I have to weigh in regarding the sound quality of the Dispatch master. I’m on my second dispatch master pedal. There’s something slightly hallucinogenic about the extreme settings of the pedal- and the tamer settings are simply gorgeous. Reverb and delay pedals are my “thing”. I own more than I should, and want more than I can afford. Yet the dispatch master is always on my board. For a full and detail review of the pedal and it singular sonic qualities watch “just nick’s” review of it. Also watch his magic pedal pairings video that features the dispatch master paired with the catlinbread montevillian. Warning: You’ll end up owning both
I love the sound of the dispatch master as well, it's so useful everywhere. Not hating on the other two at all and I def didn't to the caverns v2 justice. I've had the montevillian, great pedal. My favorite catalinbread delay is the adineko. Thanks for the view and the comment!
Good comparison! I'm trying to decide between a bunch of reverbs or reverb/delays (mainly these three, Walrus Fathom and Old Blood Dark Star or Procession). They all have certain things I like: hold switches on the Old Blood Pedals, delay and reverb in a small box with one switch, separate switches for delay and reverb, modulation. I guess your demo has almost made it clear that the DM offers the least bang for buck because it's the most expensive one where I live while being the most basic pedal (no modulation, less control over the sound,...). It doesn't help that Walrus Audio and Old Blood Noise Endeavors pedals looks amazing, which shouldn't be a factor but it is...
I tried a Walrus Audio Slo pedal and had a lot of noise problems with it. I had to send it back to the seller which was not a pleasant experience. I wrote to Walrus Audio and they said "oh yeah, that's not unusual because of the chip we use." !!! Because of that I've decided no more Walrus Audio for me. They look great but I cannot deal with phantom noises randomly emitting from my pedals.
Owned a caverns 2 delay, great pedal, but for pristine bell like response and tone the dispatch master is the one, totally transparent and beautiful sounding.
Ahhhhh! someone who demos pedals properly. Thanks! I needed this very demo. buying a caverns today as I have other reverbs. So... the extreme settings win
Thanks! I really wish I'd gotten more time with the pedal before doing the video. I love the sound of the delay, I read somewhere that is the same delay as the magnetic echo? I also really like the idea of combining the spring reverb with a tremolo, that was a very smart combination. You really found a good way of slamming 6 very customizable effects in a small 2 in one that was very user friendly, and somehow with all of those options not overkill. Thanks for the view and the comment! Got anything new coming out soon?
I simply can not wait for you to hear the soon to be released EccoFlange. It will make you disown any other type of modulation. I've checked as much as possible, no one has done it before. It's dreamy. November.
Thanks dude! Somebody else made the suggestion to compare them, I thought it was really good idea so I went and nabbed the two other pedals for the video. Dispatch Master is my favorite.
I already watch the video. I have a dispatch master but I was looking for something "better", I was thinking in the caverns, but Why do you think Dispatch Master is the best of those?
thebetterdad the caverns is a great pedal, I don't necessarily rate the dispatch master has better. The caverns definitely has more to offer, independent switching of affects multiple Reverb And Delay types, Trails mode, etc. That's a great pedal for at home and in the studio, but I do a lot of live playing, more than Studio work actually so the dispatch Master is nice because it's very simple to use it sounds great and I don't have to mess with a whole lot of stuff live when I'm using it, half the time I can just leave it on and it sounds great that the entire set. I use a little more extreme delay with tap tempo for more intricate Echoing Parts but I do like to have something on coloring the sound of all time. I also don't think you can beat the quality of the two in one pedal the EarthQuaker is for the price point you can get it at, new they're still expensive but they're well built so used at 120 still a great investment.
thebetterdad the only two in one Reverb and delay pedal that I've tried that I like better than the dispatch Master is the EarthQuaker Avalanche run, it's a glutton of a power hog but it sounds amazing.
great comparison review - awesome. I have the Caverns and m really happy with it - I use reverb for a pad style thing and have always been a big tape echo delay guy so it was perfect for me. But both the Wampler and EQD pedals are fantastic too - build quality is excellent and they each do their own thing. Each one has it's use and what is best for you depends not on the pedal, but on you - your rig, your style, your type of effect needed and so on. If anyone wanted to get a good comparison, this is the review to see!
I agree - I watch a lot of these pedal videos, and this one was way more useful and intelligent than the vast majority of them. I have had my eye on both the Dispatch Master and the Caverns for awhile now, but I also hear people complain that they sound thin and brittle. Listening to the Caverns on this video, it does make the guitar sound very processed, not very natural. That bugs me. Even with the warmth turned up it still sounds a bit digital to my ears. Have you found that to be the case?
@@mr.d.572 yes it is a bit like that. I actually recently sold mine - I liked it but just didn’t need all the ambience on the board. I’m using the Greer Black Tiger which is an oil can style delay. Rich, warm, natural and just suits me perfectly
Great video! This is exactly what I was looking for, a comparison between these three pedals. If there's anything I could point out it would be maybe use a little more compression on the vid itself. Thanks so much!
