I just got done reading a review of the Xotic Effects Soul Driven box. In it, there is this sentence; "Xotic's Soul Driven overdrive pedal replicates the tone and response of a perfectly tuned amp..."
I have two questions of all and sundry who use, have used, or think they might at some point in the future use such a box in their signal chain:

1. How many times have you read that of an overdrive or dirt box of some sort?

2. How many times has you found it to have been true?

Question #1 answer; Quite a lot of times.

Question #2 answer; Very rarely if ever.

1) Quite a bit

2) 10% of those times

On board with those guys ^ .

Echoing all of the above’s answers to Q#1.

On Q#2, I have no answer that I have never tried a pedal that used such language (AFAIK), though I’ve come close with the Xotic and that Carvin based on their Vai amps.

The one exception may be the Wampler Ace30/30 Something. But I don’t remember the ad fluff and haven’t touched an AC30 in so long, I wouldn’t be able to compare.

Can you recall the names of the pedals that make up that 10%?

The Tech 21 Character series pedals!

The Komet K.O.D.A.

The Seigmund Microtube pedals.

I used the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube pedal direct into a PA and it pretty much like using an amp.

I've also used the Vertex Steel String pedal and the GFS Dual Clean Drive straight into PAs or into recording interfaces and thought they were decent amp substitutes, but needed some reverb to make them sound more natural (a lot of the pedals above have built-in speaker simulation).

I do love the Xotic E.P. Boost, which is modeled on the preamp of the old Echoplex delays that were the secret tone weapon of so many guitarists... that one stays on all the time on my board sometimes, placed right after the compressor at the front of the chain. Adds a lot of life and sensitivity.

+1 on Tech21. I had the Blonde version. It too can go direct to the PA. I used it almost exclusively for a clean boost for lead work. It would also do a great job of overdrive and distortion. I would give it a lot more than 10%...

Yeah, I have the Blonde and the Liverpool. The second version has a switch to turn on/off the speaker simulation...

I have found it often true when running such pedal into my tube amps. I'm primarily a Mesa guy for the last 30 years. It is mostly how a pedal interacts with the various preamps on my Boogies to create a different flavor.

Running pedals direct or into shitty amps .... No.

I thought I liked my Katana 100. ( I guess I still do for utility use) but I left it home a couple of weeks ago and brought out my Rectoverb. No contest. But when covering pedal steel, banjo and guitars I will still use the Katana but not for my Rock guitar gig.