Blackstar Dept. 10 Dual Distortion 2-channel Tube Distortion Pedal Reviews
Equipped with a real ECC83 preamp tube, the Blackstar Dept. 10 Dual Distortion pedal is ready to breathe rich harmonic fire into whatever amplifier you choose. And thanks to its built-in Cab Rig simulator, you can skip the amp and inject the sound of a miked-up speaker cabinet direct to your recording interface or mixing board. You’re even equipped for direct recording to your DAW, courtesy of a built-in USB audio interface. Complete with two switchable channels, Blackstar’s acclaimed ISF tone-shaping circuit, and a 3-band EQ, the Dept. 10 Dual Distortion is one of the most versatile distortion pedals around.
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Highest Rated Reviews
Great pedal
High voltage tube gain, what's not to love. I think these Dept 10 pedals are really underrated and unknown. Does everything I need, but run it into a preamp or amp in it does not work well as a preamp from my view. Maybe because I am not messing with the cab sim stuff but when I ran it into my Two Notes Revolt foundation both units just came alive.
Cool pedal
This is the best gain pedal I have ever had. The most versatile also. Works really well on your amps clean channel in two ways. On channel 1 of the pedal (low gain) you can get a really nice edge of breakup class A boutique sound. Using channel 2 of the pedal (high gain) you can get a super nice rich and creamy heavy growl. And in between these two extremes, if you will, are plenty of diverse and usable tones. When I kick in the high gain channel on one of my multi-channel amps (l am partial to multi-channel amps) the high gain channel of the dept.10 is unusable. But the low gain side of the dept.10 is eminently usable. Drop the gain on your amp down a bit , and use the dept.10 as a top with a lower gain setting and higher output or level. Similar to a tube screamer but better in my opinion. I have had many high gain devices over the years, but this one is my preference. The only one that is close in my opinion, is the long discontinued Mesa Boogie V-Twin tube preamp pedal. You could plug that unit into the clean channel of any amp or directly into a PA and get the sound of a gained out Mark I or a very reasonable facsimile. Legend has it Boogie discontinued the product because it worked so good it was hurting their amp sales as you could get great Boogie tone at a fraction of the price of a Mesa amp. The only thing I am concerned about is the reliability of this Blackstar product. So far. So good.
Awesome sounding pedal
I haven't dealt with a tube pedal before. The 4 channels offer a lot of variety of gain selections. The cab output and xlr output make it even more versatile. The built in effects loop combined with a powered cabinet gives you truly a tube amp experience. Plugging in a solid state amp adds a tube feel. If you want a little gain for that classic rock sound or something heavier, this is your ticket. The 3 band eq and blackstars IFS technology will help you dial in the perfect sound. I have always been a big black star fan,but I can assure you if you have not tried blackstar you will love it. I've gone through a lot of different distortion pedals and this one tops them all. Give it a try.
Sounds Great
I use this for recording and practice in place of a real amp, sounds great, also the cab simulation is great. You actually can have 3 different sounds, clean or off, crunch, and lead boost with 2 gain possibilities. It has way more gain than you actually need, and sounds just like a real amp in the headphones. It also can be used as a pre-amp distortion pedal that sounds great too.
Really good
I used to have a blackstar ht20 mkii combo which I liked but never loved. I also had a Silverline Deluxe but never loved that eiher. I found the drive channels, especially voice 2 on the ht20, to never sound very good no matter how much I tried to like them. At the same time I've heard a lot of videos online making blackstars sound good. I have decided I didn't want to spend the money trying anymore Blackstar amps so just just bought this pedal as a final cheaper gamble. To me, it sounds MUCH better than the HT20 drive voices. Technically the pedal has 4 voices because it has 2 channels and each has 2 voices. I think they all sound great and are usable in different ways. The extra cab sim stuff is like a nice bonus to a good sounding distortion pedal. I did try the cab sim thing out briefly, it seems alright at a quick glance. Not sure that it will be better than custom IRs etc I normally would use but I will have to fiddle around with the software more soon before I have a strong opinion on that. I will say though that I tested this pedal in the return of an FX loop since it appears like it would be a preamp pedal with a full EQ however I didn't like that (really dark sounding) and believe it sounds much better in front of a clean channel. I'm very curious about the Dept 10 Dual Drive pedal now...
Almost Perfect
This is High quality all in one solution recording pedal for those that are looking for an analog High gain tone. it definitely sounds like an amp. the only reason why I dont give it 5 stars is because the output level on the clean mode on the channel one is to low still usable is just annoying that you have to lower the level when you go to the crunch mode.
