Digital vs Analog Drives

[Meeotch]

I'm currently using an FX8 for all of my time-based effects and it sounds killer. However, for goosing the input of my amps I've always gone with a traditional OD pedal as I figured keeping things analog up front would be more in line with my preferences.

I saw several recommendations for the Boss OD1-X (a digital OD) so I picked one up and was pleasantly surprised by the tones. Now I've been playing around with the drive blocks in my FX8 more and again I'm finding some great tones. I'm firmly in the camp of if it sounds good, it is good but just curious what others have experienced when comparing digital to analog drives?

 

[Racerxrated]

The OD1X is my go to boost for everything. It seems to add an upper mid/high 'grind' that Blake mentioned reminds him of a Cameron mod. That makes sense, since I've always liked the Cam modded Marshalls best of all the mods. I've also tried the DS1X, (less mid hump), and the Adaptive Distortion (less mids yet). All were super quiet, had the same grind, and does not rob low end and can even add a bit.
On the flip side, I also tried the OD200 and that one was very digital sounding, and just didn't come close to the tone of the individual pedals. I believe the Boss X pedals incorporate both digital and analog in the signal path.
When I stack the OD1X with a distortion pedal, into my 72 Marshall it still stays super quiet and keeps the lows intact....when I swap it out for a vintage SD1, I get lots of feedback, less lows and lots of noise.
The OD1X is a must have for me.
When I had an AX8, I did use the boost pedal feature and thought it did a nice job as well.

 

[Skolphy]

I'm in the same camp..if it sounds good it is good. Love having the drives in the AX8 and FM9...a nice array to choose from..can find your "flavor" in all the choices. I've also been a Koko boost fan for years..got both OG and the newer version...OG still has a magic like none other..

 

[Meeotch]

OG Koko Boost never leaves my board!

 

[TotallyRadGuitars]

My first pedal ever was a Digitech EX-7, which also has overdrive sims. I find the TS-9 sim on that to sound basically identical to my actual TS-7, or at least within component tolerances. The only reason I don't use the EX-7 much anymore is that it has a weird power supply that my little isopsu doesn't have and I've gotten away from the other features it has (pitch shift, wah, etc).

I think we're in an era where we've gone far beyond any loss of signal quality that you'd ever notice, if these devices are running at 24-bits and 48khz or 96khz. Now if we're talking some kind of old 8-bit a/d converter thing from 1994 then yeah, maybe you'd use that for a certain effect, but you could probably tell the difference between it and a similar analog device.

 

[Smash]

Only drive i need