TC Flashback VS Boss DD-7

[mouthmw]

So I sold my Echo Park yesterday and was planning on grabbing Flashback. I like everything about it but it could use a better tap tempo. So I figured, DD7 has quite a few options and I can add a tap tempo switch.

I don' have room for a bigger delay pedal so other options are not really viable.

So far:
- both are analog dry through (plus!)
- flashback has toneprint
- dd7 has external tap tempo
- flashback can be true bypass (I don't hate boss bypass though)
- flashback might have a problematic switch compared to boss one
- I can get Boss cheaper (used)

Thoughts? Those two are my primary options.

 

[mouthmw]

Oh, I should add, I don't care for their looper at all, I already have TC Ditto.

 

[mouthmw]

Bump.
Mostly worried about flashback reliability issues, which is weird as I'd expect TC stuff to be above Boss.
Help me out guys.

 

[FretNoMore]

What have you heard regarding reliability? Some don't seem to like the softer feel of the foot switches (I do) but I don't recall having seen many, if any, reports of reliability problems with TC pedals in general.

 

[mouthmw]

I've heard about pedal's delay effect dropping out (only letting the dry signal through). I like the soft switch too though. Not sure how often people are having problems though.

 

[FretNoMore]

I believe TC sells a gazillion of these pedals, so it's inevitable there will be some reports of problems. Everything mechanical or electrical can fail. If anything, the quite few reports would point to this being good products. But there are of course no guarantees, and as these pedals are relatively new there's no way of knowing until more time has passed by and people have used the pedals hard.

 

[mouthmw]

So I'm guessing your vote goes to flashback here?

 

[FretNoMore]

I can't really compare since I've never used the DD-7 or other similar Boss delays. I'm happy, so far, with the sound and quality of my TC pedals though, I have the Ditto, the Polytune, and the Flashback.

To generalize, I would characterize TC as being very professional gear but maybe also a bit character-less, doing the job without having much personality so to speak. But if you look for a clean digital delay I guess a colored sound is not what you want anyway.

Toneprint is a great plus in my opinion, and what made me choose the Flashback.

 

[mouthmw]

I love the toneprint option and yea I'm looking for a cleanish delay this time, with an analog dry through and flashback fits here perfectly. How do you use yours tempo wise? Ever use the audio strum tap?
I love the 2290, analog, tape and reverse tones I've heard and I've checked out a lot of musician toneprints and it can go subtle or very texturized and even some cool oscillations.

I already have a tc polytune noir and ditto and I loe them. I had the regular polytune before and it was great. I prefer the soft switch of poly mini to the original so I'm happy to hear flashback has the soft one.

 

[FretNoMore]

I tried the strum tap delay but it's a bit odd ... I don't really use the pedal much as a delay per se, I mostly use very short delays to get a kind of thickening or chorusing effect. You can get a faux reverb thing from very short tap or pingpong delays, or a chorus-ish sound from a short modulated delay.

 

[mouthmw]

I've been thinking of using it in a similar way too. Long delays for psychedelic moments where I don't need to tap tempo really and shorter thickening dreamy cascades for more conventional lines. I think FB has way better options for this kind of use than dd7.

 

[taurus1]

TC more reliable than Boss? I don't think anything on this planet is more reliable than a Boss pedal.
I've owned a DD-7 for about two years now and use it everyday, I use it mostly as a looper with a DD-2 for delay.
it works really well for looping and the other features work well too.
it's a desert island pedal for me, the Tera Echo looks pretty amazing too with it's freeze function.

 

[adamsmatthewj]

Never used the boss delays, but I am a Flashback owner and absolutely love it.
It doesn't have it's own character, true, but that's why I love it. No coloration. I almost always use it on toneprint, there are some amazing artist toneprints on the tc site and app. (It's a fantastic feature, along with the ability to plug it into your computer USB and fine-tune it yourself any way you'd like. Those alone are the reasons I would often prefer tc over another brand)
Tap-tempo is DEFINITELY inconvenient (although the strum thing is real cool), so best case scenario for that is to get a tc electronic Nova Delay (sorta the same delay, but with a dedicated tap-tempo soft-switch) but you're talking more $ and an ungodly sized pedal. Hence, for now, the Flashback it is for me. I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone.

 

[FretNoMore]

TC more reliable than Boss?
...

I'm sure you can find any number of break-downs of any brand if you ask enough people.

The only pedal ever to malfunction for me is my Boss LS-2, the footswitch only engages if you step on it a couple of times. I don't draw any general conclusions from it though, all mechanical and electrical products can (and will, given time) malfunction.

Oh, and by the way, also two EBS pedals that don't work with battery anymore, only external power. Something with the 9V jack cutting off the battery power permanently I think.

 

[Dexter_Bass]

I'm sorry for write in a old thread, but I have the same question of the original post and I suppose that the time let that "the water flowed under the bridge".
I mean, the time can reply about the reability of the now "old" flashback.

I'm sorry for my English.

Greetings!