If you're a guitarist, you almost certainly have heard of Line 6 — the company is well-known for building gear like amp and effects modelers, digital tools that can convincingly re-create a vast array of classic sounds. One of its most iconic products is undoubtedly the Line 6 DL4, a pedal that digitally emulates more than a dozen classic delay and echo tones and also includes a looper that lets musicians quickly record and repeat a phrase on the fly. Guitar World said that the DL4 "marked a significant leap forward in the effects world, and was one of the very first multi-function digital effects processors to be released."
Today, Line 6 announced that the DL4 was getting a sequel. The DL4 MkII is a total redesign that has the same essence as the original in a smaller package: it combines a wide variety of different delay / echo effects and a looper. This time out, though, Line 6 added 15 more delays to go along with the 15 options from the original pedal. As before, you select an effect with the left-most dial, and then adjust its settings with the rest of the dials; once you have it set up the way you want, you can save three different presets, which are accessible using the left three foot switches. The fourth switch lets you tap out the tempo for your delay.
Another crucial part of the DL4 was the looper feature, and it is getting a major upgrade on the MkII. While the original DL4 could only record 14 seconds of audio, the MkII can save up to 120 seconds in stereo or 240 seconds in mono. For players who want even more, you can pop in an SD card — Line 6 doesn't say what kind of time limits you'll run into when using an SD card, but it should far exceed what you can do with the build-in storage. There's also a new looper mode where you can activate it with the fourth foot switch, rather than dialing the pedal in to looper mode (which traditionally uses all four switches to give you more granular control over recording and playback). The DL4 MkII also includes a microphone input for the first time, so that vocalists can take better advantage of the pedal's looping features.
There are a few other new features on board here, like the ability to add both an expression pedal and external footswitch for more customization, but the biggest highlights here are probably the new delay effects and improved looper. For this, Line 6 is asking $50 more than the original; the DL4 MkII costs $299. Chances are good that loads of guitarists and other musicians will find the premium more than worth it, especially if they've been bumping up on the limits of that old 14-second looper. The DL4 MkII is up for pre-order now, but there's no word on exactly how fast these new pedals will ship.