I don't play guitar, I play synths. And it's worth mentioning that the midi inputs on the strymon pedals allow you to do all sorts of interesting sequenced automations. Far more complex possibilities when you can automate the parameters. Ah yes, and the MIDI program changes allow you to do things like change the preset automatically on pattern or song changes. Lastly, switching presets is instant, so you can do things like little preset change fills on the downbeats. One Synthesizer paired with one Strymon pedal, and there's a lot you can control and modulate. Both Timeline and Bigsky really are almost their own instrument.
Bought mine new last year (and paid ALL the money). I have yet to hear a delay pedal that makes me think I made a mistake. Thanks for the validation, Bill!
Fantastic demo. What blows my mind is how no one mentions the built in looper. The looper in this machine killer, and so nice to use. And with the multi-switch you can send your loops in reverse and get a totally tripped out sound. It's wild.
Bought a Timeline in early 2012 loved it but then let it go in 2016 for another Eventide H9. Then in 2019 decided to sell my three H9's and get the Timeline back and a Volante and Deco as well.... Just love Strymon products especially my Big Sky!
Just bought one yesterday for my lever harp - but I’m also a guitarist first, so either way, it’s a Win win. Love Strymon quality - thx for the video !
Well, I think it’s still worth buying in 2022 :) Very intuitive to use yet it provides huuuge amount of amazing sounds. Can’t recommend enough. That controls layout is just perfect.
The Frippertronics long delay alone was worth watching this video for - I'd not thought of doing that. I'm going to give that a try. I also didn't know it had been around 9 years. Keep up the great work
I've got one in 2022 :-) and I've tested almost all the others in the meanwhile ....this sounds far too better still after so many years and that's truly inspiring. So the answer is : YES.
I was just surfing TH-cam looking for new delay pedals and came upon your video.... I have to agree with you (2021). I've been using the TimeLine Since it came out (replaced my eventide timefactor) and keep looking for something new, but I keep coming back to the Timeline. One important feature I need is the display.
Finally did it, saved up and decided to buy the Timeline! Even though I use Volante, I always found TL to be a very pleasant multi-delay, now I have best of both worlds! Cheers Bill, helpful video as always!
Napalm1334 right on, I’m going to have to give the volante a shot then. Scooped a TL about a week ago, switching from a boss re20, and it’s been nonstop inspiration since. I do love the versatility in the TL tho. I use reverse and dBucket a ton with heavy modulation on the bucket which sounds amazing. Thanks for the input!
Got here late! just purchased it from my bucket list 2 years ago.... and I LOVE TIMELINE.... I have it for my studio in a patch bay and connect it to guitar, bass and Synhts 👍 I like it more than many of the newer ones because precisely its "Deep Editing" properties..... so I can tweak melodically synths.... So... not washed out even a bit 🤘 (your videos rock)
The ice and smear features are truly special, and no pedal can compare with that signature sound. Also, I love the dual and pattern delays. I’ve had a timeline, Pigtronix echolution ultra pro, and a line 6 DL4. For me the winner was the line 6 DL4. For me, it’s the only pedal I really fell in love with, until it broke. However, the timeline seemed built to last and its well built, simple to use and has so many presets. I’ve got to say though, the Ice setting is incredible.
Everyone I know or read, who had a dl4 (inc myself) has said it broke (I’m on my broken second one). Dl4 was an iconic pedal for sure but a bit mechanically fragile. Whether the new dl4 II will be more resilient who knows at this stage?
Bought mind on Reverb about 1 year ago. I love it. You just made me want to dive into those settings. I usually avoid them. Thanks for blazing the trail.
Everything else sounds like this (and the contemporary Eventide) Definitely one of the originators and much easier to loop than others with the exp pedal! It's a classic and so much more immediate for performance than most. Both Ocean Machine and Timeline are all the delay I need! The only effect that's dating is the pitch feedback - called 'ICE' (that everyone copied).
Just got mine almost by accident (long story, but C19 related and really only bought it to help out a friend), and so far I’ve definitely found lots of inspiration just scrolling through presets to sample sounds! Mine additionally came with a Saturn 3-button controller with which I’d really like to use to hone my looping skills-very cool. The only drawback so far has been updating the firmware, which for me was fairly complicated (at first) due to having to use the third-party software, and the Nexie app hasn’t been as intuitive to me as the Boss DD-500 preset library manager was. I do realize that I’m very early on the learning curve though, so I’m totally optimistic and actually very excited to have this new challenge/opportunity! I’m really enjoining the sounds so far. Thanks for the encouragement & for the great video!
Bill, no way are you "all washed up" and neither is the Timeline. I purchased one only a few months back after a long wait and so I'm still in the 'honeymoon' phase with it, perhaps. I own quite a few interesting delay pedals including a DIG and El Capistan; both of which I love. However, like the Big Sky I've owned for several years, I consider the Timeline almost a musical instrument in its own right, or perhaps a better description would be to say that it's a creative workstation because it has so much in the box. It's a real tool for experimentation and has inspired my creativity in new ways. Finally, one huge advantage is the copious patch memory. I can store my experiments as I go along, and that is super useful. Great to see that you still love creating with the Timeline after all those years.
