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Having hard time choosing my first distortion pedal

KS78

KS78

Jan 19, 2018
15
6
NEW SOUTH WALES
#1
Hi guys

I'm looking for my first effect and based on few Youtube demos I have shortlisted
  • Darkglass Alpha Omicron
  • Source Audio Aftershock

Based on the Youtube demos it seem that the Darkglass is tonally clearer yet aggressive but that could be because of better recording. Obviously the versatility and presets is why Source Audio was shortlisted.

They're roughly the same price here in Oz, but if I have understood correctly the Darkglass does not come with a power supply and that would add an extra $100 to the price.

Has anyone tried both and could shed some insight on what to expect?

Cheers
 
#2
KS78 said:
Hi guys

I'm looking for my first effect and based on few Youtube demos I have shortlisted
  • Darkglass Alpha Omicron
  • Source Audio Aftershock

Based on the Youtube demos it seem that the Darkglass is tonally clearer yet aggressive but that could be because of better recording. Obviously the versatility and presets is why Source Audio was shortlisted.

They're roughly the same price here in Oz, but if I have understood correctly the Darkglass does not come with a power supply and that would add an extra $100 to the price.

Has anyone tried both and could shed some insight on what to expect?

Cheers
Click to expand...

I have not tried either. But I've had the AO and now have an AO Ultra. It really depends on what you want. The Aftershock, from what I understand, is a very nice dirt box that sounds good and has almost limitless options when it comes to the type of dirt sound you want. Fuzz, OD, dist, a rat, a B3K, a muff, a fuzz face, it can do it all. So there's that. That could make it worth it to you for those reasons alone.

The DG stuff is great. I'm a big fanboy so I can't say much bad about them. The Omi is a great choice too. But you will not be able to get nearly as many types of sounds of it as the Aftershock would. But for what it does, I know the AO and AOU are killer dist's.

What do you mean "hey're roughly the same price here in Oz, but if I have understood correctly the Darkglass does not come with a power supply and that would add an extra $100 to the price.".....a power supply wouldn't cost $100 unless it's like a power brick...I'm confused on that statement.
 
#3
I'm gonna vote Aftershock. I just got one this week, and the options are limitless like gregmon said. There's also the fact that it could be a way to help you figure out what kind of dirt really works for what you do, and then you sell it and get the analog. BUT... as for me, I'm done buying dirt pedals because the AS does it all and sounds insane doing it.
 
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#6
KS78 said:
  • Darkglass Alpha Omicron
Click to expand...
Got one; like it.
Lots of sounds available depending on how much drive you dial in and where you are on the Alpha/Omega dial

...power supply and that would add an extra $100 to the price.
Click to expand...
A 1-Spot is $20 in the US, and truth be told, I've had excellent results with generic $10 supplies via Amazon.
The CMOS pedals had a reputation for being somewhat picky about power, but the Omicron is opamp based and reportedly a bit less sensitive about what you feed it.
(Although my CMOS pedals were OK with my cheap supplies too - but I maybe I just got lucky...)
When I'm playing with a small board in a rock setting, it's tuner / Omicron / VMT Ultra.
 
#9
gregmon79 said:
What do you mean "hey're roughly the same price here in Oz, but if I have understood correctly the Darkglass does not come with a power supply and that would add an extra $100 to the price.".....a power supply wouldn't cost $100 unless it's like a power brick...I'm confused on that statement.
Click to expand...

I admit I didn't do proper research but the first power supply I found was $100 Australian ($72 US)
 
#11
KS78 said:
Any chance to get a B3K vs Aftershock A/B test and review? :)
Click to expand...

Maybe! And I can tell you what I think of the B3K right now, too. It has a unique dirt "flavor." Very chainsawy, but without a lot of crazy harmonic content flying around. It's unusually focused. It does not sound tubey. Since I'm ultimately after a more retro, ampy sound, I think it's not for me. The Aguilar Agro beats it in terms of delivering what I want.

I anticipate that the Aftershock will deliver both of these sounds (should I want them both) and more. But I guess I'll see when mine arrives on Wednesday.
 
#12
I am in the camp of saying toss your bass in a gig bag and hit every store you can find and plug YOUR bass into as many pedals as you can find and see what you like. I recently did this and have to say I was not in the market for a distortion but wanted to see what the hub hub was about darkglass and some local spots have a few....After trying the B3K, I want...no, need one. I tried it with a few other darkglass including the duality and I just found it carried such a rich bottom end I was in love.
 
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#14
KS78 said:
Hi guys

I'm looking for my first effect and based on few Youtube demos I have shortlisted
  • Darkglass Alpha Omicron
  • Source Audio Aftershock

Based on the Youtube demos it seem that the Darkglass is tonally clearer yet aggressive but that could be because of better recording. Obviously the versatility and presets is why Source Audio was shortlisted.

They're roughly the same price here in Oz, but if I have understood correctly the Darkglass does not come with a power supply and that would add an extra $100 to the price.

Has anyone tried both and could shed some insight on what to expect?

Cheers
Click to expand...
Same bass different pedal: The Omicron
Same bass different pedal: The Aftershock

If I was into distortion, I would go with the Aftershock because it has more options and sounds better for me anyway...
 
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#20
FrenchBassQC said:
Same bass different pedal: The Omicron
Same bass different pedal: The Aftershock

If I was into distortion, I would go with the Aftershock because it has more options and sounds better for me anyway...
Click to expand...


Thanks for finding this, very helpful. On the other hand I couldn't tell that one pedal was clearly better than the other... All this started when I tried Guitar Rig demo on my PC and started researching the cheap Zoom BX10n and... well.. :)
 

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