Thanks man! A little confused on compression on the vid? You mean on the guitar or like…video compression? These days I’m streaming demos on twitch live. Jump on some time! Sometimes I might be harvesting the footage and listing it here. www.twitch.tv/videos/1603775679
Wow, this is so incredibly helpful! I've been wondering how these pedals stack up against each other. I've had my eye on the Dispatch Master for awhile but every so often I check out the Keeley Caverns but there's always something about either one that will bug me and so it's hard to choose. The Wampler has it's strengths and weaknesses too. Have also been looking at a few others like the NUX, Source Audio Collider, etc.. Overall the Dispatch Master and Caverns are still of interest if I can find either at a good price.
Caverns is probably the most unique sounding and has the option of running the reverb and delay separate or together, dispatch master is great just to leave on with subtle settings. I have the Avalanche Run which is just a beefed up stereo dispatch master with tap tempo. It rules.
@@GlennWallaceMusic I looked at the Avalanche Run at one point but I decided I liked the Dispatch Master better. But it is a good pedal though. I'm actually looking for something that can be used both subtly and for ambiance soundscapes. I also looked at your separate video on the Wampler Ethereal after this one. It's not a perfect pedal but if I could find one at a good price, like below $110, I would consider getting that one too. Right now no I'm not in a rush and so I'm going to keep checking things out while I use my EHX Canyon along with a separate delay pedal. Cheers 👍
Lev Dens bang for the buck absolutely. They’re all a little different so it really depends on what you’re going for but I agree, the EQD is the best all around no frills delay/verb combo. That being said I did not give the caverns V2 the justice it deserves, I had not gotten to experiment with it very much when I did this video and it is a very capable pedal.
When all is said and done, it might be well be worth going with the Strymon Volante for what the extra bucks it will cost, not least because the Volante will always hold a good value.
Volante is great. This is an old video and a specific comparison somebody requested. There’s better pedals, fancier pedals, all sorts of stuff. I think what really matters is how you are going to use it and if it fits your needs. I have never needed anything like a timeline or Volante live, my most intricate pedal I use for shows is the Flint. Which is pretty simple. In the studio is a different story. Volante might not be the greatest delay/verb end all be all pedal because to my knowledge the reverb is just spring reverb. To get those long tails and pretty angelic pads I usually find better results with plate and hall. Volante rocks though. Had one for a bit. Everything Strymon holds it’s value.
@@GlennWallaceMusic Thankyou Glen, I understand what you say, for my stage use a caverns will probably do, and then again considering that I gigged a zoom studio 1201 for around 15 years another zoom studio is probably sufficient, ( valve amps ) thankyou and the best wishes to you.
jpfan1992 I have been wanting to some DBA stuff, that's a great idea! Here's the issue, I need to have the pedal to the demo. Toneshop has been very good to me in supplying me with pedals for reviews, but I can only do the pedals they give me (usually ones they are trying to sell that are current). I have a patreon, I need to finish setting it up and put the info here. If enough people start contributing, I can start using the proceeds to buy requested pedals, or at least have a chunk to put towards them. I started filming videos in November of 2016, launched the channel April 2017, and my god, the amount of gear I financed and paid off last year, well I can't do that again! Lol. This is the reason for the lull in demos recently, I just can't afford all the pedals anymore. Hopefully the patreon thing works or hell, if anyone wants to send me a pedal, I will do a review and send it back to them. I'm no shady pedal thief.
I already have the dispatch master and was considering buying the caverns. Could you use these pedals simultaneously and get any awesome sounds with them working together?
Definitely. That dispatch master and caverns would interact well together. Two different delay times with the caverns ability to modulate or add tremolo would sound super cool. Especially if you ran a stereo setup with each pedal going to a different channel.
Kevin Roberts some of the more complex ones can be worth the time to dial in but I sure can appreciate a simple pedal. Been toying with the Caroline Megabyte delay. That thing is super fun.
No idea on NUX. I hear NUX are good for the low price. The NUX has tap tempo and subdivisions which is cool. None of these have that. As far as the boss goes, it seems like more bang for your buck. I can’t speak to the sound quality or how intuitive the controls are. I would say it comes down to the sound and how much of the pedal will you use. That’s why the dispatch master was my favorite of these three, I really didn’t end up needing all the other bells and whistles for what I was doing at the time. They’re all great units.
@@GlennWallaceMusic Thanks for such a quick response Glenn! I started my guitar journey with a multi-effects pedal but was overwhelmed by too many options and parameters. I'm now putting together my first pedalboard, and keeping things simple might be the best approach for me.
