A really cool sort of fuzz oddity, which is even less of a proper fuzz than the Mattoverse AirTrash. We’re dealing with various Bit-Crushed and Sample Rate Reduction and essentially modulation of the incoming signal - which renders some very sci-fi sounds. Mostly leaning into the synth side of things. You don’t get anything approximating traditional fuzz - but what you get is an extraordinarily versatile noise box - but one which requires patience and diligence!

Besides the two mode ...

At the end of November last year - I put out an article featuring the two very first full stereo analog bbd delay pedals - The Walrus Audio Meraki, and Flower Pedals Dahlia. Shortly after that went live - my friend Olivier Armbruster of Glou-Glou fame - sent me a message to say that he was working on a number of his own Analog BBD Stereo Delays. And that has now been revealed to be 4 separate units - with 2 minor variants of control topology - featuring different BBD Chips for different Delay ...

CAVEAT EMPTOR! : Someone just did a breakdown of the Warm Bender - and alas - those are not NOS transistors - not even in the slightest - in fact rather more ordinary grey market knock-offs - not one of the Germanium  Transistors has any sort of pedigree or provenance - which very much explains how Warm Audio could sell this at such a low price, For me this should be filed under ’False Advertising’. Weirdly I still have a vague desire to own this pedal - but it’s not nearly as...

Red Panda Lab never do things by halves and here have hewn a most mighty ring modulator. My good friend Henry Kaiser, who is something of a Ring Mod connoisseur, has actual had one of these for a while and really loves it. He speaks very highly of the Dr Scientist Phreak too - which he acquired similarly early.

To date I’ve not really gotten into Ring Modulation, and the only pedal of that type I own to date is the cool Pigtronix Ring Master Analog Multiplier. I’ve long intended to get into...

We’re steadily seeing the Boss 20-Series pedals being replaced now, and the VE-20 is the latest to get a very significant upgrade. The new VE-22 moves things on pretty massively and completely revamps and enhances the form factor, switches, knobs and overall control interface - with 3 core switches now in place of the former 2 - and really smart dedicated controls for each of the core functions - all served by a highly visibly and usable LED screen.

If you’re a singer or vocal performer of ...

The final arrangement for the year - all the pedals that impressed the most!

The Modutility roundup combines Modulation, Utility and Pitch type pedals - it also includes Multi-FX and Multi-Modulation pedals of course. Some years this selection is relatively sparse - while this year it’s totally chock-a-block! In fact it was a struggle to whittle the Longlist down - and inevitably some pedals I wanted to feature did not make the cut - including the Endorphin.es Ghost Pedal Multi-FX and Subdecay Prometheus 3 Dual Super Filter.

I still feel that this selection of 26 is...

Here follows an in-depth look at the ALABS Audio Adam Adventures Series NovaDrift 9-Mode Modulator.

A pretty decent mix of algorithms - Vibe (Uni-Vibe), Chorus, Multi-Chorus, Phaser, Filter, Rotary, Flanger, Tremolo and Ring.

In my opinion really only missing the Roland/Boss Dimensions Chorus and Harmonic Tremol for a full house!

Generally I cite the Wampler Terraform as the Modulator which has the most perfect mix of Algorithms for my preferences - Auto-Wah, Envelope Filter, ...

Ring Modulation is most definitely something of an acquired taste - the sound of early synths to a degree - and indeed the sound of sci-fi - through extensive use in that genre - including Forbidden Planet and Dr Who soundtracks and sound effects. To my ears it can occasionally sound like a cat being tortured. But there are different degrees of Ring Modulation and some of those emanations can actually sound fairly sophisticated - particularly when delivered with some degree of panache.

The ...