GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN - Yamaha D1500, an amazing digital delay!

Since I am currently giving up on quite some gear to re-organize my small personal studio, I thought it would be interesting to start reviewing some equipment I ended up giving up on in this special "GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN" series!

If you remember, I did a similar review some weeks ago after letting go my Korg Electribe 2 and Roland MC-09.

In those reviews I tried to give a general overview on the different equipment, pointing out what I liked and disliked in each of them and why I ultimately ended up giving up on them.

I think this is interesting because I think some of the gear I am giving up on is quite interesting, it's just not what I need in the studio at the moment (and they can take quite some space).
But that doesn't mean it's not the right gear for someone else!
And the unit I'm reviewing in this post is a great example of that!


Today, I am posting about the Yamaha D1500, a fantastic sounding digital delay made by Yamaha in the 80s that I sold recently.

If you search online, you'll notice quite some people mentioning it as a secret weapon, since it's not that well known, which is also why I felt it deserved to be mentioned in my blog!

Yamaha D1500, an amazing digital delay from Yamaha!

Like most digital delays at the time, you get a tiny bit over 1s of delay time and a built-in modulator (LFO) that allows you to sweep the delay time.

Unlike quite some units of that era, you can choose two different waveforms for your LFO, either a Sine or a Square wave!
The Sine wave option is quite usual and allows you to produce nice chorus or flanging effects (the last ones thanks to the delay phase invert option).
The Square wave option, on the other hand, is pretty unusual, but allows for very interesting delay effects you just can't get using a Sine or a Triangle wave as the modulator.

Another great feature, if you happen to have a modular synth, is that you can control the LFO rate using the CV input featured in the back, which is not an usual feature.

Quite featured back, with XLR connectors available and a CV input, which is great if you have a modular synth!

Other feature that is pretty unusual is the existence of an XLR input and output in the back!
I can't really think of any delay from this era with a similar price that features XLR connectors, so if you use lots of XLR cables, this can be an amazing choice from you!


So, why did I get rid of it?

First of all, I'm really picky about cosmetic flaws in gear I have and unfortunately this one had some pretty nasty damage in one of the rack ears...

I can be a bit picky when it comes to looks, and this damage really made me like it a bit less... :(

But the main reason why I got rid of this amazing delay is that I really didn't give it the amount of use it deserved...

I know I didn't mention that before, but as you can see from the photos I posted, in the Yamaha D1500 you don't get a knob per parameter like in quite some delays from that era.

Despite this, it is still a very easy machine to program, it just isn't the same as having a knob per parameter if you want to edit your effect while you are performing, which is something I really enjoy doing...

This way, when I want to use an old digital delay, I always end up using one or more of the following - Korg SDD3000, Ibanez DM2000 and Ibanez HD1500.
I think those are really nice sounding delays as well and with the knobby interface they end up fitting my performances better than the Yamaha (despite the two Ibanez are a bit more limited as delay units).

But even those old delays end up not getting that much use, as more and more I'm choosing to process my gear with stereo chains, so I end up having to pick up other units for those tasks (like my Ensoniq DP/4+, Eventide H3000D/SX, Korg A1 or Symetrix 606, for instance).

Korg A1 + Ibanez HD1500 + Ibanez DM2000 + Korg SDD3000

Would I consider getting one again?

If I had more space available for it, I would definitely consider it!

It is definitely a really nice sounding delay with more versatile than any other option I can think of for the same price, when it comes to delays from this era.
The only big problem is the lack of a knobby interface, but thats's not always needed...
And when that's not needed, the Yamaha D1500 is definitely a great machine for the task ahead!

So if you are looking for a nice old digital delay and you don't mind the lack of knobs, this is probably the best unit I can think of if you don't want to spend too much (I sold mine for only 100€).


If you'd like to know a bit more about the other old digital delays I mentioned before, be sure to keep checking my blog as I will probably end up posting about them as well ;)