The Source Audio Soundblox 2 OFD is a pair of distortion pedals, the OFD Guitar and OFD Bass microModelers, covering overdrive, fuzz and distortion in one box. OFD stands for Overdrive/Fuzz/Distortion, and each version offers 12 tones voiced for its instrument: the Guitar model for guitar's frequency range, the Bass model for bass. Vintage Guitar magazine described the pair as "Source Audio's Soundblox 2 OFD (Overdrive/Fuzz/Distortion) Guitar and Bass microModeler pedals" when they launched in 20131. For a player, the idea is a single pedal that stands in for a shelf of drive boxes, from amp-style overdrive to full fuzz.
What it models
The 12 tones in each OFD draw on two families of sources. Vintage Guitar reports models of Marshall and Mesa Boogie amps, "as well as iconic pedals including the Big Muff, Fuzz Face, and Tube Screamer"1. That spans the range a drive pedal usually covers: amp-style overdrive on one end, silicon and vintage fuzz on the other. If you want to go deeper on any of those categories, the site's pages on overdrive pedals, fuzz pedals and distortion pedals explain what each type does to a signal.
| OFD Guitar | OFD Bass | |
|---|---|---|
| Tones | 12 | 12 |
| Voicing | Guitar frequency range | Bass frequency range |
| Extra feature | Clean/dirty Mix knob | Clean/dirty Mix knob, Lo-Retain |
Both versions share the microModeler approach; the Bass model adds Source Audio's Lo-Retain algorithm. Guitar Interactive's Jonathan Graham wrote that "The OFD Bass microModeler also features a clean/dirty Mix knob as well as Source Audio's signature low-end preserving algorithm," Lo-Retain2. A clean/dirty mix lets you blend unaffected signal back in under the drive, which is a common request from bass players who want the fundamental to stay audible.
The Soundblox 2 platform
The OFDs are part of the Soundblox 2 line, which Source Audio announced at NAMM 2012 with three launch products3. The series runs on Source Audio's own 56-bit signal processing4, and the Soundblox 2 form factor is a pedalboard-friendly cast aluminum housing with two user presets5. Two presets means you can store a favorite drive setting and switch to it without bending down and turning knobs mid-set.
The OFD pedals are digital microModelers, not analog circuits. The Soundblox 2 series is built on Source Audio's proprietary 56-bit DSP with 24-bit converters45.
The OFD sits in Source Audio's Soundblox 2 line of microModeler pedals. The Guitar and Bass versions each offer 12 tones voiced to accommodate the frequency range of their instrument, and the modeling covers amps as well as pedals: Source Audio lists models of Marshall and Mesa Boogie amps alongside the Big Muff, Fuzz Face, and Tube Screamer1.
Where it sits in Source Audio's range
The OFD is one of several drive pedals Source Audio has made under the Soundblox name. The company's earlier and parallel multiwave designs include the Source Audio Soundblox Multiwave Distortion, the Soundblox 2 Multiwave Distortion and the larger Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion, which take a multiband approach to distortion rather than modeling specific amps and pedals. There is also the plainer Source Audio Soundblox Classic Distortion and its Pro version, the Soundblox Pro Classic Distortion. The OFD itself has a direct successor in the current Source Audio OFD page's subject line of products, and Source Audio later moved the modeling idea into the One Series with the AfterShock Bass Distortion and the Ultrawave multiband processor167.
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Sources (7)
- Source Audio Launches Soundblox Effects, Vintage Guitar magazine, 2013-09-26
- The Soundblox 2OFD Micromodelers from Source Audio Now Available, Guitar Interactive Magazine, 2013-10-03
- NAMM 2012: Source Audio to release Soundblox 2 line of guitar, bass effects, MusicRadar, 2012-01-15
- Source Audio Unveils Soundblox 2 Series at NAMM, No Treble, 2012-01-28
- Source Audio's New Soundblox 2 and Pro Poly-Mod Filter, Premier Guitar, 2013-01-22
- Source Audio SoundBlox 2 Multiwave Distortion Pedal Review | Performer Mag, Performer Mag
- Source Audio SoundBlox 2 Multiwave Distortion Pedal Review | Performer Mag, Performer Mag