I wanted one of these for ages but then discovered the Empress Echosystem and haven’t looked back. The dual delay architecture and several updates of new delay types sold it to me.
I have the Echosystem too. It’s a great sounding pedal which is more compact, updatable and has a more intuitive interface. It’s probably the only community based delay pedal afaik. If you need different features and pros, go for the TL or something else like the Ventris.
@@JPMonstie Ventris and TL both have the stereo limitation I mentioned above. Separate mode for ping-pong hence no wide stereo tape delay. Ventris is also limited to 1.25s in tape mode. Only Volante and Specular left, but Specular delay is even shorter.
I'm confined at home for the italian lockdown and I bought one last week.I shouldn't have done it since it's a very expensive device and these days money are such a precious resource but honestly,the Timeline is bringing light to these though times at home.I really look forwars to rejoin my band and please both me and them with my new delays!
I had the budget, both in terms of finances and pedalboard real estate, to get either a Timeline or a Volante. I went with the Volante. Timeline is a great pedal, but the Volante is much easier to use, and figuring I would be using the Timeline's tape mode 90% of the time, the Volante just made sense. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get a Dig and string them together.
Sometimes I think my Timeline is too much. But then I start fiddling with the knobs and develop something new. With all the controls at your fingertips, possibilities seem endless which loops me around to thinking it's too much pedal but before I sell it I fiddle with the knobs and find something I hadn't found before and years later I'm stillcreating new possibilities.
I was trying out a Meris Polymoon these days (also a cool unit, with a different approach to delay and pitch-shifiting), but then I switched back to the Timeline and felt back home. In 2021 Timeline is still a solid multi-delay! Since years this is my main delay unit. Actually thanks to the Timeline I stopped caring and seaking for other delay pedals.
I got mine in 2015, and today, before seeing this video, I was the whole afternoon playing with it. The possibilities are endless and the quality of the sound only compare to my TC2290, which is the modern standard in my opinion. Factory presets covers all, but programming it is a lot of fun ¡¡ Thanks or the video ¡¡
I’m still using the boss dd-20 from at least a dozen years ago. It does everything I could ask of it, and the timeline does more! You had some great sounds here.
Also want to point out that it has a looper as well, and even though the looper doesn't have easy reverse function like the DL4 you are able to use delays and record them on the looper either post or pre. Again, I only use this on my vocals and use the looper function sparingly but it works great as a long reverb or delay on vocals.
Great sounding delay is great sounding delay. And Strymon provides that in spades! And when you add in all the delay types, midi, and the ability to create and store patches what does one need that it does not provide? So my answer is YES. Great video by the way. You have a great sounding voice and delivery!
Haha I just got mine last week and reason #2 was huge for me, it's so easy to tweak all the settings. I thought 9 knobs would be confusing but it's pretty intuitive.
I have too many pedals, so sometimes I forget the Timeline and, when I come back to it, I re-discover with awe its huge potential, much more huge than Bill's five reasons given here. If you are prone to creativity, this is the one to consider seriously: it's almost limitless, and full of surprises. Too bad that the looping time is quite limited, and that the looped material cannot be kept in memory - much less in several memory slots. I have encouraged them several time to update the Timeline, to keep all its original good features and make it even better. A Timeline 10th Anniversary, in short...
I have a plethora of delay pedals but decided to purchase the Timeline today. There are things it does that no other pedal does. I would prefer they did individual pedals for each of the delay (and reverb) engines in the form factor like the El Capistan and would buy the ones I liked that way but Strymon chose not to go that direction so to get those algorithms I have to buy the big box unit. I don't mind the secondary function editing like that on the smaller units but I don't care for deep editing. Guess I'll have to get used to it ;). All that said, I'm very excited to dig into it. It should be here tomorrow.
I love my Timeline. I like set the ice setting to the longest possible delay time, 100% wet, two octaves up and then use my baritone (I think one of the reasons I got my PRS SE 277 was this channel..) to get some sweet, sweet backing harmonies to play along to, and to use for loops. Another thing I like to do is to use the lofi delay with minimal delay time and 100% wet, which turns the pedal into a lofi-overdrive pedal. Another thing I like to do use the tremolo delay - again with the shortest possible delay time, and get turn the Timeline into a washy, ethereal trem-pedal. There is so much to do, and that's probably the reason why I've never felt like I really needed a newer pedal since I bought mine back in 2016. Oh yeah, and the pattern delay makes for a really neat faux spring reverb!
I made a recent comparison of 10 multi-delay pedals including the TimeLine and since it is one of the oldest, I arrived to a simple conclusion: all pedals want to imitate the Strymon TimeLine.
