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Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

wildergardenaudio.com

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Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#41

Post by erik_p »

weinzierl wrote: post #27
wildergarden wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

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 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-stu...

I also like https://camelcrusher.com/

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#42

Post by squeaky-clean »

ace2358 wrote: post #16
fogbeak wrote: post #14

Hey, I'm a long-time music producer and I'm dying to get into this exact kind of work - writing plugins and eventually synthesizers from scratch. I'm curious what your path was to get to the point where you can write an audio plug-in from scratch - I noticed you're using the JUCE framework, and that's about as far as I got and I never really escaped tutorial hell.

Hi there, I’m in a similar situation!! Would like to write my own things at some point. For me I’ve looked at using the new Max VST compiler https://cycling74.com/products/rnbo Great for prototyping ideas. There is also native instruments Reaktor which is also awesome for low level dsp prototyping. https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synt... These tools are for creating the algorithms before progr…

There's also PureData which is free/FOSS. I prefer Max if I'm using a visual dsp language, but PureData can technically do everything Max does, tends to have wider support for 3rd party programs (I have a guitar pedal that can load PureData files for example) and like I said it's free. There are ways to turn it into a VST, as well as some VSTs that are just PD runtimes so you don't need to compile it[0]. And it's by the same person who created Max.

Reaktor is the most difficult for me to work in, that might just be because I learned the other 2 first. But you get their library of pre-built components which is nice. Want an exceptionally accurate Moog filter in your effect? Just drag and drop the one they've already made.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33302905

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#43

Post by dylan604 »

xanderlewis wrote: post #40
userbinator wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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…

> 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.

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#44

Post by dylan604 »

louthy wrote: post #30

Not sure what to make of it. It clearly does what it says on the tin, and from that point of view it’s impressive; but personally it’s a deeply undesirable effect. Maybe it’s bringing back PTSD of performing on Groovetech radio, streamed over RealPlayer! :D I guess im not the audience as I prefer analogue distortion, but I also like the sound of low bit rate digital artefacts (bit crushing and the sound of old sample…

> streamed over RealPlayer!

does it keep pausing/stuttering while displaying "buffering"? in my neck of the woods, it was hard to buffer enough data that played long enough to hear how shitty it sounded.

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#45

Post by dylan604 »

brnt wrote: post #36
louthy wrote: post #30

Not sure what to make of it. It clearly does what it says on the tin, and from that point of view it’s impressive; but personally it’s a deeply undesirable effect. Maybe it’s bringing back PTSD of performing on Groovetech radio, streamed over RealPlayer! :D I guess im not the audience as I prefer analogue distortion, but I also like the sound of low bit rate digital artefacts (bit crushing and the sound of old sample…

Xing encodes from Napster, baby!

I used to record broadcast radio to a SLP VHS tape. Just imagine how that sounded!

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#46

Post by xanderlewis »

dylan604 wrote: post #43
xanderlewis wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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…

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.

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#48

Post by dylan604 »

xanderlewis wrote: post #46
dylan604 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

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…

I always thought an interesting format would have been the plastic disc with a physical track similar to vinyl, but read optically so that it could be a disc that was compact like that other digital format. The loss in fidelity would naturally cause the format to have a charm of its own. Sort of like those old films with an optical audio track that have a distinctive sound.

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#49

Post by wildergarden »

sudara wrote: post #47

This is amazing, I will def be playing with it (lossy is also my jam) and hi! I made pamplejuce, hope it worked ok for you, lemme know if anything was rough (its been growing up a bit lately)

Oh my goodness, hello! Pamplejuce has been a life-saver-- having github actions with pluginval proved to be an absolute necessity when building and linking the hacked encoder libraries. I love reading your juce blogposts as well. Thank you for all that you do!

Re: Show HN: Audio plugin for circuit-bent MP3 compression sounds

#50

Post by wildergarden »

stenson wrote: post #28
wildergarden wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

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!
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