# How do i know if a pedal is analog or digital with looking at specs



## antimage27 (Mar 16, 2008)

im pretty confused ...how do i tell the difference
is the Ibanez TS9 or a BBE green scream analog??


----------



## Guest (Nov 11, 2008)

Both are analog.

Used to be digital was in the name because it was a marketing point. These days its a blurry line (both in terms of marketing and consumer desire) when it comes to identifying a pedal as a digital or analog.

Some pedals from some manufacturers are _always_ digital. Line6 for example. Some types of effects can be assumed digital unless they say analog: reverb for example. Delays usually play up their analog or digital as marketing hype. Most overdrives/distortions are analog (see Linx6 exception above). But these are rules-of-thumb, not immutable laws of pedals.


----------



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Dont the digital pedals tend to draw a lot more current than analog pedals? I know that on my Digitech Digidelay a battery will last about 20 minutes! Most of the standard analog overdrive and fuzz pedals draw very little current (20 mA?) which means batteries tend to last for a long time in those.


----------



## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

Nice sig there, Derek. One of my all time favourite Monty Python movies. I could quote that movie all day long.

"I have a very great friend in Rome called Biggus Dickus".


----------



## Guest (Nov 11, 2008)

bagpipe said:


> Dont the digital pedals tend to draw a lot more current than analog pedals?


That's another reasonable rule of thumb.


----------



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

J S Moore said:


> Nice sig there, Derek. One of my all time favourite Monty Python movies. I could quote that movie all day long.
> 
> "I have a very great friend in Rome called Biggus Dickus".


Jon, my son and I went so see Spamalot this week so I've been watching a lot of Monty Python on Youtube. I'd forgotten how funny the Life of Brian was. Classic movie: "Welease Wodewick !"


----------



## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

*modelling*

I would expect that any pedal that does modelling is digital. Any of the zoom stuff, digitech, or line 6.

These days, it's probably cheaper to make a digital pedal vs. an analog pedal, as in a digital pedal, all the hardware can be the same, it's just the programming that is different. In an analog pedal, components and board layout all has to be different based on the pedal. 

Funny how we use both ends of the tech spectrum, from vacuum tubes to digital modellers.


----------



## Guest (Nov 11, 2008)

Gene Machine said:


> I would expect that any pedal that does modelling is digital. Any of the zoom stuff, digitech, or line 6.


Actually an interesting category that's not always digital. For example: Tech 21 NYC makes analog "modeling" pedals.


----------



## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

bagpipe said:


> Dont the digital pedals tend to draw a lot more current than analog pedals? I know that on my Digitech Digidelay a battery will last about 20 minutes! Most of the standard analog overdrive and fuzz pedals draw very little current (20 mA?) which means batteries tend to last for a long time in those.


Analog drive pedals draw a lot less than that. It's usually under 10ma, with some exceptions, like Z.Vex, drawing even less. I think my BoR used to draw 3ma or something like that. I never changed the battery the whole time I had it, even though I used it without an adapter almost exclusively. 

And yes, digital pedals suck power. I think my Ibanez DMLII-20 that I used to have drew about 80ma and burned through batteries in about 10 minutes.


----------

