9

Bitcrusher
Bitcrusher is a low-resolution digital distortion effect. You can use it to emulate the sound
of early digital audio devices, to create artificial aliasing by dividing the sample rate, or
to distort signals until they are unrecognizable.
• Drive slider and field: Sets the amount of gain in decibels applied to the input signal.
Note: Raising the Drive level tends to increase the amount of clipping at the output of
the Bitcrusher as well.
• Resolution slider and field: Sets the bit rate (between 1 and 24 bits). This alters the
calculation precision of the process. Lowering the value increases the number of
sampling errors, generating more distortion. At extremely low bit rates, the amount of
distortion can be greater than the level of the usable signal.
• Waveform display: Shows the impact of parameters on the distortion process.
• Downsampling slider and field: Reduces the sample rate. A value of 1 x leaves the signal
unchanged, a value of 2 x halves the sample rate, and a value of 10 x reduces the
sample rate to one-tenth of the original signal. (For example, if you set Downsampling
to 10 x , a 44.1 kHz signal is sampled at just 4.41 kHz.)
Note: Downsampling has no impact on the playback speed or pitch of the signal.
• Mode buttons: Set the distortion mode to Folded, Cut, or Displaced. Signal peaks that
exceed the clip level are processed.
Note: The Clip Level parameter has a significant impact on the behavior of all three
modes. This is reflected in the Waveform display, so try each mode button and adjust
the Clip Level slider to get a feel for how this works.
• Folded: The start and end levels of the clipped signal are unchanged, but the center
portion is effectively folded in half (halved in the level above the threshold), resulting
in a softer distortion.
• Cut: The signal is abruptly distorted when the clipping threshold is exceeded. Clipping
that occurs in most digital systems is closest to Cut mode.
60 Chapter 3 Distortion Effects