I use two DL-4's and have one spare. It just turns off or freezes at random. Doesnt matter what im doing. If one goes out, i'll usually switch it out with the spare one but will eventually have to switch it again cause that one will go out. Sometimes it will just turn off, sometimes i wont be able to hit the record button and other times while its playing the loop i cant hit stop. Im using the real DL4 adapter. I have bought a total of 6 adapters and they all do the same thing. I plug in to a normal power strip and have tried switching power strips but it still happens. I contacted line 6 and the only reply was "sounds like you have to take it to an authorizes repair shop". The problem with that is I have spent over $1000 on Line 6 DL-4's and adapters. I dont want to spend more money. I brought it to the repair shop anyways and they wouldnt tell me anything. My only option was to give them all three and they will fix it without giving me a price til its done. I leave for tour on Feb. 17th and dont know what im going to do. So far the pedal has gone out at every show we've played. I really want to keep using line 6 products but I'm kind of being forced to change products.
one more thing. I have the dl4 on my pedal board with all other pedals being powered by the board but the dl4 is being powered by the line 6 adapter. could this be causing problems? How can i power the dl4 by my board? it doesnt work when i try it.

any ideas???

Since it it digital, I'd say you're maybe a little fucked unless it's a power supply issue.

Does it do the same thing regardless of where you use it (ie. with different mains sources)?

Digital stuff will simply crash if there is a fault such as a power supply problem. However, since you've bought more than one, I'd guess that's not the problem.

What is your warranty date for the last one which you bought? Can you not send it back? That sounds a bit crap.

I'd recommend looking on Google for people having a similar problem, and also see if firmware upgrades are possible for this unit.

Good Luck,

Roddy

Maybe ask this guy if he knows of the fault:

http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=40

I assume you posted here:

http://line6.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi ... 7&t=000113

Maybe you should power it from a different power supply if the Line 6 one does not have sufficient filtering or other problems.

You need to consider: Voltage, Current capability, and Polarity...

i1908i wrote:one more thing. I have the dl4 on my pedal board with all other pedals being powered by the board but the dl4 is being powered by the line 6 adapter. could this be causing problems? How can i power the dl4 by my board? it doesnt work when i try it.

All of rodabod's suggestions are excellent, but the above gave me pause.

I dont own one of these pedals, so I may be way off base, but does this pedal have an external power supply (what you called the "adapter")? If so, did you try using another power supply with the DL4 instead of the Line 6 power supply that was included with your pedal?

If the answer to both of these things is yes, then that could be the source of your problem right there. A different power supply could have done horrible things to the chips inside the big green stomp box.

I got a DL-4 not too ling after they came out in 1999. I've never had any problems with mine. Generally, I used batteries, because they last for 20-30 hours, and the line 6 power supply introduced noise that i didn't like.

In 2001 a lot of my friends began using them and getting current production models. They also used the line 6 power supply. Every one I know of had some problems with them.

My best guess is that the line 6 supply is crap. Plus, since the AC adaptor is 12vAC, I'm guessing the internal rectification and filtering is crap. Mix those two problems with digital circuitry and problems arise.

Here's the trick. You can run 9 or 12 v DC into the line 6 and it works just fine! The rectifier and filter caps just pass the DC right on through. The trick is you need to get an adaptor that can handle at least 1000mA of current and run it only to the line 6.

Also, check this out
http://www.visualsound.net/1spot.htm

I've heard good things.

Cheers!
Ben Adrian

The DL-4 gets my vote for "Best Unreliable-Assed Pedal Ever."

Within my group of friends, we've had about 3 or 4 that got/get used pretty often, and every single one of them got fucked after about 6 months.

I had/have a problem with the buttons not working, and what I tried to do (since I know nothing of electronics) was open it up and take all the switches apart and put them back together. It would work fine and then I'd start having problems again after another six weeks or so.

What great pedals they are, when they work!

This is why I would never buy a digital effects pedal.

Digital stuff tends either to work or not work. It's not like a loss of gain or whatever that you might get with an analogue pedal when its battery is dying.

The pedal most probably uses microcontrollers for the DSP, and I just wouldn't want to use this for a pedal in a live situation. In a studio, ok, but not on stage with beer spilled on it.

Like you were saying about the switches, they are not really being used in a conventional analogue way. They are polled for their status (on or off) constantly to see if settings should be changed. A crackly switch can reek havoc here. In an analogue pedal you might just hear some crackles.

I just got one of those DOD analogue delay pedals in the post today. It seems pretty cool. Haha.

Rodabod wrote:I just got one of those DOD analogue delay pedals in the post today. It seems pretty cool. Haha.

One of these?



I have one. Indeed! These be killer pedals. Yaaargh!

endofanera wrote:One of these?

I have one. Indeed! These be killer pedals. Yaaargh!

Fuck, that one looks like a total bad boy.

Mine is the newer one:



It's nice and crunchy. Apparently you need pretty full batteries to get it to feedback. Still, it was only £35 new.

How yours? I like old pedals.