- Build Rating
I just checked my order history - I've been sitting on this PCB for over two years! It's the AionFX Andromeda Deluxe Natural Overdrive, based on the Nordland ODR-C.
Plenty has been written about this circuit's predecessor, the Nobels ODR-1. The Nordland ODR-C attempts to retain everything that made the ODR-1 great, but add some additional flexibility. The writeup on Aion's page is great.
My take on this circuit: I built Aion's non-Deluxe Andromeda many years ago. This is basically the original ODR-1 circuit, but Kevin added a bass cut knob. I absolutely loved the sound and texture of the clipping in this circuit. It sounded great at home. But I found I struggled to be heard when I used it with the band. This seems to be a semi-common complaint with this circuit, that it gets lost in a band mix. The bass cut knob didn't really seem to help too much, and I also thought that the overall tone of the pedal got a bit thin when more than just a little bass was cut. Admittedly, this "can't hear myself in the mix" was back when I was new to playing in bands, so there was likely at least a little bit of operator error at play.
So I finally got around to putting the Deluxe together. As soon as I fired it up, I fell in love with the overdrive sound all over again! I'm hoping that the additional controls make it more viable for me in a band setting. The ODR-C/Andromeda Deluxe bass knob is actually more sophisticated than Aion's non-Deluxe bass rolloff implementation - it basically transitions between two different filters, rather than being a straight cut. The mid knob definitely works, and gets quite nasally at the extreme setting. The ODC (overdrive de-compress) knob is subtle, but interesting.
I just finished it this weekend, so it remains to be seen how it will fare in a band mix. The extra tonal options should help, as well as the fact that I now have more general band-playing experience (whereas I used to be atrocious, I've now elevated my game to mediocre).
The enclosure is a "Tango Green" from @StompBoxParts, and I think it looks absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, my waterslide application doesn't do it justice. As you can see, a lot of the decal didn't actually transfer. So, rather than re-do it, I just left it, and I'm calling it a "premium relic finish".
The design is some random clip art I found on the web. I searched for "andromeda", expecting to find cosmic- or space-related images (i.e. the Andromeda Galaxy), which I did. But I didn't realize Andromeda is a character from Greek mythology, and thought this particular design looked awesome.
The build itself was mostly unremarkable. I wanted to use my own relay bypass circuit with this, but Aion put a few actual effect components on the stock 3PDT breakout board. So, as I did with my Aion Amethyst build, I made yet another custom version of my relay bypass to support the Andromeda Deluxe. I can't really complain - on both the Amethyst and Andromeda Deluxe effect boards, there's not even a spare mm^3, so I understand why he had to put a few effect components on the bypass board. (I have a few extra of these custom bypass boards, both for the Andromeda Deluxe and the Amethyst, PM me if you want one, happy to give them away.)
It worked great on first power-up... for a minute or two, then all the sudden, it just cut out completely! Bypass worked, but the effect did not work at all. That's kind of a weird failure mode, to work fine, then suddenly stop. I did a visual inspection of the board and noticed my problem: pin4 of one of the opamps hadn't actually gone in the socket, but rather "bunched up" and went from barely-making contact, to not making contact at all. So, it was a simple fix, just take the IC out, straighten that pin, and then re-seat it, making sure that pin actually went into the socket hole. It's all good now!
As with the other two builds I finished this weekend (Hard Rock Pinnacle revision and Oxide Distortion), I'm using aluminum 1510- and 1900-style knobs. The aluminum knob-snobbery is in full effect! I wanted to use all green 1510-style knobs for this build, but my drilling game wasn't good enough - there's not enough room to use all 1510s. Also, I only have five green knobs.
Plenty has been written about this circuit's predecessor, the Nobels ODR-1. The Nordland ODR-C attempts to retain everything that made the ODR-1 great, but add some additional flexibility. The writeup on Aion's page is great.
My take on this circuit: I built Aion's non-Deluxe Andromeda many years ago. This is basically the original ODR-1 circuit, but Kevin added a bass cut knob. I absolutely loved the sound and texture of the clipping in this circuit. It sounded great at home. But I found I struggled to be heard when I used it with the band. This seems to be a semi-common complaint with this circuit, that it gets lost in a band mix. The bass cut knob didn't really seem to help too much, and I also thought that the overall tone of the pedal got a bit thin when more than just a little bass was cut. Admittedly, this "can't hear myself in the mix" was back when I was new to playing in bands, so there was likely at least a little bit of operator error at play.
So I finally got around to putting the Deluxe together. As soon as I fired it up, I fell in love with the overdrive sound all over again! I'm hoping that the additional controls make it more viable for me in a band setting. The ODR-C/Andromeda Deluxe bass knob is actually more sophisticated than Aion's non-Deluxe bass rolloff implementation - it basically transitions between two different filters, rather than being a straight cut. The mid knob definitely works, and gets quite nasally at the extreme setting. The ODC (overdrive de-compress) knob is subtle, but interesting.
I just finished it this weekend, so it remains to be seen how it will fare in a band mix. The extra tonal options should help, as well as the fact that I now have more general band-playing experience (whereas I used to be atrocious, I've now elevated my game to mediocre).
The enclosure is a "Tango Green" from @StompBoxParts, and I think it looks absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, my waterslide application doesn't do it justice. As you can see, a lot of the decal didn't actually transfer. So, rather than re-do it, I just left it, and I'm calling it a "premium relic finish".
The design is some random clip art I found on the web. I searched for "andromeda", expecting to find cosmic- or space-related images (i.e. the Andromeda Galaxy), which I did. But I didn't realize Andromeda is a character from Greek mythology, and thought this particular design looked awesome.The build itself was mostly unremarkable. I wanted to use my own relay bypass circuit with this, but Aion put a few actual effect components on the stock 3PDT breakout board. So, as I did with my Aion Amethyst build, I made yet another custom version of my relay bypass to support the Andromeda Deluxe. I can't really complain - on both the Amethyst and Andromeda Deluxe effect boards, there's not even a spare mm^3, so I understand why he had to put a few effect components on the bypass board. (I have a few extra of these custom bypass boards, both for the Andromeda Deluxe and the Amethyst, PM me if you want one, happy to give them away.)
It worked great on first power-up... for a minute or two, then all the sudden, it just cut out completely! Bypass worked, but the effect did not work at all. That's kind of a weird failure mode, to work fine, then suddenly stop. I did a visual inspection of the board and noticed my problem: pin4 of one of the opamps hadn't actually gone in the socket, but rather "bunched up" and went from barely-making contact, to not making contact at all. So, it was a simple fix, just take the IC out, straighten that pin, and then re-seat it, making sure that pin actually went into the socket hole. It's all good now!
As with the other two builds I finished this weekend (Hard Rock Pinnacle revision and Oxide Distortion), I'm using aluminum 1510- and 1900-style knobs. The aluminum knob-snobbery is in full effect! I wanted to use all green 1510-style knobs for this build, but my drilling game wasn't good enough - there's not enough room to use all 1510s. Also, I only have five green knobs.
