Is This the Most Underrated Drive Pedal Ever? the TC Electronic Dark Matter

[@old_man_fran]

I think the most underrated is the Clutch. When people drive, they go on and on about the Accelerator and the Brakes. But I don't think the Clutch gets the respect it deserves.

[@raygehring]

Yeah, they don’t even make clutch pedal anymore. Just drive and if you’re lucky, sometimes you get reverse options. I think that just causes delay and increases the drive time.

[@jmorg1267]

I see what you did there…😊

[@charliehshaw]

I needed this comment this morning. Thank you.

[@TeleTonemonkey]

It’s called the Clutch Pedal for a reason!

[@PearHellforge]

wow misaki is on youtube

[@nmcgregor1990]

I'm always amazed that you get some incredible tones out of some pieces of gear I had some fairly negative preconceptions of! I'd read that the Dark Matter was an awful distortion, so I haven't actually tried one but it sounds great the way you have used it!

[@vinivola]

It was awful for me so I too am surprised.

[@HansNederland]

Indeed, the schematics show a soft-clipping architecture, Josh from JHS (you know him, I know) calls it then an overdrive, I agree.

[@JPMac23]

I’ve had it for several years and hadn’t used it in years. Pulled it out, and really didn’t remember it sounding as good as it does. Crazy that you release this video the same week I put it back on my bass pedalboard.

[@SquizbarDeAlienOfficial]

Another one of my favorite pedals! Amazing distortion pedal, I used it live for a Ghost BC cover gig. Super underrated imo. I love the knob in the down position

[@TLMuse]

Just had a look at the schematic (one from the service manual, posted on Reddit). Without doing a detailed analysis, it looks like the voice switch controls how much extra highs vs. lows get fed into the actual distortion stage, simultaneously adjusting the gain a bit. Before the distortion stage, there's a voltage divider that reduces the overall signal level a bit, but with a capacitor letting highs go through less attenuated. The switch controls both the overall attenuation at that point, and at what frequency the highs start passing through. I don't have encyclopedic knowledge of distortion circuits, but this looks fairly unique to me. -Tom

[@rocknrollboise]

Is it just a Rat-type circuit?

[@TLMuse]

@@rocknrollboise No, it's not at all like the RAT (thinking specifically of RAT2 schematics I've seen, though I think the various versions are pretty similar). The RAT has an op amp gain stage feeding into a simple diode clipper, but with the gain able to be set so high that the op amp itself can be driven into distortion (the story is that this aspect was unintentional). The TC has a deliberately nonlinear op amp gain stage, with diodes in the feedback loop to create nonlinearity. The RAT also doesn't have filtering (certainly not adjustable filtering) before the gain/distortion section; its tone control comes after that. So really no significant similarity.

[@lordseph]

This and the TC Electronic MojoMojo overdrive are super underrated

[@tonguitarra]

Friend of my have mojomojo od and for me sound too much bass, even at 0 is to much

[@jamesanderson2114]

​@tonguitarra did they have the fat mode turned on? There's a flick switch, which adds some low end (even with bass down to zero)

[@Orange-wy1sw]

​@@jamesanderson2114the switch named "voice"?

[@R3dbudd]

@@tonguitarraI had same experience but was trying to tighten up a couple high gain amps at the time

[@TLMuse]

According to the Reddit DIY pedal folks, the two pedals use the same PCB (circuit board). So they share very similar architectures, with some components altered in value or removed between them. An interesting R&D cost-saving measure! -Tom

[@musictimewithjoel3020]

The dark matter and tc spark are still some of my favorite bass drive pedals!

[@rocknrollboise]

I'm convinced you could make any drive pedal sound flawless, so I take that into account when hearing your reviews, lol.

[@AlecBourneMidiMadScientist]

TC did a whole set of drive pedals at the same time as the plethora X5 - same design team, the purple mojomojo, Magus and a few others, my attention at the time was much more towards the still fairly rare midi capable fully analog drives like the jet pedals lion and lamb ( you REALLY NEED to try those out ) and then later on the Kernom Ridge. I think i would be a bit pressed to spin back to these pedals but you never know.. this is the journey. There are some digipot controlled pedals made in italy worth looking at too.

[@deanbibb3680]

Did Alec Bourne just get a namedrop here?

[@marijnweeke3484]

Ive been using this for years😊 what a great pedal.

[@HansNederland]

No, you can still buy them new for around 55 Euro (= Thomann price today).

[@justabill63]

Absolutely. This has been my main dist for about 6 years or so.. Just kind of does a certain thing. I run a tumnus deluxe into it... pretty great.

[@KozmykJ]

I have both a Mojo Mojo and this Dark Matter. I may or may not have been influenced by Paul Gilbert ... 🙄 I'd describe the Dark Matter as like the Mojo Mojo but with more gain. Same tonal character.

[@philbrisell6479]

The name and the color suggests high gain rock but it's really versatile. I like Rat style drives a lot and use this the same way. It can do anything from clean boost to smooth lead tones. And it's relatively transparent and doesn't dramatically change your amps core tone.

