Electro-Harmonix Riddle Q Balls vs ICA Gyrator
The Electro-Harmonix Riddle Q Balls and the ICA Gyrator are both pedals. The Electro-Harmonix Riddle Q Balls leans dynamic. The ICA Gyrator leans analog warmth and mid-forward. Current prices: $155.13 vs $42.59.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.37% — somewhat different
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Funk
ICA Gyrator
Ica · pedal
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$155.13via Reverb
$42.59via Reverb
The Electro-Harmonix Riddle is a Q-Balls style guitar envelope filter pedal from Electro-Harmonix, delivering pick-attack-responsive auto-wah filter sweeps with Q, Range, Mix, and Drive controls. The Riddle produces funky, dynamic filter sweeps that follow playing dynamics with adjustable Q resonance for sharp filter peaks and Drive for adding harmonic content. Operates in both guitar and bass frequency ranges via Range control.
ICA Gyrator takes its name from the gyrator circuit, an active filter design commonly used to simulate inductor behavior in compact analog effects such as wah pedals and resonant filters, suggesting this pedal is built around that filtering technology rather than being a straightforward drive or modulation effect. ICA appears to be a small, niche builder with limited documented history, and specific details on control layout, frequency range, or exact function beyond the gyrator-based filtering implied by its name aren't confirmed from available sources.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Soul
- dynamic
- analog warmth
- mid-forward