When our friend Tyler Duncan (an incredible producer & mixer) wanted a certain drum fill to reek of the 90’s — to sound like a low bit-rate digital MP3 ripped from KaZaA — he turned to Goodhertz for answers.

This got us thinking. Bitcrushers exist, but Tyler didn’t have 8-bit in mind, he wanted lossy digital audio: streaming music on a 56k modem. What if a plugin could degrade digital audio & capture that quintessential compressed sound in realtime?

Lossy gives you the nasty (beautiful?) artifacts of heavily deconstructed audio in a highly-tweakable realtime plugin.

Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit - all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided.

— Brian Eno, A Year With Swollen Appendices

Controls

Primary Controls

Verb

Lossy’s reverb was inspired by the 1980’s reverb algorithms developed by Keith Barr and other pioneers of the first digital reverbs. Though it’s not a realistic-sounding reverb and doesn‘t sound like Carnegie Hall or Concertgebouw, it does sound extremely reminiscent of the reverbs used by electronic musicians in the early 1990’s (Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, etc).

Despite being pretty much the most “digital” reverb we could make, it has a warmer, almost organic quality.

Verb Position

Sets whether the Verb is applied Pre- or Post- Lossy and Filter processing.

  • Applying reverb before Loss adds more sound to be Lossified, for a more full and expansive effect
  • Applying reverb after Loss sounds more like a traditional reverb, adding space to the original Lossy sound
  • Default Pre

Verb Amount

Controls the amount of reverb applied.

  • Min 0%
  • Max 100%
  • Default 0%

Filter

Filter Mode

Switches between Normal, a bandpass filter, and Inverted, a bandreject filter.

  • With Filter Mode on Normal, frequencies inside the filter range are audible and those outside are cut.
  • With Filter Mode on Inverted, frequencies outside the filter range are audible and those inside are cut.
  • Default Norm.

Low Cut Freq

Controls the center frequency of the low cut.

  • Min 20Hz
  • Max 10.0kHz
  • Default 20Hz

High Cut Freq

Controls the center frequency of the high cut.

  • Min 40Hz
  • Max 20.0kHz
  • Default 20.0kHz

Filter Slope

Varies the filter slope for both high cut & low cut.

  • Min 6.0dB/Oct
  • Max 96.0dB/Oct
  • Default 24.0dB/Oct

Loss

Loss Mode

Lossy has a number of different loss modes — each with their own unique sounds and applications.

Loss Mode Explanation
Standard Lossy data compression reminiscent of a low bit-rate digital MP3
Inverse Hear what’s taken away by Standard mode
Phase Jitter Simulates inaccuracies in phase and timing due to imperfect clocking
Packet Loss The skips and spaces of a bad connection
Packet Repeat Fills the spaces of Packet Loss with repeats of the previous audio
Standard + Packet Loss A combination of Standard and Packet Loss modes
Standard + Packet Repeat A combination of Standard and Packet Repeat modes
  • Default Standard

Loss Amount

Varies the amount of lossy data compression.

Lossy is a creative tool and is not based any any particular lossy codec or standard (i.e. it’s not a MP3 codec checker).

  • Min 0%
  • Max 100%
  • Default 0%

Loss Speed

Controls how quickly the data compression algorithm acts.

Slower speeds have more spectral smear, faster speeds tend to sound more garbled.

  • Min 0%
  • Max 100%
  • Default 100%

Loss Gain

Overall gain of the Lossy signal.

Loss Gain includes a level meter embedded in the slider. This meter shows the peak level of the output signal after Lossy’s processing.

If the signal peak exceeds or equals 0.0dB the meter color turns red, indicating that clipping could occur. Lossy will never clip internally, due to its double-precision floating-point processing, but the signal might be clipped at a later stage (by the host/DAW or DAC).

  • Min -24.0dB
  • Max 24.0dB
  • Default 0.0dB

Master Mix

Controls the overall Lossy mix.

  • Min 0%
  • Max 100%
  • Default 100%

Master On/Off

Bypasses Lossy’s processing.

We recommend using the Master On/Off instead of your DAW’s plugin bypass to avoid digital artifacts.

  • Default On

Advanced Controls

The Advanced section offers more precise control and fine adjustment options.

To access Lossy’s advanced controls, click the ••• icon in the sidebar.

Verb Decay

Controls the length of the reverb decay. 0% is very fast, and 200% is very slow.

  • Min 0%
  • Max 200%
  • Default 100%

Auto Gain

Enables automatic gain compensation.

Auto Gain helps keep the perceived volume the same, even when much of the audio information has been removed due to data compression.

  • Min 0%
  • Max 100%
  • Default 0%

Gate Threshold

Threshold below which the audio is silenced.

  • Min -96.0dB
  • Max 0.0dB
  • Default -96.0dB

Stereo Mode

Mode Function
Stereo Left and right channels are processed independently.
Joint Stereo Left and right channels are processed together. Generally produces a stereo image that is truer to the source.
Mono Left and right channels are summed to mono.
  • Default Stereo

Weighting

Changes the frequency weighting of the data compression algorithm.

Style Explanation
Perceptual Frequencies are weighted using a psychoacoustic model.
Flat All frequencies are weighted equally.
  • Default Perceptual

Specs

Supported Channel Configurations

Input Channel # Output Channel #
1 1
1 2
2 2

Acknowledgements

Annlie Huang / Chris Conover / Diana Zheng / Jack Stratton / TaeHo Park / Tyler Duncan

Authors

Devin Kerr / Rob Stenson / Jasper Duba / Noah Dayan

Translators

TaeHo Park / Tiago Frúgoli / Gustavo Guzmán / Reda Kermach / Noah Dayan

About Goodhertz Plugins

User Interface

Goodhertz plugins are made to be workhorse tools that sound amazing. We’ve put a lot of thought and care into the audio quality and plugin usability, and for that reason, we’ve opted for simple and direct controls & interfaces that don’t rely on photorealistic knobs or ornamental screw heads to communicate their meaning.