TIN BUGA I'd say something simple like the dispatch master. Depends on what you're trying to get out of it. Do you want delay, or delay and reverb? Do you want a digital delay sound or analog? Digital delays are always going to have more pronounced repeats and they will sound similar to what you actually played, analog delays always have a bit of saturation and sometimes signal degradation depending on the delay type. My first thought with something like sax would be a digital delay, and if you wanted the reverb too I'd say the dispatch master is your best bang for the buck, used value is low and it's a quality pedal, no frills and doesnt color the repeats much. If you like a more analog sound out of these 3 I'd say the keeley, it has the most options and it's a keeley. Super well built always. Price is great too. The wampler is good but I feel like that's more of a guitar pedal. I feel (and I dont know this for sure) that any delay pedal with subdivisions would get messy on saxophone. Subdivisions on repeats seem to do better with instruments that have a more percussive attack like guitar. In my opinion at least. Hope this helps! Thanks for the view and the comment.
alcoyot I actually don't know what that means. Explain? Perhaps that's a typo? Or perhaps I don't know what a converter is within a reverb delay pedal.
alcoyot ok. Makes sense. I'm a gear head, but I don't know much about the guts of these pedals sadly. I know how to play and make them sound good, and let people know what pedals are good for what, in my opinion of course. I don't know if this answers it at all, but I thought the dispatch master had the least processed sound, probably due to the simplicity. Honestly before answering you I looked around a bit, kind of hard to find information on it. Maybe post a link where I could read some stuff? I'd sure like to know more about this the next time somebody asks. This video was more of a price point, ease-of-use, and comparable features video. Thanks for the view and the comment.
I emailed the company to ask about the dispatch master. They have another pedal where they list the specs. And it has quite good converters. When a company doesn't list the specs on their converter, it makes me leery because these pedals are expensive as hell, and I don't want to pay to kill my tone. We spend a lot of money buying nice tube amps so we can sound like 1970s legendary, thick, beautiful tone. I don't want anything in my signal chain that would thin that out. Especially paying 100s of dollars for that. I am willing to have one digital item in my chain, and no more so that I'm not going through multiple cycles of digital conversion.
alcoyot I can see your concern. Between these 3 companies I would say you probably don't have much to worry about. I have the most experience with EQD products, and though I may not know the specifics of what you are speaking about, I will say I've never been let down. Although I have less experience with Wampler and Keely products, they to have always sounded the way I think they should. I know what you mean with the sound though, I have definitely had a few digital delay and Reverb pedals where the tone just sounds like something is missing, it's very unnatural. I had the mooer shimverb, the spring setting was great, but the other two sounded way way over processed, almost like a bad reverb delay plugin on a cheap DAW.
I don't know why, but for some reason you chose to demo the Dispatch and Ethereal with both effects on, but with the Keeley you demo-ed the reverb and delay ~separately~. The result is that we heard 2 pedals doing their thing (rev AND delay at once), while the other never got to. That's a shame, and gave a VERY slanted review against the Keeley pedal; no one's interested in any of these pedals as 'stand alone' reverbs or delays (the way you demonstrated the Caverns)! The sum of the integrated effects IS greater than the parts you instead demo-ed ~separately~ with that pedal only. It's as though your own fave (for your own reasons: "extra-simple live application to leave on all the time", as you said) needed you to 'handicap' what the others really do, to make the Dispatch sound better in comparison. The fact is, had you run the Caverns with both sides on (as intended lol), it would have SMOKED the other two as the ambient time-and-space effect they all claim to be. It costs a bit less, has more features and control parameters, and flat out sounds better than the other two (sorry, Brian W., you could've made a better ethereal-sounding pedal than that). These pedals are NOT 'replacements for one's delay and/or reverb', they are ambient time and space stretchers, and it does them a disservice to act as though they're simple analog delays, and amp-style reverbs. You might as well do one comparing a Strymon BigSky with a one-knob TC HOF Mini reverb (and, of course, conclude that the HOF Mini is the 'better' unit due to it's "live-use Simplicity"). Keeley could charge another hundred bucks for the Caverns V2 and it would STILL be a better buy than the Wampler or EQD~~~you just need to use the ~whole~ pedal; not just one side and then the other......
well you're not wrong, probably should have done that on the Keeley, don't really know how that got away from me. The main point of this video was a feature and price point comparison. I mean, you say it's a slanted review against the Keeley but Robert Keeley actually liked this video. Maybe he was just being cool, I don't know. So you're not wrong, but you're not right either. I do not think this is anywhere close to comparing a Strymon big sky and HOF mini. This was a difficult video to try to pack into 15 minutes with 3 different pedals with all their different features, which is still way way too long in my opinion, I just missed the idea of using both sides together. So again you're not wrong, but you're not all the way right either. This is just how the video came out, it's done, it's out there, no changing it. I do agree with you, should have run both sides at once, and if you watch any of my other videos, particularly the Strymon Deco, you'll see I do run both sides at once. Looks like I just forgot on this one with all the other stuff in there. Sorry to disappoint, thanks for the view and the comment.
Since this video was not an ambient sound face-off, I found it perfectly adequate and very helpful. A more in-depth exploration of sounds and parameters can be had on other videos if you are interested in the ambient textures of each pedal.
