What's the deal with the Neutrino/Eternity?

[CapnCrunch]

For those that have built the Neutrino or played an Eternity, what's the attraction?  I've been reading up on several of the commercial versions of the overdrive/distortion pedals offered as projects here.  After watching a bunch of videos on the Eternity, I've yet to see one that sounds decent.  I'm not trying to offend anyone with this, I'm just curious.  I know YouTube compresses the crap out sound files, so it's not the best medium for judging the nuances of an amp or a pedal, but the Eternity clips really don't sound very good to me.  They come across as a pretty generic Tubescreamer with a really nasty high end.

The Dirty Little Secret, on the other hand, sounds really good to me.  I was also really underwhelmed by what I saw of the Cornish G2. 

Anywho, I'm trying to come up with a short list of OD's I want build in the near future, and was pretty sure I'd build a Neutrino.  Now, I'm thinking maybe not.

[irmcdermott]

i love the Neutrino. i feel like it has really warm, clear low end and the Glass control when in the right spot gives me some of the best sounding top end i've heard in an overdrive. and i think its by far my favorite to use for rhythm. i think it all comes down to personal preference. i feel like the DLS is heavier, and sounds great, but i feel like the two are totally different and it would all depend on what i'm playing at the time.

[Rich_S]

In short, the Eternity is a Tube Screamer for folks who don't like Tube Screamers.  More specifically, for those who don't like the typical TS mid-hump.  The "E" has broader, flatter response.  Actually, my Nutrino is more SD-1-ish, since it uses asymetrical clipping.

See reply #3 for my post-gig comments on my Nutrino here:
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=12.msg360#msg360

The thing that got me interested was the Police's Certifiable CD/DVD set from the 2007 Tour.  I loved Andy Summer's tone on that tour, and after much research came to the conclusion that his dirty rhythm sound was mostly a black Eternity through his Custom Audio (CAE) amps' clean channel.

The Nutrino/Eternity is not for everybody.  It can be very bright, fizzy if you're not careful.  However, that "glass" thang translates to clarity and dynamics.  The brightness does not imply "thin"; its low end is tight and chunky, but not real fat like an OCD.  With a clean amp, the Eternity/Nutrino may no have as much gain as some like.  I use mine with an already-crunch Marshall clone, so it provides enough gain to be my main solo boost/overdrive (but I'm not a metal head, my dirt needs are modest).

[CapnCrunch]

Hey,

Thanks for the replies.  The Eternity clips that I watched all had something funky going on with the high end.  I like the stock tubescreamer with single coils into a tube amp that is driven hard.  I find the mid hump really compliments the scooped single coils and the anemic low end is alright because most tube amps make up for the bass when pushed.

My rig has changed along with a change in gigs, however, and I'm needing some OD options that will give me both good rhythm and lead tones with both humbuckers and single coils.  I'm not looking for a "jack of all trades" pedal.  I'd be happy if I can find three or four pedals that sound great for the above purposes with both HB's and SC's.  The old tubescreamer is not great with a clean amp and HB's so I'm searching.