The Death By Audio Absolute Destruction is a fuzz and distortion effects pedal from Death By Audio, the New York City effects maker run by designer and owner Oliver Ackermann1. Where most fuzz pedals stop at thick, gnarly fuzz or crushing distortion, Death By Audio says this one delivers "Screaming octaves, thick fuzz, and the sound of your guitar reaching back from the depths of destruction"2. At launch, the company called it possibly its most insane pedal yet3.
What makes it unusual is how it makes that sound: instead of a conventional fuzz circuit, it harnesses a power amplifier IC to generate its tone2. The controls are minimal, a MASTER VOLUME knob plus two horizontal sliders, Overload and Gain, that interact with each other in what Delicious Audio called "explosive and/or implosive ways"1.
Controls and how they interact
The pedal keeps its control set to three elements, and the two sliders do most of the work:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| MASTER VOLUME | Controls the output volume of the effect2 |
| OVERLOAD slider | Sets the ceiling at which the pedal overloads; all the way up, the pedal will not overload, and sliding left pulverizes the sound more rapidly2 |
| GAIN slider | Sliding right increases gain and distortion2 |
The sliders are recessed into the enclosure, which Death By Audio says protects them from bending or accidental movement while playing2. MusicRadar's launch coverage described the division of labor simply: "A gain slider and volume control handle the rest of the tones"3.
The Overload slider and voltage starving
The Overload slider is the heart of the pedal. Delicious Audio identified it as a voltage starving circuit, the same approach used in pedals designed to emulate a dying battery, and found the resulting distortion "of the (extremely) gnarly kind"1. MusicRadar heard the same behavior in musical terms: the fuzz can be "pushed into octave territory using the overload slider - pushed further, it will starve the circuit so that the signal" collapses.
"pushed into octave territory using the overload slider - pushed further, it will starve the circuit so that the signal "starts to eat itself"."
So the answer to whether it gets octave fuzz sounds is yes: Death By Audio itself lists screaming octaves among the sounds at your fingertips2, and the Overload slider is the control that gets you there3.
Power and size
The Absolute Destruction runs on a standard 9 VDC power supply with a 2.1mm negative center barrel and draws only 5 mA2. That low draw makes it easy to run alongside other pedals on a shared supply. Physically it is a compact box: 4.95" x 2.61" x 2.34" including hardware, weighing 10 oz.2
Price and where it came from
Death By Audio lists the pedal at $180.00 USD on its product page2. When MusicRadar announced the pedal in December 2017, it reported the same price, $180 (approximately £135), direct from Death By Audio3. The pedal was designed by Oliver Ackermann, Death By Audio's designer and owner1, who also shot a NAMM 2018 demo video of it at the Delicious Audio Stompbox booth, describing it there as "a fuzz with an adjustable starving circuit"4.
Where it sits in the Death By Audio lineup
Death By Audio is a maker that, in Delicious Audio's words, players know for boxes where "anything can be expected from these boxes, apart from tone subtleties"1. The Absolute Destruction sits among the company's other extreme gain pedals, including the Fuzz War, the Harmonic Transformer, and the Supersonic Fuzz Gun. Its distinguishing feature within that range is the adjustable starving circuit on the Overload slider13, which sets it apart from straight high-gain fuzz designs.
Videos
Death By Audio
The Pedal Zone
Reverb
Questions
What does the Overload slider do on the Absolute Destruction?
It sets the ceiling at which the pedal overloads. Turned all the way up, the pedal will not overload at all; slide it left and it pulverizes the sound more rapidly. Delicious Audio describes it as a voltage starving circuit, similar to pedals that emulate a dying battery, and MusicRadar found that pushing it moves the fuzz into octave territory and starves the circuit until the signal starts to eat itself.
Who designed the Death by Audio Absolute Destruction?
Oliver Ackermann, designer and owner of Death By Audio, the New York City effects maker. Ackermann also shot the NAMM 2018 demo video of the pedal for Delicious Audio, describing it at launch as possibly the company's most insane pedal yet.
How much does the Absolute Destruction cost?
Death By Audio lists it at $180.00 USD on its product page. At the time of the 2017 launch announcement, MusicRadar reported the same $180 price, approximately £135, direct from Death By Audio.
How big and heavy is the Absolute Destruction?
The enclosure measures 4.95 by 2.61 by 2.34 inches including hardware, and it weighs 10 oz. That puts it in standard compact-pedal territory, with the two horizontal sliders recessed into the face to protect them from bending or accidental movement while playing.
Does the Absolute Destruction get octave fuzz sounds?
Yes. Death By Audio describes screaming octaves and thick fuzz as being at your fingertips, and MusicRadar found the fuzz can be pushed into octave territory using the Overload slider. Pushed further, the slider starves the circuit so the signal starts to eat itself.
Sources (4)
- Death By Audio Absolute Destruction Fuzz, Delicious Audio, 2018-04-23
- ABSOLUTE DESTRUCTION, Death By Audio
- Death By Audio unleashes Absolute Destruction, its “most insane pedal yet”, MusicRadar, 2017-12-20
- Death By Audio Absolute Destruction (NAMM 2018 Demo), Delicious Audio, 2018-01-28
