Mini Review: Hotone Skyline Krush (mini Bitcrusher Pedal)

[ck3]

 

I recently discovered the Krush in a thread about glitchy pedals on another, more active effects forum and happened to have capital from liquidated gear on hand to impulsively snag one. I have prior experience with multiple bitcrushing and sample rate reduction sources including a free (or possibly cracked) old-school VST plugin, the Alesis Bitrman and Ineko, a custom-built analog sample rate reduction pedal, the original Red Panda Line 6 Tonecore Module bitcrusher, and the Mooer Lo-Fi. It has been a number of years since there was a Bitcrushing-type effect on hand, so the Krush has been a welcome addition to my arsenal.

 

The Krush is significantly smaller than all other pedals on my board, but big on glitchy and explosive textures. The control layout is fairly straightforward, and most of the parameters are highly interactive. The build quality seems solid enough, though one good stomp with hardcore footwear could likely snap away various components. This pedal is decidedly both a bitcrusher and sample rate reducer capable of musically or atonally mangling whatever monophonic signal passes through. Hotone was nice enough to also include stickers, velcro, a skid-proof strip of adhesive rubber, and other miscellaneous box candy that will be kept for posterity (read: eventual resale).

 

I spent a few hours putting the Krush through the paces with my 2006 Schecter S-1 Elite (in Eb standard tuning) and was generally impressed by its capabilities, especially considering the price. Unlike the Mooer Lofi, it has a functional noise gate that stops all sound in the radio and phonograph modes and is easy to pair with other gain sources or use for standalone digi-fuzz. My only complaints would be that there is constant oscillation in the neutral mode and/or when other pedals hiss or buzz into the Krush and comb filtering and a volume drop when blending in the clean signal. Additionally, I think there may be a slight chorus effect present with the phonograph mode, though it adds an interesting amount of depth when cascading other gain sources and/or feeding the signal into other modulation and ambient effects. The aforementioned volume drop can easily be countered by placing another gain source after the pedal. If the internal components ever crap out one me, it will make a nifty pedal board flashlight given where the LED is positioned. Considering my complaints, a Malekko Scrutator seems like it has features justifying double the price of the Krush, especially the addition of an output level control and preamp.

 

In summation, and for the TLDR crowd: worth what I paid and a keeper (for now).

 

Here's a link to the manufacturer's product page for any interested parties (I'm in no way affiliated w/ Hotone):

http://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/skyline/frequency/107.html