Boss announces DM-101 Delay Machine analog delay pedal with eight BBD chips

June 22, 2023 · 5 sources

Boss announced the DM-101 Delay Machine on June 22, 2023, an analog delay pedal built around eight bucket-brigade device (BBD) chips¹². The pedal is priced at $499 and is scheduled to arrive in July¹³².

The DM-101 combines an analog signal path with CPU control, which Boss says switches internal circuit elements to define each of its 12 modes: "Multiple internal circuit elements are switched to define each of the 12 modes, including the number of active BBDs and their connection order, low-pass filter settings, and clocking rates"¹³. Six of the 12 modes support stereo operation¹². Boss describes two of them: "Pan mode routes each BBD and its feedback loop to alternate points in the stereo field, while Dual Mod shifts the modulation phase for each output to generate a wide, spacious delay effect"¹.

The modes include a traditional analog delay with up to 1,200ms of delay time, a tone inspired by the Boss DM-2, multi-head settings and six stereo settings³². Guitar Player lists the six mono modes as Classic, Vintage, Modern, Multi-Head, Non-Linear and Ambience, and the six stereo modes as Reflect, Doubling+Delay, Wide, Dual Mod, Pan and Pattern⁴. Boss says the pedal moves between "gritty vintage echoes" and modern analog tones with "extended high-frequency clarity"³².

Controls include delay time, intensity (feedback), delay volume, modulation rate and depth, and a Variation knob that cycles through parameters unique to each mode¹⁵⁴. Three footswitches handle on/off, memory selection and tap tempo, with a switch for note division⁵⁴. The pedal has four onboard memories, expandable to 127 user memories via MIDI, plus MIDI in and out, MIDI sync, selectable carryover of delay trails when bypassed, and connections for an external footswitch and expression pedal³²⁵. Boss says cranking the Intensity knob drives the effect into saturated self-oscillation, as on a traditional analog delay¹³. The enclosure's look is a nod to Boss's first analog delay, the DM-1¹³².

Gearnews lists a European MSRP of EUR 519⁵; the US list price given by the other outlets is $499¹³².