Line 6 DL-4

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  • With Line 6 doing a lot of rework to integrate the same software across numerous devices, it would be very cool to see rehoused DL-4 utilising the old DL-4 algo's that have been updated for the Helix FX unit and the other devices and Native. @Digital_Igloo ;
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  • With Line 6 doing a lot of rework to integrate the same software across numerous devices, it would be very cool to see rehoused DL-4 utilising the old DL-4 algo's that have been updated for the Helix FX unit and the other devices and Native. @Digital_Igloo ;
    thats what they have just done by adding all the legacy M-Series effects to the Helix?
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • With Line 6 doing a lot of rework to integrate the same software across numerous devices, it would be very cool to see rehoused DL-4 utilising the old DL-4 algo's that have been updated for the Helix FX unit and the other devices and Native. @Digital_Igloo ;
    thats what they have just done by adding all the legacy M-Series effects to the Helix?

    Sort of, only you have to spend £500+ on a do-it-all effects processor. I think yer man would like something more like the DL-4, with just the looper and the delays for half as much money.


    Of course, you were right the first time- an M5 will do basically everything the DL-4 does apart from the looper (and a load more besides, including the "Echo Platter" Binson Echorec sim), costs about £60 used, stores more presets, and takes up less space. 

    Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.

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  • CabicularCabicular Frets: 2214
    With Line 6 doing a lot of rework to integrate the same software across numerous devices, it would be very cool to see rehoused DL-4 utilising the old DL-4 algo's that have been updated for the Helix FX unit and the other devices and Native. @Digital_Igloo ;
    thats what they have just done by adding all the legacy M-Series effects to the Helix?

    Sort of, only you have to spend £500+ on a do-it-all effects processor. I think yer man would like something more like the DL-4, with just the looper and the delays for half as much money.


    Of course, you were right the first time- an M5 will do basically everything the DL-4 does apart from the looper (and a load more besides, including the "Echo Platter" Binson Echorec sim), costs about £60 used, stores more presets, and takes up less space. 

    m9 will do 3 of them in about the same footprint. (with a looper)
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12646
    Cabicular said:
    With Line 6 doing a lot of rework to integrate the same software across numerous devices, it would be very cool to see rehoused DL-4 utilising the old DL-4 algo's that have been updated for the Helix FX unit and the other devices and Native. @Digital_Igloo ;
    thats what they have just done by adding all the legacy M-Series effects to the Helix?

    Sort of, only you have to spend £500+ on a do-it-all effects processor. I think yer man would like something more like the DL-4, with just the looper and the delays for half as much money.


    Of course, you were right the first time- an M5 will do basically everything the DL-4 does apart from the looper (and a load more besides, including the "Echo Platter" Binson Echorec sim), costs about £60 used, stores more presets, and takes up less space. 

    m9 will do 3 of them in about the same footprint. (with a looper)
    And a tuner.... :-)
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • english_bobenglish_bob Frets: 5128
    edited February 2018
    impmann said:
    Cabicular said:
    With Line 6 doing a lot of rework to integrate the same software across numerous devices, it would be very cool to see rehoused DL-4 utilising the old DL-4 algo's that have been updated for the Helix FX unit and the other devices and Native. @Digital_Igloo ;;
    thats what they have just done by adding all the legacy M-Series effects to the Helix?

    Sort of, only you have to spend £500+ on a do-it-all effects processor. I think yer man would like something more like the DL-4, with just the looper and the delays for half as much money.


    Of course, you were right the first time- an M5 will do basically everything the DL-4 does apart from the looper (and a load more besides, including the "Echo Platter" Binson Echorec sim), costs about £60 used, stores more presets, and takes up less space. 

    m9 will do 3 of them in about the same footprint. (with a looper)
    And a tuner.... :-)

    M5 has the same tuner. The M9 is significantly more expensive than a DL4 too, which might be hard to stomach if all you want are the delays and the functionality of the DL4.

    FWIW, I bet most people with a DL-4 budget could find more than their money's worth of extra usable stuff in an M9.

    Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.

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  • Whats the going rate on an used DL-4? £100?

    You can get an used M9 for £150. Even if you use it as a DL-4 you get 6 delays choices per scene, 3 of which can be used at the same time. 
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12646
    Whats the going rate on an used DL-4? £100?

    You can get an used M9 for £150. Even if you use it as a DL-4 you get 6 delays choices per scene, 3 of which can be used at the same time. 
    Plus there are *more* delays in the M-series and the Looper is better.
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    impmann said:

    Plus there are *more* delays in the M-series and the Looper is better.
    Does it also do the software glitch where the looper won't stop playing the loop from the previous song no matter what you do, until you unplug the power cable? :)

    That's actually why I stopped using my DL-4. I don't doubt it was a one-off random thing, but I never trusted it after that...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12646
    ICBM said:
    impmann said:

    Plus there are *more* delays in the M-series and the Looper is better.
    Does it also do the software glitch where the looper won't stop playing the loop from the previous song no matter what you do, until you unplug the power cable? :)

    That's actually why I stopped using my DL-4. I don't doubt it was a one-off random thing, but I never trusted it after that...
    Never done that for me, chap - and I did the pre-production Beta testing for the M5 and M9, plus have had an M13 from the very first batch from the far east "on test" for all that time!! 100s of gigs/rehearsals/sessions etc... the looper has its faults (like stopping if you use the tuner... grrr) but its not done that!! :-)
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • impmann said:
    Whats the going rate on an used DL-4? £100?

