Itāll work but youāre gonna lose out on any stereo effects from the a4. Gotta say Iām definitely going to hook up my a4 to a pair of my dod death metal distortions now that youāve put the idea in my head.
You can get the same kind of sound using any very short delay on the edge of self-oscillation. Some notes push it over the edge more than others, itās really responsive and fun to ride the feedback waves. Itās also a simple way of creating acoustic string sounds (think itās called karplus-strong).
Regarding using mono pedals with the A4, a way to use and retain stereo to an extend is using a mixer with send and returns, Iāve got my A4 going into an A&H Xone 43 mixer and have the send knob to my outboard Moogerfooger pedals at about 25%, this way it keeps most of the stereo but incorporates the effects too.
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Iām looking for a distortion pedal to add to a live set and studio use. I play techno and would like to add some distortion to the sound. What pedals do you use with your drum machines and synths? Also would like to hear a bit more how you use it, what sounds do you put through it etc. Any experience, ideas and tips are welcome! Thanks in advance.
I doubt thisāll help much, but Iāve used the Drive section of my MF104M quite a lot - itās usable with or without the delay line. Sounds great.
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Analog heat or OTO Boum
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I run my acid lines through this.
Itās not a distortion pedal but a tube preamp, in my opinion, sounds better than any transistor based distortion pedal out there. it has an effects loop and 3 channels(clean, crunch, lead). I like to run synths that are digital sounding through it to give it a more analog feel.
The effect loop is nice too if you are using delay/reverb effects and only want to color the signal slightly
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As nice as those boxes are, depending on the situation, Analog Heat or Boum are like using a bazooka to kill a mosquito! The trouble with distortion is that there are so. many. options. You need to narrow down whether youāre looking for drive/overdrive (somewhat subtle, distortion, or fuzz (not subtle at all). After that, you can start looking up different options. I have the Analog Heat and I love it. With itās 8 circuits, it can do the range from subtle to intense. Add to that the 2-band EQ, stereo multi-mode filter and a range of modulation options and itās a really complete (if somewhat complex) box. If you donāt need stereo, the Analog Drive is more streamlined and costs quite a bit less. More stomp and go.
Outside of elektron, just about everyone makes some kind of distortion pedal. Since itās such a simple circuit, most of them are analog (if that matters). Ask @Aen if he still has any Eau Claire Thunder: Gold Standards in stock. Limited edition with new old stock components inside.
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Itās impossible to say whatās ābestā in these situations. I recently hooked up 4 of our distortion pedals to an A4, and had a ball with each of them. My favorites are the Necromancer (superfuzz style with huge EQ) for mono synth leads/bass and The Great Destroyer for more adventurous āadditiveā distortion.
(and yes we do have a few more Gold Standard Thunders about to go up on our site )
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I found āDistortionā to be a bit heavy handed for synths and drum machines.
āOverdriveā and āBoostā are a bit more musical and controllable.
some of my favorites, with my uses:
Bogner Harlow (Neve transformer boost, I have a pair). Has a compressor built in and I use it on just about everything. Live, it creates a nice rich, enhanced sound when I run the mono out of my Acidlab Drumatix through it. Add some OT dark reverb, EQ, and additional compression and it sounds like a record coming through the PA.
Moog Minifooger Boost. The boost switch gives it more of an overdrive sound, where as in the off position you get a good clean boost. I use this with my TT-606ās hats and cymbals mostly, as it was a pretty affordable way to give those sounds what they were missing, some noise and clipping.
Zoom MS-50G. Multi-FX playground where you can really audition lots of classic stomp FX and chain them together. If I could only have one, this would be it.
Elektron Analog Drive. Permanently hooked up to my Boss DR-110. Gives it a bit of jam when using the boost and drive settings. And has plenty of ādistortionā settings if you want to go crazy. Monologue also sounds good through it. Just donāt hit the input too hard. Patch memories are nice, as is the EQ.
pedals that did not work out:
DOD Gunslinger. Got it on Amazon for $30. Flash sale. Too heavy handed, even for synths.
EHX Big Muff Pi The big one. Won it in a muffwiggler donation raffle. So heavy handed. Good for putting reverb returns through, though, for background noise textures. But not good for much else besides guitar.
Good luck!
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If youāre not sure what kind of distortion you want Iād recommend just getting a cheap pedal to start. The costlier ones are for experienced guitarists and other experienced musos who have already developed particular tastes for distortion.
Check out this pedal shootout page. Itās focused on the 303, but maybe you will get an idea or two from it. It helped me settle on a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive for my TT-303, which Iāve actually used more on electric violin than anything else. The SD-1 is only $50 new in US stores, and obviously cheaper than that used.
https://www.acidvoice.com/tb_303_best_distortion_pedal.htm
PS if one of your synths is an MS-20/MS-20 Mini, I doubt you would need a distortion pedal for that. The MS filter can get nasty enough on its own.
I canāt recommend the Moog MF Drive enough! It has got a nice overdrive, works well to saturate basslines, but also to give leads some more dimension and grit. The tone control interacts very lively with the settings for the gain, itās also handy for scooping some unwanted spectral content away. The filter also interacts with the gain and the tone, increasing the scope of how this thing can sound yet again. Imagine if this had a sweepable resonance control.
Plus having an extra filter knob is incredibly useful for performing! I use it a lot to āmask outā the menu diving some boxes have.
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Its definitely a great my first DIY project to make a big muff clone! Would recommend!
Hey Adam, Iām pretty interested in the Bogner Harlow. Do you have some track or sound example demoing it on synth or drum ?
Of course I do 
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@AdamJay Is the Bogner Wessex a newer version of the Harlow? I noticed them popping up on Reverb recently. I tried the Harlow out and found it to be too subtle for my tastes (I think the Analog Heat has spoiled me). Then, I ended up selling all my mono pedals in a purge a month or so ago.
@zifor - thanks for the heads up. Iāve already done a decent amount of DIY (Eurorack, Shruthi-1, Anushri). Pedals are a good suggestion for anyone looking to dive into DIY music electronics.
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No. They are different. Released at the same time.
Transformer saturation is a more subtle overdrive, for sure.
But you can hit the input harder for more extreme effect before actual clipping.
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Anyone have a favorite analog EQ pedal they use for synths?
Boss pedals. Theyāre extremely durable and sound good. Also Zoom MS-70CDR.
Honestly Eventide & Strymon are kind of overrated and way too expensive. They sound amazing, naturally as theyāre basically high end VSTās in a box, but IMO maybe not really worth it. If they had like, 4 channels then I would see the appeal but for that price, stereo isnāt good enough for me. Iād rather buy two Zoom MS-70CDRās and use the rest on beer.
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Iāve got this Boss Microrack Parametric EQ, itās pretty nice. I think parametric EQs are much more flexible than graphic EQs. Takes 9V like a pedal. Good price too if you find one.