Personally I find Strymon's medium sized pedals to be way better than their larger multieffect pedals like the timeline, bigsky and mobius. They're so specialized and so on the mark with the effect that it's hard to beat. So for me the reason to get the timeline is MIDI. I have the volante and it's the best of both worlds. A specific effect type with MIDI support. If pedals like the Dig, Flint, Brigadier and others had MIDI I'd choose them over the bigsky and timeline hands down.
@@poulwinther that's what I love about the Volante It's old school what you see is what you get. All the setting are right there in front of you. The real issue is recalling them alongside all the rest of the pedalboard settings. Plus without MIDI there's only eight presets available. Whereas with MIDI there like hundreds of them to store presets in. I'm looking forward to building a MIDI pedalboard with the Volante, the plethora and the LA Lady and probably the true spring pedal. So I can switch presets quickly. Only keeping the phase 95 .
Saurondor agree, sold my BigSky & TimeLine for a DIG, El Capistan & Flint. I don’t miss the big boxes at all. Also have a Mercury 7 for added reverb. Smaller boxes sound better to me and are more immediate. Of course all Strymon stuff is quality.
@@mydaydreamrecords I don't know the small boxes well enough to argue with you, but I just don't understand how you take advantage of all the features in a song related context without MIDI?
Poul Winther Knudsen it’s a non issue for me. I’m a producer/studio musician. When I write songs I’m not using presets. I tweak to get the desired sound for the track I’m working on. Musicians survived before MIDI. If you know your pedals well enough you’ll be able to dial them in fairly quick. The small box Strymons are not that complicated.
I’ve had mine since 2016 and it’s fantastic... but now that i have the FM3 I think I’m gonna just sell it. The Fractal delays are really impressive and it’s one less thing to plug in for my bedroom “studio”
The Timeline is my go to delay pedal for all the reasons you stated in your excellent vid Bill .. I'd add the routing options with stereo, MIDI and an expression pedal plus a great sounding modulation function.
Hey Bill, thanks for showing what the Timeline can do when you stretch out the delay, really liked the "Frippertronics" part of the demo. I just picked up a Nightsky and think it's time to get a Timeline as well. Great job!
I’ve had mine for six years and love it. I find it a constant source of inspiration. I had to use the helix on a gig recently and found it to be so less inspiring.
Good pedals will always be good. Just because they are older, doesn't make them worse. In fact, you can get a great deal on them. I don't own many recent pedals (Slo, Revv G3, and Nemesis).
So, I agree, the Timeline is awesome. But we already know that. Since 2011 other options have become available, and the real question is whether the Timeline is still better than all of those. Is it?
Gotta be honest - just a couple of simple analog delays stacked In front of a lush reverb does it for me. I never personally could justify spending the money some of these super looper pedals cost. I have 2 stereo delay pedals and one really cheap analog delay, and a Digitech rack unit with awesome multi-tap delays. The cheapo is actually my go-to pedal.
I have one, and I do GENERALLY like it. There were some things that could have been done better both on the operating system and the hardware itself, but the timeline does cover a really wide range. I had to change out both the "value" and "type" encoder knobs as well as one of the tap switches. Apparently, they crap out pretty easy, and let me tell you.. they are NOT easy to repair. They require soldering on to a multi-layer PC board, and it's super scary. I have a lot of experience soldering, and it normally doesn't scare me. The problem is that you have a couple of big tabs that need to be released, and they need to get HOT. Plus, it's extreme difficult to remove all 5 contacts without destroying the existing encoder. I even melted the very edge of the LCD display, but you can't tell when the cover is on thank god. I really hope my Big Sky doesn't fail in the same way. One last thing... strymon stuff sounds like strymon stuff. I don't know what it is, but you can just identify it when you hear it. That's both good and bad. They sound great, but for awhile, everyone was using them and everything sounded the same. That said, I kept my old Line 6 DL4 since it has its own character as well. I don't think I would buy the timeline today, but I won't be getting rid of mine anytime soon either. I find that my Kemper already does 95% of what my timeline does, so it would be hard to justify buying one now.
Try to get a used "Damage Control Timeline"! It's also from the Strymon makers and just amazing. TRUE STEREO! Full Midi Control! Dual TUBES!! Got mine yesterday and for me it's one of the best delays ever made.
I have 2....the first one i bought it in 2012/13 and then sell it for a bunch of analog after ayear sing it, and in 2016/17 i bought it again new and the price jump was WOOOW!!!!! I hope i dont do mistakes again 😆😆 Timeline still stay on my board or on top of my amp until now 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
The Timeline has some good competition nowadays but yes, the Timline is still worth the money. It's still one of the top dogs in delay pedals, no question. At this point in the game it's going to be really hard to make a "better" pedal than what Timeline offers when comparing it to the other top delay pedals. At this point you're just after different flavors/options.
Much obliged for answering the exact question I had today regarding this delay AND its application for frippertronics! I’m also curious about the effects loop option in this pedal...
