Kinotone Audio

Kinotone Audio

Also known as: Kinotone

Unclaimed

Kinotone is a boutique electronic instrument company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded by electrical and computer engineer Jaak Jensen. The company grew out of Jensen's experiments with ARM processors around 2020 and his background in synthesizer and pro-audio repair, combined with live recording work at University of Minnesota station Radio K. Kinotone's stated focus is blending the sou...

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Kinotone is a boutique electronic instrument company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded by electrical and computer engineer Jaak Jensen. The company grew out of Jensen's experiments with ARM processors around 2020 and his background in synthesizer and pro-audio repair, combined with live recording work at University of Minnesota station Radio K. Kinotone's stated focus is blending the sound and feel of analog circuits with the precision and flexibility of digital DSPs and microcontrollers, and the project has a strong open-source streak — Jensen releases hardware and software files for hacking and learning.

The product line consists of compact, unusually feature-dense pedals designed to work with guitar, bass, synths, or any line-level source. Ribbons, the company's debut, is a stereo magnetic tape emulator that models flutter, saturation, and tape-style delay. Sparks is an analog harmonic processor combining overdrive, wavefolding, and filtering with synth-style modulation sources and an onboard SID-chip-inspired four-voice synthesizer playable over MIDI. Ghosts is a six-voice polyphonic chordal resonator that bundles a touch pad, contact mic, drum machine, and looper into a single enclosure.

Kinotone has built a following within the experimental, ambient, and synth-adjacent guitar communities, largely through word-of-mouth on pedal forums and coverage from boutique-focused outlets. The pedals are sold direct from the company and through specialty retailers such as Perfect Circuit and The Pedal Zone.

Kinotone Audio has 2 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Multi Effects Pedals and Reverb Effects Pedals. Their gear is featured by 2 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock and Pop. Notable users include Zachary Cole Smith and Dan Boeckner.

Artists Who Use Kinotone Audio

Zachary Cole Smith uses 1 Kinotone Audio product

Zachary Cole Smith

Singer, Guitarist · DIIV

Dan Boeckner uses 1 Kinotone Audio product

Dan Boeckner

Singer, Guitarist · Arcade Fire

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