What's the difference between distortion and overdrive?

[Fabbio]

It may be a silly question and I never really pointed that out in my mind until I saw a signature pedal by Steve Vai, which has different settings for either distortion and overdrive.

It never occurred to me that overdrive and distortion were two different thing (if they really are).

If so, what are the differences?

I'm puzzled.

 

[PhilR]

Different extremes of the same thing really.

 

[STINNETT]

You might say that overdrive is just a form of distortion. It's usually a more subtle effect which is not necessarily going to "distort" your sound very much.

A distortion pedal, on the other hand, would usually have the ability to distort your sound quite a bit more, even taking you all the way from a clean sound to a high gain rock sound.

Of course, there are plenty of pedals out there that blur these lines.

If a pedal has both an overdrive and a distortion setting - I'd say the distortion is probably for going all the way - and the overdrive is for going just a little bit further.

 

[Torniojaws]

The difference is in the function:

• Overdrive boosts the original signal a lot (at least +20 dB usually) and cuts low frequencies (enhancing mids)
• Distortion changes the input signal to some form of controlled clipping of the original signal (= distortion) and the signal level usually stays about the same as the original signal.

The biggest difference can be heard when using a tube amp. While the distortion brings little to the higain sound of the amp, an overdrive will enchance the sound a lot due to how tubes function. On a solid state amp, there is nothing to benefit from from clipping the transistors, since the signal is still "the same". You could think of it as headroom: Tube circuit at default plays at say 0 dB level (-10 dBFS) with the extra 10 dB acting as headroom, which you will use when you boost it. Transistor circuits are already at 0 dBFS, and bringing it above only acts to add mastering limiter distortion ála Death Magnetic.

 

[Notuern]

Overdrive is actually what it sounds like, its when you push tubes or diodes to the point where they start clipping, and the sound this produces is called distortion.
I honestly dont know why some pedals are called Overdrive and other Distortion.

To simplify it: Overdrive is what causes distortion.

 

[26]

If a pedal has both an overdrive and a distortion setting - I'd say the distortion is probably for going all the way - and the overdrive is for going just a little bit further.

than distortion?

 

[ahjteam]

The largest difference is charistaristics. Overdrive saturates, distortion hardclips

 

[Fabbio]

Thank you.

Now it's clearer, although there's still the debate between the 'distortion and overdrive are the same thing with different names' and 'overdrive is less spiky in the high frequencies'.

I was on the first side of the opinion, now I'm verging to the other.