[Organic Sounds Organic Drive] Hydra Ares Comparative Review ① Hydra

Hello. I’m sukuta takafumi (@sukutakafumi).
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sukutakafumi

Introducing the Organic Drive Hydra and Organic Drive Ares from Organic Sounds.

○ About Organic Sounds

Located in Aichi Prefecture, it is an effector manufacturer sponsored by Yusuke Watanabe. Mainly vintage fuzz is reproduced for effector maniacs, and various models such as Big Muff and Fuzz Face are reproduced. Their way of reproducing is completely musical, and you’ll be impressed when you actually try them. I also borrowed one from people and played the Fuzz, I remember it sounded really cool and was easy to handle.

https://organic-sounds.com

The Organic Drive Hydra and Organic Drive Ares introduced this time are no exception, and his cool sound comes out.

I made a video on YouTube this time as well. I would be happy if you would subscribe to the channel.

The equipment used in the video is

Kanji Guitar (Kanji guitar produced by Kanji Kawabata)
Vox type amplifier (produced by Mr. Kazuyuki Kawabata)
Two notes Torpedo Live.

The upper video uses a Stratocaster type with a single coil, and the lower video uses a Les Paul type with a humbucker.

There are two types of overdrive in Organic Drive: Hydra and Ares. Simply put, Hydra has less distortion and Ares has more distortion. Neither is a so-called copy or reproduction, but a circuit unique to Organic Sounds. They look like the RAT2 and weigh a lot.

The sound feels like you're playing a vintage amp or guitar. The image of the sound is monochrome, and it is a sound that reminds me of vintage tones.

First of all, I would like to write about the Hydra this time.

○ Features and impressions of the Hydra

• The movement and the resulting sound behave like an amplifier
  It’s a common amp-like sound, and the knobs work like an old-style amp.
  As you raise the level or increase the distortion, the low frequencies increase the volume, resulting in a fat sound. You may feel that the sound is too fat.
• The output is high.
  Personally, I think output is the most important point. I'm sure some people will have the same volume for effects and clean amps, but I found it meaningless to use this effect in a suppressed state.
  Raising the output knob will make the sound more pleasing, allowing the player to enjoy the fun of picking and controlling with the volume of the guitar.
  Expert-level control of dynamics is required, but on the contrary, if you use it with lower output, the dynamics will become smaller and it will feel boring.
• The buffer characteristics
  Many people think of the Centaur when they think of buffers.
  However, it does not reproduce the sound of the Centaur buffer, but has the sound of a different buffer.
  Gloss is added and a tight sound can be obtained.
  Some people may feel it’s dry and the sustain will be a little shorter, but the sound will be thicker.
  On the contrary, the Centaur buffer is more open and has a wider range, giving the impression that it is not dry.
  However, the sound of the Centaur varies considerably depending on the time of manufacture, so this is just one opinion.
• It is suitable for single coils because it produces a fairly thick, fat sound.
  As you increase the distortion, the sound becomes quite fat, so playing it on a humbucker-equipped guitar may make it too booming.
  I think it depends on the guitar, amp and other settings of the user, but I felt that it would be too fat, especially when played on the front humbucker.
  I think it would be interesting to aim for that sound, but personally I want to use it with a single coil guitar.

→ Click here for my impressions of the Ares

▼ The following equipment is used in the review video.

guitar:
Kanji Guitar Stratocaster, Telecaster, Les Paul
（https://twitter.com/KanjiKawabata）

effector:
Organic Sounds Hydra Ares

Amplifier:
Vox type (kanji kawabata build)
Two notes Torped Live

Spatial effects are set on the computer.

In addition, I, Takafumi Sukuta, am looking for manufacturers and individual builders who can loan me equipment for review videos and creating articles.