I recently pulled my SWR Interstellar Overdrive (IOD) out of a box so I could sell it. I had bought it used 10 or 15 years ago, but never really took to it. I’m trying to clean house of stuff I’m not using anymore. I figured I’d plug it in one more time to make sure it works before I put it up for sale. You can probably see where this all going……..lawdy! What a sound! I get it now!
So what changed? What have I learned?
--Speakers matter...a lot! Over the years, I usually plugged it into my Goliath III 410, which later testing confirmed sounds truly terrible with the IOD. Something about its mid-bass, “boxy” sound really doesn’t get along with the tube sound (even with the tweeter off). Results were almost as bad with an Avatar 210. Sounds much, much better when plugged into one of my 15PR400s, and better yet through Eminence Beta 15s or Altec 421s.
--- I mostly have been using my B-15 and my V4-B for a while now, so I think I understand better what actual tube amps are supposed to sound like. Real tube amps don’t get into smooth, mid-scooped distortion like a Tech21 preamp does. When real tube amps run out of headroom, they go “splat”. The IOD does the same. If you want to sound like the guy from Tool, this isn’t your thing. If you want to sound like “I’ll take you there”, the IOD will take you there.
---Flatwounds….I’ve gone from playing a Zon 5 string with SS rounds to a Lakland Duck Dunn p-bass with flats. The IOD does great with flats. I’m still not crazy about my tube amps in general with roundwounds, but I don’t play them much anyway.
---- Tone controls matter. For a long time, I always deferred to a flat or minimal EQ, but that doesn’t work here. The flat sound is quite thin. I’m boosting the bass significantly, and cutting highs. Even with cut highs, flat wounds, and no tweeters, I’m still getting plenty of high end (for me). I have the bass at 3 o’clock, mids flat, and highs at about 10 o’clock. I’m using just a bit of aural enhancer (about 8-9 o’clock) to add a bit of gain and bass.
---- This has been noted before, but the gain on these is really sensitive—you’ll go from clean to full splat with a very small adjustment. Getting that sweet spot with just a little hair on it isn’t tough though, just a little touchy. As it heats up, it tends to get more dirty, so I often turn it down a bit (unlike my B-15 that actually gets louder as it heats up). I keep the wet/dry mix on like 95% wet. Mixing in just a bit of the direct sound gives a big gain/output boost (and the output on the IOD is on the low side).
So how does it sound? It absolutely sounds like the real thing. It doesn’t sound as good as my B-15, because nothing sounds like that, not even my V4b. I can get the IOD to sound like the V4b to the point that I’m not sure if I could tell the difference blindfolded. If anything, the IOD might be a little thicker/warmer sounding, but it’s really close. The IOD is certainly lighter, even in a rack case with my old Studio 220 (getting used as a power amp). I need to find someone with a real SVT to A/B against….that would be the ultimate test.
I recent recording of the IOD through a 15Pr400 mic'd with an Audix D4; this was just a warm-up jam to set levels:
For comparison (if you think you can hear a difference), here's my V4b through the same speaker:
So what changed? What have I learned?
--Speakers matter...a lot! Over the years, I usually plugged it into my Goliath III 410, which later testing confirmed sounds truly terrible with the IOD. Something about its mid-bass, “boxy” sound really doesn’t get along with the tube sound (even with the tweeter off). Results were almost as bad with an Avatar 210. Sounds much, much better when plugged into one of my 15PR400s, and better yet through Eminence Beta 15s or Altec 421s.
--- I mostly have been using my B-15 and my V4-B for a while now, so I think I understand better what actual tube amps are supposed to sound like. Real tube amps don’t get into smooth, mid-scooped distortion like a Tech21 preamp does. When real tube amps run out of headroom, they go “splat”. The IOD does the same. If you want to sound like the guy from Tool, this isn’t your thing. If you want to sound like “I’ll take you there”, the IOD will take you there.
---Flatwounds….I’ve gone from playing a Zon 5 string with SS rounds to a Lakland Duck Dunn p-bass with flats. The IOD does great with flats. I’m still not crazy about my tube amps in general with roundwounds, but I don’t play them much anyway.
---- Tone controls matter. For a long time, I always deferred to a flat or minimal EQ, but that doesn’t work here. The flat sound is quite thin. I’m boosting the bass significantly, and cutting highs. Even with cut highs, flat wounds, and no tweeters, I’m still getting plenty of high end (for me). I have the bass at 3 o’clock, mids flat, and highs at about 10 o’clock. I’m using just a bit of aural enhancer (about 8-9 o’clock) to add a bit of gain and bass.
---- This has been noted before, but the gain on these is really sensitive—you’ll go from clean to full splat with a very small adjustment. Getting that sweet spot with just a little hair on it isn’t tough though, just a little touchy. As it heats up, it tends to get more dirty, so I often turn it down a bit (unlike my B-15 that actually gets louder as it heats up). I keep the wet/dry mix on like 95% wet. Mixing in just a bit of the direct sound gives a big gain/output boost (and the output on the IOD is on the low side).
So how does it sound? It absolutely sounds like the real thing. It doesn’t sound as good as my B-15, because nothing sounds like that, not even my V4b. I can get the IOD to sound like the V4b to the point that I’m not sure if I could tell the difference blindfolded. If anything, the IOD might be a little thicker/warmer sounding, but it’s really close. The IOD is certainly lighter, even in a rack case with my old Studio 220 (getting used as a power amp). I need to find someone with a real SVT to A/B against….that would be the ultimate test.
I recent recording of the IOD through a 15Pr400 mic'd with an Audix D4; this was just a warm-up jam to set levels:
For comparison (if you think you can hear a difference), here's my V4b through the same speaker:
