Overview

The Brainworx bx_distorange Distortion pedal is an exacting plugin emulation of one of the most popular distortion pedals ever made: The Boss DS-1®. Beloved for its rich, liquid tone and super simple operation, this distortion pedal has been used on countless hit records over the last 4 decades, including Nivana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

This distortion pedal is a modern classic. Artists ranging from Kurt Cobain to Steve Vai have relied on its snarling, grinding distortion to excite fans. Introduced in 1978, it has become a pedalboard staple for guitarists around the world. It's great for all flavors of rock - everything from experimental to indie to modern to heavier, grunge-infused genres. That versatility, combined with its great price, make this pedal the perfect pick for its proven tone.

From subtle warming of clean tones, to smooth distortion effects, the bx_distorange delivers classic sound to your DAW. Download the full function 14-day demo (no dongle required!) today to add this iconic distortion to your tracks.

Legal Disclaimer: Boss and DS-1 are registered trademarks of Roland Inc. bx_distorange was developed by Brainworx Music and Media GmbH based on its own modeling techniques. Roland has not endorsed nor sponsored the bx_distorange in any manner, nor licensed any intellectual property for use in this product.

Features

  • Tone, Distortion, and Level controls
  • Faithful recreation of classic distortion pedal 
  • Mono or Stereo operation
  • Subtle distortion to dramatic shredding effects
  • Great not just for guitar but keyboards and other sources as well—even vocals!
  • Plugin version has all the tone, but not all the noise, of the original
  • Brings classic distortion pedal tone into your DAW
  • Plugin does things the pedal can’t, like automation and stereo buss processing

Audio Examples

Industry Reviews

  • Jody Wisternoff

    Jody Wisternoff

    DJ, Producer (Way Out West)

    Utterly vicious distortion, sounds great on handclaps for that proper crunch! Very usable.

Customer Reviews

  • Excelente!

    ★★★★★
    by Mishaja Cut
    Excelente!
  • bx_distorange

    ★★★★★
    by Goran Alavuk
    worked with real deal , this is good alternative ! really worth of your time ! Instant sound !
  • No frills, but it's just right

    ★★★★★
    by Andrew T. Walls
    An excellent recreation of this pedal which works perfectly whenever I want to recreate a pedalboard signal chain in front of an ampsim. The guitarist in me has never been a huge fan of the DS-1 or… Read More
  • Muy buen producto

    ★★★★★
    by Davidrums
    Tremenda Disto! Muy recomendada
  • bx_distorange

    ★★★★★
    by SpenceGabor
    I had the Boss DS-1and loved it. The bx_distorange really does an incredible job capturing it. Cool play on words with the name too: distorange :)

Specifications

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX DSP, AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 14 down to macOS 11
Windows 11 down to Windows 10

Mac
Intel, or Apple Silicon

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM

Downloads

ChangeLog

bx_distorange

Brainworx bx_distorange - Changelog

Version 1.11.1 (Oct 9, 2023)
- General: fixed CPU spikes on Mac OS

Version 1.11.0 (Aug 15, 2023)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for AAX
- General: added macOS Ventura support
- General: improved plugin loading time in the DAW
- General: fixed issue causing Logic to crash when closing the plugin UI
- General: improved font drawing behavior

Version 1.10 (Mar 15, 2022)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for VST3, VST2 and AU
- General: added macOS Monterey support
- General: added Windows 11 and Windows 10 21H1 support
- General: discontinued Windows 7 support
- General: discontinued macOS 10.9 and 10.11 support
- General: fixed metering behavior in block sizes of 2048 samples and higher

Version 1.9 (Mar 22, 2021)
- General: Compatibility with Logic on Apple Silicon devices via the Rosetta-2 layer
- General: Fixed possible artefacts when freezing or bouncing tracks in Pro Tools
- General: Fixed automation highlighting disappearing in Studio One
- General: Improved license dialog visibility in dark mode

Version 1.8 (May 27, 2020)
- General: Qualified for use with the Windows 10 May 2020 Update
- General: VST3: Fixed potential hangs in a DAW upon loading
- General: Fixed logical issues in undo / redo behavior
- General: Fixed UI resizing issues in Ableton Live on Windows
- General: Fixed audio processing initialization issues on amp and delay products

