DSM/Humboldt Subatomic

The DSM/Humboldt Subatomic is an all analog two channel preamp pedal aimed at bass players, designed to bring the most brutal bass tones while keeping the low end intact¹. It sits in the preamp category, and its two channels cover both ends of the job: a clean channel for a warm, compressed foundation and a Subatomic channel for the heavy sounds the pedal is named for.

What it does

The Subatomic's circuit uses cascading CMOS stages with parallel processing for natural low frequencies, according to the maker¹. On the clean channel, that design brings what DSM/Humboldt describes as subtle compression and a tube like response that warms up your tone, with Gain and Tone controls to shape it¹. The Subatomic channel is where the pedal pushes toward the heavy end of the bass preamp field.

For playing live or recording direct, the pedal carries an XLR balanced output with an optional analog cabinet simulator, which the maker describes as a switchable analog cabinet simulation of a huge 8x10 fridge¹. That lets a player send a finished, speaker voiced signal to a desk or PA without a microphone on a cabinet.

Controls and switching

Two soft footswitches handle operation: one for bypass and one for switching between the clean and Subatomic channels¹.

• Clean channel: Gain and Tone controls¹
• Bypass soft footswitch: takes the pedal in and out of the signal¹
• Channel soft footswitch: switches between the clean and Subatomic channels¹

Where it sits in the DSM/Humboldt range

The Subatomic is an all analog two channel preamp from DSM/Humboldt, with a "clean" channel and a "Subatomic" channel¹. The clean channel uses CMOS stages, which the maker says bring subtle compression and a tube-like response to warm up the tone, and the unit offers an XLR balanced output with an optional analog cabinet simulator¹.

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