Daphon - E20DL Delay

A forum devoted to mod, tips and suggestions for upgrading and rehousing your VERY CHEAP commercial stompbox to near boutique excellence.
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Igloo
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Post by Igloo »

I see this pedal for sale under so many names
http://www.daphon.com.cn/product.asp?tid=47
and I get curious.
Goes by many names see here.. http://filters.muziq.be/model/daphon/e20/e20dl

Here's Analog mikes pages on it. http://www.analogman.com/delay.htm
Makes it sound more mysterious than it could possibly be
"Daphon makes these red pedals to our special AR20DL design, so we can't do our mod to a stock grey Daphon pedal" .... nothing 'da brothers' here can't handle methinks.

They can be had for as little as $US20 new (well for the identicle boarded plastic DL10 version)
I will be buying one ASAP and having a go.

With all the attention on the Aqua puss being a DM-2 I have analog delay on the brain.
So, has anyone traced it out?

It is screaming for a V3205 and some simple attention...
I think good things can be found here for very little money.

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analogguru
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Post by analogguru »

There is more difference between the 10-series and the 20-series than the plastic vs. metal housing.

I own a Dimavery Delay and have traced about 80%. The sadest thing is that it uses a BL3208 instead of a V3205 but this can be exchanged.

The filters are different too, but with some (cap) changes can be brought to DM-2 specs. Everything else is there for modding it to DM-2 specs.

Here is a picture of the component side:
https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... 7&start=15

analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.

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Igloo
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Post by Igloo »

Dimavery - one of the many names.

For the price of a V3205 (no more than $5), and some caps here is a DM-2 - with the most solid case known to mankind.
I think you could hammer nails with these.

I am waiting to snatch one of these from Ebay...
I am looking at the double delay daughter board inspired by Dirk hendricks design also. Hmmm.
I can't wait, now too curious!

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Igloo
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Post by Igloo »

! So my Ebay purchase has arrived today. Yes!

I have the delay, chorus, compressor, overdrive and chorus.
The play begins.
First the delay, if the hearsay is correct and it IS a DM-2, well how much fun to make it into, oh say, an Aqua puss and leave the Daphon markings. Ha, a secret weapon indeed. This is potentially all you need, a heavy and solid case, switch and DM-2 (maybe) through hole board for less than $20.

Analog Guru, did you complete the tracing of this?
Igloo.

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205
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Post by 205 »

Any updates?
Has anyone worked out how to get rid of the whining noise at max speeds in these Daphons??
It's great sounding delay apart from that.

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Post by Scruffie »

I'd also be interested on the progress on the Daphon Delays, I have the E20DL (Man i love that cast iron style casing) but feel it could do with a few improvements, I could put up extra gut shots if there neccesary? or are there enough around already or has it been considered a lost cause for improvement, I know analogman has his modded version but has anyone got a walkthrough of what he's done? Otherwise, it'll atleast make a nice doner casing & even has a hole for an 4th pot if you look on the inside, Btw i'm not too bothered about the oscilation, although getting rid of it slightly for longer delay times wouldn't go a miss.

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Igloo
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Post by Igloo »

Yes please, post clear board shots.

I haven't had time to crack it open yet.
The one I have sounds great. No kidding.
I suspect this is entirely random as the factory places a fixed resistor where one needs a trimmer, so random luck.
See Analogman's pages for more.
With a trimmer, a socket and a V3205 ($1-5) you should get great results.

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Post by Scruffie »

Well i've done my best for photos without having to completely pull the circuit apart & with the equipment available and I got these few gut shots... Couldn't get to the top left really due to all the wiring, theres a C1815GR6F Transistor there... although i doubt that's of much interest.
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Igloo
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Post by Igloo »

Nice.
Ok well just from AM's site-

You need a 10k trim pot to go into the R18 slot - please have a look at R19 can you see if it is in series with the R18 holes? Not sure where R20 goes. Please follw the traces for those and see.
And a V3205 to double the delay time- Small Bear has them for $4.95 this is virtually zero sum because you will get to keep the BL3208 for another great usage.
I don't have time at the moment to sit down and go through it but there will be another resistor/trimmer replacement too.

With two trims and a V3205 you will be greatly down the path.

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Post by Scruffie »

Mine thankfully has a fairly good resistor placement aswell, no whistling and its the knob is useful to 3/4 the way, not 1/2 but still a bit of fine tunings always a good idea.

Nice of them to kindly socket it for me, annoying that there aren't any U.K stockers for the V3205 chip but the extra shipping won't be much to worry about. As for R18 & 19 i'm not sure if there in series but from analogmans photo of that section hes removed R19 & theres nothing in R20 anyway.

