How to resolve AdBlock issue? F*ck With Sound Break On Through & Bring It On
Having opened ears in October when debuting during the Bristol, UK-hosted Machina Bristronica 2025 event showcasing electronic music culture and technology, dedicated DACS Audio brand F*ck With Sound is ships Break On Through and Bring It On - opening an absorbing new chapter in the award-winning high-performance, well-engineered product producer’s four-decade-spanning design and manufacturing history with a FET distortion unit (based on an extension of what was originally a microphone level limiter) and a ring modulator boasting a super-smooth sound, really low breakthrough, and switchable WEIGHT and EDGE controls (which will both be familiar to users of DACS Audio’s legacy FwS FREQue, much-lauded as a 2U rack-mount, two-channel ring modulator outboard effect), respectively, representing extraordinary Eurorack modules living up to the newly-launched brand’s noteworthy name - as of December 15…
As a FET distortion unit based on an extension of what was originally a microphone limiter, the basic circuit behind F*ck With Sound’s Break On Through module has been used - and abused - by producers for years, more recently emulated as a plug-in, before being effectively adapted to join the ranks of the ever-expanding Eurorack marketplace. Maintains DACS Audio Managing Director Dr Douglas Doherty: “After reading about Soundtoys’ Devil-Loc plug-in, I was intrigued. We were looking for a distortion unit to go in a mic pre under development. I had heard about Tchad Blake’s work with the original Shure Level-Loc - particularly on drums, and this seemed like a bit of serendipity that had to be acted upon! The perfect fit. In the end, we didn’t proceed with the mic pre, but it was clear that this would be ideal for modular system users.”
Bringing Break On Through to market as a 14HP-sized Eurorack module - based on a classic analogue microphone limiter design that was, according to legend, hijacked by an electronics-savvy record producer, and used on numerous records for ‘breaking through’ with drums and percussion, particularly - was easier said than done, however. “As always, there were many hurdles,” admits Dr Douglas Doherty, before continuing: “The original circuit was for microphones, so it had to be upped for line level; it was single voltage rail, so had to be adapted for dual voltage rail; the interaction of the threshold and input gain needed some tweaking; and we wanted to adjust the release. After a few prototypes, we arrived at the current unit, which is very responsive and versatile. Control-wise, it has an input gain [IN GAIN] and a threshold setting, which we call BREAK; as well as the manual BREAK control, there is also a CV input [IN] to modulate the threshold. There is a variable RELEASE control that can produce some very interesting results, depending on the nature of the input. On the output, we also have gain [OUT GAIN], and a CV input [IN] to modulate the output level [GAIN MOD].”
Musically speaking, the end result “…is a brick wall limiter that can - by upping the input level - be pushed into distortion,” describes Dr Douglas Doherty, justifiably proud of the fact that F*ck With Sound successfully upgraded and updated the circuit concerned to produce a colouring block with a vast pallet. “With dynamic material such as drums, it can be set for only peaks to distort - the rest remaining clean. That quality was commented upon by a couple of distortion aficionados atMachina Bristronica.” Break On Through features - hitherto unmentioned - worth highlighting here include: LED indication for distortion; solid metal sleeve jacks for longevity and stability; and custom DACS Audio aluminium knobs.
By benefitting likewise from DACS Audio’s acclaimed design know-how and superior build quality, Bring It On clearly comes from the same stable, yet it is a different beast entirely. Explains Dr Douglas Doherty: “Bring It On uses the ring modulator circuit at the heart of DACS’ FREQue, the first production FwS unit. Hand calibrated to give the lowest possible breakthrough, Bring It On has the performance of a digital ring modulator, but with a smooth, rich analogue sound. Bring It On’s two modulation inputs give a subtle - or not so subtle! - range of modulation effects when mixing sub audio CVs with audio frequency signals. You can fully adjust the balance between the MOD IN 1 and MOD IN 2 volume controls, creating results that are sometimes unexpected, but always musical.”
Musically putting this 10HP-sized Eurorack module into its rightful perspective, Dr Douglas Doherty declares, “Bring It On is simply a ring modulator; while we did consider adding other features, we decided that artists using these units would be well able to provide interesting source material from their other devices - unlike the FREQue, which was a standalone studio piece of kit, so needed lots of internal elements. There are no CV inputs, because there’s nothing really a CV could control, except, possibly, the mod inputs mixing, but, again, that is something easily done externally. EDGE and WEIGHT controls are low and high shelving EQs; we’d used them as an audio EQ for a jazz musician’s PA, and he loved it. They are very smooth and very musical in their response; they don’t necessarily add or subtract bass or treble because ring modulation is so unpredictable, so the effect can be surprising.”
Delving deeper, Bring It On is actually hand calibrated with four multi-turn trimmers to give better than 65dB rejection of the MOD(ulation) input; it does all the things a ring mod should do - in other words, not a mix of modulated signal and MOD (carrier) coming through. Try feeding the same signal into one of the MOD inputs - DC coupled for subsonic CVs, as well as audio signals - and MUS(ic) input - flat down to <5Hz - to get pure octave transposition, or generate gating and pulsing with a low frequency MOD input. Its super-smooth sound is assisted by Omeg ECO pots, famed for their smoothness and longevity, perfectly paired with custom DACS Audio aluminium knobs. Needless to say, Bring It On sounds, looks, and feels like the best ring mod out there.
That these extraordinary Eurorack modules should live up to the newly-launched F*ck With Sound brand’s noteworthy name was a no-brainer as far as Dr Douglas Doherty is concerned, concluding: “We’d been thinking about the F*ck With Sound brand for quite a while. One day, the whole modular thing clicked into place; in retrospect, it was so obvious! There are lots of ideas in the melting pot - largely analogue processing. Put it this way: while the modular format allows us to be adventurous, and experimenting is easy, it’s not overly expensive. As a musician, it feels like going back to my roots, so it’s pretty exciting. Modular has given my studio a new look, and my music output a new component.”
Break On Through and Bring It On modules are shipping and available to order online directly through the F*ck With Sound website, as well as through the brand’s growing global network of dealers and distributors.