DD-500 owners

english_bob

Also worth mentioning since this old thread has been necro-bumped that Boss have fixed pretty much everything that @Teetonetal didn't like about the DD-500 in subsequent firmware upgrades- global tempo, wow and flutter on the tape mode, PC/Mac editor etc.

Teetonetal

Since leaving my band I have hardly used it I did the updates and all my issues really have gone. Just need to plug it in more now!

Musicman20

I'm glad Boss have stuck to their products and updated properly!

english_bob

Musicman20 said:

I'm glad Boss have stuck to their products and updated properly!

Me too! The recent v2.0 update for the DD-500 had some really significant improvements over the old firmware (and the v2.0.1 bug fix for the new problems it introduced around impressively fast too!)

IMO @Wazmeister hit the nail on the head- it's not a pedal that's very "sexy" right out of the box. It seems like a lot of manufacturers come out with stuff that's designed around one or two really cool sounds- you hit the switch and there it is- whereas the DD-500 can make those noises too, if you've put the effort in to learning how it works.

TateFX

The update is great! The fix was very fast to come out as well. Solid work from Boss but I guess that was to be expected (even if they do choose odd companies to partner with). 

Octafish

english_bob said:

Musicman20 said:

I'm glad Boss have stuck to their products and updated properly!

Me too! The recent v2.0 update for the DD-500 had some really significant improvements over the old firmware (and the v2.0.1 bug fix for the new problems it introduced around impressively fast too!)

IMO @Wazmeister hit the nail on the head- it's not a pedal that's very "sexy" right out of the box. It seems like a lot of manufacturers come out with stuff that's designed around one or two really cool sounds- you hit the switch and there it is- whereas the DD-500 can make those noises too, if you've put the effort in to learning how it works.

Didn't know there was a v2.0.1 update. Do you know what bugs V2 introduced, haven't noticed any myself?

TateFX

There was a problem with midi not switching properly if I remember correctly.

Octafish

Ah cheers, I don't use midi. Probably worth doing all the same.

english_bob

^ I think there were a couple of things, but as I recall they were all MIDI related. I haven't got round to doing the v2.0.1 update either. 

brojangles

Is there any kind of smear parameter or other way of making the repeats less percussive in the newly updated DD500? 

smudge_lad

another potentially silly question - can the looper on the DD500 work in conjunction with any pre-sets that are currently active on the pedal? Or does the looper operate completely independently, meaning that no delay effect can be looped

english_bob

smudge_lad said:

another potentially silly question - can the looper on the DD500 work in conjunction with any pre-sets that are currently active on the pedal? Or does the looper operate completely independently, meaning that no delay effect can be looped

The former. You can't change presets while the looper is active (I don't think...) but you can loop with delay.

english_bob

brojangles said:

Is there any kind of smear parameter or other way of making the repeats less percussive in the newly updated DD500? 

There isn't a knob with "smear" written next to it, but it may be possible to achieve something similar by tweaking EQ and wet/dry mix in the right delay mode, and there's a growing library of user presets in the Facebook group where someone might have made something like what you want.

smudge_lad

english_bob said:

smudge_lad said:

another potentially silly question - can the looper on the DD500 work in conjunction with any pre-sets that are currently active on the pedal? Or does the looper operate completely independently, meaning that no delay effect can be looped

The former. You can't change presets while the looper is active (I don't think...) but you can loop with delay.

Cool -  I did understand that the footswitches become looper functions instead of activating a delay pattern, but kinda thought it would be daft if you weren't able to loop with any of the on-board delays.

Cheers fella!

english_bob

smudge_lad said:

english_bob said:

smudge_lad said:

another potentially silly question - can the looper on the DD500 work in conjunction with any pre-sets that are currently active on the pedal? Or does the looper operate completely independently, meaning that no delay effect can be looped

The former. You can't change presets while the looper is active (I don't think...) but you can loop with delay.

Cool -  I did understand that the footswitches become looper functions instead of activating a delay pattern, but kinda thought it would be daft if you weren't able to loop with any of the on-board delays.

Cheers fella!

No worries. There are units around that will let you come out of looper mode and change patches with the loop still running, so thought it was worth clarifying that this isn't one of them. 

You can connect a two button footswitch to the DD-500 (Boss FS-6/7 or equivalent) and assign its function differently in each patch, so you could still retain some control over the delay sound while you're in looper mode (I think...). The stuff you can set up the footswitches to do on the DD-500 is pretty incredible.

TateFX

I might actually get round to updating the update tonight I need to rebuild my board for a gig next week and I use midi switching for it.

english_bob

Stu_tate said:

I might actually get round to updating the update tonight I need to rebuild my board for a gig next week and I use midi switching for it.

@Stu_tate if you use MIDI to control functions on the DD-500 make sure you do the V2.01 update too (most of the V2.0 bugs were MIDI related), and leave some time to update your MIDI controller too- some of the CC numbers were changed in the update (details in the doc on the Boss website)

smudge_lad

More daft questions - picked up a DD500 and having a play around with editing. Where it says “note” and I cycle through I get various wee pictures of musical notes - how do I interpret these?? 

english_bob

smudge_lad said:

More daft questions - picked up a DD500 and having a play around with editing. Where it says “note” and I cycle through I get various wee pictures of musical notes - how do I interpret these?? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note_value

Wazmeister

I sold my DD500, but I must say with the stuff I'm currently writing, I may need to buy one again...