What would be a good use for the 3208 chip? Can't think of a circuit off the top of my head that only uses the one.

Are there any improvements that can be made to it's buffer? It isn't great, i find it adds some colour im not a fan of and i doubt it's true bypassable easily.

Cheers Igloo.

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Post by Scruffie »

Hmm i've had a think about this pedal and i've decided i probably wont buy a delay in the future or get round to building one so i'm gunna go all or quits on this daphon plus i've never done a mod to a stock pedal so should be fun, break it or not (it'd be an awesome enclosure for lots of things, I don't get why so many people think it's so ugly).
Not being overly knowledgable in effects especially delays and modulation effects (only just grasping boosts and distortion) I thought i'd replace the crappy jacks inside, change what resistors were easy enough to get to with metal film to reduce noise, possibly changing caps for some better quality ones if i get time, swapping in that V3205 chip and putting the trim in then beefing up the wire and also wondered if perhaps changing the taper of the linear repeat control to log would help with its oscilation? Also gunna have a jab round and see if changing some components might alter anything.
And would it be possible to use soulsonics BOSS true bypassing method in this pedal? how would I go about removing the unfavourable buffer I don't even mind drilling a hole for a new switch, just really don't like it's colouration on my tone even on my crappy practice solid state amp.
Seeing as the information on this pedal is also far and scattered about I thought if i succeed after my findings I could post up an overall report of my findings.
An impossible feat or a waste of time? Most likely...

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Post by Scruffie »

Just for fun some Analogman AR20DL Pedal Gutshots i've found through out the internet for a few ideas, in one set looks like he replaces the caps with higher quality ones where as the other set they all seem stock and in the Tony Smith version i'm not sure but it looks like R20 has had a resistor placed in the empty hole... but anyway

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... f%26sa%3DG

https://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr1 ... AR20DL.jpg

https://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr1 ... R20DL2.jpg

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205
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Post by 205 »

I'm interested in improving the long delay times in my daphon as well.

I wonder what the white wire is for in the pic ? there also seems to be an added diode and a couple more small soldered wire links to the bottom right hand of the picture
Image

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Post by Scruffie »

I did wonder this too, In analogmans notes on the AR20DL page, he says he improved the power section to work ok with 12v, could this be some kind of polarity protection?

But anyway, once I have the cash i'm gunna see what can be done to this pedal.

Scruffie.

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Igloo
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Post by Igloo »

Yes I just scored a couple more of these on Ebay.

When I have time I intend to really get stuck into them.
Best deal ever, DM-2 and hardware fore so cheap. Just needs I think easy mods.
I would like to find a cheap source for the V3205 though.

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Post by Scruffie »

Awesome man, it is indeed a bargain for such a sturdy little pedal, can't remember how much I paid but can't have been more than about £22 with postage.

If your going through this pedal aswell at the same sorta time as me perhaps we could collaborate on our findings and experiences with it and write up a full page report on mods that can be done to it seeing as if it can be improved an analogue delay for £20 with £10 mods would be amazing.

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Igloo
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Post by Igloo »

Sure, that's what this place is all about :D
Only thing for me is time at the moment. Too busy to do any electronics.
I still drop in all the time but like a fast moving animal. A quick look and then I go.
Soon I will. Probably a in few weeks. I still apply "organize/priortize/actualize". Some insane sales and motivation course I did but that little ditty stayed with me.

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Post by 205 »

Daphon Delay update:
I just replaced the 3208 with a 3205, big improvement over the old chip.
I'm getting way longer delay times. The longer delay times still have that whining noise to them, however I'm now able to achieve the old chips longest delay times without the whining. It's now a much more useful pedal.

It'd still be great to achieve those extra long delay times without the noise.

Anyone else been messing with theirs???

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Post by Scruffie »

Good to hear on the improvement, hopefully the fine resistor tuning will get some more use out of that chip and make the delays go further, I don't start work on mine till I get back from my break which probably wont be for 2 or 3 weeks but keep us posted.

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Post by Scruffie »

Just a quick update, read this comment on a youtube demo of an AR20Dl... although not actually about it, it may apply

"I've bought one at Aldi branded Livingstone. I like the lofi delay on it but the preamp has harsh tone even in bypass.
I've changed the preamp JRC4558D for LM833N and now it's quiet smooth. The lofi delay tone still remains the same so I'm quiet happy with it now."

So i'm probably gunna try socketing the 4558 on the E20DL too and see if I can get any tone improvements.

Edit: I also order my V3205 on monday so I shall soon be pulling this apart and blindly messing with every part to see what I can Accomplish... most likely breaking it :)

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