Where to begin? I'll try and keep this tidy, useful, and concise.
1) The delay. From slapback to long, dark repeats, pseudo-reverb to pitch-bent squelches, the time control and rocker switch (used in conjunction with the feedback knob and the cv/expression inputs) already vastly exceed the possibilities of conventional three-knob delay pedals. Dialing in the minimum delay time with high repeats yields a plate reverb-type effect, while toggling back and forth between "long" and "short" settings delivers either bright, present repeats or soft, mushy and smeared darker echoes.
2) The modulation. Good grief. With six waveforms to choose from, tap tempo modulation rates topping out at speeds fast enough to draw waveshapes, and an "amount" control that ranges from imperceptible to nausea inducing, this has to be the most extreme, tweakable, flexible and highest-quality modulation section in a commercially available pedal. Try using the square wave (amount set between 6-7) as an octave effect that bleeps and bloops along with your delayed signal. This is chewy analog goodness at its apex.
3) The drive. I'm sure that very few people buy $600 delay pedals for their drive sections (The Deluxe Memory Man's "level" control excepted). Maybe they should. I use this pedal so that the drive section is always active--in spillover mode, stomping the bypass switch only activates the delay and modulation sections. The drive, output and mix controls are always active. You can change this so that none of the controls are active until you stomp; you could use this pedal as a true gain stage and a boost this way.
4) The looper. It isn't a looper in the true sense of the word. The only real analog looper I'm aware of is Z.Vex's excellent Lo-Fi Loop Junky, which has an entirely different architecture and purpose than the 104M. But--if you use the pedal in spillover mode--you can crank the feedback to "7" or so, play a phrase, bypass the pedal, and let the bucket-brigade degradation begin. Over enough time, your phrase will smooth out, thumping percussively along before turning into a grainy mess. I recommend setting the delay to the maximum possible to get as long a phrase as possible. You can--using the tap tempo switch--set "illegal" delay times beyond this pedal's 800ms maximum, but you get some aliasing and clock noise. As for the loop: I love to help it along by manipulating it with the time control, or by flicking the rocker switch back and forth in time with the loop itself. Both of these further destroy the your signal over time, devolving it into a progressively more interesting and musical phrase. You can, of course, play over this all the while, as the pedal is bypassed.
5) The flexibility. Besides feeling right at home in a modular setup, the 104M features a TRS jack for an effects loop, which is something I've never felt the need to use, as the repeats are already bonkers without external manipulation. I almost feel as though nothing is worthy to go in that loop, anyway. The cv/expression jacks in the back are incredibly useful, and control all of the parameters on the face of the pedal with the exception of 'drive' and 'output.' I've found that using an expression pedal to control the feedback is the most useful feature; since you have on-board tap tempo control over the delay time and the LFO speed, you don't really need to change them with what would be less exacting methods. I've also come to realize that the knobs themselves are easily manipulated with one's foot while playing. The ones I'd be most likely to change are the modulation 'amount' and the delay 'feedback.' Note that both are located at the bottom of the pedal, where you don't have to step over other controls. These giant Moogerfoogers--though they eat up a ton of room on any pedalboard--are so exquisitely conceived of, implemented and constructed that even things like accounting for my size-14 clodhoppers goes into consideration. These are pedals for big people as well as big sounds and big ideas.
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