Death by Audio Disturbance Filter, Flanger and Phaser Pedal

A modulator you can stop dead in the middle of a sweep. Disturbance is three extreme modulators in one enclosure: resonant filter swells, watery to screaming flange with distorted feedback, and an eight stage phaser that can scoop or blend. Its custom modulation core can freeze the LFO exactly where it is, and a CV output sends that motion out to the rest of your rig.

Which Death by Audio modulator is this?

• Moonbeam Phaser: a stereo analog phaser with one to six selectable stages.
• Space Bender: a chorus modulator built on warped delay lines.
• Evil Filter: a static multimode filter with its own fuzz section.

Disturbance is the one that covers filter, flanger and phaser from a single mode switch, and the only one here with a CV output and a freeze footswitch.

Why guitarists choose the Disturbance

• The Trip footswitch freezes the LFO mid cycle and resumes exactly where it stopped, which turns a modulation pedal into a tuned filter on demand.
• One mode switch moves between Filter, Flanger and Fazer, so three effects share one board space.
• Tensity works in a minus and a plus direction for each mode, giving two distinct characters per effect.
• With Width fully down, Center Point becomes a manual sweep of the entire range for parked filter tones.
• The CV OUT jack sends the LFO out to other pedals with expression inputs or to Eurorack modules.
• True bypass and 9 V operation at 67 mA keep it simple to power and place.

Controls and switches

• TENSITY is a bidirectional intensity control with distinct minus and plus modes for each modulation type, and it also sets feedback and effect structure.
• CENTER POINT sets the polarity and center point of the LFO, and with WIDTH below maximum it defines the range the effect works in.
• WIDTH sets the range of the LFO. Fully down, the effect stops modulating and CENTER POINT sweeps the whole range by hand.
• SPEED sets the rate of the LFO.
• The MODE selector chooses FILTER, FLANGER or FAZER.
• The TRIP footswitch freezes the LFO at its current position and releases it back into the cycle when pressed again.
• An internal CV LEVEL trimmer scales the CV OUT voltage.

Power and pedalboard compatibility

• Runs on 9 V DC, 2.1 mm barrel, center negative.
• Current draw is 67 mA, so budget that on your supply.
• Death By Audio does not publish battery operation for this one, so plan on a regulated DC supply.
• True bypass means it is completely out of the signal path when it is off, so place it wherever the chain sounds best.
• Jacks sit along the top edge, which keeps patch cables out of the row in front.
• It measures 12.57 x 10.03 x 6.6 cm including hardware, so measure your row before ordering.

Technical specifications

Model	Death by Audio Disturbance
Effect type	Filter, flanger and phaser
Controls	Tensity, Center Point, Width, Speed, Filter/Flanger/Fazer selector, Trip footswitch, internal CV Level trimmer
Bypass	True bypass
Expression or CV input	No
Power	9 V DC, 2.1 mm barrel, center negative
Current draw (mA)	67
Top mounted jacks	Yes
Connections	Audio input and output plus a CV OUT side jack; CV OUT is tip-hot. Jack sizes not published.
Dimensions including hardware	12.57 x 10.03 x 6.6 cm
Weight	13 oz.
MPN	197644923052
GTIN	197644923052
Manufacture and warranty	Handmade in New York City

FAQ

What does the Trip footswitch do? It freezes the LFO at whatever point it has reached. Press it again and the cycle continues from that same place.

Does it have an expression input? No. The side jack is a CV output, not an input. The official Death By Audio FAQ confirms the Disturbance sends control voltage out rather than accepting expression in.

What voltage does the CV output send? It is set to roughly 0 to 5 V by default and is trimmable internally. The product page and FAQ quote up to about 7 V, while the manual mentions a maximum of about 9 V.

Can I use it as a static filter? Yes. Turn Width fully down and Center Point sweeps the entire range manually with no modulation.

What is the difference between the three modes? Filter gives high pass and low pass resonant swells, Flanger runs from watery delays to screaming flange with distorted feedback, and Fazer is an eight stage phaser with filtered scoops or phaser and flanger blends.

How much current does it need? 67 mA at 9 V DC through a 2.1 mm center negative barrel.

Is it true bypass? Yes.

Video Review: Death by Audio Disturbance Filter, Flanger and Phaser Pedal