Hated it

I got this when it first came out. I was expecting an upgrade to the DD-20 but it felt more like a DD-3 with extra functions. There's a lot of options with this pedal. At the time they could only be adjusted on the pedal and it wasn't a fun process at all. I imagine now it's a more manageable pedal but at the time it was a nightmare.

Great delays with a unique Tera Echo algorithm; however, no global killdry option and no cross-feedback delays. Missed opportunity.

I've used this pedal since 2017, up until 2019 when I sold it for a Strymon TimeLine. Back then I started building a stereo rack rig with line mixers to route stereo effects in parallel.

The DD-500 has some cool features that I really liked. The articulate dotted 8th delays actually cut through the mix pretty well, and the Tera Echo is the sound that I somewhat miss. You can also use multiple delays at once per bank as well.

However, I felt like Boss missed an opportunity to really make the unit shine. There's no global killdry option in the global killdry settings, so the only way to really make the DD-500 work in parallel is to set up a blank patch with FX Level at 0. Even then, you have to be careful not to turn any effects off. Not really intuitive for someone like me who uses line mixers to route effects in parallel.

Another thing I didn't like about the DD-500 is the fact that stereo delay options are rather limited. The multi-tap parameters are rather limiting and there's no cross-feedback delay.

Don't get me wrong, the DD-500 has some usable sounds that I do miss from switching to the TimeLine; however, I wish that Boss had somehow included the global killdry at least so that it could've been used with a line mixer a lot easier.

Still, as the sounds are good and the build quality is top notch I will give this a solid 3 stars. Great for a standalone delay, despite a couple missed opportunities.

Better for the weird stuff than the simple stuff

I love tinkering with this thing, and finding sounds that I've never heard before. You can do that an awful lot with how many algorithms are at play here. I'm having a lot of fun getting bit-crushed, filtered delays, and using patches to essentially create modulation lines. HOWEVER, I have found the basic stuff to be a bit uninspiring. I never use the standard mode, and while Vintage Digital and the tape emulations have a certain percussiveness that makes them great for dotted 8th and rhythmic patterns, there's something a little sterile about the sound that makes playing them feel a little flat and uninspiring when what you want is some Gilmour-esque space-making delay. It's a touch disheartening to have this incredible machine at my feet and still feel the need to pick up an ARP-87 or a Flashback to use alongside it, but I can't complain to much because the sounds I enjoy are hugely inspiring. If you're hear to tweak and discover, you just might find a sound you never knew you needed here.

Hands down BEST delay pedal on the market

The DD500 is a strymon killer. It sound's better in almost every way for almost half the price. Where the strymon timeline lacks in warm, tape sounding delays - the DD500 surprisingly delivers. The DD500 makes most of the timeline settings feel a bit 'gimmicky' because it focuses on being an amazing studio-esque delay pedal for the stage. The user interface is the best in it's class and very easy to use.

The best thing about it is I can use it to change patches on my Big Sky, saving space on my board where a chunky MIDI switcher would go.

The only downside is DON'T EVER USE SHIMMER MODE - It's awful. But I think Boss went out of their way to stay clear of gimmicky, toy like sounds that others have focused on to make the delay of all delays.

An absolute winner.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Strymon who?

Traded in my Strymon timeline for the dd500, not only more cost effective, but sounds better in my opinion. Tape sounds are amazing, and I love that they take the editing to the next level. Sometimes I feel like its almost too deep into editing, but comes in handy for recording uses and for super studio quality delays.

Also fixes the buffer bypass love/hate relationship I had with boss. Where you can now choose buffered or true bypass. Fantastic.

THE EXTRA FEATURES DO NOT MAKE IT MORE COMPLICATED though. I just want to make sure that is fully expressed. You don't have to go into the deep editing features to get great tones.

Fantastic pedal looking forward to trying out the new Verb and mod pedal they put out.

awesome!

really awesome, super useful and inspirational pedal, so many sounds and options available.

From Gear Setup

Classic Boss

There are so many full-featured digital delays to choose from at this point. I went with the DD-500 because of the classic Boss/Roland delays it emulates, which are among my favorite--not to mention, huge fan of Lindsey Buckingham's soaring, long, Boss Digi-Delay tones. This pedal nails it, along with other fun delays that would take some clever routing/effect looping to pull off otherwise. Won't be trading it in for a long time.

Very complicated to use but excellent sound!

This pedal is amazing, I think it took a lot of inspiration from the Timeline by Strymon but it is its own unique pedal that has some amazing easily accessible sounds. However it is a little too complicated for me to go into the details of the sounds however I am still able to create some sounds on presets that I love.

A great delay pedal

Very flexible. Very intricate. Fine piece of delay machine