The Airis Merciless Drive V2 is a hybrid, metal-oriented dirt box from the Canadian company Airis that puts three circuits in one enclosure: a clean boost, a Rat-based ultra high gain distortion, and a boosted HM-2 EQ section. The three sections can all be combined to taste, so the pedal can work as a boost, a high gain distortion, or a stacked combination of the two1.
Controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Blend | Mixes the boost and EQ section in with the Rat distortion and its EQ; controls the boost circuit1 |
| Gain | Controls the amount of distortion1 |
| Volume | Sets the output1 |
| Low | Low EQ control, part of an EQ section Delicious Audio describes as particularly useful1 |
| Byte | Passive treble control delivering warm/smooth or sharp/bright tones1 |
| High | An active circuit that can deliver chainsaw tones when maxed out1 |
The EQ section carries a Low knob and two treble knobs, Byte and High1. The distinction between the two treble controls matters for the sounds a player is after: Byte is a passive treble control that shifts between warm and smooth or sharp and bright, while High is an active circuit that, pushed to maximum, produces the chainsaw tones associated with the HM-21.
Where the design comes from
"The Airis Merciless Drive V2 is an updated version of the Canadian company's hybrid and metal-oriented dirt box"
V2 versus the original
The V2 is an updated version of the original Airis Merciless Drive1. The three-section architecture, clean boost plus Rat-based distortion plus boosted HM-2 EQ, is the concept carried over, with the Blend knob as the control that ties the sections together1.
Questions
What is the difference between the Airis Merciless Drive and the V2?
The V2 is an updated version of the original Airis Merciless Drive, the Canadian company's hybrid, metal-oriented dirt box. The core concept carries over: a clean boost, a Rat-based ultra high gain distortion and a boosted HM-2 style EQ section that can all be combined to taste, with the Blend knob mixing the boost and EQ section against the distortion section.
Does the Airis Merciless Drive V2 include a clean boost?
Yes. The pedal is built around three sections: a clean boost, a Rat-based ultra high gain distortion, and a boosted HM-2 EQ section. The Blend knob mixes the boost and EQ section in with the distortion, and all three sections can be combined to taste.
What does the Blend knob do on the Merciless Drive V2?
Blend mixes the boost and EQ section in with the Rat-based distortion and its own EQ, and it controls the boost circuit. That lets you run the distortion on its own or layer a boosted, EQ-shaped signal underneath or on top of it.
Is the Airis Merciless Drive V2 based on a Rat?
The distortion section is. Delicious Audio describes the pedal as containing a Rat-based ultra high gain distortion, paired with a boosted HM-2 EQ section and a clean boost.
Can the Merciless Drive V2 do HM-2 style tones?
The EQ section is a boosted version of the Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal's circuit approach. The HM-2's Color Mix controls offer plus or minus 20dB of boost and cut, and the Merciless Drive V2's High knob is an active circuit that Delicious Audio says can deliver chainsaw tones when maxed out, the sound the HM-2 is known for.
Sources (1)
- Airis Merciless Drive V2, Delicious Audio, 2024-06-19