Bill, are there ways to make your guitars layer and layer until your guitars sound like a boys and girls choir? I often hear these voices in my head, but I don't have the funds to make them a reality. Lots of times the ideas seem plausible. Other times the voices tell me to go to bed...you're drunk again! Keep up the GREAT work. You have more fans than you realize. And you are an inspiration to we "over 60" crowd.
EHX Mel9 will do choirs. Here's a piece I did a number of years ago that starts with.the clarinet voice, and then switches to a choir voice. There is a high choir that sounds like what you might be thinking of.
Not much to say except strymon pedals are worth the buck. Pedals are like anything else. The high end ones all have something to offer. Preference, preference preferences. I own the Mobius, Sunset, and Timeline. Great sounding pedals that do exactly as they're designed to do. There will always be a better one. Technology dictates that. But Strymon is highly competitive. Nice demo.
Yay 😍 Bought a timeline after watchinh this for my channel! Thanks as always Orion you're the man!. Have you ever tried using this on an acoustic guitar and do you think this would make sense at all?
Maybe your question raises a few others; what has happened with delay pedals in the last decade or so? New effects maybe? Does the Strymon miss out on these? Or is it more like the Strymon has its own proprietary settings/effects that others don’t have access to? Whatever, you (and I imagine, many of your listeners) have proven that it can still be used to assist in making sweet music!
Great video Bill. I mostly play in the the box these days. I use Soundtoys Echoboy and Audiority's Xeno verb for shimmer. I also got Raum from Native Instruments for free which does some excellent reverbs with shimmers. Liquidsonica Verbsuite is a good ir set but less useful for ambient. Pedal wise the TC Electronic Hof 2 and the TC Flashback Delay would be what I use. I can't afford Strymom stuff 😭
Thanks for the lovely review! I’m wondering if you could kindly post a link to the other nice delays you mentioned at the beginning of the video? thank you!
I love the timeline! But it is massive sized and super expensive. For what it cost, I ended up instead getting a Line 6 HX Stomp that better meets my needs with more features and the delays are quite good.
try the brandnew Walrus Mako D1, you will fall in deep love with it! true stereo with full midi support and it sounds much warmer and vintage-spacey than ANY other pedal I heard. no kidding. take care and keep up your great work!
I sold my Strymon dly & vrb. Great sounds but pedal-menus and lack of usb edit capability I now have Source Audio dly & vrb on my board. Easier to manage my editing and midi arrangements for various sets. Strymon's need a special midi interface to locally save and share presets. But they sound fantastic. Very high price point but... hold their value.
Nice video Bill, I understand this amazing machines represent a high quality sound for guitar player. I’ve got a question, can the TimeLine make infinite repeats like the Flashback Triple Delay?
I know it is not a really big deal, but I really like to mess with the built-in looper on this pedal. I guess loopers are pretty much ubiquitous on many pedals these days, but having it on this monster pedal is really nice. Also, could/would you post the MeltAway parameter settings you used on this demo? Thanks.
User Manual - "FOOTSWITCH A: Press to engage or bypass preset A of the current bank. Hold to activate infinite repeats." "FOOTSWITCH B: Press to engage or bypass preset B of the current bank. Hold to activate infinite repeats." - Hold to activate infinite repeats - It doesn't work for me, where am I doing wrong? Please help
![ILLSLICK - KILLSHOT REMIX [FULL VERSION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RIK8RrqIAzE/mqdefault.jpg)
I don't play guitar, I play synths. And it's worth mentioning that the midi inputs on the strymon pedals allow you to do all sorts of interesting sequenced automations. Far more complex possibilities when you can automate the parameters. Ah yes, and the MIDI program changes allow you to do things like change the preset automatically on pattern or song changes. Lastly, switching presets is instant, so you can do things like little preset change fills on the downbeats. One Synthesizer paired with one Strymon pedal, and there's a lot you can control and modulate. Both Timeline and Bigsky really are almost their own instrument.
You must be very excited, or have already bought a hologram microcosm. That thing looks amazing.
Bought mine new last year (and paid ALL the money). I have yet to hear a delay pedal that makes me think I made a mistake. Thanks for the validation, Bill!
Fantastic demo. What blows my mind is how no one mentions the built in looper. The looper in this machine killer, and so nice to use. And with the multi-switch you can send your loops in reverse and get a totally tripped out sound. It's wild.
If you can't make great music with a Timeline, its time to get a new hobby.
Bought a Timeline in early 2012 loved it but then let it go in 2016 for another Eventide H9. Then in 2019 decided to sell my three H9's and get the Timeline back and a Volante and Deco as well.... Just love Strymon products especially my Big Sky!
The Timeline is timeless ... ;-) I still love it!
Just bought one yesterday for my lever harp - but I’m also a guitarist first, so either way, it’s a Win win. Love Strymon quality - thx for the video !
Well, I think it’s still worth buying in 2022 :) Very intuitive to use yet it provides huuuge amount of amazing sounds. Can’t recommend enough. That controls layout is just perfect.
I found one in local classifieds for 300 and I'm seriously tempted to snag it.
