Noise Engineering releases Dystorpia, its first stompbox pedal
September 6, 2024 · 2 sources
Noise Engineering has released the Dystorpia, a DSP-style fuzz and distortion pedal, Guitar Pedal X reported on September 6, 2024. The publication described it as the maker's first stompbox pedal; Noise Engineering is best known for its Eurorack and modular synths1.
The circuit blends two distortion sections. Fold is the wave-folding side, which Delicious Audio described as producing "a nasty and gnarly distortion," and Pura is a multi-band rectifier that adds a harmonic fuzz2. Guitar Pedal X listed the controls as Gain (master volume and gain), Fold, Blend (dry to wet mix), Pura, Mid Band Contour, Tone (tilt EQ), Doom Sub Octave (Off, Sub, Blown) and Envelope (Off, Dyn, Gate), plus Freeze and Engage footswitches1. Delicious Audio described the Doom switch as adding a sub-octave or creating a blown-sub effect, and the three-way toggle as turning on a gate to silence unwanted noise or a dynamic circuit that shapes the output to match the input's dynamics2. Guitar Pedal X said the pedal is presented for distortion, fuzz, guitar synth and sequencer1.
The Dystorpia is priced at $399 in the USA1.
Guitar Pedal X described the sound as "quite a raw and spiky sounding distortion as a whole, and pretty far removed from most everything that has come before," and called it "something of an acquired taste" that requires patience to dial in1.
"I really like the control topology here - which gives you the maximum amount of impact from a really smartly configured set of controls"
The same review said the price "is another element what will likely limit the take-up of this pedal"1. Delicious Audio called it "a versatile and original fuzzstortion circuit"2. Both are the reviewers' assessments.