Well, my new Digitech Hardwire DL-8 delay/looper arrived via the friendly UPS man today! I hope at some point to get some clips up, but right now this week is very busy for me and next week is worse so . . .

I'm happy to report that all the knobs work as designed, unlike my old Boss DD-6. No surprises there. The DL-8 is also has more features than the DD-6. Thus far I really like the Tape mode for high gain lead tones. It gives you that "bigness" but the repeats fade away softly. I'm also quite impressed with the Modulated mode for quasi-reverb sounds. The modulation is very subtle except at extreme settings. The modulation cannot be adjusted. At the level I use it, it adds a certain something without sounding like you've got your 80s chorus cranked to 11.

Even the purely digital delay's repeats seem to fade in a way that I find more pleasing than the Boss'. Analog mode adds some warmth which helps push the repeats into the background. Lofi mode sounds just like you might expect. The repeats are dark and gritty. Very cool in some applications, but I think they could get lost with a bunch of gain. I haven't had the chance to try the looper yet, but I will get to that at some point.

Thus far, color me pleased. I'll give a more full report once the honeymoon has worn off a bit.