This little box can do it all from traditional rock delay tones to haunting ambient washes. To my old ears it leans toward the warmer side of the spectrum, which I prefer, but there is a tone feature that will brighten it up. It’s not super sparkly like a Boss DD, but it sits in a band mix very well without being overbearing. All the delay modes are musical, and you can have a lot of fun with the age and attack knobs. The addition of the Haas effect and better right/left ping ponging makes the V2 substantially better than the V1 IMHO. There’s quite a bit of power in this little box.

I like that it has MIDI, and full size MIDI jacks at that, but the preset management can be a bit challenging. Since there is no display, you have to remember what preset you are on based on the toggle switch and the right hand LED. Once you get beyond the onboard presets you keep track on a list or something to know what Preset 14 is etc,. Also, if you want to create a patch in the extended MIDI range you need to send a MIDI PC to the desired patch number from your MIDI controller then edit and save. I haven't figured out a way to save an existing preset to a higher MIDI PC. Not a dealbreaker, just something to be aware of. I don't think most folks use more than a few presets anyway.

Once you understand all the controls AND the secondary controls it's easy to coax great sounds. There are several videos out there that explain how to use the secondary controls and of course there's the manual. For a lot of folks, myself included, secondary functions can be overwhelming but Walrus did a pretty good job of laying things out.

I have other Mako pedals and they are all incredibly well built. No issues with build quality.

It used to be if you wanted a high functioning delay with MIDI, the DD500, Timefactor, or Timeline were really the only choices, and they were big bucks. Now companies like Walrus are coming out with smaller full featured boxes that can really give the big three a run for the money. At $349 this is a killer pedal. Sure, there are a few compromises made to keep it small, but the features and tones are top quality.

I've dealt with them a few times and always had great results. Their customer service is very responsive. I had to send my ARP87 in for repair and I got it back within a few days. By all accounts they seem like great folks to work with. They are a small company, and it shows in how they treat their customers.

I think most modern guitarists will appreciate the ability to get both traditional and unique tones out of the D1. It's got its own thing going for sure. If you like your delays a little different than the rest of the pack, the D1 is definitely worth taking a look.

Been playing for almost 50 years and still kicking around in local bands

Rock, prog, CCM

Overall I find the tones to be a little on the warm/dark side, but not muddy. There is a tone function that will brighten them up, but I’ve not been able to get those ultra-crisp Boss DD-x tones out of the box. With that being said, that’s not really the intent of this pedal IMHO. I consider this more of an ambient or soundscape style pedal that can also do the basics. It has some unique features like the Attack knob and the age function that can get really wild, or can give an almost reverb effect as the delays float together with a long attack setting. The reverse is one of the best I’ve heard. And as I said It can also get the meat and potatoes delay tones and cover the rock/pop needs for the average guitarist.

I have to say the preset management(?) identification/recognition system is less than desirable. I’m old so trying to remember which bank is which and where sounds are stored is frustrating. Walrus uses a color-coding system on their Mako series in conjunction with an A/B/C switch. There are 3 colors per bank and trying to recall if your slapback was red or blue is a pain. Without a menu it is challenging to remember what is what. I recommend using an offline system, paper list lol, or managing your presets inside your MIDI controller software to keep track of things. Same for saving presets. If you are using MIDI I found the best way to store and keep track of a new preset is to send a PC to the box for a blank MIDI PC slot (example send PC to MIDI program 14 of another unused program number) and take note. Make it sound like you want then save and write down the program number and what it does. Maybe some day Walrus or some industrious programmer may write a library/editor app. It’s been know to happen : )Most useful feature has got to be MIDI. I believe all functions are MIDI CC controllable, and most importantly it uses full size 5 pin MIDI, not the irritating and nonstandard TRS MIDI. And as I stated above, without MIDI there is absolutely zero way to manage or keep track of presets.

I would say it’s somewhat easy to get good sounds but you need to read the manual and watch some demos to understand the secondary functions and what the Tweak knob does for each delay type. Some of the features require using secondary functionality of the knobs and it’s not incredibly intuitive unless you read up and become familiar with everything. Once you learn how to get around finding what you want is pretty easy.

The Mako series pedals are built like tanks. I also have the M1 and they are well built.

It’s a personal decision but for me yes. If you need a small pedal with full stereo and MIDI then this is one of the very few options out there. Are there better sounding pedals for the same or less money? In my humble opinion yes, but they either lack the compliment of features, or take up considerably more pedalboard space. Besides, you can’t really measure pedal quality based on price anymore. In the not-so-distant past you either had Eventide or Strymon if you wanted super high end, or you compromised and got something else. There was a $200 price gap and not much in between. Those days are gone. Now just about every pedal manufacturer makes a high functioning and similarly priced delay pedal. The fun part is choosing the one that’s right for you.

Over the years I’ve dealt with Walrus a few times and found them to be incredibly helpful and responsive. I’ve sent boxes in for repair and the turnaround time was about 7 days to get it back in my hands. More than acceptable. I’ve also emailed them various questions and even requested PDF copies of manuals and they were more than happy to help in short order. It appears customer service is a high priority there. I like that!

I’d have to say the best part about this pedal is all the functionality shoved into a small pedal form factor. I don’t dig large pedalboards these days and the M1 series helps me get the most sound out of limited space.

Been playing 47 years and hope to still be gigging with my walker

Prog, pop rock, CCM