Arion SDI-1 Stereo Distortion

Well, it has three knobs, so that is not the problem....If you can't operate three knobs, you MUST have a chromosome to much man....

using this with ESP Eplorer handmade James Hetfield model (the one before Gibson went bitchin' about that the shape was there idea) into Peavy bandit 112. The sound coming out of this cheap-ass thing is horrible, it's like rasping a tin can on a cheese grader in a garbage bin. The sound is weak, almost no bass at all.

Nope, it would be suicide to go out and play through this thing, hoping that the cheap-ass China plastic holds it out. No use stomping it or whatever. They should call it "stroke on" box. Maybe if I would go Cobainesque and destroy my equipment I might buy a few of these. But then the manufacturers might think that this garbage sells, and they would produce more. Every Musicians nightmare!

Well, as you might have guessed, this piece of crap didn't hold out. I kicked the buttons off, and on top of that the board burned out. Had to wait 1,5 month before it came back. I guess it is hard to find cheap components.

It sucks, don't buy. As it is said here, what a hunk of junk!

4 knobs.Its easy

If you experiment with the settings on the first 3 pots and keep the distortion pot on minimum with it switched to soft you can get some
real nice sound out of it with harmonica. It's the only distortion pedal I've ever used that works well with harp. I've tried quite a few
different brands.It works great for recording

Sorry to say I'm having trouble with the direct/soft switch. I'm gonna do my best to fix it though.It's plastic but you cant abuse the
metal bodied pedals either and expect em to work long. It's hard plastic so you'd have to put a whole lot of force on it to break the case

I havent tried to contact em but good luck

After looking inside the components used and quality of construction are as good as any other I've examined(excepting plastic enclosure)I've looked in a bunch to see what makes em tick.I'd like to have another one just like it.

This pedal is one of the most easy to use pedals ever! It hes three knobs...simple, They are: Level-controls the overall voloume of the pedal (i.e. the input signal, pre-amp); the Tone-high or low, simple; and dist-the amount of distortion sent out (post)

It is hard to get a good sound out of this, but i have found it....read on!

My setup is a (vantage), no don't laugh it is a copy, a les paul copy actually. But i played a $3000 gibosn les paul standed and it sounded like shit compared to this. I play: Les Paul>>>Arion SDI-1 distortion>>>Arion MDI-1 Tube mania(RULES)>>>Marshall G80.

The settings for this pedal are very simple if you need a good sound. Okey... have the slider on Direct not soft, and your output in the hole closest to the bottom of the pedal (direct output). Now Level on MAX, tone on between 1 and 3 O'clock. and dist on MAX. This gives you a nice high gain distortion. If you like Randy rhoads (who doesn't) this IS the pedal to use. It has the best sound up the top and palm mutes are beautiful.

As i said this pedal is for 80's metal or anything which needs lots of feedback (which it bloody well has) and i DO NOT RECOMEND this for any new punk or metal. Because it is a specialised sound. Don't buy it...try it first.

Its plastic....ummmm nah its alright, i trust it easy. I would use it at a gig anytime

Never heard of em but they seam to make good stuff.

Make sure you try this pedal before you buy the pedal make sure you try it. Please....if you don't you will be dissapointed, this is a special sound. Otherwise....EXCELLENT

3 knobs (level, tone, distortion); 1 input, 2 outputs, switch for output 2 (either direct signal or for stereo use), led to signalize the status, and an dc9 adapter jack
simple use - if you don't get it you are not allowed to use effetcs anyway ;)

well, I'vae always heard that Arion effects suck. but then I tried this one out in a music-store and I must say that it does sound rellay good. Okay, I also tried a Boss dirtortion which actually sounds better. but hey for only 20 bucks their is nohting you can say.
in the store I used a Fender Squier with 2 Humbs running through this pedal into a clean amp. sounds good, transistor like.
at home I'm using a Pevay Raptor Pro Srat copy with a Humbucker in bridge position running into the SDI-1 and then into my amp. the pedal creates the same sound as my amp. well, not relly, this pedal sounds better. as some mentioned the pedal creates a high feedback. I tried everything to get one - but I only get a lower feedback as I usually get from my amp. so there is no need to worry about this pedal.

it's plastic, okay. but it works great. I had not any problems with it. works better than some pedals of ibanez' tone-lok series.

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well, for this price there is no other distortion you'll get that sounds as good as this one. If I were rich I had bought a Boss Distortion or an Marhsall Valvestate Amp. But so I had to look for a pedal to switch between clean and distored. this one is great and works excellent with my amp. playing mostly punk and rock there is no need for an oter pedal now. If I'd lost it I'd either buy this one again or as mentioned above a Boss one.

