Dr Scientist put their Smart Dusk Analog Filter into Production - first examples should be available to buy within a fortnight

I’ve been avidly following the development of this pedal from the start - via periodic glimpses Ryan Clarke has been sharing on social media. I’m a long term Dr Scientist fan and Ryan and Tanya always have a fresh new approach on things which makes their pedals so appealing.

When I first saw the Dusk I considered it a pretty decent rotation alternative for my Mu-Tron Micro-Tron III Envelope Filter - which I mostly actually use as an auto-wah - and it is quite brilliant at that. I am always considering new pedals for rotation on the various slots of my 40-strong pedal-chain - there is pretty much a slot for every purpose.

The Dusk is described as a digitally-controlled analog filter. Where the filter in question is a 24dB/Octave low pass filter based around an old-school integrated circuit called an Operational Trancoductance Amplifier / OTA. The pedal blends analog signal path with digital controls which enables much of the smart operation here.

You get 3 knobs - Filter, Resonance and Volume, where the first is the Digital Control of the Analog OTA, while (Filter) Resonance and Volume are wholly analog controls.

On the row below is where the clever stuff happens with a 3-Mode push-button selector on the left :

1. Cutoff
2. Envelope
3. Low Frequency Oscillation / LFO

And a circa 12-Mode push-button Sub-Mode / Function selector per each of the 3 Modes

For Cutoff we have :

• Slow Sweep
• Medium Sweep
• Fast Sweep

For Envelope there is :

• Reverse Sweep
• Sweep Up
• Sweep Down

And for LFO you have 6 Waveforms :

• Sinewave
• Ramp Up
• SAW Wave / Ramp Down
• Square Wave
• Sample & Hold
• Random

The dual footswitch are enabled with smart functionality too

The Multi Footswitch has different functions per Mode :

• Cutoff = Automated Filter Sweep
• Envelope = Envelope Freeze
• LFO = Tap-Tempo / LFO Speed Ramp Up; hold gives you Speed Ramp Down

The Bypass Footswitch has a secondary Hold Preset Function :

• Press for True Bypass, Hold to load and cycle through 5 onboard Presets

I’m of course enamoured with this sort of format - and in particularly the dual multi-function push-buttons and footswitches. It is very reasonable priced at $199, and is pretty much a shoe-in as the next pedal in on the rotation for my number 4 slot.

Ryan only just announced today that the first pedal is off the production line - apparently you get a choice in whether you have a sparkly or non-sparkly paintjob - no idea why anyone would not want the sparkle!

As I mentioned - this is very much the frontrunner for slot #4 - but I do have a forthcoming post for a little more due diligence where I look at the Dusk versus the new Flower Pedals Hosta, Pigtronix Resotron and Source Audio Spectrum - which I deem to be the leading examples in this category. That post will probably appear in around a week’s time.

As it is, I really love the feature set, usability and aesthetics of this pedal - so right now the decision is about 90% made - but I always try to keep an open mind!