tc electronic Flashback Triple Delay

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4.6 / 5

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58 Reviews

tc electronic Flashback Triple Delay
$272
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Close but no cigar!
Mombasaflash 02.05.2018
At first sight the TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay seems like a fantastic solution. Three totally separate delays with your choice of echo type, repeats and volume that can be activated individually or in any combination together, either in parallel or in series, PLUS a Tap function that all three delay engines conform to. And it has True Bypass when no delays are activated.

Once you get into it though, the cracks start to show. The first thing is really just a niggle. But annoying just the same. When any of the delays are edited, you cannot compare it to what you had before and you must save it if you do not want to lose the new setting. Saving it will overwrite the previous setting, which is now lost forever. If you do not save your edit and switch that delay off, all of your editing is lost and that delay will return to the previously saved settings.

It would be helpful to be able enter an 'edit compare mode' in order to test your new settings before overwriting the previous saved version.

To be fair, in practice it is unlikely that you would be changing the basic settings of each delay once you have had time to get accustomed to the whole unit and have arrived at your preferred general settings.

The second thing is MAJOR. Or at least, it is to me.

The True Bypass works a treat and your pristine, breathing guitar sound is absolutely unaltered when all the delays are off. But as soon as one or more delay is activated, your clean guitar sound goes down the tube. Not a very large tube, but still, the edge is taken off the highs and there is a general vaguely electonicky sort of air to the whole sound.

It is quite okay for the tone of the wet sound to be different from the dry sound because, after all, if you have selected tape echo as the tonal characteristic of the echo, the wet sound is going to sound very different to the dry.

What I did not appreciate is that the original guitar tone gets muddied when a delay is activated and this is not OK.

For example, if you turn the echo volume down, so that only the dry sound will be audible, your guitar sound suddenly goes slightly dull when you activate any of the three delays.

If crystal sound is not your thing then this would not bother you, but for me this is a deal breaker and I was very disappointed to have to send it back, because otherwise it really was ticking every box.

EDIT: After sending this unit back, I re-purchased it a couple of weeks later because, despite the failings I had experienced, it still intrigued me.

Quite some time later my original reservations still annoy me, plus the fact that, in a live situation, quick adjustment of a parameter on any one of the three delays is a nightmare. This is because each of the three delays use the same parameter knobs, with a three-position switch to allocate the knobs to the delay to be adjusted.

This means that the position of the knobs will never reflect the value of a particular parameter for a particular delay engine/preset.

The only thing to do was buy three Flashback2 pedals, so that the parameter knobs accurately reflect each delay's settings. The one obvious difference between three separate stomp boxes and the FB Triple is that the stomp boxes will always run the delays in Series, whereas the FB Triple offers the option for the three delays to also be run in Parallel.

But there is another significant difference. I tend to use the 'Tape' option mostly and the echo tone of the FB2 stomp boxes is totally different to the FB Triple. The individual repeats are warmer and break up quicker on the FB2, making the Triple sound a bit more clinical in comparison.

Whether you will prefer the cleaner sound of the FB Triple or the warmer, slightly trashed sound of the FB2 will be your preference.

I like them both so, unfortunately for my pocket but great news for TC Electronic, I have decided to keep them all !!
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GK
Live or Studio?
G KASTANOS sax 05.06.2020
The unit's sound is amazing but the handling limits your performance choices. I prefer this pedal for studio recordings where I have the time to tweak the parameters but it can surely be used in a live situation as well.

PROS.
-great sound
-tap tempo
-many subdivisions
-heavy duty, metal design
-save external tone prints via computer/android app
-mono or stereo
-amazing soundscapes-limitless possibilities!!!

CONS.
-NO GLOBAL tap tempo
-in order to save changes (even tap tempo) for each delay separately you have to change the delay knob 1/2/3 by hand
-apparently no new firmware updates

It is a great delay pedal if what you need isn't based on "rhythm" but ambience although the built in tap tempo is extremely accurate
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TU
After almst a year - still inexhaustible
The Urwerke 17.10.2021
Fantastic item - really opens up possibilities - running delays in parallel or series and then playing with various tone options
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PK
Sonic wonder
P. Kupfer 03.10.2021
Intuitive, easy to use, clear, very well constructed, the TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay is a sonic marvel. From the beginning it has became one of my favorite pedals. The possibilities it offers are endless an easy to reach. Very happy with this pedal. I recommend it if you are into ambient, meditative guitar, to create infinite atmospheric pads.
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JJ
Ordered another one
Jimbo Jimmy 30.06.2020
This is my second tripple delay. I plan to use it in a chain signal, with a volume pedal for swells. Great and unique on the market. Best suited for the ambiental guitar community. Not truly practical for any other user since you can't switch between presets (you can only add another preset when activating a new one. To turn one off you have to stomp it). For that maybe look into the X4, if you enjoy the sound of the flashback digital delay but need it to be practical, without the possibility of blending delays. A great TC triple delay demo is done by Knobs (youtube channel).
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b
top notch delay with some handling flaws
barefootguy 03.11.2018
This is a high quality delay. Magnificent sounds, great design (it is very pretty) and simple interfaces.

Although... The tap tempo only works for currently activated delays so if you want to switch on and of a delay or another, you have to activate them all, set tap tempo, pull lever to delay 1 and store delay 1, pull lever to delay 2 and store delay 2 and pull lever to delay 3 and store delay 3. not very comfortable.

the time subdivisions are crazy, there's a ton of them, including quarter+dotted eighth, awesome.

i think that a simple software update might solve every issue.
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f
The best pedal at the fairest price
franzalicestern 08.10.2019
This pedal quickly became essential. It was a natural expansion of my live and studio setup. You won't find anything similar in this price range, and even way more expensive pedals don't have the same features and the same audio quality. I was immediately impressed by the very low amount of noise this effect produces, blazoned pedals from blazoned brands are sometimes impossible to record without a noise suppressor.
I only find difficult and not intuitive switching parameters of every single delay. Maybe a screen would have helped reminding each delay's settings.
Nevertheless, my vote is 5 stars!
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P
Great pedal!! But not for everyone
PolarShiu 01.05.2020
Ideal for guitarists looking for ambient sounds with multiple delays at the same time. The possibility of having 3 delays ready to set on/off is also great for play-ability even when looking for simple use of different delay types! Very intuitive, easy to use.

For the average Joe, this may be an expensive option if you're looking for a simple delay pedal, as the different options might overwhelm you.
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A
Limitless possibilities
Anonymous 24.11.2016
This delay is of a superb quality. It is not just a great sounding effect, it can be a source of inspiration to anyone who likes using delays.
Handling of this device is quite easy, however, there is one issue with it. Once adjusted any combination of sounds will be lost if changed to something else and there is no way to save it as a pre-set. So yes there is a way to improve this product. (But hey! One can always use the trusted method of putting all information about combination of sounds on paper. Which I personally strongly advise.)
Over all this device is great and a recommended purchase.
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A
Amazing triple delay!
Asterios 27.07.2017
I decided to order TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay (from Thomann-my favorite music shop!) because I like to experiment with my guitar sound! Recieved fast (as always from Thomann!) and started a sound test with it! Well, like I already knew from the reviews I found about it, it's a high quallity triple delay machine with many options! Highly reccomended for those who love delays and like to experiment with them in many ways (many delay options in a box!)
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tc electronic Flashback Triple Delay