GEAR SPOTLIGHT
EARTHQUAKER
DEVICES
DATA CORRUPTER
REVIEW BY S.P. BURKE
STREET PRICE $225.00
The mad scientists over at
Akron’s own EarthQuaker
Devices are the kings
of weirdly specialized
effects. Want proof?
Look no further than the
classification of certain
effects on their product
listing. Oh, you get the
usual litany of overdrives
and reverb-delays (including
the Dispatch Master, a
personal favorite) but then
you have descriptions like
“Polyphonic Arpeggiator,”
“Dynamic Dirt Doubler,” or
“Chorus” (well okay that
last one’s self-explanatory).
The Data Corrupter may
take the cake though with
“Modulated Monophonic
PLL Harmonizer.”
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GEAR SPOTLIGHT //
In short, the Data Corrupter
is a guitar synth. The three
knobs at the top control
the three voices with
Square Wave, Subharmonic,
and Oscillator. The Square
Wave fuzzes up your
signal, then the synth tone
is modulated with the
Oscillator. The Subharmonic
and Oscillator both have
their own individual
settings for octaves and
intervals between the two
signals, and in-between the
Frequency Modulator gives
you pitch vibrato controls.
The Data Corrupter is
truly unique and like
all EarthQuaker effects
is made with one-at-a-
EarthQuaker Devices Data Corrupter
time handmade care (still
doesn’t come with a power
supply though which is a
pet peeve of mine), but
some of their pitch-shifting
and modulation effects
can get so esoteric it
sometimes can be hard for
a meat-and-potatoes player
like me to find footing. Still,
I love me a good analog
synth sound, so I decided
to tread lightly.
I decided to start with the
main perimeters rolled
down and slowly upped
the knob on the Square
Wave Fuzz. Thankfully, I
was rewarded with a thick-
as-bricks fuzz tone that was
so powerful I quickly had