Cytomic "The Scream" stomp box distortion plugin

[jamcat]

Then we can start pestering you for a Fuzz Face and a Big Muff and a Rat, all at the same level.

No!
We want a BF-2, MXR 117, and Crybaby wah.

Andy has never mentioned doing any of those but has mentioned doing more distortion pedals like the ones I mentioned. I think by this time next year Audiority will have covered two of the three you just requested.

Hopefully, but we need a BF-2 backup plan.

[andy-cytomic]

What kinds of distortions is The Scream constrained to? I am no expert on the different distortion topologies. A couple of pedals I'd love to have emulations for are the Coloursound Fuzz and a Foxtone Fuzz. But I am not sure if they could be modeled with The Scream.. ??

It would be cool to have circuit sections from different topologies, drag and drop, into a circuit bilder in The Scream...

The Scream has a single fixed topology - it is a Tube Screamer circuit. All component values in that topology can be changed, so pretty much all standard TS mods can be done, as well as a any other mods that are less guitar and more synth or production focussed. There will be future products with different fixed topologies, and much like in the real guitar world, you can just chain the different pedals together to get what you describe.

Once a bunch of pedals are finished, then it would be possible to simplify some of the models, and pull our chunks to mix and match, but I'm not sure how many customers would find that useful over just chaining the pedals together and being able to customise completely the internals of each pedal - which is way more powerful from my point of view. In this way I hope to make each new pedal emulation the ultimate expression of that style of drive / pedal, much like I've tried to make The Scream the ultimate single device covering all variations on the Tube Screamer style of pedal.

To keep things approachable for those not used to editing schematics I have made the MODS tab, where there are a bunch of controls to customise the most impactful components in the circuit, and the ones most often modded by circuit variations. So have a play there to get a feel for the kinds of changes to the tone possible with The Scream.

[cptgone]

I'm hoping for a Fulltone (unobtanium!) Mas Malo, a Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water, a Bogner Burnley, a Chase Bliss Thermae and of course every fuzz ever made (not to mention all the digital pedals I'd love to have in the box).

While I agree it's a shame everyone is emulating the same few pedals, Muff, Rat, Fuzz Face, Tonebender do have the advantage of having many beloved mods and variations, so those might suit Cytomic's approach.

[andy-cytomic]

I'm hoping for a Fulltone (unobtanium!) Mas Malo, a Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water, a Bogner Burnley, a Chase Bliss Thermae and of course every fuzz ever made (not to mention all the digital pedals I'd love to have in the box).

While I agree it's a shame everyone is emulating the same few pedals, Muff, Rat, Fuzz Face, Tonebender do have the advantage of having many beloved mods and variations, so those might suit Cytomic's approach.

Thanks for the fuzz circuit suggestions, I'll look into all of them, and try to cover as much ground as possible when I do a fuzz.

I'm fine with doing things a lot of other plugins already cover, since I know I can bring a new level of quality to the market. I remember around 15 years ago when I first launched The Glue there were a lot of comments around "but there are already so many ssl bus compressors, why not do something else instead?" I think The Glue has been useful for people, and likewise so will the new stomps I do.

[jamcat]

What kinds of distortions is The Scream constrained to? I am no expert on the different distortion topologies. A couple of pedals I'd love to have emulations for are the Coloursound Fuzz and a Foxtone Fuzz. But I am not sure if they could be modeled with The Scream.. ??

It would be cool to have circuit sections from different topologies, drag and drop, into a circuit bilder in The Scream...

The Scream has a single fixed topology - it is a Tube Screamer circuit. All component values in that topology can be changed, so pretty much all standard TS mods can be done, as well as a any other mods that are less guitar and more synth or production focussed. There will be future products with different fixed topologies, and much like in the real guitar world, you can just chain the different pedals together to get what you describe.

Once a bunch of pedals are finished, then it would be possible to simplify some of the models, and pull our chunks to mix and match, but I'm not sure how many customers would find that useful over just chaining the pedals together and being able to customise completely the internals of each pedal - which is way more powerful from my point of view. In this way I hope to make each new pedal emulation the ultimate expression of that style of drive / pedal, much like I've tried to make The Scream the ultimate single device covering all variations on the Tube Screamer style of pedal.

To keep things approachable for those not used to editing schematics I have made the MODS tab, where there are a bunch of controls to customise the most impactful components in the circuit, and the ones most often modded by circuit variations. So have a play there to get a feel for the kinds of changes to the tone possible with The Scream.

Is an MXR Distortion+ close enough?
Seems similar, but a little simpler than the TS.

[cptgone]

I'm hoping for a Fulltone (unobtanium!) Mas Malo, a Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water, a Bogner Burnley, a Chase Bliss Thermae and of course every fuzz ever made (not to mention all the digital pedals I'd love to have in the box).

While I agree it's a shame everyone is emulating the same few pedals, Muff, Rat, Fuzz Face, Tonebender do have the advantage of having many beloved mods and variations, so those might suit Cytomic's approach.

Thanks for the fuzz circuit suggestions, I'll look into all of them, and try to cover as much ground as possible when I do a fuzz.

I wasn't trying to "suggest" fuzz circuits (I suggested a fuzzy distortion, an unusual chorus, a fuzzy overdrive and an adventurous modulated delay) although I did mention some evergreens that would suit the Cytomic approach, despite them being ubiquitous.

Fuzz is the ultimate rabbit hole. I own 30+ fuzz pedals, and there are many more I'm not familiar with.

[andy-cytomic]

Is an MXR Distortion+ close enough?
Seems similar, but a little simpler than the TS.

