DD-5 Digital Delay

After recently reviewing the new and awesome DD-500, we figured it was time to round out the digital delay pedals offered up by Boss, and the only one we had left was today’s featured pedal, the DD-5 Digital Delay. Although we did review a version of this pedal before, it had been modded by JHS, so we’re gonna take a look at the stock pedal and see what it has to offer as it comes stock.

The DD-5 is jam-packed with delay options, most notably the specific Delay modes. These range in overall delay time from 1ms to 2000ms (2 full seconds!), which is a pretty nice range, and useable for most of us. Sure, there are other delays with longer times, but 2 seconds is a pretty long time, and can be just the right amount in many, many situations, especially in a live setting. Mode 5 is the Hold function, which can be useful sometimes, but let’s face it: the DD-5 is a delay pedal, and there are better, more intuitive looper pedals available on the market. Not my favorite feature here, but that’s about my only complaint.

The ability to do Reverse is fun, for sure, which is another reason I dig the DD-5. Hours of wacked-out noises can come from the reverse setting, as many of you know, and it’s no different here. The E/D mode outputs your Dry signal from one channel and the Wet signal from the other, making for more sonic fun to explore. The last dial features 4 different tap tempo selections (quarter, dotted eighth, eighth and quarter note triplet) for use with an external tap tempo switch (like the FS-5U).

An instant classi pedal, and one that has remained on many boards around the world since its release, the DD-5 is a pretty straightforward delay, with a couple of cool options and a ton of useable sounds. As with all Boss pedals, you could throw it off the Space Needle or Sears Tower, take the elevator down, pick it up and go play a gig with it (most likely), so you definitely don’t have to worry about it breaking down in the middle of a gig. If you want more Boss gear, check out their site, or search here for a ton of reviews on their great pedals!