The Frippertronics long delay alone was worth watching this video for - I'd not thought of doing that. I'm going to give that a try. I also didn't know it had been around 9 years. Keep up the great work
I've got one in 2022 :-) and I've tested almost all the others in the meanwhile ....this sounds far too better still after so many years and that's truly inspiring. So the answer is : YES.
I was just surfing TH-cam looking for new delay pedals and came upon your video.... I have to agree with you (2021). I've been using the TimeLine Since it came out (replaced my eventide timefactor) and keep looking for something new, but I keep coming back to the Timeline. One important feature I need is the display.
Finally did it, saved up and decided to buy the Timeline! Even though I use Volante, I always found TL to be a very pleasant multi-delay, now I have best of both worlds!
Cheers Bill, helpful video as always!
may i ask which one you use more often or find more worth the dough?
Napalm1334 right on, I’m going to have to give the volante a shot then. Scooped a TL about a week ago, switching from a boss re20, and it’s been nonstop inspiration since. I do love the versatility in the TL tho. I use reverse and dBucket a ton with heavy modulation on the bucket which sounds amazing. Thanks for the input!
Still have mine after 8 years. Works like a dream. To used to it to change. Good workflow pedal.
Got here late! just purchased it from my bucket list 2 years ago.... and I LOVE TIMELINE.... I have it for my studio in a patch bay and connect it to guitar, bass and Synhts 👍 I like it more than many of the newer ones because precisely its "Deep Editing" properties..... so I can tweak melodically synths.... So... not washed out even a bit 🤘 (your videos rock)
One really great feature about it is that I already own it.
(And it IS a great pedal)
Lovely!
The ice and smear features are truly special, and no pedal can compare with that signature sound. Also, I love the dual and pattern delays. I’ve had a timeline, Pigtronix echolution ultra pro, and a line 6 DL4. For me the winner was the line 6 DL4. For me, it’s the only pedal I really fell in love with, until it broke. However, the timeline seemed built to last and its well built, simple to use and has so many presets. I’ve got to say though, the Ice setting is incredible.
Everyone I know or read, who had a dl4 (inc myself) has said it broke (I’m on my broken second one). Dl4 was an iconic pedal for sure but a bit mechanically fragile. Whether the new dl4 II will be more resilient who knows at this stage?
Bought mind on Reverb about 1 year ago. I love it. You just made me want to dive into those settings. I usually avoid them. Thanks for blazing the trail.
Heck, I got one 2 months ago! I've tried a bunch, and it's just the best sounding out of the box and super intuitive!
Everything else sounds like this (and the contemporary Eventide) Definitely one of the originators and much easier to loop than others with the exp pedal!
It's a classic and so much more immediate for performance than most. Both Ocean Machine and Timeline are all the delay I need!
The only effect that's dating is the pitch feedback - called 'ICE' (that everyone copied).
Just got mine almost by accident (long story, but C19 related and really only bought it to help out a friend), and so far I’ve definitely found lots of inspiration just scrolling through presets to sample sounds! Mine additionally came with a Saturn 3-button controller with which I’d really like to use to hone my looping skills-very cool.
The only drawback so far has been updating the firmware, which for me was fairly complicated (at first) due to having to use the third-party software, and the Nexie app hasn’t been as intuitive to me as the Boss DD-500 preset library manager was. I do realize that I’m very early on the learning curve though, so I’m totally optimistic and actually very excited to have this new challenge/opportunity! I’m really enjoining the sounds so far.
Thanks for the encouragement & for the great video!
Smear! Worth buying just for that ability.
Bill, no way are you "all washed up" and neither is the Timeline. I purchased one only a few months back after a long wait and so I'm still in the 'honeymoon' phase with it, perhaps. I own quite a few interesting delay pedals including a DIG and El Capistan; both of which I love. However, like the Big Sky I've owned for several years, I consider the Timeline almost a musical instrument in its own right, or perhaps a better description would be to say that it's a creative workstation because it has so much in the box. It's a real tool for experimentation and has inspired my creativity in new ways. Finally, one huge advantage is the copious patch memory. I can store my experiments as I go along, and that is super useful. Great to see that you still love creating with the Timeline after all those years.
Adam - love the "creative workstation" observation. Totally agree!!
I wanted one of these for ages but then discovered the Empress Echosystem and haven’t looked back. The dual delay architecture and several updates of new delay types sold it to me.
I am glad you like it. But a pedal at that price with ping-pong ONLY in Digital setting and no proper MIDI, that unsold it to me.
I have the Echosystem too. It’s a great sounding pedal which is more compact, updatable and has a more intuitive interface. It’s probably the only community based delay pedal afaik. If you need different features and pros, go for the TL or something else like the Ventris.
@@JPMonstie Ventris and TL both have the stereo limitation I mentioned above. Separate mode for ping-pong hence no wide stereo tape delay. Ventris is also limited to 1.25s in tape mode. Only Volante and Specular left, but Specular delay is even shorter.