We’ve also decided to only include meters and graphs when we feel they will directly lead to a better sonic result. Meters/graphs can consume significant CPU resources, and we firmly believe that if it sounds good, it is good.

Our meters can be manually enabled or disabled via the “Enable Metering” User Preference.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action Keyboard Shortcut
Enter New Parameter Value Once you’ve tapped or double-tapped a control, type in a value, then hit Enter, Return, or Tab
Increment Parameter Value or arrow keys
Decrement Parameter Value or arrow keys
Jump to Next Parameter Tab
Jump to Previous Parameter Shift + Tab or ` (backtick)
Escape Parameter Focus / Close any Open Drawers Esc
Toggle A/B A (N.B. For this to work, you must have a control selected.)
Shift A to B / Shift B to A Shift + A — this “shifts” the current settings to the opposite A/B state; i.e. if you’re on the A state, hitting Shift+A will copy those settings to the B state. (N.B. For this to work, you must have a control selected.)

Right-Click Actions

Action Instruction
Reset Control to Default Right-Click & select “Reset [control] to Default”
Read about Control in Manual Right-Click & select “Read about [control]”
Lock a control when Switching Presets Right-Click & select “Lock [control] When Switching Presets”
Copy all current plugin settings Right-Click & select “Copy all settings as URL to Clipboard”
Paste all plugin settings Right-Click & select “Paste all settings from Clipboard”
Reset all plugin settings to default Right-Click & select “Reset all settings to default”
Go to the plugin’s product page Right-Click & select “Goodhertz [plugin name]”

Right-Click Preferences

Action Explanation
Language Switch the display language of text elements in Goodhertz plugins. We currently support the following languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), and Arabic.
Always Open Advanced Pane By default, this is Off — i.e. when the plugins open, they do not show you the advanced controls available by hitting the ••• button in the sidebar. If you’d like to always see the advanced controls, enable this preference.
Dark Mode Allows you to choose the color palette used for displaying the interface. If you prefer the look of dark colors (or work in a darker environment) enable this option. The Auto option will automatically adjust the color scheme depending on the system preferences of your machine (Mac only).
Enable Metering By default, this is On — i.e. in normal operation, all audio meters and visualizations available in Goodhertz plugins are enabled and running. If you’d like to turn them off and disable all metering and visualization, deselect this option. And to turn them back on, simply reselect it. N.B. If you’re struggling to use a large number of Goodhertz plugins on an older processor with an integrated GPU, sometimes disabling metering can help.
Enable Scroll Input By default, all Goodhertz sliders can be scrolled in addition to dragged. If you find this behavior unnecessary, deselect this option and no scrolling events will be used to control Goodhertz sliders.
Require Double-Click for Keyboard Focus By default, you can get keyboard focus on any Goodhertz control with a single click. Enable this option to ensure keyboard focus only occurs on double clicks.
Window Size Enlarge or shrink the Goodhertz plugin window by selecting an option here. This will save your preference for all instances of this plugin.

Mouse Modifiers

Action Combination (Mac) Combination (Windows)
Reset Parameter to Default Value Option + Click Alt + Click
Move Control with Coarse Precision Shift + Drag Shift + Drag
Move Control with Fine Precision Command + Drag Ctrl + Drag
Move Control with Normal Precision Drag Drag

Automation

Unintentional digital clicks and pops are the worst. They happen for lots of reasons and often end up wasting your time with needless revisions or mastering surgery. When they go unnoticed, they can make their way onto commercial albums and releases.

Plugin automation is a common cause of clicks and pops. Sweeping an EQ band, changing a delay setting, and even automating a plugin bypass can cause digital artifacts if poorly handled.

This is not true for Goodhertz plugins. Any parameter in a Goodhertz plugin, even on/off switches, can be automated freely and smoothly without clicks, pops, or zipper noises (unless otherwise noted). You can push them, pull them, LFO them — whatever you do, they’ll handle it gracefully.

Since our Master On/Off controls won’t create artifacts, we recommend that you use them rather than your DAW-supplied plugin bypass if you want to disable plugin processing.

Plugin Settings

Goodhertz plugin settings can be copied and pasted as text urls, which look like this: https://goodhertz.co/vulf-comp/3.0.9?cm=0&wf=0&lf=100&lfc=50

To copy and paste, right click anywhere on the plugin interface and select either the copy or the paste option.

E.g. If you paste “https://goodhertz.co/vulf-comp/3.0.9?cm=0&wf=0&lf=100&lfc=50” into Vulf Compressor it will recall the settings associated with that url. This way you can easily send an exact plugin setting to someone — in an email or even a tweet — without any guesswork or screenshots.”

System Requirements

Mac OS X ≥ 10.9

Audio Unit 64-Bit, VST 64-Bit, VST3 64-Bit, or AAX 64-Bit host

Windows ≥ 7

VST 64-Bit, VST3 64-Bit, or AAX 64-Bit host” Contact Support “To send plugin feedback, please e-mail us at feedback@goodhertz.com.

If you have a quick question, send us a tweet @Goodhertz. We’re often able to respond faster to tweets than emails.

If you’re having trouble, experiencing a technical issue, or you think you’ve found a bug, please email support@goodhertz.com.

Find all our contact info & bug-reporting protocol on the contact page.