Splitting off from the live limiter discussion here: Small form factor Limiter for live use?
I recently got 2 stereo pedals to pump my MD. I love what AH distortion does to my MD sound but I also want to use my AH for other purposes, so I started looking for distortion fx to dedicate to my MD, and preferably cheaper than getting a 2nd AH…
I found the EHX Platform and Operation Overlord pedals that fit the stereo and budget requirement.
I’ll be brief about the Operation Overlord, as mentioned in the thread above:
Sounds good and great tone tweaking with the EQ. But severe high-pass on the input. The bass band knob is really low-mid, not low. High pass is also present with the wet/dry knob at 100% dry so there’s no mixing in of the original low end on the pedal itself. A shame, really. And not advertised in any documentation that I’ve seen. Of course when bypass is on you get the clean dry signal, but that’s no solution. I intended to use it on my MD and I thump out some serious sub low from it, so that plan is not going through.
I’ve also played my guitar through it and liked it a lot. Don’t have a decent distortion for it since I sold my Sherman Filterbank, so I’ll likely keep the pedal for this purpose.
The Platform works a whole lot better for my purposes. My main interest is the drive, but the compression/limiting also works to give my MD’s output more character.
I’ve found the limiter mode more useful than the compressor mode. The latter has its threshold fixed at -35dB, which is very very low for a device like the MD. It shows its guitar origins there. I tested to find at what level it crosses the threshold. With my regular MD kits I have to set the main volume knob at about 5° to not trigger the compressor, meaning that at a normal output volume the compressor would be engaging pretty much all of the time.
In limiter mode we do have control over the threshold (sustain knob is now threshold) and with soft knee and appropriate attack and release I can get compressor-like sound from it that I like.
I find that the drive at moderate level sounds similar to the AH saturation mode at high drive level. Platform’s drive goes way further though. Tone is a low pass after the drive, which works great to take of the sharp high end edge, something I find myself doing a lot with the AH filter, so that 's a good match. I find the drive sound useful for my intended use. That said, the AH is obviously way more versatile as a tone shaping tool, no comparison there, but these devices are in different leagues altogether. For the price, I’m happy with what the Platform is delivering.
Bla bla bla… so what does it sound like?! Here you go:
First a couple of bars of dry Machinedrum loop. Then the pedal is enabled with moderate limiting. Then drive is enabled and I play with the drive, tone and swell knobs. About halfway a little Eventide Space reverb is added after the Platform. Last couple of bars is dry Machinedrum + reverb.
The only manipulation on the MD is muting tracks.