Muir Audio's Silicon Steel Distortion is a gorgeous sounding multi-layered full range harmonic distortion - augmented by Transformer and specially selected Silicon Diodes

Third in the Silicon Steel Series - following on from the excellent Boost, and Overdrive pedals, we now have probably the best of the 3. It delivers an utterly unique harmonic and somewhat refined output profile - whose breakup sounds slightly soft-clipping if anything, actually you would probably best describe it as ’creamy’ - the incredibly texture of this Distortion is due to a number of factors. This is next level engineering for sure!

"The Diodes are top secret Silicon Signal Diodes. Actually I tried experimenting with Germanium Diodes during product development, but even after making gain adjustments for the different clipping characteristics, Germanium did not quite deliver that pushed amp sound with an up-front character that I was aiming for. In fact the new pedal’s distortion voice very much comes from the sum total of the input stage, diode stage, transformer gain stage and then yet another asymmetric diode stage - all of which interact at different gain levels to bring in different harmonic layers. The range of gain available is probably comparable to say a Rat pedal - but The Silicon Steel Distortion is a very different beast of course."

I include Colin’s notes here (above) - as they are the perfect summation of what makes this Distortion so unique - as he says - the rich harmonic texture is due to a fairly complex multi-layered approach - which produces such a unique output. This Silicon Steel Distortion positively purrs and percolates. And it’s quite distinct from anything else I have come across to-date.