TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay Review

This is a Guest Post by Harry Trumper.

Ease of Use/Features
So the first thing I noticed about this pedal (apart from it looking really cool), when getting it out of the box was the bright display. It’s great for dark settings or a low light environment.

It’s powered at 12v DC, but I run it off of a Diago PowerStation at 9v DC and it runs just fine.

The layout of this pedal is simple. There are two silver switches. The left one is your on/off, and the right one is your tap tempo. Above these two are five buttons, which modify your delay sound.

The face of the unit is a good, decent size. The display makes it clear which settings are selected for your current preset. I am a big fan of the presets feature, it is why I bought it. But the only snag is that you can only scroll forward through presets and not backwards. So if you go past your preset, you have to go all the way back through again. But its not too bad because there are only 9 presets. I play live with a click track so presets are great for me. Another downside though is when scrolling through presets with your feet, you have to press the tempo switch, then the on/off switch to scroll through presets.

But another thing that I do love about this pedal is turning the knobs and having number values on the display, on exactly how much of each setting you have dialled in.

This pedal is easy to use. You can pretty much just plug it in straight out of the box and use it easily without the manual, but to understand the more technical parts of this pedal, you have to dive into the manual. For example, holding down the SubDiv button to switch between your display showing your delay tempo in BPM or milliseconds.

One other feature that is awesome is the audio tapping feature. You hold down the tempo switch, and after 1/2 a second, it mutes the signal. Strum your strings on the guitar, let go of the switch and the tempo will be set. I don’t really use it myself but its a cool feature anyway!

And you also have the option of running your Nova Delay Mono or Stereo as it has two inputs and outputs.

There is also a cool ‘Spillover’ feature which means that you can turn the delay off and the signal will finish delaying and not just cut off.

Sound
The sounds you can get out of this pedal are great. The delay repeats are crisp, clear, and really well defined.

There are 3 delay ‘characters’, as I like to call them. At 7:00, you have a TAPE delay setting. At 12:00, you have an ANALOG setting and at 5:00, you have a DIGITAL one. I personally have the knob at about 2:00 because I like the defined repeats of the digital delay, but also the murky, dark characteristics of the analog delay.

RELATED: Analog vs Digital Delay

The mod setting is cool too. You set the type (3 types) of Modulation that you want, then you set the level/intensity of the effect by turning the Mod Style knob. I don’t tend to use it much though because I use a Boss RV-5 on the Modulate setting.

Reliability/Durability
This unit seems very hard wearing. It could probably take a lot of abuse. A lot of stomping on. The enclosure is well built. In fact, it’s built like a tank.

The pedal has digital switches which are pretty much silent when pressed. I’ve found that this is a God-Send for setting tempos on the fly in the quiet parts of a song without everyone having to hear, ‘CLICK, CLICK, CLICK’!

There is no audible pop when pedal is engaged and disengaged. And there is also no unwanted hiss or hum from pedal at all.

Value for Money
For the money you pay, (I paid £185) it’s worth every penny. It’s built absolutely solid. And it has LOTS of great features.

Customer Service
I haven’t needed to use it yet. But also, even if you lose the instruction manual, it is online to download anyway.

VERDICT
If you are a lead guitarist in a band, and are shopping on a budget, then this pedal is for you. Give it a shot!

View the TC Electronic Nova Delay on Amazon.