Electro-Harmonix Mainframe

Electro-Harmonix Mainframe

Bit Crusher
Buzz, beep, and chatter. Get high on the lo-fi sounds of "old-school" games, toys, and terminals! The Mainframe offers sample rate reduction from 48kHz to 110Hz. A little background: the sample rate is the number of times per second that a sample or snapshot of an analogue signal is recorded. For example, CDs had a sampling rate of 44.1kHz, meaning the original analogue signal is sampled 44,100 times per second. The sampling rate defines the frequency range that can be reproduced with good fidelity. If the sampling rate is reduced, the quality of the audio signal deteriorates and aliasing occurs. Aliasing means audible artifacts that occur when higher frequencies are sampled at an insufficient rate, resulting in distortion. The Mainframe's sampling rate range is wide enough to take you from sounds that are fairly pristine to sounds that are unrecognizable compared to the input signal. It also offers bit crushing from 24-bit to 1-bit. What does this mean? Bit crushing is bit depth reduction. Back to our CD example: CDs used a bit depth of 16-bit, meaning that each of their samples was represented by 16-bit information. Higher bit depths can accurately represent a wider dynamic range, while bit crushing increases the number of sampling errors and creatively degrades the sound to bring us back to those wicked "old school" sounds we love. The Mainframe's selectable high/low/bandpass filter allows the user to shape the artifacts of bit crushing and sample rate. Another very cool feature is its Sample Rate Tuning mode, where the pedal analyzes your input signal in real time and adjusts the sample rate to the pitch of your signal or a set.