Source Audio Artifakt

The Source Audio Artifakt, sold under its full name as the Artifakt Lo-Fi Elements, is a stereo lo-fi multi-effects pedal from Source Audio. It packs seven effect engines into one compact box, covering the whole range of degraded, degraded-on-purpose sounds: Radio, Tape, µVERB, Crush, Ladder, Vinyl and Glitch¹. Source Audio describes it in the maker's own words as delivering "all the hazy, scratchy, wobbly, and beautifully broken tones that embody the lo-fi sound"².

Guitar.com's reviewer summed up the intent behind it: "the Artifakt aims to distill every kind of lo-fi sound you could want"³. It is an all-digital design⁴, with true stereo inputs and outputs, preset storage, MIDI and editing through Source Audio's Neuro app².

Seven lo-fi modes in one stereo pedal

Each of the Artifakt's seven engines takes a different route to a broken-sounding signal. Delicious Audio lists them as "7 modes: Radio, Tape, µVERB, Crush, Ladder, Vinyl and Glitch"¹, and Guitar.com's buying guide framed the pedal as one that "aims to deliver all the wonkiest effects found on the weirdest boards, including vinyl and radio replication"⁵.

A few engines have documented origins and details:

• Ladder is a filter sweep engine inspired by hardware synths. Gearnews reported that "It also features Ladder Filter sweeps inspired by the Moog MF-101 synthesizer"⁶.
• Crush and the other engines share a Destruct control, which Delicious Audio describes as the "amount of lo-fi"¹.
• Beyond the dedicated engines, Source Audio says the pedal also includes "several natural overdrives and digital grit"², so it can cover light overdrive-style texture as well as full degradation.

Guitar Pedal X called it "a stereo pedal with seven engines" and described it as an "ultimate all-rounder stereo lo-fi manipulator"⁴. Delicious Audio noted that with the Artifakt, "the engineers have maintained their approach by preserving the multi-mode functionality seen in their flagship releases"⁷, the same multi-engine design Source Audio uses across its larger multi-effects line.

Controls, presets and connections

The control surface mixes fixed knobs with mode-dependent ones. Guitar.com's reviewer explained that the shared parameters include "bandwidth, modulation, filter, plus the destruct and vary knobs which change their function depending on which" engine is selected³. Delicious Audio added that "Under the MOD knob there's a 3-way switch that allows control of three different parameters (Rate, Depth and Shape)"⁷.

For the Ladder engine specifically, Guitar Pedal X documented the control mapping⁴:

There is also an ALT Control Input button on top of the pedal for connecting an external control source⁴, such as an expression pedal or Source Audio's own Hot Hand controller.

Preset storage works at three levels:

• On the pedal: 16 selectable presets as standard, with 12 loaded at the factory⁶³.
• Via MIDI: up to 128 presets stored and recallable with MIDI PC messages²³.
• Via the Neuro 3 app: a library of over 10,000 downloadable user presets³.

The MIDI implementation goes beyond preset recall. Source Audio's product page lists the connection options and capabilities²:

• 3.5 mm MIDI IN / THRU and USB MIDI
• LFO rate sync with external MIDI clock messages
• Simultaneous control of multiple knob parameters with MIDI CC messages, including parameters not assigned to a knob, with independent depth and direction for each

The pedal also supports Source Audio's wider ecosystem: you can connect up to five One Series pedals to the Neuro Hub and create 128 multi-pedal scenes with expression control, recallable via MIDI PC messages².

What reviewers said

Guitar.com reviewed the Artifakt Lo-Fi Elements in September 2024³. The reviewer found it "aims to distill every kind of lo-fi sound you could want" and noted that despite the compact size "it also squeezes in stereo in and out jacks"³.

Guitar.com later named it in a buying guide as the "Best multi-effects for lo-fi" pick for 2025⁵, and Guitar Pedal X included it in its roundup of the best new modulation and utility pedals of 2024⁵. When a rival analog lo-fi machine appeared, Guitar Pedal X used the Artifakt as the benchmark, noting the newcomer "lacks the stereo outputs and presets of the Artifakt but makes up for it in other interesting ways"⁸.

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