Dystorpia#

Futuristic Fuzz, Dystopian Distortion, Overdrive Oblivion

Overview#

Dystorpia is Noise Engineering’s digital fuzz/overdrive pedal designed to provide a vast array of distorted tonalities from traditional to futuristic. Utilizing wavefolding and rectification signal-processing techniques not typically used in pedals, Dystorpia will give you the ability to dial in unique, ripping, and gritty sounds unobtainable with traditional overdrive circuits.

Power#

To power your Noise Engineering pedal, use a 2.1mm 9 VDC negative center power supply with a minimum of 250mA. For best results and lowest noise, use a dedicated transformer isolated power supply.

Interface#

Gain

Sets the input signal level going into the rest of the circuit. This helps find the sweet spot for a variety of source inputs. For guitars with lower output pickups, you may want the Gain set higher. For high output pickups, try setting the Gain lower. Experiment to get the tonalities that sound best to you. Altering the Gain can change how the signal is affected by the processing.

Fold

Sets the amount of wavefolding applied to the signal. Wavefolding folds a signal down when it passes a threshold instead of clipping it. This gives a distinct flavor of harmonic distortion. Increase Fold for a gritty, hashy, growling texture. Blending Fold with Pura at various settings offers a vast variety of tones.

Blend

Blends the dry input signal with the affected signal. All the way left is only the dry signal, and all the way to the right is only the affected signal. Unlike most blend controls, Dystorpia’s unique Blend knob applies some mild saturation to the dry signal as the knob is turned to the right. The saturation retains chord information and articulation, but allows the signal to mix in with the affected signal without sounding clean.

Pura

Sets the amount of full-wave rectification applied to the signal. This shifts the negative part of the waveform to the positive, resulting in a harmonically rich, buzzsaw fuzz. Experiment with different amounts of Fold and Pura for unique tonalities.

Mid Band

Sets the frequency of the mid band. Experiment with Mid Band and Tone for complete control over the resulting tone.

Tone

Sets the basic tone, from bassy to high. At the very top of the knob range, lows are boosted along with the highs for a mid-scooped sound. This leaves lots of room in the mid range to play with the Mid Band control.

Doom

Adds some doom to your sound.

• Off: No doom is added.
• Sub: Adds a lower octave to the signal.
• Blown: Adds a lower octave at a higher volume than Sub, and the rumbling tonaility of a blown sub speaker. These interact with Fold and Pura.

Env

Sets the style of dynamics.

• Off: No change; dynamics behave like a traditional distortion pedal.
• Dyn: A dynamic envelope that will shape the output volume level to match the clean input volume. This will allow for very dynamic playing; playing quieter will retain the tonal characteristics added by the distortion algorithms, but the output will be reduced to match the input. This setting will also have a shorter sustain, since the output level is derived from the clean signal. This can be useful for players who wish to achieve the dynamic behavior of a clean guitar, but with a distorted sound.
• Gate: Adds a smart noise gate that drastically lowers the output level when there is no input signal. By adjusting the Gain setting, hum can be virtually eliminated when you are not playing. This setting allows for more sustain, but reduces noise at the tail.

Freeze (left footswitch)

Sustains a short loop of whatever you last played. Quick tap to latch and unlatch, or hold down for momentary-style behavior.

Bypass (right footswitch)

This is a buffered bypass which will engage or disengage the effect.

Input

¼” mono input

Output

¼” mono output

EXP

Input for Expression pedal or control voltage. ¼” TRS expression pedal connection jack or ¼” TS connection for control voltage. The expression input affects the Tone control. If using control voltage, the input responds to 0 to 5V and adds to the position of the Tone knob.

9V

2.1mm power connection for 9VDC negative center power supply, 250mA minimum.

Settings Examples#

POWER CHORD BUZZSAW

A chunky, thick, and heavy go-to sound that works really well with power chords, especially when playing four-note power chords with the root on the A string, the lower 5th added on the E string, upper 5th on the D string, and the octave on the G string.

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BUZZSAW WAH (with Expression pedal)

Same as above, but with an expression pedal plugged into EXP and the Tone knob all the way down. This allows for the expression pedal to sweep the entire range of the Tone knob for incredible wah-style sounds. Play with the Mid Band setting to vary the color of the wah sweep. If you do not want the mid-scooped option at the top of the expression range, slightly turn down the pot on your expression pedal (if it has one).

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60s OCTAVE FUZZ

A vintage sounding fuzz tone with a lower octave. This is great for 60s soundtrack style single note runs, riffs, and leads.

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DYNAMIC DISTORTION

This makes use of the ENV Dyn setting, which allows for you to control the volume with your playing while retaining a consistently chunky distorted tone. Cool for dynamic rhythm or lead playing.

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SEEK AND DESTROY

An abrasive, brutal, garage rock setting that will slash through the mix.

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SLIME GRIME

A boxy, liquid, grimy sound that reacts to the dynamics in an animated way, imparting a strange, modulated sort of sound.

Design Notes#

Even though Dystorpia is a digital pedal, the design was highly informed and influenced by many hours of research building and testing discrete analog circuits. The Pura and Fold parameters are adaptations of controls of the same name found on some Noise Engineering Eurorack modules.

Dystorpia is designed and built in sunny Southern California.

Technical Block Diagrams#

Enclosure Dimensions#

Imperial: 4 7/8" x 2 6/8" x 1 1/8"

Metric: 12.3 x 6.9 x 3.9 cm

Warranty#

We will repair or replace (at our discretion) any product that we manufactured as long as we are in business and are able to get the parts to do so. We aim to support pedals that have been discontinued for as long as possible. This warranty does not apply to normal wear and tear, including art/enclosure wear, or any products that have been modified, abused, or misused. Our warranty is limited to manufacturing defects.

Warranty repairs/replacements are free. Repairs due to user modification or other damage are charged at an affordable rate. Customers are responsible for the cost of shipping to Noise Engineering for repair.

All returns must be coordinated through Noise Engineering; returns without a Return Authorization will be refused and returned to sender.

Please contact us if you think one of your pedals needs a repair.

Special Thanks#

• Tim Young
• Nick Reinhart
• Jon Button
• Rusty Logsdon
• Anton Sanko
• Jack Waterson
• Eric Stollsteimer
• Wayne Faler
• William Faler
• John Vorus
• Matt Lange
• Josh Kolenc
• Broken Circuits
• Misha Mansoor
• Brian Douglas
• Vice Cooler
• Giordan Postorino
• Terry O'Brien
• Rusty Logsdon
• The kind folks at Cream City Music, WI

FCC Compliance#

This device complies with FCC Title 47, Part 15: 107 and 109: Unintentional Radiators: CISPR 32. Dystorpia is a Class A compliant digital device.

These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.

noiseengineering.us

Noise Engineering, 1100 Calle Cordillera, San Clemente, CA 92673