The Cobalt is a boost pedal. I don't think the overdrive tones are all that great, and there's no eq to shape the tone, just the drive, bias, gain, and volume knobs to control the KIND of breakup you get. The drive knob is something like a presence control. Gain is self-explanatory, but there's not a whole lot of grit inthis pedal. The bias knob is what is more interesting, and it works much like biasing the tubes in your amp, either hotter for quicker breakup and sloppiness or colder for clarity and definition. It's the bias knob which makes the tone a bit farty if you crank it too high.
This pedal honestly compares to some of the best boutique bossts out there. In particular, I've tried the Klon, RC booster, 2002 Fatboost, Cold Fusion, Blue Tube, Real Tube (w. various tubes), Tim, Timmy, and a host of OD pedals that can do some clean boost. The best comparison to my ears is the Klon, without the mids. Now, many of the above pedals do a non-middy boost, but none of them have that nice sparkle in the highs and tight aggressive lows like the Klon has. The Cobalt has a good portion of that going on. When you kick it in, it brings your notes up front, with authority, not just volume, but tight and hamonic punch. Obviously, this stuff is hard to put into words, but it impressed me so much since I have owned 2 Klons (and I think they're amazing, they just take too much space on a pedalboard). The others seem to want to follow in the Klon's footsteps, usually to no avail. I think the Coblat would please Klon lovers who are tired of the mid hump. Yes, it's true that the mids help you to cut through live, but I think the Cobalt will give most players what they like about the Klon. whether this was Lorren's intent or not, I can't say. I rank up the Drive knob, keep the bias around 9-11 and the gain below 12 for a very solid tone.
