I'll start out by saying that I understand a lot of clank, buzz, and harshness hides above the 5 KHz range when you use bass distortion/dirt/fuzz. I've remedied some of that in the past by turning down the tweeter on my cab, cutting some treble at the amp, etc. I was getting solid results with my dirt pedals before, but some of them were getting lost because my fundamental bass sound was getting a bit too 'opened up' and was washing out in the mix. Likewise, a lot of that top-end and harmonic buzz was getting lost in the guitar/cymbal frequency spectrum. So, I was needing to dial in significant boost with a couple dirt pedals to keep the bottom from falling out when engaged. This works in a practice/band setting when I am carrying myself with just amp/cab, but it would definitely be problematic when recording or running through a PA. i.e. It would be a big, noticeable volume spike when engaged. Also, dialing out some tweeter or treble on the amp end was fine for distorted tones, but there was a sacrifice in my clean tone. I felt like I was neutering more of the top end and high-mids than I would like.
The OCSD only arrived yesterday, but I've probably put 4-5 hours into it already between last night and this morning. That includes headphone and amp time. I still need to see how things sound in the band mix during the next few rehearsals, but this really seems to both tighten and thicken the sound. So, some of my distortion & fuzz pedals now sound way thicker and more focused with the OCSD. I've used HPFs before (fdeck hpf3 and now an adjustable HPF on my Mesa D-800+). So that aspect of the OCSD is not new to me. However, this is my first time using a LPF to smooth out the top end and cut out some of that piercing, buzzy, can-of-bees content. This seems way more precise and effective, in that it's making my dirt pedals sound punchier and more 'useable' without being detrimental to my cleaner tones. As a result, I'm trying all my dirt pedals with the OCSD and finding they have a much different character that may be more applicable in my setup.
Also worth mentioning... I asked in here a few months back whether most people were only using this for recording & ampless gigs. The response was that a number of folks leave it on all the time, even running into their amp on stage. It seems sort of counter intuitive to use a cab-sim in front of a cabinet, especially when we buy amp/cabs for their inherent tonal qualities. In reality, the OCSD allows me to tighten everything and I can utilize different cabinet sounds with the option to turn it on and off with a simple foot-switch. I'll need a good amount of time to fully dial in some go-to settings for my rig, but I've already found a couple that drastically improve how distortion sounds through my amp without my clean sound taking a hit.
Final initial comment is about the headphone amp. I'm hoping this can replace my 3Leaf Enabler, which I was using for headphone practice as well as some recording (DI/EQ). The headphone amp on the Enabler is more hi-fi, and I like the interface a bit more. I think the recordings I play along to sound slightly cleaner and more dynamic through my Enabler, and it has more gain on tap if needed. On the other hand, I prefer how my bass sounds through a cab-sim when learning new tunes and playing along to tracks. If I didn't have the Enabler as a reference for a super high quality headphone amp, I would have zero complaints about the headphone/aux-in on the OCSD. Very useful...
