DigiTech DF-7 Distortion Factory

[StormJH1]

Getting close to pulling the trigger on a Digitech Distortion Factory (the one that's like a 7-in-1 distortion modeler with Tubescreamer, DS-1, DOD 250, Rat, Muff Pi, etc.), but looking for some reassurance. Not that it's a ton of money but the only other Digitech pedal I own is a used Bad Monkey.

How good are the DF-7 models? For years, I stayed away from DOD/DigiTech because my impression of them was all of the Grunge and super-saturated crap pedals they put out in the 1990's. I think the guitar tech community still ignores them to this day for that reason, but some of their stuff sounds pretty decent, and the build quality resembles a BOSS more than the old DOD's now.

Thanks for the input!

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Mmmm, I had one, years ago. Put it before other dirt pedals, stacked with analog OD it doesn't sound bad (for the price). It comes with a buffer and some fuzz pedals really doesn't like to have it front of them so, prepare to put Your fuzz infront of it.

After the initial enthusisasm and knob tweaking, I wasn't the least bit happy with how... well, compressed and unsurprising they sounded. By itself, without other fuzz/OD/dist pedals or an overdriven amp it sounded just very ...modelled and boring to me. Lifeless. Sold mine to a guy that seems to have been happy with it however.

The only distortions that I liked enough to use were RAT, the metal distortion and Muff modes. Though they really didn't sound to me like what they were supposed to sound. So better perhaps forget about that. Instead I played around with the tone stack and tuned them after my liking. And stacked with other dirt pedals (Marshall Govnor and modified MXR distortion clone after it and Ibanezz Standard fuzz in front).

[theavondon]

You should probably just get a RAT.

[StormJH1]

Good review, thanks! I think I found one apparently new for about 36 bucks. Heck, that's less than a new DS-1. I'm going keep your criticisms of the pedal in mind and view this as a "toy". If I can get something more out of it, great!

I will say that from what I've seen/heard of it, the models may not sound exactly like the originals, but they are full-bodied, slightly higher gain, and customizable. For example, I have a TS-9 and DS-1 already, but if you could offer me a tone similar to those, but with more gain, higher output, and customizable EQ - I might have a use for that.

For the poster above talking about the RAT - I actually tried one and wasn't that happy with it. It's a classic 80's pedal, but I couldn't pull the trigger given the price (new), the different kind of adapter plug, and the larger real estate it would require on my pedalboard. I may change my mind in the future, but I'll see what the DF-7 can do first.

Thanks again!

[ryan summit]

digital distortion huh
i had a bad experience with a modelling amp
and the distortion was was so weak
it was like all knobs went to 8.5
if you got a ds1 and a ts it might be a buzzkill

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Oh, one thing came to my mind - You don't want to use a battery with this one. Don't know about You but it might be an important issue to some.

1) it's digital = eats batteries, devours them, really, and doesn't work at all with 70% battery life left
2) batteries are bad for environment anyway

[Psyre]

batteries are bad for environment anyway

Mmmhm, sure Aen, suuuuurrreee

[hbombgraphics]

I had the chorus factory and thought that it was very good, I still have an expression factory that I will probably never part with.
Not sure how the distortion factory is but I am normally not disappointed with the newer digitech stuff, good value and very durable.
Modeled dirt does make people a little nervous but if you get a few good tones out of it I think it is worth it.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

batteries are bad for environment anyway

Mmmhm, sure Aen, suuuuurrreee

Well it's not only Dwarfcraft. Or Fuzzhugger. Or Devi Ever. Or McSpunckle. Or the Beavis Audio article.
http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/badBattery.htm

[StormJH1]

@ryan summit - See, I guess I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by "digital distortion". People think "digital" and I think they immediately think of those POD multi-effects or Line6 devices, but that was 15+ years ago those came out. The BOSS Power Stack is a pretty solid pedal, and isn't that basically a digital modeler? I think DigiTech's current stuff is better than people think, and CERTAINLY better than the DOD crap that was all over the market in the 80's and 90's. But you're certainly not alone in your opinion, in fact, you're probably the majority.

And actually, I DO have a DS-1 and a TS-9, and my biggest gripe about both of those pedals is the terribly low output. I haven't heard any complaints about output level on the DF-7, but we'll have to see. In the demo videos, it looked like they were matching clean channel level with the pedal engaged and the output knob at around 12 o'clock. To do that on a DS-1 or TS-9, I need those knobs at about 80% - drives me nuts!

@Bassus Singuinus - Battery life not a concern for me. After I got over about 3 pedals, I got a OneSpot adapter. Thing kicks out 1700 miliamps, so it could easily handle 8-12 pedals or more. Actually, the fact that it takes the standard 9V adapter plug (same as BOSS) is one reason I wanted to try this over something like the RAT, which has a weird adapter and backwards controls. But you are right that the DF-7 is apparently a battery assassin. Some people indicated it lasts all of 3 hours on a single battery, yuck. Fortunately, I'm not concerned with that.

[sonidero]

Thread too long... If it's $36 then the next post is telling us how you like it or how you hate it... No more Digiscussion...

[in_sherman]

i saw that my friend had one. he's never mentioned it haha. always prefers to plug straight into his ac-15 or with a ood-9 in front