HDS1 MK2

Name: HDS1 MK2
Price: 10.21 USD
Author: HoRNet

by HoRNet · Distortion · Orange distortion pedal emulation

Not rated yet

HDS1 MK2 is HoRNet's recreation of an iconic orange guitar distortion pedal, with diode clipping and level and tone controls.

It adds emulations of the Ultra, Seeing Eye and Less Shrill mods, a dry/wet knob and up to 16x oversampling, for about $10.21.

Best for: Guitars, Bass, Keys & Synths. Genres: Rock & Indie, Metal.

Keywords: hardware emulation, classic, bass, electric guitar, metering, built-in mix knob, mixing, oversampling, synths, aggressive, bright, dark, modern, parallel processing, resizable UI, smooth.

What it does

HDS1 MK2 is HoRNet's emulation of a classic orange diode distortion pedal, updated with mods and mixing controls for "both the classic and modern" producer. It is meant for guitar but also for bass, synths and other sources.

Pedal controls: gain (distortion), tone from dark to bright, and effect level, as on the original pedal.
Ultra mod: a more aggressive voicing of the circuit.
Seeing Eye mod: a more pronounced, cutting distortion.
Less Shrill mod: smooths the high frequencies for a less harsh top end.
Mixing extras: a dry/wet knob for parallel distortion and a VU meter for setting levels.
Quality and UI: improved analog emulation, oversampling up to 16x with an automatic setting, and a resizable interface.

The demo is fully functional but drops out to silence now and then, cannot save settings and ignores host automation.

Source: HoRNet product page

When to use it

HDS1 MK2 is a cheap, focused single-pedal distortion: one well-known circuit with its popular mods built in. Compared with Cytomic's The Scream, which also goes deep on one drive circuit, it is a simpler and much cheaper pedal recreation with a dry/wet knob. Against FabFilter Saturn 2 it has none of the multiband splitting, many distortion styles or modulation, but it gives a recognisable pedal tone in a few knobs. Unlike Soundtoys Devil-Loc Deluxe, which is built for crushing and pumping, it is a classic guitar-style drive meant to sit in front of an amp sim.

Best for: putting a classic pedal distortion in front of an amp sim, and driving bass and synths with the dry/wet knob.
Genres: rock, punk and metal.
Look elsewhere if: you want a full rig with amps and cabinets in one plugin, or multiband and modulated distortion (Saturn 2).
Tip: the KVR reviewer found Less Shrill the most useful mod; try it first when the distortion sounds too fizzy.

What producers say

The single KVR user review is very positive, with the extra controls and price as the main draws.

KVR users rate it 5 out of 5 from 1 review (April 2024, version 2.0.0): the reviewer found the input levelling, dry/wet and Less Shrill mod "very useful", liked the oversampling and VU meter, and praised the price and fair upgrade cost.
Criticisms: the same reviewer did not care for the Ultra and Seeing Eye mods and preferred the original voicing.

KVR user reviews

Where to buy

HoRNet: $10.21 (Listed at €8.99; converted at €1 = $1.1355 (ECB rate, 29 Sep 2026))

Tutorials and reviews

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