Desert Sky Audio · Malice Madrigal

Control quick reference

Bass · Distortion · Tone · Volume · Mid-cut
Wall of Ice · Dist · Aurora Curtain · Volume · Twin Assassins

Start with Dist, Tone and Volume; use Bass and Mid-cut to make room around the sound.

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Malice Madrigal with five panel knobs, three toggles, a footswitch and Mary Roberts’s porthole artwork — The five panel knobs turn clockwise for more of their function. Internal trimmers have separate directions in the Rev 2 guide.

Five knobs

Control	Clockwise gives you
Wall of Ice	More low end before clipping; counter-clockwise tightens the bass. Lower-left knob.
Twin Assassins / Notch Blend	Deeper cuts at two fixed midrange frequencies, blended together before the drive.
Dist	More drive into the always-on LED ring; the ladder and fuzz add their voices when engaged.
Aurora Curtain	Moves from a flat balance toward +4 dB presence after clipping. Fully closed corner about 3 kHz. Top-centre knob.
Volume	More output level. Match bypass volume again after changing gain, clipping or compression.

Three switches

Comp: Independently engages the preset compressor and gate after Aurora Curtain. Input, filtering and all clipping combinations work with Comp off.
Clean: Clean bypasses the hard-clip ladder; Ladder adds it. The LED feedback remains active. Re-match Volume after changing clipping combinations.
CRz: Adds the fuzz. Its own low cut near 100 Hz changes the bass balance.

Start here

Hook up: instrument into IN; OUT to your amp or next device. For voice, use a microphone preamp first. Turn strong synth or line sources down before connecting.

Set up: Volume low, Dist fully down, Clean in its Clean position, CRz off and Comp off. Engage the pedal and bring Volume up to bypass level. Set Wall of Ice → Notch Blend → Dist and clipping switches → Aurora Curtain → Comp as wanted → Volume again.

Power: regulated 9 V DC, centre-negative, 2.1 mm plug; supply rated at least 300 mA, 500 mA recommended for startup margin. Regulated 12 V also works. Do not use 18 V or an unregulated adapter.

Internal settings: disconnect power before opening. Production compressor setup is JP1 A, JP2 B, with PEAK unbridged. Use the current resistance-based setup guide. The artwork panel covers the drive-amplifier socket and fuzz trims; confirm any replacement assembly with Desert Sky Audio.

desertskyaudio.com · info@desertskyaudio.com · Website reference updated 1 November 2026