Blackstar HT Delay?

[frigid midget]

- Looks stupid
- Gimmicky tube
- Not booteek
- Too big
- No modulation
- No trails

Are those the main reasons why it doesn't seem to get much love around here? I know there's a bazillion similar delay peds out there, but is there any particular sound/functionality -related reasons why it does't get mesioned more? Lousy bang for the buck compaired to the competition?

[echorec]

- Looks stupid
- Gimmicky tube
- Not booteek
- Too big
- No modulation
- No trails

Are those the main reasons why it doesn't seem to get much love around here? I know there's a bazillion similar delay peds out there, but is there any particular sound/functionality -related reasons why it does't get mesioned more? Lousy bang for the buck compaired to the competition?

All I can really do is echo your sentiments and possibly rank them in order of significance.

1) lack of recent demos. it came out in 2011, years before many popular YT demo guys got started
2) probably wouldn't make many people's wish lists of top-50 delay pedals (forgotten product in a crowded market). going beyond delay, there thousands of other pedals that have come out since 2011.
3) far from a highly-coveted brand
4) price (original retail price was about $300)
5) lack of features (trails, midi, presets, user editing)
6) chunky size/appearance
7) definitely a lack of social media cool factor / forum credibility

I just played a couple of demos to get reacquainted with it, and although I could see it being useful, many people have already got delays that go way beyond this in the realms of digital, multi-engine modelers----Timebender, Nemesis, EchoSystem, Timeline, Flashback, DD-550, Timefactor, and more.

[frigid midget]

Yeah, that's what I figured. Still though, the other pedals you're refering to are targeted to people who are willing to spend a lot more. A used HT delay can be found for $100ish, no?

As far as bread and butter delays go, it doesn't seem like a horrible option. Haven't tried one though.

Anyway, the sum of those 7 things is probably what makes most people buy one of the many other options.

[goroth]

This product is not popular.
Here’s why it sucks.
Nobody ever talks about it here.
So... can we talk about it?

I’m not sure I get what we are doing here.

[D.o.S.]

It would be improved with some well placed tape.

[echorec]

Still though, the other pedals you're refering are targeted to people who are willing to spend a lot more. A used HT delay can be found for $100ish, no?

The pedal's audience hasn't changed, and first impressions go a long way. If this was marketed at big spenders in 2011, how many people who couldn't afford this in 2011 even remember it? How many people are going to wait 3-5 years or more for a $300 pedal to become a $100 pedal? (in this case 7 years have passed) Most people have moved on to an upgrade or a compromise (possibly several times over).

Secondly, you have adjust to the market and the demographics. A $300 delay in 2011 was around the top of the market. Now top of the market is more like $300-500. ---And if you were comfortable spending $300 on a delay in 2011, you are likely still comfortable spending $300 or more on similar items. Most of these buyers have definitely forgotten the HT. Or maybe you've downsized and deemphasized your gear-spending habits and you can grab up Mooer/Nu-X multi-fx units for $80-100 (and again, the HT gets squeezed out).

I was looking online at other pedals in this series and some retailers still carry the modulation box as a special-order item---and yep, it's still $300, even though $300 gets you a lot more pedal power in 2018, than it did in 2011. For $200 (new) and about $150 used, you can now get something like an Alexander Neo, which can store user settings and allows for firmware updates.

One last thought---if I was buying for someone else in the $100-160 range that an HT Delay (exc to NOS) now commands, I'd get that person a DM-2W (roughly $110 used), a brand new Alter Ego X4 which now runs for $169, a used Quadrant, or a Timebender ($150-160 on a good week). It just seems hard to find a justification for an HT Delay in 2018, unless you just want to try every single delay once. If so, have fun.

[fldrvr]

Even in 2011 it lacked features that could be had in the same price range or less- as mentioned, Timebender, DD20, was the Timeline hitting the market around that time? If not then not long after. hell a dd6 has more features for half the price.

I bet it sounds great, my Blackstar DistX sounds great and is solid, but you could get a DL4 with 12 different delay types in it for less when it came out.

[frigid midget]

All good points. I'm just intrigued by the whole marketing thing, and how it's weaved into human psychology. Failure vs succes depends on so much stuff, often hard to really pin point. The time/era when something is released, the way it's promoted, the company's reputation, the aesthetics of the product, etc...
The price can't be too high obviously, but when it's too low a lot of people won't find it exclusive or booteek enough or they get suspiscious about the quality...

Reminds me why I'm not in the pedal business. Or any other business for that matter, other than working 9 to 5 for the man

Being the pathetic delay whore that I am, I'm always on the lookout for the next pedal to try out. As far as features and sounds go, I wouldn't mind scoring a used HT Delay.
But I can see that when it first came out, it was just too pricey compaired to the competition. And now that they can be found cheap on the used market, there's a ton of of other sweet delay peds out there that shit all over this rather large blackstar pedal that just has a handfull of modes, shotty looks, no presets/midi/modulation, and zero indie/ilf cred.

[Eivind August]

[Warpsmasher]

I have the reverb, it was super cheap, and I like to keep some zero cred stuff around. I also like reverbs and delays that are big and bulky. It's heavy enough to stay planted firmly on the table or the floor without any velcro and I love that.
I had the delay for a while when I was trying all kinds of random pedals, and flipped it pretty quickly for more/next. It sounded really good, but didn't go 100% wet, didn't have stereo in, no trails, basically none of the bells and whistles a $300 delay is supposed to have. For $150 or less though, it is a pretty fair deal. The delay and reverb do at least each have one extra cool algo amidst all the vanilla ones (space echo in the delay, reverse in the reverb).

[rfurtkamp]

At the time it was released, it was $50 more than the Timebender's release price, for perspective. $50 more than the Boss Space Echo, $100 more than a DE-20 (still in the lineup), etc.

It was beyond top of the heap price-wise, and Blackstar had no traction in the pedal market.