As stated before in previous posts, only three knobs. Ignore its so-called "stereo output" and you're going to be fine.

Here's the tricky bit. I had an old one back in the mid '80s, the one with the grey case. Best distortion pedal I've ever owned...it even made a Peavey Renown sound like a Boogie-on-steroids. The later ones (in the black case) are sub-par and noisy to the point of unuseability...even with EMG pickups.

My old one (plastic case, same as the newer ones) practically fell apart from day one, but it was easy to keep it going. The battery cover is the first to go, followed by the knobs. The screws holding the footswitch on start to back out. I had to replace the battery clip twice on my old one, and the ac adapter input jack never worked. I have a newer version of this pedal (missing the battery cover, of course), but I havent given it the chance to fall apart like my old one...I don't use the new one anymore, not even in the living room. The newer ones go microphonic even at moderately low volume levels. I kept reparing my old one because it was worth it...no other distortion pedal sounded quite like it. It had a warmth and clarity yet balls-out edginess that was wonderful. The new ones are definitely not the same pedals. It never let me down at a gig as long as I checked the battery clip beforehand. None of the guts ever died.

Ha!

I gave $20 for my old one used in 1985-6. I gave $20 new for my latest one about two years ago. The new one wasn't worth it. If I still had my old one, I would've used the new one's knobs on my old one and thrown the rest away.

Nice, and easy to use it.

Not bad..

The relialibily of the pedal isnt very good, but its ok! xD

I repaired my pedal :(

I play all kind of nonpop music heh, such Hard Rock, Metal and Punk.

3 buttons makes we think that that the future with this pedal will be easy, but don't be happy , because the bad luck will start when you plug it to an Amp.It's not easy to get a good sound out of it , it's impossible.

Sound Quality? but , what quality? this is a cheap pedal with one of the worst effects manufacters. If you want distortion and you don't have enough money to buy a good pedal (boss) please don't buy this one,keep playing clean sound until you have money.It's sounds weak,noisy and ruins your tone.

Cheap plastic , what do you expect? I Have a Boss Metal Zone,and I will deppend from boss pedals for shure.But Arion should never been Born.

My cousin gave me this pedal whem I started playing guitar, but even when I was very imature to distinguish bad sound from good sound, one thing I Knew for shure - This pedal was Terrible , totally garbage.
If you want to buy good distortion or overdrive pedal try Boss , they have a lot of diferent models all of them with superior quality. Arion sucks.

Simple. Need I say more?

I use a '57 strat reissue through a mesa maverick. I absolutely love the sound of this pedal. Its raw. Its got massive sponginess which I love for creamy solos. I think this pedal is perfect for the solo sound on Floyd's 'Have a Cigar.' I also find it great for the live version of Floyd's 'Learning to fly.' I think it has one drawback, though. It can be rather noisy. Another suggestion for use, though is to crank the gain up all the way and then put the level up at least halfway. Play it through a clean amp with a strat and you just about nail the Robin Trower sound on 'Bridge of Sighs.'

Yes and no. Provided you don't beat the hell out of it. It is, after all, made out of cheap plastic. A person who is looking to bang it up might want to remount it in a metal chasis.

I like to play rock and blues. This pedal fits the bill for both. I have been playing 12 years and own lots of gear. I definitely would replace this pedal if it died or got stolen or lost. More than anything, I love the spongey creamy tone of this pedal.

Very easy and straightforward.

I stole this pedal from my brother cause he wasn't using it and I was experimenting. It was some old piece of crap pedal that he bought back in his playing days, and I thought it would suck - but it didn't. I play a customized Fender Mustang with a JB Jr. Hum through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe - and this pedal screams. It's warm, it's smooth, it's great. Through some other amps it sounds like complete shit but through my setup it's awesome.

It's reliable so far... Must have been around since like the 80's, but it still ticks!

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Through my setup this pedal wails... otherwise I'm not sure, you'll want to experiment yourself.

simple enough: level, tone, distortion

You've gotta be kidding me! this thing sounds like total crap when used without external EQ, but it's better than nothing.

I haven't had any problems with the functionality. A battery keeps for quite a while too. It's especcially reliable considering I got it free used from a friend who never wanted to see it again.

Haven't seen or heard anything from the guys at Arion

It's definitely a shred box, but if you want a really good distortion, not just a cheap effect to play with, keep looking