Crash into me
We're sorry to report, but something has gone terribly wrong. We put an amplifier in a Goldblum-esque teleporter pod, expecting a scientific breakthrough. What we did not know was that, somehow, a multi-mode effect pedal slipped in during the experiment, resulting in shocking transmogrification. After the smoke cleared, the experiment was deemed a horrible success. An amp, a pedal, a microphone, all in one? The truth is stranger than fiction!
This is the Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash Amplifier.
Wayfaring Rainger
Introducing the Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash Amplifier
One of the pedal world's premier mad science labs, Death By Audio is a trusted pillar of the community. Their gloriously weirdo and artistic pedals have long been favorites of the many noisemakers and shoegazers of time. A long run of classics like their Fuzz War, Crossover Fuzz, and Octave Clang have brought them to this latest addition to their beloved line. DBA, in close collaboration with similarly trusted name in off-the-wall effects Rainger, introduces the Amp Crash – something to really write home about if you're looking for a new type of device really trying something new.
The Amp Crash came out of a collaborative concept between Death By Audio and Rainger FX. This concept began in true DBA fashion: "What if your pedal had a microphone, so it could pick up the sound in a room and play it back in real time?" Those in-the-know of the mythic status of Death By Audio shows, or even their proximity to bands lovingly embracing walls of noise and rooms of self-oscillation, surely could make sense of this concept. They might even start daydreaming up use cases. Though of course, the concept wouldn't stop there. "What if it also had a speaker?"
Thus, we have the Amp Crash. An all-in-one guitar amplifier, effect pedal, microphone, and speaker. How does this all work, though? Let's discuss.
Cold Hard Crash
Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash Amplifier Design and Controls
The Amp Crash is a relatively simple piece of equipment once you get down to it. In terms of straight use, it's incredibly fun and intuitive to use. You plug it in, you get going. What makes the Amp Crash so exceptional though, and how does it all happen?
DBA's latest more than welcomes the stares, the side-eyes, the "Wait, what is it?"-s it's sure to garner. It's a pretty new piece of gear, after all. The Amp Crash combines the design and function of an amplifier, an effect pedal, and a microphone. A chunky grey box loads in a fully operable analog amplifier with its own two-inch speaker, a three-mode multi-effect, and an onboard microphone. Here's how it all shakes out.
Side APower the Amp Crash with a standard nine-volt, center-negative pedal power supply with at least 300mA output. Once you plug into the Amp Crash and hit the footswitch, you have a couple of options. First, you can turn up the Gain dial and hear the pedal's fully operable amplifier and speaker play. From there, you can work in the dedicated multi-effect delay, chorus, or reverb. Without ever needing another amp or piece of equipment, the Amp Crash operates completely for a one-and-done mini amp experience.
Side BWhile the Amp Crash functions completely on its own, it opens up the field in connectivity and use with two outputs. With the first, the Amp Crash fulfills its effect pedal ethos by being able to run out to another amplifier. Work the Amp Crash into a pedalboard and play it as you would any other DBA creation. Through the second, the Amp Crash transforms into an amplifier head. Connect an 8-ohm minimum speaker cabinet and work the pedal as you would your favorite Marshall or Orange head. All the while, the Amp Crash retains its onboard microphone ability to pick up in-room noise – contributing to the sonic smorgasbord in real time.
Crash of the Titans
Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash Amplifier Tones and Playability
Alright, so where does that land us? We've got a truly unique piece of work on our hands, how does it perform? In quite compelling ways, actually. Let's talk about it.
Tin Can SymphonyTaking on the Amp Crash all on its own, with a guitar in and relying solely on its amplifying abilities, it's an immediately compelling piece of gear for lo-fi guitarwork. The intentionally low-watt, distorted, wonderfully DBA design of the Amp Crash is sure to win over fans of noisy, lo-fi guitar quickly. If you're a DBA devotee, a blues guitarist fond of forwardly rustic guitar stylings, or someone just looking for a way to get their ideas amplified and on paper, the Amp Crash meets you where you're at.
Pandora's BoxMaybe just mentioning the Amp Crash's utility as a one-and-done amplification solution doesn't fully encapsulate how much classic Death By Audio style is snuck onboard. If you can believe it, the Amp Crash, standing alone with no other amp or speaker, smuggles plenty of charming DBA noisiness into the equation. The quick chorus, delay, and reverb effects quickly lean into DBA's shoegazing, noisemaking tendencies while the amp's Gain control featuring an "Overload" range occupying nearly half the dial leaves little to the imagination.
DBAnywhereWith the Amp Crash, in a way, DBA brings the mythical sound of the original Death By Audio performance venue to its players. Routing the Amp Crash into your pedalboard and turning up its microphone volume spiritually recreates the effect of shoegaze and noise shows held at the brand's since-decommissioned Brooklyn art space. As the Amp Crash's microphone picks up the noise from your room, shuffling its own sound produced into its cyclical signal flow, you get something resembling a Death By Audio pocket dimension, fulfilling the brand's original goal of making the sound of the room part of the show in one fell swoop.
Interstellar OverdriveThough the Amp Crash is a low-watt, lo-fi amplifier, it absolutely punches above its weight class through the ethos of its artistic design. Hook the Amp Crash up to another amp, an external speaker cab, or let it rock on its smallest scale, and you get the full picture before long. The Amp Crash banks off of its experience getting unwieldy, discordant, and overwhelming. Its whole design hinges off it and invites you to join in the debauchery. In classic DBA fashion, the Amp Crash heaves, hos, screeches, grumbles, and self-oscillates its way into gloriously messy and noisy mixes. Natural feedback makes for an exciting push-and-pull with the Amp Crash for a playability experience truly unlike any other – and of course, that's all part of the fun.
Crash Out
Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash Amplifier Further Functions
The Death By Audio Amp Crash features a number of bells and whistles to top off the whole experience. Here's a couple impactful ones to get you cooking:
- Microphone Gate – Though the Amp Crash proudly touts natural microphonic feedback as an ingredient in its cacophonic soup, a two-way gate switch for the onboard microphone allows for the pedal to perform with greater cleanliness.
- Standard Power Requirements – Helping the Amp Crash ready to perform in one of its prime forms – as a standalone amplifier – the pedal features a fairly everyday power requirement. Standard nine-volt, center-negative power requirements couple with a 300mA minimum to bring the Amp Crash to life pretty much anywhere you can find an outlet.
Death By Audio x Rainger FX Amp Crash Amplifier Final Thoughts
Always fully embracing the weird, the wild, the arty, discordant, and noisy, Death By Audio takes a big leap with the Amp Crash. This truly unique device fully embodies the DBA creative ethos with expressiveness and inspiration at the forefront of the experience. In classic DBA fashion, the Amp Crash takes the fast lane to new, weirdo musical conclusions, totally embracing the artfulness and joy such conclusions inspire. Whether you're a Death By Audio devotee fired up at the prospect of feedbacking self-oscillation or a player who could stand to plug in and get their ideas out in the open at a moment's notice, the Amp Crash delivers. Long live DBA!
