Darkglass Electronics Microtubes X Ultra

Distorting bass has always been a very challenging engineering endeavour. In order to achieve a punchy and aggressive distortion, that is also full and fat-sounding, you really need to reconcile two contradicting conditions. The tightness comes from attenuating bass frequencies before saturation, which will also result in a very thin signal, however boosting the lows can also result in additional, unwanted fuzz.

To solve this paradox, audio engineers have been using multiband distortions in the studio for a few decades now. With the Microtubes X Ultra, the audio is split by two variable low-pass and high-pass filters at the very start of the signal chain. The high-pass signal (mostly the mid and treble tones) is distorted using CMOS circuitry, just like our other regular Microtubes pedal circuits. The low pass-signal (all bass) is left clean and then is processed by the variable built in compressor.

This lets the high frequencies be all crunch, attack and full of rich harmonics, all while mixing back in the undistorted lows to add gargantuan size to the overall mix. The result is virtually unlimited fullness, size, aggression and definition.