Discomfort Designs TMA-1 Jupiter: and Beyond the Infinite

We certainly love three-knob overdrives and one-knob phasers and non-too-complex delay pedals here, but what really peaks our interest are the bizarre, the weird, the unique, the intriguing. Today’s pedal encompasses all of these qualities, taking your instrument’s signal and completely annihilating it, to points beyond recognition. The TMA-1 Jupiter: and Beyond the Infinite from Discomfort Designs is a ring modulator…on top of a ring modulator…and some other stuff. Here we go!

Internally, the TMA-1 boasts two fat transformers, wrestling with a PLL tone decoder. The decoder chip is used as a ring modulator/carrier frequency generator, which in turn modulates the ring modulated sound (yes, a ring-modulator fed into a ring-modulator). The Anomaly knob sets the carrier frequency, from dirty lo-fi tones to screaming rhythmic Martian anarchy. The Lux/Aeterna switch doubles the carrier frequency and switches from the analog carrier modulating the input signal and instead assigns the input signal to modulate the carrier. The result is faster modulation and a brighter, sharper timbre.

The Infinity footswitch allows for even greater levels of insanity by allowing crosstalk between the ring-modulators, the Infinity control allows you to adjust the level of argument between the two. The mixer section gives independent control of the Effect Level, Clean Signal, and Blend between the two. To really know the TMA-1 Jupiter: and Beyond the Infinite is to experience it for yourself, but why not give it a look and listen in our demo below first? This pedal is NOT going to be for everyone, but those of us who dig it REALLY dig it. Had a lot of fun with this one, cheers to Discomfort Designs on another killer effect. Keep an eye on these guys, they’re creepin’ on a come-up, for sure – enjoy the demo and don’t forget to subscribe!!