Version 1.7 (Nov 06, 2019)
- General: Qualified for use with macOS 10.15 Catalina
- General: Qualified for use with Windows 10 November 2019 Update
- General: Fixed plugin validation in Logic under macOS Catalina
- General: Fixed preset name restore in Logic when reopening a session
- General: Fixed opening authorization dialog triggering automation
- General: Improved instantiation times for plugins
- General: Improved license functionality and branding for subscription
- General: Removed 32-bit support on macOS and Windows

Version 1.6 (Jul 10, 2019)
- General: macOS 10.14.5 Update compatibility
- General: Windows 10 1903 Update compatibility
- General: Fixed activation issue in Windows hosts set to non-English language (e.g. Cakewalk)
- General: AU: Fixed issue with increased CPU and memory on reopening UI
- General: VST3: Fixed issue with adapting to host knob mode, and now prioritizing linear
- General: VST3: Fixed issue with VST3 preset permissions
- General: VST3: Improved synchronization between parameter states and some UI functions, e.g. toolbar reset

Version 1.5 (Nov 16, 2018)
- General: macOS Mojave compatibility
- General: Windows October 2018 update compatibility
- General: adding Windows High DPI support for VST2/3 plugins
- General: Fixed potential crashes in Cubase and other VST2 / VST3 DAWs
- General: Fixed potential CPU spikes and audio dropouts
- General: Fixed rendering in Pro Tools on the start of a session
- General: Fixed missing presets in Wavelab and other VST3 DAWs
- General: Improving keyboard control, fixing issues with catched keys preventing it from passing through to DAW
- General: Fixed parallel use of host sessions (e.g. with Live)

Version 1.4 (May 24, 2018)
- General: Microsoft Windows Redstone 4 compatibility
- General: Added computer keyboard control for plugin parameters
- General: Fixed Mouse scroll wheel not working in Windows 8
- General: Fixed an issue where plugins will not validate or load after a certain amount of plugins have been loaded (Windows)
- General: Fixed visual GUI freezes when adjusting DAW parameters, meters, analyzers (Mac)
- General: Fixed possible issue with Pick Pack licenses
- General: Small licenser stability fix

Version 1.3 (Oct 23, 2017)
- General: Mac OS High Sierra compatibility
- General: Fixed possible crash on online activation (Mac OS High Sierra)
- General: Fixed Logic Pro X not validating AU plugins (Mac OS High Sierra)
- General: Fixed CPU spikes and crashes with Cubase (Windows)
- General: Fixed bug that could lead to "AAE -6 error" in ProTools (Windows)
- General: Fixed crash with FL Studio
- General: Fixed crash when cross-opening plugins in various hosts
- General: Fixed crash when using mixdown in Audition
- General: Fixed crash in Final Cut Pro
- General: Fixed delayed parameter handling and crackling issues in Cubase with VST3
- General: Fixed bug where plugin settings were not saved in Harrison Mixbus
- General: Fixed bug that led to AAE error -9317 in ProTools when instantiating plugin
- General: Fixed bug where plugins did not render properly when "x ray" option is enabled in Sonar
- General: Modifications to factory presets were lost when reopening session
- General: Fixed mouse wheel behaviour with second monitor setup (Windows)
- Some plugins: Value labels do not appear every time when clicking on parameter in UI
- General: Faster instantiation time for plugins (Windows)
- General: Adding support for automation highlighting in Presonus StudioOne

Version 1.2.1 (Dec 20, 2016)
- General: Mac OS Sierra compatibility
- General: Fixed automation issues in AU and AAX
- General: Fixed license dialog use of special characters
- General: Improved AU preset support
- General: Performance improvements

Version 1.2 (Apr 1, 2016)
- General: Major UI codebase update
- General: Fixed possible crash when authorizing plugin
- General: Added gain reduction meter support for StudioOne 3
- General: Installers show version info in Windows "Programs And Features"
- Fixed Undo/Redo (BXBUGS-1224)

Version 1.1 (Jan 18, 2016)
- General codebase update
- Fixed missing parameter highlighting in Pro Tools
- Removing RTAS format support

Version 1.0 (*)
- Release version