MadeOnEarth LedRover: 100% Analog Diode Distortion For Synths and Drum Machines
4,0 / 5,0 | 
What started as a search for the ultimate TB-303 distortion has led to LedRover from MadeOnEarth, an extremely filthy and juicy analog distortion pedal designed for electronic music gear.
MadeOnEarth LedRover
You may have heard of MadeOnEarth. The boutique pedal designer is best known for his Analog Chorus 60, a component-accurate modern-day version of the Roland Juno-60 chorus circuit in a stomp box. Now designer Isak Eliyahu is back with LedRover, a 100% analog distortion pedal that sounds so good I almost can’t stand it.
I mean, I know that journalists are supposed to refrain from editorializing in news stories. This isn’t a review, and I don’t have one in front of me. So I really shouldn’t say things like this thing sounds crazy good, but listening to the demo video, I can’t help it. Listen to it yourself. Seriously. It obliterates that Moog DFAM in the best way possible.
MadeOnEarth LedRover: 100% Analog Diode Distortion
Let’s get back to the facts. LedRover was born out of MadeOnEarth’s quest for the ultimate distortion to pair with a TB-303. After trying out different distortion types, he settled on diodes, inspired by “a famous filter resonance design that we discovered uses diodes in the feedback loop, which creates a round sound with a distortion tone that can be aggressive while remaining musical and preserving the character of the original signal.” While he doesn’t say what design this is, it’s probably the KORG MS-20. Probably.
Based on this discovery, MOE designed two distortion modes for the LedRover using different diode placements and calibrated them by running various synthesizers and drum machines through them. This is, then, for electronic music gear more than for guitars.
MadeOnEarth LedRover: On Tilt
Along with the two distortion modes, which are labeled Hard and Soft on the pedal, there’s a custom-designed tilt filter as well. This was installed to help shape the sound before hitting the distortion circuit. “The integrated tilt filter was born from our understanding that filtering before overdrive is essential for emphasizing frequencies pleasant to the ear,” says MOE.
Rather than a typical 6dB/Oct slope, the developer has created a steeper 15dB/Oct slope for both low and high frequency ranges. This makes sure that the signal hits the distortion with high saturation. Need more? There’s a 10X Boost button to drive the signal hard with op-amp saturation into the filter. This is ostensibly for boosting weak signals, but there’s nothing stopping you from using it on strong signals too.
MadeOnEarth LedRover: Jam the Box
LedRover is a stomp box-style effects unit with a custom aluminum box with resilient UV printing and bespoke potentiometers. There are dedicated input and output dials plus a buffered bypass. The two-mode physical VU meter for monitoring wet and dry signals is a nice touch.
MadeOnEarth LedRover: Pricing and Availability
MadeOnEarth will be showing LedRover at Superbooth this week, and hopefully announcing the price then. He’s selling Analog Chorus 60 for €500, so I would expect something along those lines. As for availability, he indicated that he’s shooting for early July in a YouTube comment.
More Information
- MadeOnEarth LedRover product page
- More about effects
- More about synthesizers
- Buy effects at Thomann*
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