I'm confined at home for the italian lockdown and I bought one last week.I shouldn't have done it since it's a very expensive device and these days money are such a precious resource but honestly,the Timeline is bringing light to these though times at home.I really look forwars to rejoin my band and please both me and them with my new delays!
That's awesome haha stay safe dude
Dario Crocetta Cheers 🍻
I had the budget, both in terms of finances and pedalboard real estate, to get either a Timeline or a Volante. I went with the Volante. Timeline is a great pedal, but the Volante is much easier to use, and figuring I would be using the Timeline's tape mode 90% of the time, the Volante just made sense. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get a Dig and string them together.
Sometimes I think my Timeline is too much. But then I start fiddling with the knobs and develop something new. With all the controls at your fingertips, possibilities seem endless which loops me around to thinking it's too much pedal but before I sell it I fiddle with the knobs and find something I hadn't found before and years later I'm stillcreating new possibilities.
I was trying out a Meris Polymoon these days (also a cool unit, with a different approach to delay and pitch-shifiting), but then I switched back to the Timeline and felt back home. In 2021 Timeline is still a solid multi-delay!
Since years this is my main delay unit. Actually thanks to the Timeline I stopped caring and seaking for other delay pedals.
@chords of orion thanks for that frippentronix fake looper trick with the dual delay!!
I love my timeline. It’s so good. Still. Seriously, get one.
I got mine in 2015, and today, before seeing this video, I was the whole afternoon playing with it. The possibilities are endless and the quality of the sound only compare to my TC2290, which is the modern standard in my opinion. Factory presets covers all, but programming it is a lot of fun ¡¡ Thanks or the video ¡¡
I’m still using the boss dd-20 from at least a dozen years ago. It does everything I could ask of it, and the timeline does more! You had some great sounds here.
Also want to point out that it has a looper as well, and even though the looper doesn't have easy reverse function like the DL4 you are able to use delays and record them on the looper either post or pre. Again, I only use this on my vocals and use the looper function sparingly but it works great as a long reverb or delay on vocals.
If you get the multi-switch you can run your loops in reverse.
Great sounding delay is great sounding delay. And Strymon provides that in spades! And when you add in all the delay types, midi, and the ability to create and store patches what does one need that it does not provide? So my answer is YES. Great video by the way. You have a great sounding voice and delivery!
I just need the Kid A tone, such as Treefingers and In Limbo
Haha I just got mine last week and reason #2 was huge for me, it's so easy to tweak all the settings. I thought 9 knobs would be confusing but it's pretty intuitive.
Good to hear that you are finding it easy to use!!
I have too many pedals, so sometimes I forget the Timeline and, when I come back to it, I re-discover with awe its huge potential, much more huge than Bill's five reasons given here. If you are prone to creativity, this is the one to consider seriously: it's almost limitless, and full of surprises. Too bad that the looping time is quite limited, and that the looped material cannot be kept in memory - much less in several memory slots. I have encouraged them several time to update the Timeline, to keep all its original good features and make it even better. A Timeline 10th Anniversary, in short...
I have a plethora of delay pedals but decided to purchase the Timeline today. There are things it does that no other pedal does. I would prefer they did individual pedals for each of the delay (and reverb) engines in the form factor like the El Capistan and would buy the ones I liked that way but Strymon chose not to go that direction so to get those algorithms I have to buy the big box unit. I don't mind the secondary function editing like that on the smaller units but I don't care for deep editing. Guess I'll have to get used to it ;). All that said, I'm very excited to dig into it. It should be here tomorrow.
I love my Timeline. I like set the ice setting to the longest possible delay time, 100% wet, two octaves up and then use my baritone (I think one of the reasons I got my PRS SE 277 was this channel..) to get some sweet, sweet backing harmonies to play along to, and to use for loops.
Another thing I like to do is to use the lofi delay with minimal delay time and 100% wet, which turns the pedal into a lofi-overdrive pedal.
Another thing I like to do use the tremolo delay - again with the shortest possible delay time, and get turn the Timeline into a washy, ethereal trem-pedal. There is so much to do, and that's probably the reason why I've never felt like I really needed a newer pedal since I bought mine back in 2016.
Oh yeah, and the pattern delay makes for a really neat faux spring reverb!
I've had one for 8 years and love it.
The one thing I would change is the visibility of the labels. I can not read them in low light.
I made a recent comparison of 10 multi-delay pedals including the TimeLine and since it is one of the oldest, I arrived to a simple conclusion: all pedals want to imitate the Strymon TimeLine.
Personally I find Strymon's medium sized pedals to be way better than their larger multieffect pedals like the timeline, bigsky and mobius. They're so specialized and so on the mark with the effect that it's hard to beat. So for me the reason to get the timeline is MIDI. I have the volante and it's the best of both worlds. A specific effect type with MIDI support. If pedals like the Dig, Flint, Brigadier and others had MIDI I'd choose them over the bigsky and timeline hands down.
