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severinsteel
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See my current Boss collection here:
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Episode 46: Boss DA-2 Adaptive Distortion
Ok, so I knew NOTHING about the DA-2 Adaptive Distortion going in. It came out a few years ago, right before the DS-1x (just to confuse us apparently). I've had mixed feelings about distortion pedals in general. I prefer to boost a dirty amp with an overdrive pedal instead. I don't generally like to get all of my gain from a pedal. Let's see how the DA-2 worked out!
Ok, so I am pretty surprised by the Adaptive Distortion. I wasn't a huge fain of it until I first heard the tones on tape. They sound pretty darn good! The gain control is very responsive. It literally goes between AC/DC to full on metal. I suppose that's where Boss got 'Adaptive', as it adapts to whatever style you need it to. I liked the gain at 9:00 for low gain stuff, and at 3:00 and beyond for high gain.
The EQ controls are very powerful. The Low knob is will add a ton of low end. I think it's quite unnecessary, as the pedal is nice and balanced right at noon. The High knob works great for adding a little bite. My recommended setting is Low at noon and High at 3:00.
When run in front of the high input on my Marshall 2203, I preferred to keep the gain low and use the pedal as an OD. I felt like the gain at noon or above was too much. 9:00 is the sweet spot. I also got plenty of high end in this situation, so High's at 12:00 or even lower will work best.
The only downfall for me, was the feel. It felt a lot like the Boss ST-2 Power Stack. Both pedals are digital, and both have a sort of non-organic feel to them. Granted, I used them in a studio environment, so live might be a different story.
Overall, this pedal did surprise me a bit. I think it's a nice step up from the typical Boss Distortion.
-Cameron Johnson
Music by Atma Weapon
atmaweaponnc.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/atmaweaponnc
http://instagram.com/boss_pedal_project
Episode 46: Boss DA-2 Adaptive Distortion
Ok, so I knew NOTHING about the DA-2 Adaptive Distortion going in. It came out a few years ago, right before the DS-1x (just to confuse us apparently). I've had mixed feelings about distortion pedals in general. I prefer to boost a dirty amp with an overdrive pedal instead. I don't generally like to get all of my gain from a pedal. Let's see how the DA-2 worked out!
Ok, so I am pretty surprised by the Adaptive Distortion. I wasn't a huge fain of it until I first heard the tones on tape. They sound pretty darn good! The gain control is very responsive. It literally goes between AC/DC to full on metal. I suppose that's where Boss got 'Adaptive', as it adapts to whatever style you need it to. I liked the gain at 9:00 for low gain stuff, and at 3:00 and beyond for high gain.
The EQ controls are very powerful. The Low knob is will add a ton of low end. I think it's quite unnecessary, as the pedal is nice and balanced right at noon. The High knob works great for adding a little bite. My recommended setting is Low at noon and High at 3:00.
When run in front of the high input on my Marshall 2203, I preferred to keep the gain low and use the pedal as an OD. I felt like the gain at noon or above was too much. 9:00 is the sweet spot. I also got plenty of high end in this situation, so High's at 12:00 or even lower will work best.
The only downfall for me, was the feel. It felt a lot like the Boss ST-2 Power Stack. Both pedals are digital, and both have a sort of non-organic feel to them. Granted, I used them in a studio environment, so live might be a different story.
Overall, this pedal did surprise me a bit. I think it's a nice step up from the typical Boss Distortion.
-Cameron Johnson
Music by Atma Weapon
atmaweaponnc.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/atmaweaponnc
