4 ms·

Looks similar in spirit to Goodhertz' Lossy plugin [1], described as: "The infinitely desirable sound of crappy mp3’s, broken cellphones, streaming videos, and

Looks similar in spirit to Goodhertz' Lossy plugin [1], described as: "The infinitely desirable sound of crappy mp3’s, broken cellphones, streaming videos, and much more." I think Lossy approaches the same idea from a more artistic angle in contrast to MAIM which comes to a similar end from a more technical direction. Coming from the 8-bit generation I find it interesting and refreshing that the younger generation seems to leave the harsh sound of the bit crusher behind and brings more sophistication into digital degradation. It's no surprise, of course, because low quality lossy compression is what they grew up with, in contrast to 4-bit 4 kHz bit banged crash, my generation would consider lo-fi. Another plugin that is similar in spirit in the sense that it goes beyond simple downsampling to make things retro is AudioThing's Speakers. It has convolution samples from many old devices like the Gameboy or several old phones. I think it would be the perfect companion to listen to MP3 degraded sound with a speaker from your past. [1] https://goodhertz.com/lossy/ https://goodhertz.com/lossy/ [2] https://www.audiothing.net/effects/speakers/ https://www.audiothing.net/effects/speakers/ I'm not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned. These are just plugins from my collection that came to my mind. Usually I do not post links to paid products at all, but I also think the VST plugin space is somewhat special in that it seems to allow many small companies to exist (maybe even prosper?), which is rare today, so I made an exception here.

wildergarden 3y ago
Yes, absolutely! Lossy was one of my main inspirations in coding MAIM, and I would recommend their plugin highly: it sounds beautiful, although it is perhaps a bit less "accurate," since it does not use real MP3 encoders.
- weinzierl 3y ago
  Thank you wildergarden for giving MAIM out for free! Most other usable plugins in that realm cost real money (Lossy is USD 79 for example) so I like to take the liberty to highlight the donation link: https://ko-fi.com/wildergardenaudio https://ko-fi.com/wildergardenaudio
  - erik_p 3y ago
    Love what OP has created and is releasing free (thank you!) Did want to point out some other cheap/free bitcrushers out there for people to try (in addition to MAIM) https://www.deniseaudio.com/plugins/my-crush https://www.deniseaudio.com/plugins/my-crush is currently free with newsletter sub and was super cheap when I first purchased it. Some other free vst of note https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/03/09/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-bitcrusher-vstau-plugins/ https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/03/09/bpb-freeware-stu... I also like https://camelcrusher.com/ https://camelcrusher.com/
- stenson 3y ago
  very cool to hear lossy was an inspiration, and to know there's a more accurate version of the same idea out there in the world. and yes that's a totally accurate characterization re: accuracy when it comes to lossy. the loosely-based-on-mp3-ness also lets us be creative with certain engineering constraints, like getting it onto a guitar pedal: https://www.chasebliss.com/lossy https://www.chasebliss.com/lossy
  - wildergarden 3y ago
    Thanks for the comment! I really love the quality and attention to detail you folks put into your plugins, and I had no idea you made Lossy into a pedal. So cool!
userbinator 3y ago
It seems digital compression artifacts have replaced the previous generations' audiophiles liking for the "colour" that tubes and vinyl imparted to the sound.
- xanderlewis 3y ago
  I don’t think so. I’m probably of the ‘current generation’, but tubes and vinyl and tape etc. do have a certain undeniable and pleasant analogue warmth. Digital artifacts have no such quality; they just happen to induce some nostalgia amongst those of us who (in my case just about) remember when they were a necessity. No one’s going to be converting their music library to old-fashioned low bitrate MP3s, whereas vinyl is more popular than ever. (Okay, maybe not ever, but it’s actually growing again.)
  - dylan604 3y ago
    > whereas vinyl is more popular than ever. (Okay, maybe not ever, but it’s actually growing gain.) let's not confuse "the only format available at the time" with popular by choice. each time a new format was created, it was adopted to the point of vinyl nearly becoming obsolete. what is old is new again is part of vinyl's resurrection. it's doubtful most hipsters buying vinyl today even have sound systems other than bookshelf speakers to hear a difference in any format.
    - xanderlewis 3y ago
      I’m not confusing those; by popular I simply meant… well, popular. It was what everyone used because it’s what there was. My point was that vinyl, as well as being (1) pleasingly retro and (2) physical rather than existing in the cloud somewhere, also has (3) fundamentally desirable traits as an audio format — ‘analogue warmth’, etc. Bad lossy digital compression has (1) but not (2) or (3). You’re right about vinyl’s current popularity not having much to do with that though: it’s mainly (1) and (2) I think.
      - dylan604 3y ago

