How good are the Fractal ODs?

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I use the Klon quite a bit, even on modern metal tones as a boost. Didn't think I cared about that pedal at all but once it came to Fractal land it worked it's way into a ton of my presets.

Don't think I've ever used the DOD250 and I tend to go to almost anything else before I try a Tube Screamer for some reason. I think because I don't particularly care for the midrange in a TS and can get closer to what I want using something else.

All in all, I dig the drives, especially as I'm getting more into stacking them on top of clean/edge of breakup tones. The OCD model is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, my uncle and I sat here and A/B'd it one night and while there was a slight, teeny tiny difference, neither of us could describe what that difference was and it was so slight it was negligible....and that was almost 2 years ago before the recent Drive updates.

This is generally how I'm using the Klone, this is in front of a JCM800 model. I play with it off at first then kick it on, towards the end there's some volume knob action to hear how it cleans up.


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Much much better than it used to be, some models are better than others.

They stack more naturally than they used to, but something is still a little off.

Not quite as good as using real pedals IMO

The feedback seems to be consistent - real analog pedals are better. I would say it's the same on the Helix - the modeled OD pedals are close but the physical pedals are definitely better.

I wonder why it is that they're able to model amps, that are more complex, so accurately, but can't seem to nail ODs?

Some are better than others - I've been listening to clips and I would say Nembrini's Klon Centaur sounds much better than all the rest (it's also free).
 
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I use the Klon quite a bit, even on modern metal tones as a boost. Didn't think I cared about that pedal at all but once it came to Fractal land it worked it's way into a ton of my presets.

Don't think I've ever used the DOD250 and I tend to go to almost anything else before I try a Tube Screamer for some reason. I think because I don't particularly care for the midrange in a TS and can get closer to what I want using something else.

All in all, I dig the drives, especially as I'm getting more into stacking them on top of clean/edge of breakup tones. The OCD model is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, my uncle and I sat here and A/B'd it one night and while there was a slight, teeny tiny difference, neither of us could describe what that difference was and it was so slight it was negligible....and that was almost 2 years ago before the recent Drive updates.

This is generally how I'm using the Klone, this is in front of a JCM800 model. I play with it off at first then kick it on, towards the end there's some volume knob action to hear how it cleans up.


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Nice clip and tone! I would say I'm using the Klon on the Helix similarly with very low gain levels. But that's why Nembrini's stood out to me - it seems to match actual physical pedal knob positions better - and you can bump the gain up to say 5 - and it sounds great.
 
Really effin' good overall.

I find that Helix does drives a bit better, in the sense they tend to sound closer to the thing they're modeled after (f.ex. Precision Drive), but Fractal's no slouch. I really liked the Vooodo Labs OD model on the FM3.
 
I wonder why it is that they're able to model amps, that are more complex, so accurately, but can't seem to nail ODs?

Can someone answer this question of mine? Why is it that companies are able to model amps (which are more complex) so well but don't seem to be able to do as good a job with OD type pedals with simpler circuits?
 
dunno can't or never compared to to real life Analog pedals, but for my needs they sound fantastic for what I use them for, maybe the consensus is that the analog versions might be better in A/B comparisons, but will that slight difference make up for the flexibility?, the variety? The costs? The cabling? The power supplies?, id think not,

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Can someone answer this question of mine? Why is it that companies are able to model amps (which are more complex) so well but don't seem to be able to do as good a job with OD type pedals with simpler circuits?
Do you really think anyone here has that answer besides Cliff and Eric, if at all?
 
Can someone answer this question of mine? Why is it that companies are able to model amps (which are more complex) so well but don't seem to be able to do as good a job with OD type pedals with simpler circuits?

On their own merits, a lot of the models are dead ringers for their analog counterparts. Most of the commentary in this thread is about the way they stack. I suspect the differences here have to do with the output impedances of the real pedals and how that interacts with the circuit of the next pedal they are running into. I might be wrong, but that’s what I’ve suspected for a while.

If it is impedance, I’m not sure those interactions are good candidates for modeling.

I could be entirely wrong…

D
 
If it is impedance, I’m not sure those interactions are good candidates for modeling.
I don't think those can't be modeled, after all two pedals in series are not so different than two cascaded gain stages inside an amp, there's input and output impedance in those too...
I think the problem arises only when there's something analog involved (like a guitar pickup) that can't interact with a digital simulation.

But you still might be right somehow: maybe what is missing is communication between two different blocks about how the source is affected by the load, and this might also be a limit of the current grid architecture.

PS: or maybe all this is already there and we simply haven't seen it discussed on forums
 
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I keep reading that people find the Drive models from Line 6 more enjoyable, but prefer the Amp Modeling from Fractal. For me, it's actually the other way around.
 
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