Bit Crusher vs Traverse Lo

A digital degradation effect that combines two classic forms of lo-fi distortion: bit depth reduction (quantization) and sample rate reduction (decimation). Together they emulate the character of early digital samplers, 8-bit consoles, and vintage hardware with limited converter resolution. The signal is first quantized to a reduced number of bits, introducing the harsh harmonic distortion known as quantization noise. It is then resampled at a lower effective rate using a sample-and-hold stage, producing aliasing artifacts above the new Nyquist frequency.

Traverse is a lo-fi tape effect and delay plugin from Audio Damage, makers of premium audio software since 2002. Runs as an AUv3 plugin inside AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, GarageBand, or any AUv3 host on iPhone and iPad. Make a beat sound like an old mixtape. Wash a vocal in tape echo. Push a clean synth into a slow, self-saturating wobble. Or just add a little warmth to anything. One plugin, one signal flow, no chaining, infinite possibilities. WHAT IT DOES - Cassette tape character — Drive, Wow, Flutter, and a tilt-EQ Tone knob that goes from clean and warm to wobbly and worn - Stereo tape delay, 20ms to 10 seconds, free or host-tempo synced - POST DELAY routing button reorders the chain: tape emulator with a delay, or tape delay with a clean input - Procedural splice-point emulator with four controls for tape dropouts and chirps - Curated noise generator with hiss, crackle, dust, fan rumble, 60Hz and 50Hz hum, white, pink, and the Califone Card Reader - Gated noise that drops the floor when input is silent — room tone speaks only when the track does - Ping-pong width control, click-free bypass, fully-wet mix by default WHY IT SOUNDS DIFFERENT Most tape delay plugins keep saturation and delay as separate stages: input gets saturated, then echoed cleanly. Traverse re-processes every feedback repeat through the full cassette chain, so echoes degrade and bloom with each pass instead of just decaying in volume. PART OF THE MOTION EFFECTS FAMILY Traverse joins Ascent (shimmer reverb) and Descent (granular effect processor) in Audio Damage's Motion Effects family — three plugins for ambient explorations and sound design sonic science. ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DESKTOP The full version of Traverse runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux as VST3, AU, AAX, and CLAP. Same DSP, same sound. Visit audiodamage.com for the desktop builds and 20-year catalog of plugins. ABOUT AUDIO DAMAGE Founded in 2002 by Chris Randall and Adam Schabtach, Audio Damage builds plugins for people who care more about character than convention. No copy protection, no subscriptions, no DRM. Just plugins that sound like nothing else. NO TRACKING. NO IN-APP PURCHASES. NO SUBSCRIPTIONS. NO ADS.