The Darkglass Alpha·Omega Φoton is a bass distortion pedal built around the Alpha·Omega circuit, offering five distortion modes, Bluetooth audio pairing, and a USB-C port that turns it into a recording interface. Darkglass's product page currently lists it as sold out1.
What it does
The Φoton takes the Alpha·Omega distortion, the circuit Darkglass built its bass distortion line around, and adds modern connectivity. The USB-C port unlocks the pedal's USB audio interface capabilities, enables interaction with the Darkglass Suite desktop app for software updates, and gives access to the Darkglass IR library containing hundreds of cabinet simulations. USB MIDI is also supported3.
For recording, the interface works both ways at once: you can record your processed signal to one track and simultaneously record an unprocessed copy to another track, with a stereo Aux input alongside, and it is compatible with any DAW2.
Bluetooth audio is built in for playing along with tracks: pairing is done by press-and-hold plus rotation of an encoder, and the pedal appears as "Alpha·Omega Photon" in your list of available Bluetooth devices2.
Controls and distortion modes
The Drive potentiometer adds distortion and drive to your signal, and the Level potentiometer controls the master volume of the Alpha·Omega Φoton2.
Encoder B selects among five distortion modes4:
- Alpha·Omega
- Alpha·Omega with GROWL
- Alpha·Omega with BITE
- Alpha·Omega with GROWL and BITE
- Alpha·Omega Studio Rig with GROWL and BITE
Where it sits in the Alpha·Omega line
The Φoton is part of a family that grew from the original Darkglass Alpha Omega. The independent circuit-analysis site Aion FX, which traced the Alpha Omega circuit in 2025, notes that "the Alpha Omega expands it with a 3-band EQ, XLR output, and parallel out" relative to the smaller Alpha Omicron, and that the Alpha Omega and Omicron share design elements with the B3K and Duality that have become Darkglass signatures5. Aion FX released the traced circuit as its Empyrean Deluxe Distortion DIY PCB6.
Darkglass lists the Alpha·Omega Φoton, the Alpha·Omega Ultra, and the original Alpha·Omega as sold out on their product pages as of late October 20261.
Videos
Andertons Music Co
Darkglass Electronics
Nate Navarro
Sources (6)
- Alpha·Omega Φoton, Darkglass
- Alpha Omega Photon Manual, Darkglass
- Alpha·Omega Φoton, Darkglass
- Alpha Omega Photon Manual, Darkglass
- Tracing Journal: Darkglass® Alpha Omega & Alpha Omicron, Aion FX, 2025-03-28
- Empyrean Deluxe Distortion / Darkglass® Alpha Omega, Aion FX, 2025-03-28