wildergarden 3y ago

Yes, absolutely! Lossy was one of my main inspirations in coding MAIM, and I would recommend their plugin highly: it sounds beautiful, although it is perhaps a bit less "accurate," since it does not use real MP3 encoders.

weinzierl 3y ago
Thank you wildergarden for giving MAIM out for free! Most other usable plugins in that realm cost real money (Lossy is USD 79 for example) so I like to take the liberty to highlight the donation link: https://ko-fi.com/wildergardenaudio https://ko-fi.com/wildergardenaudio
- erik_p 3y ago
  Love what OP has created and is releasing free (thank you!) Did want to point out some other cheap/free bitcrushers out there for people to try (in addition to MAIM) https://www.deniseaudio.com/plugins/my-crush https://www.deniseaudio.com/plugins/my-crush is currently free with newsletter sub and was super cheap when I first purchased it. Some other free vst of note https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/03/09/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-bitcrusher-vstau-plugins/ https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/03/09/bpb-freeware-stu... I also like https://camelcrusher.com/ https://camelcrusher.com/
stenson 3y ago
very cool to hear lossy was an inspiration, and to know there's a more accurate version of the same idea out there in the world. and yes that's a totally accurate characterization re: accuracy when it comes to lossy. the loosely-based-on-mp3-ness also lets us be creative with certain engineering constraints, like getting it onto a guitar pedal: https://www.chasebliss.com/lossy https://www.chasebliss.com/lossy
- wildergarden 3y ago
  Thanks for the comment! I really love the quality and attention to detail you folks put into your plugins, and I had no idea you made Lossy into a pedal. So cool!

userbinator 3y ago

It seems digital compression artifacts have replaced the previous generations' audiophiles liking for the "colour" that tubes and vinyl imparted to the sound.

xanderlewis 3y ago
I don’t think so. I’m probably of the ‘current generation’, but tubes and vinyl and tape etc. do have a certain undeniable and pleasant analogue warmth. Digital artifacts have no such quality; they just happen to induce some nostalgia amongst those of us who (in my case just about) remember when they were a necessity. No one’s going to be converting their music library to old-fashioned low bitrate MP3s, whereas vinyl is more popular than ever. (Okay, maybe not ever, but it’s actually growing again.)
- dylan604 3y ago
  > whereas vinyl is more popular than ever. (Okay, maybe not ever, but it’s actually growing gain.) let's not confuse "the only format available at the time" with popular by choice. each time a new format was created, it was adopted to the point of vinyl nearly becoming obsolete. what is old is new again is part of vinyl's resurrection. it's doubtful most hipsters buying vinyl today even have sound systems other than bookshelf speakers to hear a difference in any format.
  - xanderlewis 3y ago
    I’m not confusing those; by popular I simply meant… well, popular. It was what everyone used because it’s what there was. My point was that vinyl, as well as being (1) pleasingly retro and (2) physical rather than existing in the cloud somewhere, also has (3) fundamentally desirable traits as an audio format — ‘analogue warmth’, etc. Bad lossy digital compression has (1) but not (2) or (3). You’re right about vinyl’s current popularity not having much to do with that though: it’s mainly (1) and (2) I think.
    - dylan604 3y ago