Dr. Scientist Phreak Ring Modulator

Ring modulators are either really loved or really disliked, I’ve come to find out. I’m up for anything experimental that pushes the boundaries of what music can do, but some folks seem to think these pedals just make noise. The Dr. Scientist Phreak Ring Modulator aims to squash that theory, giving us a fun, playful effects unit that, while it CAN make weird noises, can also sound musical and add a spin onto any track or live show…

Phreak is a digital ring modulator effect with powerful controls and multiple modes of operation. At its heart is an FV-1 DSP engine, delivering crisp ring modulator tones. You can control the frequency of the ring mod manually, by envelope, by LFO, by expression input or control voltage input, or by MIDI. On-board Presets allow you to easily save and recall your favorite settings, and the range of tones you can create stretches into infinity.

The ring mod effect, the combining of two rapidly modulated signals to create dissonant, bell-like tones, is digitally created for the finest and funnest sound. You can select from three different operating modes (SET, ENV and LFO), as well as control momentary frequency sweeps, envelope freezes, tap tempo, ramped LFO rates and more. There are some hidden controls as well, letting you adjust the Tuning Mode, Bypass Sweep and DSP Effects.

Just to clarify, the Phreak IS still a ring modulator, and might not be for everyone, but for those of us who dig these types of sounds, it’s a modern marvel. We love working with Ryan and the Dr. Scientist team, and were super excited to take on this options-laden machine to see what it could do. Check out what we discovered in our demo video below, and please visit the Dr. Scientist website for more info and to order a pedal or three for your very own…cheers!!

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