Daring Audio Debuts with Bass Effects Pedal Line
Daring Audio made their debut at NAMM this year with the release of a new line of bass effects pedals, including the Particle Beam, Laser Cannon, Edge Activator, and Phat Beam. Built in California, the light energy-inspired pedals all feature true bypass and high headroom 18-volt circuits that run off of either a 9-volt batter or standard 9-volt adapter.
The Particle Beam is a an overdrive that the company describes as natural sounding, providing everything from a clean boost to full-on distortion with a continuous Blend knob so you can mix in 0-100% of the affected signal. Flipping the Symmetry switch selects either Class A emulation mode, which is rich in harmonics for a classic sound, or Class AB amp overdrive, which only includes odd harmonics for tighter, smoother tones.
Next up is the Laser Cannon, a bass distortion and fuzz controlled by the Wave knob. The Laser Cannon has a blend knob that Daring explains gives you the ability to emulate a studio mix by adding clean and heavy distortion together at once. The pedal also includes an Energy switch to choose the diode type, giving either a tight precise overdrive or a classic compressed fuzz. An Attack control adjusts the high end between sharp, round, and everything in between.
Daring Audio’s Edge Activator is designed to bring the “bright twang” of new strings to enhance definition, especially for snapping, popping, etc. The pedal is a combination of a bass harmonic exciter and enhancer with a mid-range boost or cut. The Edge knob changes the excited frequencies while the Mix knob controls the level of harmonics added to the dry signal.
Finally, the company’s Phat Beam pedal is an analog VCA-based, bass-specific compressor with sideband shape control. A single knob adjusts the compression, taking out the need to change attack, release, and threshold controls as is common on most compressors, however there is still a Fast/Slow switch to change time constants. You also have control over the frequencies that trigger the compressor via the Shape knob.
The new Daring Audio bass pedals range in price from $269 to $349 and are available on now from their website.
