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Originally Posted by Axis29
By 'headroom', what do you guys mean?
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Generally, headroom describes the relationship between bandwidth and distortion, or how much a signal can be pushed before it starts to clip/distort. In my earlier post, I referenced headroom with regard to both the pedal and the amp. This headroom yin & yang has been a huge factor in the amp/pedal combinations that I've settled in with over the years.
To compliment what ruger9 said, less headroom impacts the distortion level of the initial (loudest) repeat most obviously. When a delay has lower headroom (and voltage is a factor here), the character of the initial repeat can sound a bit ragged as hit with a boosted signal, especially as placed straight into a lower wattage amp (as opposed to a higher wattage amp, or being placed within an effects loop); I don't like the general character of delays placed within a loop (even though said approach is unquestionably cleaner/more pristine), which is why headroom has always been a big deal for me. If headroom is questionable, I always back off on the wet mix.