    You can get an used M9 for £150. Even if you use it as a DL-4 you get 6 delays choices per scene, 3 of which can be used at the same time. 
    Plus there are *more* delays in the M-series and the Looper is better.

    Not a *lot* more delays- you get "dry thru" versions of the ones that affect the direct sound, and you get the "Echo Platter / Echo Platter Dry Thru" Binson Echorec model.

    For me, the biggest advantage of the M-series over the DL4 is that you can have subdivided tap tempo on any mode.

    Plus MIDI, if you're in to that...

    Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.

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  • impmann said:
    ICBM said:
    impmann said:

    Plus there are *more* delays in the M-series and the Looper is better.
    Does it also do the software glitch where the looper won't stop playing the loop from the previous song no matter what you do, until you unplug the power cable? :)

    That's actually why I stopped using my DL-4. I don't doubt it was a one-off random thing, but I never trusted it after that...
    Never done that for me, chap - and I did the pre-production Beta testing for the M5 and M9, plus have had an M13 from the very first batch from the far east "on test" for all that time!! 100s of gigs/rehearsals/sessions etc... the looper has its faults (like stopping if you use the tuner... grrr) but its not done that!! :-)
    My M9 squealed like a pig on a gig. It was fine thereafter but I never quite trusted it either. 

    I put a couple of DL4 demos on YouTube as background listening whilst making the tea last night and you just recognise the sound. Quite odd, I wouldn't have thought that with a delay but it's so familiar sounding - I guess because has been on so many things since it came out in 2000. It has been overtaken a bit in many respects though, I'm surprised that Line 6 haven't replaced it. It would be good to see a Helix generation delay in a similar format to the DL4.
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • impmann said:
    ICBM said:
    impmann said:

    Plus there are *more* delays in the M-series and the Looper is better.
    Does it also do the software glitch where the looper won't stop playing the loop from the previous song no matter what you do, until you unplug the power cable? :)

    That's actually why I stopped using my DL-4. I don't doubt it was a one-off random thing, but I never trusted it after that...
    Never done that for me, chap - and I did the pre-production Beta testing for the M5 and M9, plus have had an M13 from the very first batch from the far east "on test" for all that time!! 100s of gigs/rehearsals/sessions etc... the looper has its faults (like stopping if you use the tuner... grrr) but its not done that!! :-)
    My M9 squealed like a pig on a gig. It was fine thereafter but I never quite trusted it either. 

    I put a couple of DL4 demos on YouTube as background listening whilst making the tea last night and you just recognise the sound. Quite odd, I wouldn't have thought that with a delay but it's so familiar sounding - I guess because has been on so many things since it came out in 2000. It has been overtaken a bit in many respects though, I'm surprised that Line 6 haven't replaced it. It would be good to see a Helix generation delay in a similar format to the DL4.
    I prefer the m-series delays to the helix. I'm very pleased legacy mode is now on the helix.
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    I had a DL4 on my board for years. The only issue I had with it was with one of the switches, but that’s an easy fix. Basically the metal footswitch has a pin which presses down onto a tiny soft switch mounted on the pcb. The length of the barrel of the metal switch can go out of adjustment, it just needs minor correcting to get a proper contact with the pcb switch. 

    Bear in mind it is a very heavy enclosure and you only get four presets. Worth buying used if you can get one for cheap though. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    boogieman said:
    I had a DL4 on my board for years. The only issue I had with it was with one of the switches, but that’s an easy fix. Basically the metal footswitch has a pin which presses down onto a tiny soft switch mounted on the pcb. The length of the barrel of the metal switch can go out of adjustment, it just needs minor correcting to get a proper contact with the pcb switch.
    To be honest I never really understood the problem with the switches - it’s a good design, except that the inner nut/cap that holds the spring mechanism in place can work loose, and sometimes falls off entirely. As long as you don’t lose the parts you can reassemble it easily, and if you put a drop of threadlock or superglue on the thread before you fit the cap it won’t come off again.

    OK, it’s arguable that they should have been threadlocked at the factory... but it really isn’t a difficult fix.

    Some people advocate drilling them out and fitting Carling momentary switches, but it’s total overkill and risking damaging the board for no real purpose.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • boogieman said:
    I had a DL4 on my board for years. The only issue I had with it was with one of the switches, but that’s an easy fix. Basically the metal footswitch has a pin which presses down onto a tiny soft switch mounted on the pcb. The length of the barrel of the metal switch can go out of adjustment, it just needs minor correcting to get a proper contact with the pcb switch. 

    Bear in mind it is a very heavy enclosure and you only get four presets. Worth buying used if you can get one for cheap though. 
    Is it four presets? I had a tc X4 which has 4 in the name and 4 footswitches and yet only 3 presets. It did have tap tempo which I never used, it used to annoy me that 25% of the space it took up was for a function I didn’t want and that, despite the name, it had only 3 presets. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • I thought the DL-4 only had 3 and the looper?

    its been ages since I last played one
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Yes, that's correct - three presets plus tap tempo. The tap tempo switch is also the half-speed switch on the looper.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    You could all well be right, I sold mine a long time ago. I just remember it had 4 switches.  :)
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12646
    Deffo three
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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