Death By Audio Amp Crash

An extraordinary project born from a simple idea: bringing the room into the pedal

The Amp Crash is the result of a collaboration between Death By Audio and Rainger FX, born from an obsession: to recreate, in a stompbox format, the unpredictable behavior of an amp pushed to its limits. The initial idea was to place a microphone inside a pedal to blend an "ambient" element into the guitar signal. The breakthrough came when the prototype also included its own speaker: suddenly, harmonics, natural compression, and feedback started to appear just like on a real combo amp at unreasonable volume.
Result: the Amp Crash doesn't just imitate an amp. It actually generates these interactions, with that little extra soul (and sometimes resistance) found only when a speaker moves air... even inside a housing.

Who is the Amp Crash made for and what are its uses?

This pedal is aimed at musicians who want to feel the amp "breathe" under their fingers, even at low volume: rock, garage, punk, stoner, noise, experimental guitarists, but also anyone looking for a lively overdrive that reacts to pick attack and volume knob. It suits both the curious and veterans of extreme sounds, as you can stay on an expressive edge-of-breakup or shift into a massive, unstable fuzz.
In practice, the Amp Crash excels at home (to regain full-amp sensations without stacking gain stages), in the studio (textures, controlled feedback, inspiring takes), and on a pedalboard where you want to add organic and untamable character. It's also an ideal playground for sonic exploration: drones, oscillations, harmonics that "bloom," and happy accidents.

Controls, modes, and connectivity: a mini amp + effects engine in one box

The heart of the Amp Crash is its internal 3-watt amp driving a 2-inch internal speaker, while an internal mic captures what's really happening. You then control the blend via DI OUT (level of the amp's direct signal sent to the output) and MIC OUT (level of the internal mic). This architecture allows you to go from a tight, direct, and percussive tone to a more "roomy," dirtier, more explosive sound with interactions and resonances evolving according to your playing.
The amp section is adjusted via GAIN (up to OVERLOAD mode for aggressive distortion, oscillations, and wilder behaviors) and TONE (from thick, massive lows to sharper brightness). To control the internal mic when pushing the concept to extremes, a MIC GATE switch activates a dedicated noise gate triggered by the instrument input signal.
Finally, the Amp Crash includes a selectable SFX section: REVERB (digital reverb from small room to huge space), ECHO (tape-style echo), or CHORUS (from metallic modulation close to flanger to wide, lush chorus). The DEPTH knob controls the effect mix (and fully bypasses SFX at minimum), while TIME adjusts reverb decay, echo delay time, or chorus speed.
The Power footswitch operates in buffered bypass: it engages or bypasses the pedal and also manages the internal speaker activation. Connectivity includes an instrument input, main output, 9V DC power supply (2.1 mm center-negative connector), and an external speaker output: as soon as you connect a cabinet (8 ohms minimum, 3 watts or more), the internal speaker is automatically disabled.

The Sound

The Amp Crash stands out with a sense of substance: the sound isn't just saturated, it's "pressurized." By blending DI OUT and MIC OUT, you choose between a more direct sound (clear attack, precise grain) and a more organic dimension (harmonic bloom, natural compression, resonances, and feedback). The spectrum can range from a rich, lively, and responsive overdrive to a crushing, sometimes unpredictable fuzz that makes you want to play differently.
The real joy comes from the dynamics: depending on your guitar, pickups, attack, and placement in the signal chain, the Amp Crash can be docile or deliberately unruly, with the feeling of having a "little moody amp" under your foot. Add Reverb, Echo, or Chorus, and you get very inspiring textures for singing leads, gritty rhythms, pads, or musical sound effects.

Technical specifications

Effects	Distortion / Overdrive / Fuzz	Type	Mains or battery
Format	Pedal	Use	electric guitar
EQ	Tone	Color	White

Integrated SFX section	Reverb, Echo, Chorus	DEPTH	SFX mix (at zero, SFX bypassed)
Bypass	buffered bypass	TIME	reverb decay / echo time / chorus speed
Warranty	lifetime	Input	instrument
Power footswitch	engage/bypass and activate/deactivate internal speaker	Output	mixed DI OUT + MIC OUT signal (in bypass, input signal passes through unchanged)
DI OUT	level of amp's direct signal to output	Power	9V DC, 2.1 mm center-negative connector
MIC OUT	level of internal mic to output	External speaker output	EXT. SPEAKER (cab 8 ohms minimum, 3 watts or more)
MIC GATE	activates noise gate for mic (triggered via instrument input)	Dimensions (with hardware)	5.9 x 3.76 x 2.85 inches (approx. 150 x 95.5 x 72.4 mm)
GAIN	internal amp gain (up to OVERLOAD mode)	Weight	19.1 oz (approx. 541 g)
TONE	amp EQ (from deep bass to focused brightness)	Internal speaker	2 inches
SFX SELECTOR	select Reverb / Echo / Chorus