The Death By Audio Germanium Filter is a drive and filter pedal that pairs a console-style drive circuit, built from obsolete germanium transistors, with a wide-ranging filter section. Death By Audio describes the result as "TRUE VINTAGE DISTORTION" and "a sound heavy enough to crush and sharp enough to slice"1. It sits in the maker's dirt lineup alongside pedals like the Fuzz War and Harmonic Transformer, and covers ground from overdrive through distortion into fuzz territory: Premier Guitar's reviewer wrote that "It excels at overdrive, distortion, and fuzz"2.
What it does
The circuit starts with what Death By Audio calls a console-style drive, meaning a design inspired by the drive character of recording console preamps, made from obsolete germanium transistors, and finishes it with a DBA-style filter13. Premier Guitar's reviewer noted that "the germanium circuitry makes it capable of great dynamic nuance"2.
The two controls shape very different parts of the sound:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | Starts with a dirty boost, then spans through saturated drive, spitting distortion, and a blistering fuzz tone16 |
| Filter | Controls the frequency response, with huge low end, scooped mids, and sharp, piercing highs; Death By Audio says it takes you from "bottomless, sub-woofered out lows to super searing and brittle highs, with a universe of tone in between"1 |
| Volume (internal) | Controls the overall output level of the pedal1 |
How it plays
The Gain control "Sweeps from mild overdrive to blasted-out fuzz" and, in Death By Audio's words, is "Very interactive with your guitar's volume control"1. Premier Guitar's reviewer found the pedal "sensitive to guitar volume attenuation in the same way a vintage germanium fuzz like a Fuzz Face," and responsive to picking dynamics2. That behavior, cleaning up when the guitar's volume is rolled back and reacting to how hard you pick, is the trait players usually mean when they talk about germanium character.
Pedal of the Day's review framed the simplicity as a feature: "sometimes you only need 2 knobs to make a gigantic wall of sound"4. The same review noted the internal Volume is meant to be run wide open: "You can set the output Volume internally, but this pedal wants to be maxed out in that department, so why mess with it?"4. Not every impression was flattering: Paolo De Gregorio at Delicious Audio called it "uncharacteristically low on controls, but as noisy a pedal as the NYC company has gotten us used to"3.
Power and practical details
The pedal runs on a standard 9 VDC supply with a 2.1mm negative center barrel connector and draws 5 mA1. Delicious Audio notes it also runs on an included 9V battery3. MusicRadar's coverage confirms it is true bypass5.
The output Volume is inside the enclosure, not on the top panel. If you want to change the pedal's output level, you will need a screwdriver, though Pedal of the Day suggests leaving it maxed4.
Where it came from
Pedal of the Day reviewed the Germanium Filter in May 2022 as Death By Audio's latest release4. Premier Guitar's review followed in April 20222, and gearnews.com's January 2022 coverage quoted Death By Audio's description of the gain side as a "dirty boost that then spans through saturated drive, spitting distortion, and a blistering fuzz tone"6. The pedal remains listed on Death By Audio's site at $225.001.
Videos
Premier Guitar
Death By Audio
AndyDemos
News
Questions
Is the Death By Audio Germanium Filter true bypass?
Yes. MusicRadar's coverage of the pedal describes it as a true bypass pedal, and notes the dynamics it can offer in that configuration. True bypass means the pedal's circuit is removed from the signal path entirely when it is off, so it does not load down or color your guitar's tone until you switch it on.
Does the Germanium Filter come with a battery?
Yes. Delicious Audio's write-up notes that the pedal runs on a standard 2.1mm negative center 9V adapter or an included 9V battery. Death By Audio specifies a standard 9 VDC supply with a 2.1mm negative center barrel connector, and the pedal draws only 5 mA, so almost any standard supply will run it.
Where is the volume control on the Germanium Filter?
The output Volume control is set internally rather than on the top panel. The pedal has only two external knobs, Gain and Filter. Pedal of the Day's review notes that the internal Volume is intended to be maxed out, so most players can leave it alone and do their adjusting from the guitar and the two front knobs.
Does the Germanium Filter respond to the guitar's volume knob?
Yes, strongly. Death By Audio describes the Gain control as very interactive with your guitar's volume control, and Premier Guitar's reviewer found the pedal sensitive to guitar volume attenuation in the same way a vintage germanium fuzz like a Fuzz Face is, along with responsiveness to picking dynamics.
What kind of transistors does the Germanium Filter use?
The pedal is built from obsolete germanium transistors, according to Death By Audio's product page. The circuit is a console-style drive built around those transistors, paired with a Death By Audio style filter section. Premier Guitar's reviewer noted that the germanium circuitry makes it capable of great dynamic nuance.
What is the Germanium Filter's list price?
Death By Audio lists the Germanium Filter at $225.00 on its product page, as of the page's most recent update in October 2026.
Sources (6)
- GERMANIUM FILTER, Death By Audio
- Death By Audio Germanium Filter Review, Premier Guitar, 2022-04-07
- Death By Audio Germanium Filter, Delicious Audio, 2022-05-13
- Death By Audio Germanium Filter, Pedal of the Day, 2022-05-21
- Death By Audio's Germanium Filter pedal is its "love letter to sticking a pencil in your speaker", MusicRadar, 2022-01-20
- Death By Audio Germanium Filter: Heavy vintage tones via Russian transistors, gearnews.com, 2022-01-20