Doesn't suck to program the Volante without a display though?
@@poulwinther that's what I love about the Volante
It's old school what you see is what you get. All the setting are right there in front of you. The real issue is recalling them alongside all the rest of the pedalboard settings. Plus without MIDI there's only eight presets available. Whereas with MIDI there like hundreds of them to store presets in.
I'm looking forward to building a MIDI pedalboard with the Volante, the plethora and the LA Lady and probably the true spring pedal. So I can switch presets quickly. Only keeping the phase 95 .
Saurondor agree, sold my BigSky & TimeLine for a DIG, El Capistan & Flint. I don’t miss the big boxes at all. Also have a Mercury 7 for added reverb. Smaller boxes sound better to me and are more immediate. Of course all Strymon stuff is quality.
@@mydaydreamrecords I don't know the small boxes well enough to argue with you, but I just don't understand how you take advantage of all the features in a song related context without MIDI?
Poul Winther Knudsen it’s a non issue for me. I’m a producer/studio musician. When I write songs I’m not using presets. I tweak to get the desired sound for the track I’m working on. Musicians survived before MIDI. If you know your pedals well enough you’ll be able to dial them in fairly quick. The small box Strymons are not that complicated.
I’ve had mine since 2016 and it’s fantastic... but now that i have the FM3 I think I’m gonna just sell it. The Fractal delays are really impressive and it’s one less thing to plug in for my bedroom “studio”
The Timeline is my go to delay pedal for all the reasons you stated in your excellent vid Bill .. I'd add the routing options with stereo, MIDI and an expression pedal plus a great sounding modulation function.
All great features too. Thanks Tim!
Ha, thanks bill. Just picked up one the other day. Better late to the table than never :)
Hey Bill, thanks for showing what the Timeline can do when you stretch out the delay, really liked the "Frippertronics" part of the demo. I just picked up a Nightsky and think it's time to get a Timeline as well. Great job!
I got the GFI Specular and got the Volante and got the Timeline. Timeline is still the King!
Fantastic demo, love the enthusiasm, which sounds almost as good as the Timeline.
Quality will always be relevant.
I’ve had mine for six years and love it. I find it a constant source of inspiration. I had to use the helix on a gig recently and found it to be so less inspiring.
Good pedals will always be good. Just because they are older, doesn't make them worse. In fact, you can get a great deal on them. I don't own many recent pedals (Slo, Revv G3, and Nemesis).
So, I agree, the Timeline is awesome. But we already know that. Since 2011 other options have become available, and the real question is whether the Timeline is still better than all of those. Is it?
I finally got a Strymon pedal, a Volante. I love it for sure. Likely all I need for delay. But this is still cool! Great video.
Nothing wrong with the Volante. I love mine!
Gotta be honest - just a couple of simple analog delays stacked In front of a lush reverb does it for me. I never personally could justify spending the money some of these super looper pedals cost.
I have 2 stereo delay pedals and one really cheap analog delay, and a Digitech rack unit with awesome multi-tap delays. The cheapo is actually my go-to pedal.
all of that costs less than $350?
Best beard on TH-cam 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I have one, and I do GENERALLY like it. There were some things that could have been done better both on the operating system and the hardware itself, but the timeline does cover a really wide range. I had to change out both the "value" and "type" encoder knobs as well as one of the tap switches. Apparently, they crap out pretty easy, and let me tell you.. they are NOT easy to repair. They require soldering on to a multi-layer PC board, and it's super scary. I have a lot of experience soldering, and it normally doesn't scare me. The problem is that you have a couple of big tabs that need to be released, and they need to get HOT. Plus, it's extreme difficult to remove all 5 contacts without destroying the existing encoder. I even melted the very edge of the LCD display, but you can't tell when the cover is on thank god. I really hope my Big Sky doesn't fail in the same way.
One last thing... strymon stuff sounds like strymon stuff. I don't know what it is, but you can just identify it when you hear it. That's both good and bad. They sound great, but for awhile, everyone was using them and everything sounded the same. That said, I kept my old Line 6 DL4 since it has its own character as well. I don't think I would buy the timeline today, but I won't be getting rid of mine anytime soon either. I find that my Kemper already does 95% of what my timeline does, so it would be hard to justify buying one now.
You’re the first person to write what I’ve always thought. The Strymon stuff does sound all the same to me.
I don’t have a timeline but will get one soon. Great video! Love your channel!
Try to get a used "Damage Control Timeline"! It's also from the Strymon makers and just amazing. TRUE STEREO! Full Midi Control! Dual TUBES!! Got mine yesterday and for me it's one of the best delays ever made.
Indeed, the Timeline still rules.
btw. I always enjoy watching your channel, keep up the good work!
Mine has not left my board since 2015. It's probably the best pedal I ever got.
I have 2....the first one i bought it in 2012/13 and then sell it for a bunch of analog after ayear sing it, and in 2016/17 i bought it again new and the price jump was WOOOW!!!!! I hope i dont do mistakes again 😆😆
Timeline still stay on my board or on top of my amp until now 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
I ve just bought mine one week ago ! 😁✌️
Thanks so much for all this information.
