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11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Nice earthy echo and warm reverb with vintage vibe. Dec 09, 2011
By Daniel Marsalone
I picked one of these up for a song to use with my Moog. People seem to rip this new Space Echo because it is digital, was originally like $250, and people say that it doesn't match up with the original behemoth from the '70s.
Me, I love it. I wanted a versatile delay and wanted a nice reverb to juice up the sound of my Moog. This puppy fits the bill nicely. I can get warm sounding reverbs and nice erath echoes with this boss. It doesn't have any problem taking line levels from synths and runs a real long time on batteries.
Let me say that I have never had the original big 1970's tape version of the Space Echo so I can't directly compare and honestly don't care since it seemed more like a studio tool and too big to lug around for gigs and rehearsals. Also I only had to cough up one Benjamin for mine which was new, so I didn't have the sticker shock. I use it for reverb a lot and for adding a very small delay to thicken up the sound on my Moog. It is a great unit, especially if you can get it for a good price.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 The best sounding digital delay pedal on the market. Mar 19, 2012
By teejay
I've been playing one of these since 2009 so I have a fairly well developed opinion of this device. Overall, the delay effect is the best on the market right now. It's a cinch to use, and having a tap tempo built right into the pedal is AWESOME. As a user (and abuser) of delay in my effects, I can tell you, tap tempo is KEY. The delay on this guy is warm and fuzzy sounding, for lack of a better word, and this has a lot to do with the analog simulation. Definitely a plus. The multiple tape head position simulation settings add a neat dynamic to the delay effect you cannot get with most other delays, which is also nice.
The reverb leaves something to be desired. I find to to be just passable - nothing special. This is coming from someone who is used to spring-mechanical fender reverbs, so my tastes may be coloring my opinion somewhat, but I find the reverb here to be a little dead sounding. One thing that I definitely don't get is why there isn't a separate on/off pedal for the reverb, or at least a port on the back to hook up a switching pedal to do the job - that would've been quite handy. My sound is such that I frequently have a need to turn delay on & off, but I leave my reverb going throughout - there is no way to accomplish this if you are using this pedal as your primary delay/reverb box. This severely limits the usefulness of the reverb effect in my opinion.
With the exception of the aforementioned lack of a switching mechanism for the reverb, the selection of ports on this device are pretty good - stereo/mono in/outs, switchable direct out, a jack for an expansion pedal for controlling things like intensity, etc, make it a pretty flexible device.
My biggest complaint is that 3 years after buying my first unit, it developed a strange side effect - when the device is in bypass mode, the whole signal is cut out - this is NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOR, in this respect the Space Echo should work like every other pedal in the market, passing the clean signal through when the effect is disengaged. Despite this I bought a second one, because I need that Space Echo sweetness for my rig, and anyway I am of the opinion that this is just a random fluke and not endemic in the line. I've had tons of BOSS pedals over the years and this is the first time -I've- had any problems with one, although it should be noted that a friend of mine bought a tuner not too long ago and it was bad out of the box. It makes me wonder about Roland's quality control as of late...
Anyway 4 stars:
Pros:
- Awesome delay: the best on the market in a pedal.
- Excellent array of ins/outs.
- BUILT IN TAP TEMPO
Cons:
- Price: expensive for a single purpose guitar pedal. Arguably worth it.
- Reliability: First one only lasted 3 years before developing a weird quirk.
- Lack of a switchable way to engage/disengage the reverb seems like an oversight.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Superb pedal Sep 04, 2012
By manicreader
First, let me say that this pedal is an emulation of a tape echo, not a modern digital echo pedal.
As a previous user of a tape echo, the tape echo has a warm analog sound full of tape saturation and a very slight warble due to the deterioration of endless tape loop. This is quite different than the super clean sound of the average modern echo pedal.
So, in short, this pedal nails the sound of a real tape echo, but if you are looking for a pristine echo effect, keep looking.
OK, so the mode control has 12 settings. 3 of these settings are straight delay with no reverb, if you want that sound. The rest of the settings are slight variations of each other. The real control comes from manipulating the echo-intensity and the echo-volume controls. There is also a 'twist' effect that is activated by holding down the TAP pedal. This is a really intense effect, and won't be useful for most things, but it is pretty awesome.
Oh yeah, there is a tap pedal for setting the echo delay frequency.
So, in conclusion, this item is an awesome emulation of a tape echo, which is what I wanted.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Boss RE-20 Space Echo Mimics '74 Roland RE-201 Space Echo Dec 11, 2012
By Karl Klun
"Assorted Music"
I just purchased the Boss RE-20 Roland Space Echo RE-201 double-pedal a few weeks ago, and though I already liked the Tape mode on my Boss Giga Delay DD-20, I really like the expanded spaciousness and random-sounding multiple tape delays of this pedal. I compared them side-by-side to create similar sounds and I gave up trying to create the same sounds with the DD-20, though it's still a great pedal for other reasons, and I use them both.
The RE-20 has four Repeat (Echo) modes, seven Reverb/Echo modes, and a Reverb only mode. Another reviewer stated that the Reverb (a "three-Z-shaped-spring") isn't very good, and I agree. It's adequate, but I prefer to use a separate reverb pedal as well. The Repeat (Echo) and Reverb/Echo modes are all very good. They have a variety of single, double and triple echos, "pings", reverberations, etc.
It is a highly-versatile pedal that provides a rich variety of sounds with a small footprint and works well with my Boss EV-5 expression pedal with four selectable control settings: (1) Repeat Rate, (2) Intensity (Feedback), (3) Echo (volume) Level, and (4) Twist, a very effective simultaneous increase in Repeat Rate and Intensity that produces a whirring, swirling, spacey effect that slows the faster spinning "tapes" gradually when released. The expression pedal provides instant changes with minimal movement, and is almost too sensitive on a few of the settings.
I highly recommend the Space Echo if you are interested in expanding your delay options. I'm glad I did.
Beautiful Delays That You Would Never Get from a Normal Delay Pedal Feb 20, 2013
By Gil Velez
"Dancehall and MMA Freak"
I bought this pedal to get long and spacious delays for my reggae band but think it is absolutely awesome for many music types. Preserve a nice analog sound that sounds great with any amp. Long lush delays and a tap tempo make it a winner.
See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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