BOSS DC-2 Dimension Chorus

The BOSS DC-2 Dimension Chorus, also known as the Dimension C, is an analog chorus pedal made by Boss from 1985 to 1989¹. It is one of the strangest control layouts Boss ever shipped: no knobs at all, just four preset buttons. Press one and you get the Dimension effect, a subtle, spacious modulation that Boss describes as producing minimal modulation while preserving the instrument's natural tone².

Where most chorus pedals of its era were obvious and heavy-handed, MusicRadar called the DC-2 "a versatile and subtle box of magic tricks"³. It has since become a cult favorite, increasingly sought after on the secondhand market³, and vintage units now command striking prices: on JHS Pedals' channel, Josh Scott noted that "a vintage DC-2 goes for about $12,000 used"⁴.

The four mode buttons

The DC-2's entire user interface is four buttons on the front plate, a control scheme MusicRadar notes is borrowed directly from its rack ancestor, the SDD-320³. There are no rate or depth knobs, because those parameters are internally set and tied to the mode controls³.

TONEHOME's product page sums up the philosophy:

Delicious Audio likewise describes the DC-2 as "a compact pedal dimensional chorus with the same 4 preset buttons" as the SDD-320⁷.

Underneath the buttons, the circuit runs two modulated delay lines out of phase with one another, with internal feedback and cross-feedback shaping the sound³. MusicRadar found that this out-of-phase combination makes the DC-2 "dramatically different in timbre from more 'standard' chorus pedals," giving it what the review calls a three-dimensional sound³.

The four-button idea carried forward into the modern reissue. The Boss DC-2W Dimension C Waza Craft offers four preset switches that provide sonic variations with increasing width and depth, and in its SDD-320 mode, pressing two buttons at once unlocks six "in-between" sounds that were not available on the original DC-2, for 20 total sounds across both modes⁸.

From the Roland SDD-320 rack unit to a discontinued pedal

The DC-2 was born by adapting the rack-based Roland SDD-320 Dimension D into a compact pedal for guitars and other mono instruments²¹⁰¹¹. Boss says the DC-2 was specifically created for mono sources like guitar, and features a modified circuit that produces a slightly different tonal flavor from the rack unit⁸. MusicRadar confirms the lineage: "The DC-2 was originally based on the Roland SDD-320 Dimension D rack processor"³.

The pedal is fully analog. MusicRadar describes it as "all analogue for both delay lines, using a decadent double BBD setup," with the LFOs and control circuitry also all analog³. On That Pedal Show, Mick Taylor and Dan Steinhardt discussed the Dimension D and C devices as "famed for their classic take on chorus"¹².

Production ran only from 1985 to 1989¹. MusicRadar's news desk noted the pedal "has become a cult favourite in the years since it was discontinued in 1989"⁵. That cult status is what pushed prices to today's levels, and it is why Boss brought the design back in 2018 as the DC-2W under its Waza Craft line³⁶.

Stereo behavior and how it differs from a standard chorus

A standard stereo chorus sends a wet signal to one side and dry to the other. The Dimension approach is different. On That Pedal Show, the presenters explained that "the dimension is different because it's sending different combinations of those delay lines or phase lines to different" outputs, rather than a simple wet/dry split¹³.

MusicRadar found that "while the effect sounds good in mono, in stereo it sounds dramatically wider, on account of its two discrete delay lines"³. TONEHOME's listing likewise notes the stereo outputs "give an even wider sense of 3D effect"¹.

The differences from a standard chorus pedal come down to a few points:

• Two delay lines instead of one: the DC-2 runs two modulated delay lines out of phase with each other, where a standard chorus uses one³.
• No rate or depth knobs: those parameters are internally set and tied to the four mode buttons³.
• Different stereo routing: it sends different combinations of the delay or phase lines to each output rather than a simple wet/dry split¹³.
• Subtler character: MusicRadar found it dramatically different in timbre from standard chorus pedals³.

Noise and headroom

The original DC-2 is not without flaws. MusicRadar's review notes the pedal was "already prone to distortion," with low headroom and noise³. That is the trade-off of the 1980s analog circuit, and it is part of what the DC-2W reissue addressed with modern components while keeping the original's preset-based concept⁸⁶.

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