shnobel tone drivers (daily / mid)

[owlexifry]

noticed the new release here for the shnobel tone mid driver and it got me buzzing a bit.... cant really figure out where is the most appropriate place to discusss these circuits, but ah well here goes...

there is an existing thread that goes over the daily driver but its been locked and/or i can't add to it:

Shnobel Daily Driver

Intriguing

forum.pedalpcb.com

typically the tone i go for is boosted high gain amps for tight rhythm playing. so i like to try out mid boosting type overdrives. a lot of 'transparent' overdrives that retain lots of low end and cut/smooth out highs haven't been good to me - they sound muddy and just don't work for tight high gain rhythm riffs.
so usually i'm stuck with 808 / SD-1 type circuits. haven't really found anything that can beat these. so far, OD808 with clipping mods is the go-to.

but then i saw this mid driver thing. YES - MIDS! could be good?! i have no idea.
often i find looking at a schematic gives me a fair idea if something is gonna do what i want it to.
(eg. lack of input buffer = , hard clippers = , soft clippers = , and so on...)

so i went searching around to find out more about this circuit. all i can really find is in that link above, and the images of the PCBs / gutshots.
- 5 opamps (10 stages?)
- chargepump
- voltage regulator
- zener clippers (NFB soft clippers?)

what is even going on with this circuit? what could it possibly be doing with x5 4558 opamps?

i noticed robert mentioned that there's a lot of buffering going on...

either way, it appears these two circuits (mid-driver / daily driver) are quite similar, and boy howdy i'd like to know more about them....

 

[Feral Feline]

Patience. Unlike Waiting for Godot, who may never get here, your wait for the Courier Driver will be rewarded...

Courier Overdrive Mockup Pedal - Arriving Soon!

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/pcb544/

forum.pedalpcb.com

 

[owlexifry]

Patience. Unlike Waiting for Godot, who may never get here, your wait for the Courier Driver will be rewarded...

Courier Overdrive Mockup Pedal - Arriving Soon!

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/pcb544/

forum.pedalpcb.com

the daily driver has been here for 2 years now:

Shnobel Daily Driver

Intriguing

forum.pedalpcb.com

given that, I thought someone might be able to tell me something about the circuit. i'm not asking for a schematic drop (i get it).

 

[Feral Feline]

Sorry, I thought you were asking about the Courier (mids) Overdrive. My mistake.

 

[owlexifry]

Sorry, I thought you were asking about the Courier (mids) Overdrive. My mistake.

all good im asking about both the courier (mids driver) and the chauffeur (daily driver) overdrives, as they appear to be very very similar.

 

[music6000]

all good im asking about both the courier (mids driver) and the chauffeur (daily driver) overdrives, as they appear to be very very similar.

This may tell you what you need to know:

 

[owlexifry]

This may tell you what you need to know:

thanks, but since it was all blues noodling, and zero demonstration of high gain amp boosting, it didn't really tell me much.
although i did hear a mention/claim of the mid driver being "somewhere in between a TS and a klon", but that could mean anything

 

[MichaelW]

I recently built the Chauffer and see it more as a low to medium gain overdrive. From what i understand the Mid Driver is essentially the same circuit with a bit of eq tweaking. It’s a unique circuit, which is a feat in and of itself these days, but I wouldn’t count on either to be the high gain amp booster you’re looking for. I can record some blues noodling for if youd like a demo…..

 

[MichaelW]

Just a thought but have you considered the Mercurial Boost? (Catlinbread Varioboost). I'm more and more impressed with the versatility of this boost. Although I'm not using it that way, goosing a high gain amp sounds like a perfect use case for it. @peccary could probably elaborate more on how it would work for that.