The Death By Audio Rooms is a stereo, multi-function digital reverb pedal from Death By Audio, first shown at NAMM 2020 and made available for preorder on January 30, 2020 at $3951. It carries six reverb algorithms, ROOM, DIGIT, PEAK, GATE, WAVE and GONG, and Delicious Audio describes it as a pedal "capable of searing volume, gated walls of sound, and long, trailing reverberant ambiances with an intuitive array of controls designed with live mood-bending in mind"2.
GuitarPlayer's Dave Hunter reports that the design inspiration came from Oliver Ackermann's search for the perfect reverb unit for a touring reverb pedal3. On an Andertons demo, presenter Pete summed up the hardware plainly: "It's a big box. I mean, there's a lot of circuits in there, man."4
Six reverb modes
The Rooms gets its range from six reverb algorithms, each a different take on reverberant space25:
| Mode | What it is |
|---|---|
| ROOM | Room reverb; the Freq knob accesses decay tone in this mode3 |
| DIGIT | Digital reverb algorithm2 |
| PEAK | Peak mode; the depth knob controls filter resonance here3 |
| GATE | Gated reverb, for walls of sound that cut off25 |
| WAVE | Wave reverb algorithm2 |
| GONG | Gong reverb algorithm2 |
A studio-quality mixer section provides independent DRY and FX controls over all six algorithms, so the wet and dry signals can be balanced separately rather than with a single blend knob2. Pedal of the Day's reviewer found that "the six different modes provide just about any reverb sound you could imagine, and the routing options make it a perfect fit for any rig, pedalboard or studio application."5
Controls and footswitches
The front panel keeps things compact. Gearnews reported at launch that the pedal has Frequency, Depth and Time controls to dial in the reverb, plus controls for Dry and FX, and an Alt footswitch6. Delicious Audio's product page describes the FREQ knob as controlling the frequency parameter of the current mode2.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| F (FREQ) | Frequency parameter of the current mode; decay tone in Room mode23 |
| D (DEPTH) | Depth; filter resonance in Peak mode36 |
| T (TIME) | Time, the reverb decay6 |
| DRY | Level of the dry signal26 |
| FX | Level of the reverb signal26 |
There are two footswitches: one for on/off and one for Alt3. The Alt footswitch opens up the secondary controls, and it is also the gateway to expression control.
Expression control only works in Alt mode and only when an expression pedal is plugged in. When it is active, the expression pedal controls the F or T knob, and Delicious Audio notes that almost any expression pedal will work2. Pedal of the Day likewise found you can control either the Time or Freq knobs via an external expression pedal, depending on where your needs take you5.
GuitarPlayer's review also noted one limitation: there is no ability to load and select presets, so each mode has to be dialed in by knob twiddling3.
Stereo and mono connections
The Rooms has stereo input and output jacks. On the Andertons demo, the presenters called out the routing: "And then you got stereo in and stereo out, which is awesome."4
The pedal's I/O switching and dual-mono dry signal lines allow a wide range of mono and stereo configurations2. GuitarPlayer's Dave Hunter explained the mono case in detail: plugging a mono instrument signal into the right input splits the dry signal to both outputs while cascading the reverb signal in stereo, or you can run out in mono via the right output3. That means a player with a single amp is not shut out of the pedal's stereo algorithms.
What reviewers said
Published reviews were positive about the range of sounds on offer.
"Scads of unusual, vast-to-tasteful reverb tones."
Premier Guitar, on the Rooms7
Pedal of the Day called it "a stereo, multi-function digital reverb capable of searing volume, gated walls of sound, and long, trailing reverberant ambiances," and concluded that the six modes and routing options made it a fit for any rig, pedalboard or studio application5. In Delicious Audio's reader poll of the best guitar pedals of 2020, the Rooms finished in 26th position with 1 point82.
GuitarPlayer's review carried the practical caveats: no presets, and a power adapter that is not included3.
Where it sits in the Death By Audio range
The Rooms sits in Death By Audio's reverb line alongside pedals like the Reverberation Machine, the Psychedelic Lightmare, the Infinity Verb and the Dream Station. It is assembled in the USA and housed in the big Death By Audio enclosure, the one the Andertons presenters described as "a big box. I mean, there's a lot of circuits in there, man."34
Videos
Death By Audio
The Pedal Zone
Pedalgaze
Questions
Does the Death By Audio Rooms have presets?
No. GuitarPlayer's reviewer noted there is no ability to load and select presets, so each mode has to be dialed in by turning the knobs. Players who switch between very different settings mid-set will be doing manual knob twiddling between modes.
How does the expression pedal work on the Rooms?
The Rooms has an expression pedal input, but expression control only works in Alt mode and only when an expression pedal is plugged in. It then controls either the F (frequency) or T (time) knob depending on the mode. Delicious Audio notes that almost any expression pedal will work.
Can you run the Rooms in mono?
Yes. The pedal has stereo input and output jacks, and its dual-mono dry signal lines allow mono and stereo configurations. Plugging a mono instrument signal into the right input splits the dry signal to both outputs while the reverb signal cascades in stereo, or you can run out in mono via the right output.
How much current does the Death By Audio Rooms draw?
The Rooms draws 80 mA at 9V, according to Delicious Audio's product page. It runs on a standard 2.1 mm negative center 9V adapter, which is not included with the pedal, so you will need to supply your own power supply.
Sources (8)
- Death By Audio releases the 'mood-bending' ROOMS Stereo Reverberator, MusicRadar, 2020-01-30
- Death By Audio Rooms Reverberator, Delicious Audio, 2025-04-29
- Death by Audio Rooms Reverb Review, GuitarPlayer, 2021-02-17
- Death By Audio, Andertons Music Co, 2026-07-16
- Death By Audio Rooms Stereo Reverberator, Pedal of the Day, 2021-04-16
- NAMM 2020: Death By Audio ROOMS stereo digital reverb pedal, gearnews.com, 2020-01-20
- Death By Audio Rooms Review, Premier Guitar, 2020-10-11
- The Best Guitar Pedals Of 2020 according To The Internet Experts, Delicious Audio, 2021-01-21
