Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Discomfort Designs shrinks down its Riemann's Grave Multi-Mode Stereo Modulated Filter and 3-way Distortion Pedal
Key Points
Discomfort Designs' Riemann's Grave: compact 1590BB multi‑mode stereo filter with 3‑way Zeta distortion. Six knobs, three 3‑way switches; Filter footswitch left, Zeta right (Wavefolder/Bitcrusher/Octave Distortion).
Controls: Resonance, Mix, Jitter (Random Variation), Frequency (X‑Pass Filters), Depth, Zeta Param. Frequency Range: Band Pass / Low Pass / High Pass. Modulation: * Random Sample & Hold / X Static / ∿ Wandering SineWave. Stereo TRS Ins and Outs.
Tones: robot‑talk, fluttery, zithery, swooshy, lo‑fi. Editions: Standard stompbox and desktop arcade‑switch (like Chase Bliss Automatone). As of 2026-07-13, the price was £295 for both.
Reached out to Justin about Phantom Limb but wasn’t pursued; chose Butterfly Effects Dobbo instead.
For whatever reason I overlooked the original 1590BB Edition of this pedal - which is now available for the first time in a more pedalboard-friendly compact enclosure.
You get 6 knobs and 3 x 3-way Switches - with a Filter engage Footswitch on the left, and the Zeta Function on the right - Wavefolder, Bitcrusher, Octave Distortion.
Controls - Resonance, Mix, Jitter (Random Variation), Frequency (X-Pass Filters), Depth, Zeta Function Param (per Distortion), Frequency Range : Band Pass / Low Pass / High Pass, Modulation : * - Random Sample & Hold / X - Static / ∿ - Wandering SineWave, Distortion / Zeta Type : Wavefolder / Bitcrusher / Octave Distortion, Filter Engage, Zeta Engage / Distortion.
The sum of these parts is definitely greater than the whole - as you get a range of useful textures - from robot-talk through various fluttery, zithery, and swooshy textures - allied to those different lo-fi flavours of distortion.
This is a stereo device - so presumably TRS Ins and Outs.
The main accompanying demo is great - and there are so many cool tones onboard - it’s quite an unusual combination but really potent at the same time - absolutely fantastic fo distressed and lo-fi tones.
The compact Riemann’s Grave comes in 2 Editions - the Standard / Stompbox Edition is as pictured - while there is also a table-top / Desktop variant with Arcade Switches like the Chase Bliss Automatone - in place of those footswitches. Both editions go for £295 on the Discomfort Designs Webstore.
I’m certainly not short of potent filter pedals - but I would not mind adding this to the reference collection. I reached out to Justin last year about the Phantom Limb - while he didn’t seem to be particularly receptive of a collaboration - I guess is plate was overfilled already - so longer-term I went for the Butterfly Effects Dobbo instead.
I really loved what I heard from the Riemann’s Grave demos - and that one for sure goes on the list!
Demos
