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(More customer reviews)Vox's partnership with Joe seems to be really paying off. The Saturator was great, and this little green box doesn't disappoint. I won't bother with the facts - you've probably heard them a thousand times. What I will say is that this delay has become a staple of my sound. I previously had a Boss DD-7 (with optional tap tempo footswich) and sold it to get this. The Boss had some nice features that the Time Machine doesn't - 40 seconds of looping and that weird backwards tape effect, but the truth is I never once used those live. With the DD-7, I'd just throw it on "Analog" and tap the tempo, which made it very limited to me. It somehow seemed like a DOS prompt - everything was hidden behind a few layers of code that I had to remember in order to call it up. And when I did use it, it was mechanical like a robot - not musical and warm like Madeline Peyroux. Oh, and the DD-7 would leave tempo artifacts in my signal even when it was bypassed. Not cool.
The Time Machine, on the other hand, offers a variety of options at-the-ready. For any song, I can choose modern or vintage via footswitch, as well as Hi-Fi or Lo-Fi via the toggle. The settings really do sound different and give you the ability to shape your sound to create what you're looking for. I still tend to tap the tempo, but the Time Machine's D.Range knob is much easier to use and see on stage than the DD-7's Mode knob. When tapping the tempo, the D.Range button thinks of your tapping as a quarter note and sets the repeats as follows:
1000 ms - Quarter Note (repeats exactly on your tapped tempo)
500 ms - Quarter Note Triplets
250 ms - Eight Note
125 ms - Eigth Note Triplets
Once you've set the tempo, you can switch between different D.Range settings and it will maintain your tempo. This becomes intuitive very quickly. When I play with delay now, I can intentionally put my delayed notes exactly where I want them, rather than just have them strewn out behind me like a trail of discarded beer cans.
I was initially turned off by the TM not being "True Bypass", but whatever Vox did in there, they did it right. I can't hear any degridation in tone or signal with the Time Machine (or Satchurator, BTW). By contract, Boss Pedals are known to suck tone, which I definitely experienced with the DD-7.
The only negative is that the Time Machine doesn't have tails / trails, where the delayed notes continue to trail off even after you've hit the "off" button. Minor oversight, Vox & Joe, no cookie for you. (Full disclosure - the DD-7 does have tails / trails)
Bottom line - the Vox / Joe Satriani Time Machine is the best delay pedal for my money. Not cheap, but definitly worth it.
For the record, I play a Strat into an MXR Super Comp -> Sparkle Drive -> Satchurator -> Ernie Ball Volume Jr -> Time Machine -> Fender Amp.
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World-renowned guitarist Joe Satriani and VOX collaborated to design the Time Machine dual mode delay pedal. Featuring two delay modes and a Hi-Fi/Lo-Fi switch, the Time Machine delivers a wide range of delay sounds and yet remains remarkably easy to use.The time machine provides both modern and vintage delay modes. The modern mode mirrors your original sound with full clarity and fidelity, and will fit any style of music. As its name suggests, the vintage mode delivers the sound of a classic tape delay unit. A proprietary saturation circuit creates a warm, analog sound with a nice sense of distortion. Gentle modulation is also applied in the vintage mode, reproducing the slight warbling produced by a tape-based delay. The amazing effectiveness is the result of an uncompromising process of testing and refining carried out by Joe and VOX.Joe wanted to get a sound that blends nicely with the other performers whether you're on stage or in the studio and yet also has some thickness to the tone. The solution was to add a Hi-Fi/Lo-Fi switch to the time machine. The Hi-Fi mode delivers a transparent, uncolored sound. The Lo-Fi mode, on the other hand, provides a distinctive EQ, combining both high-pass and low-pass filters. This EQ uses filters that have been precisely adjusted to Joe's taste, so that your guitar sound will blend naturally in the mix – without obscuring or interfering with the other players.The time machine is a pedal like no other, one that expands your sound-creating potential through a variety practical functions.
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