Barber Electronics forum.

Hey everyone. I was bored the other day so I made a quick Direct Drive demo in my basement with my digital camera. Terrible video and sound quality as usual!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkf0y7obGmU

This video confirms what my previous thoughts were on these pedals. The Direct Drive to my ears has more clarity. It also is a little fuller and richer sounding to me. I have never played an OCD in a live situation, but it seems that it might get lost in the mix easily. I have played the Direct Drive in numerous live situations and it always sounds great.

I've been using the OCD v4 as my main mid-gain overdrive for a while (in "LP" mode) and really liking it; but lately I've decided to try and fit the Direct Drive (specifically the LG, but I have the std. also) into its place:

Even though it's harmonically rich, the OCD seems to go "flat" when you dig in or hit a big chord thanks to its noticeable output compression. (This compression, however, does provide a really nice cleanup without volume loss when you pick lightly or back off the guitar's volume.) But the compression has been bothering me lately--again it's still a great pedal, but something tells me it's gonna get lost in a live mix.

The Direct Drive, on the other hand, isn't as spongy and will keep pushing harder when you smack the strings harder. And given its distinctly British voice I greatly prefer the standard DD over the OCD's "HP" (British) mode for higher-gain. Lower down in the mid-gain range, where I'd been almost exclusively using the OCD in "LP" mode, I've found that the DD-LG w/ tone control pulled out provides all those rich harmonics, doesn't cave in under pressure, and cleans up superbly from the guitar.

I can hear uses for both sounds...but you know which sound I would use more often.