[@areallyboredguy5825]

This is basically a brighter Mojomojo, which a brighter Mojomojo is just the Paul Gibert Mojomojo, so this is basically a Paul Gilbert Mojomojo.I ended up returning it and giving a mojomojo I had to a family member. In this similar price bracket I would go for the EHX Hot Tubes which is a touch more unique.

[@therangersinger]

I was just thinking the other day that i wish you would include this and mojo mojo overdrive on your channel.

[@Fawkes1978]

I second this!

[@jimmywade4086]

I third it...great pedal.

[@TLMuse]

I still have my Yamaha DG Stomp. It works as well as ever (which, for my ears, is actually surprisingly well, even by modern standards). I mainly keep it as a back up; it's in my car trunk at gigs in case of catastrophic failure! -Tom

[@chrisgmurray3622]

That drive sounds really good, but it probably sounds better in Fender type amps , or any basically clean-inclined amps. It would be interesting to see if it sounds horrible into a Marshall, or maybe that Headfirst shirley marshall.

[@RandyCraig-e3c]

Nice double track of the rhythm part. Sneeks up on ya.

[@jakollee]

I completely agree that the TC Dark Matter is “more versatile” (i.e., better) than the Boss DS-1. I don’t know if you’re able to get your hand on MXR pedals, but I really suggest you check out their Custom Badass Modified Overdrive (or some such combination of silly marketing words) pedal. It’s not quite a tube screamer and to me sounds pretty amp-like. Another good, affordable pedal to check out is the East River Drive by EHX, a TS-808 clone.

[@Orange-wy1sw]

It is very interesting to hear from you about TC Electronic Mojo Mojo overdrive. I have one, and always have no idea how to use it :( Its very bassy in every position of knobs... But I keep it (dont know why:) )

[@florisvanlingen]

My first OD pedals were the TC Electronic Mojo Mojo and the Dark Matter. Fun fact the Dark matter is the only pedal that ever crapped out on me.

[@justarthur1788]

Try spark booster into mojo mojo drive into dark matter, thank me later and extremely affordable.

[@edlicari3909]

You should check out the TC Electronic MojoMojo overdrive!!

[@peterhall4852]

Stacks great with either of the Mojomojos.

[@alexdenton6586]

A musician’s final thoughts should be of Ohio

[@therangersinger]

@@alexdenton6586 Ohio sucks

[@georgeflowers3730]

There is nothing out of the ordinary with this pedal. If you want a great, affordable Overdrive/Distortion pedal, try Electro-Harmonix Glove. You won't regret it.

[@ianbarnes1406]

Great pedal. Bought one recently and am extremely impressed with the way it sounds and feels under the fingers

[@markerf16]

I also have the glove and it is my main overdrive. Does everything in cuts through nicely.

[@pedroleal7118]

There's a thin line between 'Overdrive' and 'Distortion'. I've always been an 'Overdrive' guy and think you are too. Just the right amount of drive but with enough 'articulation', the test beeing, can you make a 'jazz' chord sound good with it ? Oh, I do collect all sorts of drives too , and still use my MT-2 as an overdrive (or a feedback machine when stacked to another 'drive'!). Merry Christmas to all the small family and take care ! ps will you get the BluGuitar Amp1 out any soon ?

[@HansNederland]

Yes, I have one and I love it.

[@nickm.9474]

It’s not fair. Anything you play through is going to sound great. Hahaha.

[@nickm.9474]

And of course I just ordered one. 😄

[@JasonT-xp3kh]

It really gets out of shape when you play more than 2 simultaneous notes with higher gain. Sounds good on single notes and on lower gain settings. It would make for a decent overdrive pedal on the cheap.

[@rsmallfield]

Bicycle pedals are underrated, too.

[@scotthutchens1556]

I first bought the TCE Mojo Mojo overdrive around 2015 because of hearing people rave about them and it did not disappoint. Then I heard its big brother-the Dark Matter was good-which I also like. I find that since they can be bassy (which I prefer in OD/Distortion pedals because of usual lack of bass) they really shine through amps that have a good presence circuit. Henning Pauly raves about the Dark Matter in a video which he says the DM is worth at least twice the $50 (but probably not $150) that I paid for each pedal brand new. If Behringer bought TCE I hope they will maintain some sonic integrity as these two pedals in this official TCE video demonstrate. Maybe this is why we haven’t seen anything interesting from TCE-yet Behringer seems to be hitting it out of the park with some brand new designs. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2K5pKKbe5KCpMksi=KYFN7i0YWW3e69dl

[@Blaiification]

One of the first pedals I ever bought, sounded terrible, never managed to make it sound good for me, sold it short afterwards.

[@MingMangMao]

wheres that mt-100 mate have i missed something

[@RandyCraig-e3c]

Still like the Boss.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Sounds kinda Shredmastery

[@TheAudioDen]

Had one for a time. Boring on its own, stacked very well with other pedals.

[@iamstan_rimp]

$30 on reverb. Get it before everyone sees this and raise the price 🤣

[@RussInCanada]

Mosky Golden Horse.

[@acarson8794]

dull, dull, dull. generic and characterless. you want to try a voodoo labs sparkle drive...