AC Noises - Urla (cmos fuzz + dual resonant filter)

"Urla" is an Italian verb which means "scream" in second person imperative (tu, urla = you, scream).

A loud, aggressive and experimental device which consists in 2 effects in 1 pedal unit, the URLA is a CMOS fuzz in front of a synth-based dual resonant filter.

CMOS fuzz

A CMOS chip works with digital logic (1, 0).
Compared to the transistor based fuzz circuits (both germanium or silicon), in a CMOS fuzz there is no "in-between", no "dynamic range", no "vintage tone" or anything like that. There are just 1s and 0s, so no matter which kind of waveshape you put into it: the output will always be square wave with no adjustable gain neither since the square wave is as distorted as it can get.
The URLA obviously makes no exceptions and it provides an overdriven, brutal, glitchy and gated fuzz sound with a decay that dies abruptly (but still allowing to sustain each note thanks to a bass boost stage that we put at the very beginning of the signal path).
It offers 2 controls: VOLUME and BLEND.

VOLUME (fuzz)

Adjusts the output level of the fuzz.

BLEND

As the name suggests, this control allows to blend the fuzz sound with the original signal placed in front of the URLA. Clean guitar tone is probably the most basic example in that sense but no doubt the bravest sonic adventures could find plenty of different as exciting solutions (e.g. as "wall of sounds" enthusiasts, we do love to place a shimmer reverb in front of it or some modulation as well to create different kind of textures). Being a fully analog jFET blend, it goes from almost completely DRY (counterclockwise) to 100% wet signal (clockwise).

DUAL RESONANT FILTER

This is the second effect placed in the internal signal chain of the URLA and it consists in a faithful replica of the analog filter section of the glorious Korg MS-20, simply our all times favorite vintage monophonic synthesizer.
It's an HIGH PASS filter connected in series with a LOW PASS one, both adjustable with their relative controls of CUTOFF and PEAK. Also, we added a dual potentiometer to control the VOLUME of both, which is pretty useful in order to dial with other output levels in chain (including the internal FUZZ placed in front).

VOLUME (filter)

Sets the output level of the dual filter.

CUTOFF

These knobs allow to decide where the frequencies (high ones by LP, low ones by HP) have to be cut. No doubt they're the most exciting controls of the URLA.
We placed those on the external sides of the pedal's surface exactly because of that: you'll love messing up with those as much as possible by exploring the wild excursions of both. In fact, depending on the place of their relative PEAK knobs, they can go approximately from 0hz (so you'll mute your signal completely when at least one of their respective knobs are fully closed) to 15kHz.

PEAK

While cutoffs allows to remove frequencies (harmonics) from the incoming audio signal, their respective resonances allow to have an additional controlled amplification of the cutoffs frequency, creating a secondary peak form and coloring the original pitch.
The resonances of the original Korg MS-20 are well known for their pretty wild and loud nature due their tendency to create a microphonic feedback at extreme settings. URLA makes no exceptions, so USE THESE KNOBS CAREFULLY: depending on the cutoffs positions (especially the one related to the LP since it's the last one in series) they really make your amp scream and/or boost low ends massively when set at high levels! For that reason, we highly recommend to keep the filter volume as low as possible when starting to dial with this effect.

EXPRESSION

We're not going to lie: if you'll not play the URLA with an expression pedal (by using a TRS cable) to control the cutoff of your favorite filter (HP or LP it's up to you: just place the EXP toggle switch where you prefer), you'll probably miss more than the 90% of the fun.
For that reason, our friend Luca Romanelli from Mastro Valvola (the same guy who wrote the code for the RESPIRA's shimmer) designed an expression input which works correctly with ANY expression pedal on the market.
But there's more: when the expression pedal is plugged into the URLA, you can still set the minimum (the starting point of the parameter you want to control with the expression pedal) by adjusting the relative cutoff knob.

As aggressive as experimental-friendly, URLA is our tribute to all the industrial, noise and alternative artists/records that made our world a better place to live.

Warranty & Returns

All New products are covered by the manufacturers new warranty. Please check their website for the length of warranty and warranty conditions. If an item you receive is faulty get in touch with us ASAP. Second Hand products come with a 4 week warranty from us. If there is an issue let us know ASAP! This covers normal use and does not cover accidental damage, misuse, wrong power plugged into it, modding, water damage or any other damage caused by mistreatment. Just treat it nice and all will be good!

Shipping

We send A LOT of packages every week so don't worry about the shipping side of things!

We've never lost a thing and your awesome new gear will be packed up really well to avoid any damage in transit.

If your order comes in before 2pm we will ship it same day. Most of the time we pack things up all the way to 4pm so just call if you need it to leave same day after 2pm.

We ship mainly with Australia Post but may use a courier depending on location and size of the package.

Free Post ships with Australia Post standard and expected shipping times are between 4-6 business days depending on location. It will be longer to outside of metro and rural areas.

Express Post will usually be with you next business day in metro areas of QLD, NSW, SA, VIC and TAS. WA will take 2 days to metro and extra days after that to out side metro and rural areas.

Everything we ship has a tracking number with the exception of some power cables and smaller envelope packages. You will be emailed tracking once your order has been shipped!