Death By Audio Flaming Lips Space Ring

Limited edition ring modulator pedal collaboration with The Flaming Lips

By Phil O'Keefe

Ring modulators are probably one of the more esoteric and least commonly encountered types of effects pedals. They're capable of warping the input signal beyond recognition and are pretty extreme; they're certainly not for everybody, but if you want to make other-worldly sounds -- or downright destroy and mangle things in cool and interesting ways, they're very hard to beat. Ring modulation uses a carrier frequency and oscillator to act upon the source signal, with new signals created by the sum and difference between them. This results in new sounds that are related to, but can sound completely different than the input signal.

I need to let you know right up front that you'll probably have a tough time tracking down one of these pedals since they're only being built and offered for sale by the manufacturer during September 2014 - after that, your only hope of getting one is on the second-hand market. Unfortunately between the time it took to request a review unit and have it shipped (they started shipping in mid-September) plus the time it took to test it and write a review (and publish it) this review is going up two days after they stopped offering them for sale. Then why bother reviewing it? Well, there probably won't be many (if any) other reviews of the Flaming Lips Space Ring, so this may be one of the few chances you'll get to hear about it from someone who's tried one out. This pedal is also is a great example of the type and quality of products Death By Audio makes, and they are a small pedal company that is definitely worthy of wider exposure. So without further ado, let's dig in and see what this pedal is all about.

What You Need To Know

• The Space Ring is a collaborative effort between the folks at Death By Audio and the Flaming Lips - yes, those Flaming Lips. The first 200 pedals built are signed by the band, and all DBA Flaming Lips Space Ring pedals include a copy of a cool cartoon poster drawn by Wayne Coyne.

• The Space Ring features a "telephone decoder chip used as a ring modulator and carrier frequency generator ring modulating the ring modulated sound." This is then run into an analog matched diode ring modulator, giving you ring modulated ring modulation. Ring modulated ring modulation? Mind = blown.

• The Flaming Lips Space Ring is built into a all-metal enclosure measuring roughly 3.5" W x 4.5" L x 2" H, including the knobs and switches, and is finished in red, with silkscreened graphics.

• All of the jacks are top mounted, which allows the Space Ring to fit into tighter locations on your board than it would if it had side mounted jacks. The usual 1/4" input and output jacks are included, along with a industry-standard 2.1mm center-negative power receptacle for use with an optional 9V adapter.

• The Flaming Lips Space ring can also be powered by a 9V battery. The battery compartment is accessed by removing the four screws and the bottom plate. A 9V battery is included, so you can get up and running right away.

• Interestingly, the PCB is marked with a label suggesting a trim pot was originally part of the design, but a fixed resistor is used in its place instead. There are no internal trim pots or switches.

• The controls are fairly straightforward - deceptively so, considering the amount of different sounds that can be dialed up. The smaller Level knob controls the output level of the pedal. It has a wide range, and can be set anywhere from much lower than unity gain all the way up to "screaming loud insanity." Since there's so much gain on tap, it's probably a good idea to start with this control set fairly low (~9 o'clock) until you have a handle on just how everything works.

• A small toggle switch labelled "XYZ" doubles the carrier frequency and switches the analog carrier modulating the input signal and instead assigns the input signal to modulate the carrier. The result is faster undulations and a variety of different sounds.

• A much larger knob is labeled Warp. This adjusts the carrier frequency. Although there will definitely be an element of lo-fi / bit crusher grunge to the sound, at lower Warp settings things sound somewhat like a Martian tremolo but it's still possible to make out whatever your input signal is - whatever you happen to be playing. As you turn the knob up further, the speed of the undulations increase. After about 11 o'clock, mayhem ensues. There are a wide range of different screams, warbles, sci-fi sounds and outer space type noises available in the last 50% of the knob's range.

• The position and size of the Warp knob makes it fairly easy to manipulate with your foot, which can be very useful in live performance situations.

Limitations

• This isn't a good pedal for use with the local cover band at the next wedding reception gig, nor is it well suited for generating lush, pretty sounds. It's an extreme effect and a noisemaker, and a darn good one at that. If you're looking for something to make your guitar sound "good" or "nice", look elsewhere. If you want to take a pretty sounding guitar and foul it up beyond all recognition, then this is the pedal for you.

• The biggest limitation is probably going to be trying to find one…

Conclusions

Death By Audio and The Flaming Lips are both known for doing things a bit differently than many of their contemporaries, and this collaborative effort is further proof of that fact. While it may not be for everyone it wasn't intended as such, but it is a very cool take on the ring modulator concept and generates tons of great sounds. How to use those sounds musically is entirely up to you. Noise and experimental based musicians, fans of psychedelia and sci-fi, and those seeking interesting and out of this world sound effects will find plenty to get excited about with the Death By Audio Flaming Lips Space Ring. Like all Death By Audio pedals, it's built in Brooklyn New York USA to very high quality standards, and is warranted for life - as DBA says, if you puke on it, they'll fix it. What's not to love about that kind of musician-friendly warranty and attitude? While you may have a hard time tracking a Space Ring down, Death By Audio makes a ton of other interesting pedals that you should check out too, so make sure you click on the link to their website and have a look around.

Resources

Death By Audio Flaming Lips Space Ring ring modulator ($200 MSRP; Discontinued - only on sale during September 2014)

Death By Audio website

The Flaming Lips band website

Death By Audio demo video:

Original Death By Audio press announcement announcing and describing the Flaming Lips Space Ring as published on HC News.