Bill, here's you towel to dry off. Glad we could help!!
It's probably still the best Delay out there. The question is , has something come out that the Time line can't do.
all in....in 2021!!
July of 2021... Yes, it's still amazing. Is 10/10 in mono and 15/10 if you run it in stereo.... Stereo or bust.
Great video. I've been considering buying one of these for a couple years...seems like this pedal can do everything you'd ever want it to do
Yes, it's worth every penny! At least there's no alike substitute.
I still Love my timeline
No one has come out with anything better.
Love my Timeline!
The Timeline has some good competition nowadays but yes, the Timline is still worth the money. It's still one of the top dogs in delay pedals, no question. At this point in the game it's going to be really hard to make a "better" pedal than what Timeline offers when comparing it to the other top delay pedals. At this point you're just after different flavors/options.
Of course it's worth it.
Still the best out there, in my opinion.
Much obliged for answering the exact question I had today regarding this delay AND its application for frippertronics! I’m also curious about the effects loop option in this pedal...
Bill, are there ways to make your guitars layer and layer until your guitars sound like a boys and girls choir? I often hear these voices in my head, but I don't have the funds to make them a reality. Lots of times the ideas seem plausible. Other times the voices tell me to go to bed...you're drunk again! Keep up the GREAT work. You have more fans than you realize. And you are an inspiration to we "over 60" crowd.
EHX Mel9 will do choirs. Here's a piece I did a number of years ago that starts with.the clarinet voice, and then switches to a choir voice. There is a high choir that sounds like what you might be thinking of.
I love my timeline !!!!!
Haha, great review. Some great harmony’s with this old unit
Not much to say except strymon pedals are worth the buck. Pedals are like anything else. The high end ones all have something to offer. Preference, preference preferences. I own the Mobius, Sunset, and Timeline. Great sounding pedals that do exactly as they're designed to do. There will always be a better one. Technology dictates that. But Strymon is highly competitive. Nice demo.
Yay 😍 Bought a timeline after watchinh this for my channel! Thanks as always Orion you're the man!. Have you ever tried using this on an acoustic guitar and do you think this would make sense at all?
Maybe your question raises a few others; what has happened with delay pedals in the last decade or so? New effects maybe? Does the Strymon miss out on these? Or is it more like the Strymon has its own proprietary settings/effects that others don’t have access to? Whatever, you (and I imagine, many of your listeners) have proven that it can still be used to assist in making sweet music!
Nice explanation! hope one day I can get one timeline!
Great video!
Still worth in 2021!
Yes!!!!
Great video Bill. I mostly play in the the box these days. I use Soundtoys Echoboy and Audiority's Xeno verb for shimmer. I also got Raum from Native Instruments for free which does some excellent reverbs with shimmers.
Liquidsonica Verbsuite is a good ir set but less useful for ambient. Pedal wise the TC Electronic Hof 2 and the TC Flashback Delay would be what I use. I can't afford Strymom stuff 😭
You should give Surreal Machines Dub Machines a go. My favorite delay plugin. So good.
Thanks for the lovely review! I’m wondering if you could kindly post a link to the other nice delays you mentioned at the beginning of the video? thank you!
Love ur channel
I use this on my vocals.
YES.
Love the timeline, totally worth every penny and uou won’t require any other delays
Ever.
All stop
I love the timeline! But it is massive sized and super expensive. For what it cost, I ended up instead getting a Line 6 HX Stomp that better meets my needs with more features and the delays are quite good.
try the brandnew Walrus Mako D1, you will fall in deep love with it! true stereo with full midi support and it sounds much warmer and vintage-spacey than ANY other pedal I heard. no kidding. take care and keep up your great work!
I sold my Strymon dly & vrb. Great sounds but pedal-menus and lack of usb edit capability I now have Source Audio dly & vrb on my board. Easier to manage my editing and midi arrangements for various sets. Strymon's need a special midi interface to locally save and share presets. But they sound fantastic. Very high price point but... hold their value.
Nice video Bill, I understand this amazing machines represent a high quality sound for guitar player. I’ve got a question, can the TimeLine make infinite repeats like the Flashback Triple Delay?
dual delay or Tripple delay is the question
I know it is not a really big deal, but I really like to mess with the built-in looper on this pedal. I guess loopers are pretty much ubiquitous on many pedals these days, but having it on this monster pedal is really nice. Also, could/would you post the MeltAway parameter settings you used on this demo? Thanks.
Yes.
I love Bill
User Manual - "FOOTSWITCH A: Press to engage or bypass preset A of the current
bank. Hold to activate infinite repeats."
"FOOTSWITCH B: Press to engage or bypass preset B of the current
bank. Hold to activate infinite repeats."
- Hold to activate infinite repeats - It doesn't work for me, where am I doing wrong? Please help