Yellowcake Lida Machine, Dual-LFO Filter Pedal, Dreamy Sweeps or Nasty Distorted Oscillation

Yellowcake Lida Machine, Dual-LFO Filter Pedal, Dreamy Sweeps or Nasty Distorted Oscillation

The following description is from the Premier Guitar review dated 2/22/2018 by Joe Gore.

The Yellowcake Lida Machine at it's heart is a simple LFO filter with the usual rate, depth, frequency, and feedback controls. But this is not a MuTron-style envelope follower. It doesn’t react to your playing dynamics. The filter frequency simply sweeps back and forth according to the LFO rate setting. Nor are there multiple filter types: just your basic resonant low-pass filter with smooth, triangle-wave modulation. There’s also a master volume control, a wet/dry mix knob, and a switch that toggles between slow and fast rate ranges.

But this simple filter sounds terrific. The op amp’s sound quality is excellent. The ranges and tapers of the pots are wisely chosen. The sweet spots are never clumped together at one end of the knobs’ ranges, and every possible setting is usable. The sweeps teeter into self-oscillation with the feedback knob above 4 o’clock or so. Lida will shriek on command, but there are plenty of subtle sounds, too.

And that’s just the foundation.

Bicephalous Sweeps
The Lida Machine incorporates a second LFO with its own rate and depth controls. Mind you, it’s not a separate filter—just an extra LFO that modulates the single filter independently from LFO 1. Additionally, this second LFO has a 3-position waveform switch offering smooth triangle-wave modulation, like the first LFO, or choppier ramp and sawtooth options. Since LFO 2 has its own footswitch, you can potentially toggle between two high-contrast tones without readjusting the knobs.

When you activate LFO2, things get very interesting—very fast. The two oscillators play against each other in complex and fascinating ways. You’re not hearing two independent filters, nor two oscillators dedicated to differing frequencies—but at times you’d swear you are. At slow modulation rates, you get narcotic, gradually shifting sweeps. Fast rates and high resonance yield watery burbles and splashes and whooping wobble board effects. The rhythms get complex and compelling and make conventional parts much more interesting. It’s difficult to not come up with cool new sounds after a few minutes of experimentation.

The Lida Machine wrings an impressive number of tones from this seemingly straightforward circuit. You can push the filter into distortion (as heard art 1:42 in the audio clip), or create near-subliminal animation by favoring the dry signal via the wet/dry blend knob. An expression input jack lets you control the frequency cutoff via expression pedal (not included). Another jack lets you drive the effect using controller voltage—a potentially powerful function for modular synth mavens. (Insane modular synth system also not included.)

Bi-level Build
While Lida Machine’s enclosure graphics are chaotic, the interior work is clean as can be. It’s a tidy, through-hole build, neatly organized and securely soldered. A second board in a contrasting color connects all the switches and jacks. It’s cut into a complex shape and connected to the primary board via ribbon cable. It’s a beautiful build that looks like … art.

Lida Machine runs on standard 9-volt power supplies, but can accept up to 12 volts. There’s no battery option.

THE LOWDOWN:

Freq. - Adjusts frequency of the Voltage Controlled Filter.

Res - Adjust Resonance of VCF. Oscillation starts when knob is at 4 o’clock.

Rate - Controls rate of the LFO.

Depth - Controls intensity of the LFO to.

X - Expression pedal in for the Freq. control.

CV-IN - Input for adding in other modulation or synth like modules.

LFO 1 Switch - 2-way toggle that switches triangle LFO rate from Slow to Fast .

LFO 2 Switch - 3-way waveform toggle switch. Ramp, Triangle, and Sawtooth

Clean - Clean signal mix.

Level - Total output volume.

Yellowcake Lida Machine, Dual-LFO Filter Pedal, Dreamy Sweeps or Nasty Distorted Oscillation