I'm in a dilemma and was looking for some advice. I tried drilling a Soniq for shorter patterns and went with a 45 X 6 X 70 and it goes dead straight, which is what I was trying for but not expecting it to go that straight. I think my pitch black hooks more. Now with my rev rate, it works great on short patterns like Viper and Wolf, until the carry down hits and I have to move in. Then it either hooks early or not at all. I have tried surface adjustments all the way down to 2000 and still reacts the same. I have an Ink drilled 80 X 5 X 30 for length and backend and it hooks a ton, so now I have a gap in between and don't know which direction to go. I thought about drilling another ball similar but with a more aggressive coverstock like a Phase 2 or Drive, or even maybe a Show Off. Or would it be better to just do another sonic with a 5 or 5 1/2" pin?

Your second Soniq isn't going to be noticeabley different with just a 1/2-1" change. But if you try 5"x30 it should be noticeable. It wouldn't be a ball for Short patterns though either. That's a fast response ball. You need something like an IQ Tour or Hustle HYB for playing Shorter patterns.

For me, the Son!q is not a fast response ball, even at box finish. The ball is really smooth for being a shiny pearl. In fact, I like it better on sport patterns than house shots. I used it on one fairly short pattern so far and it was fine.