tc electronic Flashback 2 Delay

I really like echo devices. I have a couple of Alesis Q20's with EFTP Shadows presets, a Boss RE-20 Space Echo and a TC Electronic Triple Delay.

The Triple Delay is the most recent and my Thomann review is still available to read. One of my beefs with it is that, because each of the three delay engines share the same three control knobs for Delay Time, Feedback and Mix, you have little idea where the knobs should be to reflect the settings of each of the three presets after they have been stored.

So I decided to try the same idea, to achieve multi-head delays, but with three conventional stomp boxes.

However, I have discovered something else. And it is VERY significant. TC Electronic have tweaked the tones of some of the presets for the Flashback 2 series and they are significantly more musical. I tend to use the 'Tape' preset quite a lot and these FB2 pedals are lot less clinical sounding than the Triple Delay. For example, the individual repeats of a multi-head tape delay, with more than one pedal on at the same time, do not ring out as clear and audible repeats, but tend to merge so that the effect is more like a massive sustaining reverb — but without the swampy mess.

The only thing I miss is the option to switch the three delays into a parallel mode, as one can on the Triple Delay.

Although the Triple Delay can store presets, and not lose them because a knob gets accidentally moved, these are infinitely more usable on stage because adjusting the parameters is straight forward.

UPDATE: These pedals are shipped with a firmware version that does not include the option to select either MASH or TAP as an added function for the footswitch. Download the firmware file and install instructions from the TC Electronic website. Updating the firmware is a straight forward procedure.

Once installed, you are able to select which function using the TonePrint computer app.

I'm using this pedal on a bass guitar, so please keep that in mind as you read the review.

Delay models:
Some very pleasant delay sounds to play with, I particularly enjoy the first 3 models (2290 for a super clean digi delay, "analogue" for going crazy with the feedback options, and "tape" for squeezing out beautiful mellow reverb-like sounds).

I don't really care for the other models, I think they are fund to play with but not really useful on a bass, although I imagine for a guitar player that would be a different story (although the "crystal" is crazy cool as an "organ" up-octave sound when delay is set to zero, too bad you can't mute the input sound at the same time).
Still, the first three delay models already make the pedal really worthwile for me.

I would really prefer to have some more "toneprint" slots instead of having the "reverse", "dynamic" or "mod" delays for example, but that is really a personal thing, and considering this is not a bass specific pedal, I can't fault TC for that.

Toneprint:
If you are familiar with TC Electronic's "tone print" line of pedals, the "feature packed" part of the review title should come as no surprise:
the amount of crazy effects you can squeeze out of this pedal's chip using the toneprint feature in the custom slotgoes way beyond a "delay pedal": for example, you can turn the pedal into a pretty decent chorus, tweak a huge number of parameters of custom delays, including assigning custom functions to the pedal controls, or get some crazy envelope/modulation effects out of it.
There are for sure a lot of limitations in what you can customise, but still, I think TC is already giving us way more than what you would normally expect from a digital effects company.

Mash:
The "mash" feature is interesting (you can use the pressure sensitive button like if it were a -limited- expression pedal), and really opens up some options, although I ended up switching the pedal to "disable mash", so I could use the "tap tempo" feature for the button instead.I think you can have the best of both worlds if you get an extra footswitch, but in my case I didn't care that much about "mash" to justify that investment .

Looper:
The looper is pretty basic, I guess you can use it for practice, but not really practical besides that since there is no "undo" feature. It is a very cool addition for that purpose though, if you don't already own a looper.

Summary:
So, overall, I think this is a great value for the price, considering it covers so much ground.
Is it the best sounding delay pedal? No, but I think you would need to spend at least twice the price of this pedal to get there, and that would be for a single sound.

I am still finding new things to like about this pedal every day, so a big thumbs up on this one :)

Great and versatile delay pedal in a compact package.

Pros
- Digital (2290), tape, reverse and mod modes all sound great to my ears. I mostly use the tape delay emulation and it always adds a nice touch to any ambient sound.
- Using the TonePrint editor, you can get a lot of other sounds, you could even turn the Flashback 2 into a chorus or a flanger pedal.
- Easy access to different time divisions (you can change them with the TonePrint editor too), very useful if you like the dotted 8th sound.
- Stereo in and out
- The mash switch can be used for some fun stuff. In analog and tape modes, it can make the delay self-oscilate. In 2290 mode, it can sustain your notes
- Easy to use looper

Cons
- The analog mode sounds too dark to me. You could probably change that in the toneprint editor but the default one just doesn't do it for me
- The TonePrint editor is both in-depth but also confusing to use, not much guidance or help from TC.
- The crystal/shimmer mode which adds repeats that are pitch shifted up 1 octave sounds harsh. I haven't been able to make it sound good so it's just sort of useless for me.

In conclusion, this is a really good delay pedal at an affordable price. You get a variety of sounds, some better than others, and more if you figure out how to use the TonePrint editor effecively. The different time divisions was the thing that convinced me to get the Flashback 2 instead of other delay pedals in this price range like the Boss DD-8.

VERY GOOD :D Lets just say I have sent back the new B.SS 200 delay back and kept this one instead. I needed a very good sounding pedal and I sure would keep the B.SS 200 if it sounded better.

That been said I really like the TC Flashback 2 for the tone print especially the Tape and Drum echos! I basically play only the 3 custom setting one can load from the Tone Print which is a gold mine!

If you need the tap tempo you can add that via the editor. If you want to tweak more go to the editor. However Im more of a Tone Print downloaded from my iPhone.

Stereo in and out of course a plus! Mash is also very cool especially on 2290 as its like a freeze option to hold the chord or note until you release it again. Yeah very nice. Goes a bit too crazy on Analog and Tape so one must be careful.

The analog dry through is lovely and the delay tone is really playing tight with the dry signal and not against it. I cant stand delayed parts to have unnatural frequency to it which doesnt work with the dry signal. Happy to say TC Flashback 2 sounds very good in that department. A keeper if you want an all-rounder delay pedal.