JAF Collection vs miniVerb

The JAF Collection is an exciting set of digital modeled classic analog synthesizer filters (VCFs) for iOS. The emphasis of this collection of audio effects is professional analog sounding and optimized behavior with touchscreen usage. The collection is exclusively available on Apple devices. The apps and the included Audio Units are “universal”, so they work on iPhones and iPads the same way and also have basically the same appearance and functionality. Note: These apps are so-called “Audio Units” (aka plugins), which usually require hosting audio applications to operate. Although, they come with their own basic host applications, which include for instance Core MIDI connectivity and microphone input, to use the filters out of the box, like external hardware devices, without requiring another host application. The JAF Collection Filters can also act as a synthesizer module due to the fact, that there is an unison oscillator section (VCOs) built in for testing and for live performances. The analog modeled synthesizer has no advanced controls or modulators. It just runs the oscillators continuously and can be controlled by external MIDI messages to snap to MIDI pitches or being automated with the volume controller. The complete MIDI assignment is documented in the MIDI Implementation Chart for the JAF Collection, which is embedded into the main app.

miniVerb is an 8-bit/chiptune and lofi reverb effect inspired by the sound of 80s game consoles and retrocomputers. Early consoles didn’t have much power for DSP effects, so the video game composers at that time had to improvise. The most common way to add a sense of space/reverb to the sound was to sacrifice one of the internal tracks to play a delayed version of the original sound, essentially using a slapback echo to add depth. The technique evolved and eventually, consoles started to take advantage of more power for real internal effects. miniVerb recreates that classic digital echo/reverb sound, made famous by iconic consoles such as the NES and SNES, topping it with two filters (post/pre), vibrato, and crusher (bit crusher, downsampler, pitch shifter).