Over the years I bought a lot of different diodes. Some of them are said to be "magical". So I went to a land far far away and .... ok let's stop here and just all put them to the test with my trusted Peak DCA 75 Pro and see how magical it tells me they are and if there aren't just simple/cheap modern substitutes.
Note, this is a strictly technical comparison, not a tonal one. Those are so very subjective and depend on taste and the ability to actually hear. I lost a lot of my hearing over the years of playing live, so I am not a good judge anymore. Also, I hope to eliminate the "cork sniffer" factor by doing so.
Before I start, I do hereby solemnly swear that I acquired these diodes through legitimate sources like Mouser, Digikey, and Panasonic (yes, when they still produced the MA856) themselves and not some (cheap) Chinese source. Yes, I know Aliexpress has legit diodes also and yes I also buy there, but to keep everything as undisputed as possible and transparent I only use these sources that the general population of pedal builders see as "Legit". If you want to rant about Mouser, Digikey etc. do not let me stop you.
Also I measured at least 5 of every type of diode to take in account that there will be some spread in the measurement. For the result in the graphs, I took the "most average" measurement. PS There is a larger spread for germanium then in silicon. Not the most scientifically responsible methode, but better than just measuring one diode per type.
Silicium/Silicon
For this test I used the regular 1N4148, 1N914 (recently bought), 1N916 and as magical/expensive diodes the MA856, MA858, MA859, 1SS110, 1S1588, 1S2473, KD521A and KD521V.
Conclusion:
There is no real substitute in this batch for the MA856, but the MA858, MA859 and 1SS110 come closest and are interchangeable
Modern 1N914 is (as everybody states... and the datasheets), just a re-branded 1N4148 and exactly the same.
1S1588 can be directly replaced by a cheap 1N916 as can be the expensive 1S2473. You could even say that the 1N4148 and 1N914 are so close that they can be a straight substitute.
KD521A and V are identical, but in a league of their own.
The data:
Germanium
For this test I used (recent) 1N34A (greenband and tayda), 1N270 (tayda), D9E, D9J, D9K, D9V and AO11 diodes.
Conclusion:
D9E and D9V are very comparable/almost the same, but in no way the same as 1N34A/1N270. I know there is a lot of discussion to which diode was used in the Klon, but let's at least conclude that they are (technically speaking) different. Also, there is a big difference between the tayda 1N34A and the well known greenband 1N34A.
However, the 1N34A and 1N270 I have are very recent so I can't guarantee that "vintage" ones measure differently.
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