Metasonix TM7 Ultra-Distortion Scrotum Smasher

Metasonix is an

audio equipment Audio equipment refers to devices that reproduce, record, or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units, headphones, and speakers. Audio equip ...

manufacturer based in

Lakeport, California Lakeport is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, California. The city is northwest of Sacramento. Lakeport is on the western shore of Clear Lake, at an elevation of . The population was 5,026 at the 2020 census, up from 4,753 at th ...

. Founded by Eric Barbour in 1998, it specializes in

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

equipment.Grosse, Darwin (2004
Interview: Eric Barbour of Metasonix
''Creative Synth'' (via archive.org) Eli Crews, writing in ''

Electronic Musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

'' in 2008, commented that "Eric Barbour of Metasonix has a colorful approach to design, employing an all-tube audio path in his quest for unusual and sonically extreme products."Eli Crews for Electronic Musician. August 1, 200
Quick Pick: Metasonix TM-7 Scrotum Smasher
/ref>

Background

Barbour worked as an applications engineer for the Russian vacuum tube manufacturer Svetlana Electron Devices.Associated Press (Mar 1, 1998)
Sound of vacuum tubes gets audiophiles glowing
'Eugene Register-Guard He was a staff editor and co-founder of ''Vacuum Tube Valley'' magazine and contributed to ''Glass Audio'' magazine.Barbour, Eric (January 4, 1999)
The Cool Sound of Tubes.
''

IEEE Spectrum ''IEEE Spectrum'' is a magazine edited and published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The first issue of ''IEEE Spectrum'' was published in January 1964 as a successor to ''Electrical Engineering''. In 2010, ''IEEE Spe ...

''Wheeler, Tom; Richards, Keith (2007). ''The Soul of Tone: Celebrating 60 Years of Fender Amps'', p. 53. Hal Leonard Corporation,

Products

Metasonix produces

audio effects Audio effect may refer to: *Sound effect, a recorded or performed sound for a movie or play *Modification of sound produced by an effects unit See also *Audio signal processing Audio signal processing is a subfield of signal processing that is ...

and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s using atypical vintage

s. Metasonix modules are considered high-end in pricing and consume large amounts of power to create highly distorted sounds. Its products include the TM-7 "Scrotum Smasher",Crews, Eli (August 1, 2008)
Quick Pick: Metasonix TM-7 Scrotum Smasher
''Electronic Musician'', Volume 24, Issues 7-12 the TM-3 voltage-controlled oscillator,Robair, Gino (January 1, 2004)

''Electronic Musician'' the TM-6 filter,Robair, Gino (October 1, 2006)

''Electronic Musician'' the TX-1 "Agonizer",Robair, Gino (October 1, 2006)

''Electronic Musician''Anderton, Craig (May 2005)
Metasonix TX-1 Agonizer.
''Keyboard Magazine'' the TX-2 "Butt Probe",Robair, Gino (September 1, 2007)

''Electronic Musician'' the TS-21 waveshaper,Robair, Gino (November 1, 2000)

''Electronic Musician'' the S-1000 ''Wretch Machine'',Robair, Gino (September 1, 2007

''Electronic Musician'' and the G-1000 ''Fucking Fucker'' guitar amplifier. Metasonix also sells a drum machine based on vacuum tubes, the D-2000.Peter Kirn for Created Digital Music. April 28, 201
Metasonix Have Made an Immoral Drum Machine from Vacuum Tubes
/ref> The Metasonix TM-7 Ultra-Distortion Scrotum Smasher features control options based on distortion and power with intentionally vulgar names: Smash, Scrotum, Double Scrotum, Mega Scrotum, and Scrotum Up Ya Ass. ''Audio Geek'' said of it, "The TM-7 is basically a mean, angry guitar preamp made of three vacuum tubes. Plus a feedback loop which makes the preamp unstable. There is nothing else like it."

References

External links

*{{official website, http://metasonix.com

via CGS Synthesizer manufacturing companies of the United States Lakeport, California Companies based in Lake County, California Year of establishment missing