No, they are very different topologies. Here is the Tube Screamer:



And here is the MXR Distortion+ :



Note that on the Tube Screamer the clipping diodes are placed in the negative feedback loop of the boosting op-amp (then there is a low pass and tone section), and the Distortion+ has the clipping diodes after the gain boosting op-amp (then no tone section).

The DOD 250 / MXR Distortion+ and ProCo Rat are all pretty similar to each other, and could make for some sort of combined emulation, but I make no promises, and only once I've fully investigated and modelled something can I say what will be done.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The DOD 250 / MXR Distortion+ and ProCo Rat are all pretty similar to each other, and could make for some sort of combined emulation, but I make no promises, and only once I've fully investigated and modelled something can I say what will be done.

Josh Scott, the JHS guy has often described those as variations of a circuit. A sort of combined emulation sounds great. Since most early fuzz circuits are incredibly simple and were copying each other, I imagine you could cover a lot of classic 60's fuzzes in a similar way. For some reason though, fuzz seems harder to get right ITB despite the simpler circuit. I think it's just a function of how brutally clipped those diodes get. I'm sure Cytomic will nail it though.

Despite me being deep in the TONEX+profiling eco-system, and having more guitar pedals than I know what to do with, The Scream offers a similar (actually higher once you figure in oversampling) level of sound quality, with none of the drawbacks of profiling. The only real cost is the moderate CPU usage. Otherwise, it's all upside: it operates, behaves, and sounds like using a hardware pedal, can be modded like a hardware pedal, has nice quality of life features built in, and you get all the benefits of a plugin (recall, automation, multiple instances, no patching anything in or reamp boxes)...it's really the best pedal emulation I've ever heard anywhere.

[cptgone]

The DOD 250 / MXR Distortion+ and ProCo Rat are all pretty similar to each other, and could make for some sort of combined emulation, but I make no promises, and only once I've fully investigated and modelled something can I say what will be done.

There's a popular hybrid pedal that combines 9 types of Rat - but even that isn't exhaustive:
there are a few highly regarded modern offerings from Wampler, Jam Pedals, Dawner Prince...

And it's not just different makes and models, there's also historic 3rd party mods.

FWIW I'd prefer such a "combined emulation" to be limited to Rat pedals only (in other words, I'd prefer separate plugins for Rat and 250/+ respectively), and I think that would be ambitious enough in itself (just my 2 cents in case that's helpful).

[cptgone]

Since most early fuzz circuits are incredibly simple and were copying each other, I imagine you could cover a lot of classic 60's fuzzes in a similar way. For some reason though, fuzz seems harder to get right ITB despite the simpler circuit.

That's what I was trying to say, but put into words better.

I suppose a combined Tonebender emulation, and/or a combined Fuzz Face emulation would be a great idea (albeit a serious undertaking, despite the extremely simple topography).

But as to fuzz in general, there are so many flavours out there, albeit often sharing a similar topography (there are of course more adventurous designs as well, with oscillators).

Take the Big Muff.
Many people have a whole range of them. There are several brands/models that stand out.
Even so, only last year a new favourite was released: Catalinbread's Hizumitas, based on a particular copy of an old Muff make (ELK's Sustainar)

Like I said, a rabbit hole if [Devi] ever there was one.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Take the Big Muff.
Many people have a whole range of them. There are several brands/models that stand out.
Even so, only last year a new favourite was released: Catalinbread's Hizumitas, based on a particular copy of an old Muff make (ELK's Sustainar)

Like I said, a rabbit hole if [Devi] ever there was one.

I've got the JHS version with a bunch of different Muffs, I've go the EH Nano Big Muff Triangle, and my new favorite is the EH Sovtek Deluxe Big Muff Pi. That one's got some nice added features like a mids pot, along with mid freq. For me, that's the difference maker. Big Muffs are great but lack midrange in stock form. The JHS has some mods with more midrange, and those are my favorites there. The Deluxe, with the added knobs, is a lot more versatile than even the JHS. And the Deluxe has a gate built in too! Handy.

So yeah, put me down for a modified Big Muff.

[meloco_go]

Please do a DS-1!

[cptgone]

Please do a DS-1!

In the mean time, in case anyone is wondering, there are excellent DS-1 plugins from Fazertone and Audiority - both discounted ATM (not comparable in scope to The Scream, of course).

[electro]

Take the Big Muff.
Many people have a whole range of them. There are several brands/models that stand out.
Even so, only last year a new favourite was released: Catalinbread's Hizumitas, based on a particular copy of an old Muff make (ELK's Sustainar)

Like I said, a rabbit hole if [Devi] ever there was one.

I've got the JHS version with a bunch of different Muffs, I've go the EH Nano Big Muff Triangle, and my new favorite is the EH Sovtek Deluxe Big Muff Pi. That one's got some nice added features like a mids pot, along with mid freq. For me, that's the difference maker. Big Muffs are great but lack midrange in stock form. The JHS has some mods with more midrange, and those are my favorites there. The Deluxe, with the added knobs, is a lot more versatile than even the JHS. And the Deluxe has a gate built in too! Handy.

So yeah, put me down for a modified Big Muff.

Could you lend Andy your Muff collection for his next project? I would pre-order it.

[meloco_go]

Please do a DS-1!

In the mean time, in case anyone is wondering, there are excellent DS-1 plugins from Fazertone and Audiority - both discounted ATM (not comparable in scope to The Scream, of course).

There's a NAM capture as well, and it sounds nice. But the full circuit model with modding possibility should be another level!