AC Noises AMA Reverb Oscillator Bit Crusher

Reverb. Oscillation. Bit Crushing. These three effects aren’t usually found on the same pedalboard, much less crammed into ONE PEDAL. The folks at AC Noises decided that the marriage of these three needed to happen, and the AMA was born. Meaning “love” in second person imperative (tu, ama! = you, love!), this deceptive gray pedal is one of the funnest noise creators we’ve come across recently, producing extremely useable tones and sounds, but willing and more than able to jump right into crazy town at a moment’s notice.

A true reverb pedal at heart, the AMA’s ambience is controlled by a single control, aptly named Reverb. The spring reverberation is adjusted here, working as a reverb level AND it’s relative decay’s length, too. Crank up the Mix control to the max, and you’ll discover a sort of very fast, 100% wet, swell-reverb effect, which can easily create atypical soundscapes and huge ambient tonal washes.

Turn on the Bit Crusher toggle switch and now you’re getting into the meat of the AMA. The Resolution knob controls the rate of the oscillation pulse – turning it clockwise, pulses will be wider and the signal will be noticed as less crushed. Sample Rate, on the other side, sets the bit crusher internal oscillation frequency. The oscillation will be more focused on high frequency and the bit crushed sound in general will be noticed as brighter as you turn the knob to the right.

There’s an OSC footswitch as well, which adds a fully analog oscillation which will be generated immediately after each note you’ll decide to play, adding feedback to your reverb decay. Does this all sound confusing? Well, it is, but is really fairly easy to figure out once you plug it in. The demo below will give you a glimpse into the world of this excellent effect, but this is one you’ll need to experience on your own. Be sure to check out the AC Noises website to grab one for yourself, click the logo to the right for more reviews of their gear, and have fun with your musical experimentation.