Distortion

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Overview

The Distortion effect is an analog-inspired harmonic processor that can produce everything from warm saturation to broken tube-style distortion. It also includes filtering and tone controls for precise control of the effect’s color and frequency range.

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1. Effect Dropdown

The Effect Dropdown lets you remove or swap the effect and load or save sub-presets. See Shared Settings for dropdown options and detailed descriptions.

2. Filter Controls

These controls affect the variable-width band-pass filter placed before the distortion stage. Use them to focus on specific frequencies, reduce low end, or produce warmer effects.

These settings can also be adjusted by switching the Display Tabs to reveal the draggable Filter Display.

Filter Frequency. Sets the center frequency of the band-pass filter where the distortion is most pronounced.

Filter Width. Adjusts the bandwidth around the center. Narrow settings isolate the distortion to a small band; wider settings let more of the original signal through, producing more harmonic content.

3. Distortion Display

The Distortion Display visualizes the distortion’s response in real time as you adjust parameters.

Switch the Display Tabs to reveal the Filter Display, which provides a draggable filter response for adjusting the distortion’s filter settings.

4. Distortion Controls

Drive. Adjusts the amount of gain applied before distortion. Lower values produce more subtle saturation, while higher values produce more intense distortion. Drive also interacts with both Crush and Bias in interesting ways.

Crush. Introduces additional nonlinear processing that can cause dropouts and additional compression. Higher settings can produce unpredictable effects, especially when combined with higher Drive and Bias.

Bias. Applies asymmetry to the distortion curve, adding more even-order harmonics similar to analog tubes. Ideal for warmer saturation at lower Drive settings or overdriven-tube behavior at higher Drive settings.

Tone. Tilts the frequency balance toward higher or lower frequencies to adjust the harmonic balance and color of the distortion.

5. Mix Controls

In. Sets the level of the wet signal path before processing. Use it to drive the distortion harder or softer.

Out. Sets the final level after processing and dry/wet mixing. Use for additional gain compensation if needed.

Mix. Blends the unprocessed (dry) and processed (wet) signals. Use for parallel distortion effects.