Bitcrusher

The Bitcrusher makes a sound coarse and digital on purpose: fewer bits, fewer samples, and a hard
ceiling that clips, folds or wraps whatever goes over it. It is the sound of old samplers and game
consoles, from a light grain to broken noise. It goes in any effects rack, most often as an insert
on drums, a synth line or a loop.

Loads doing nothing

The Bitcrusher loads at 24 bit, Downsampling 1×, Clip level 0 dB and Drive 0 dB: the sound passes as it
came in.

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Distortion

Control	What it does
1Mode	What happens to peaks above the clip level: Fold turns them back down, Clip (as it loads) cuts them flat, Wrap sends them round to the other side, the harshest.
2Clip level	The ceiling the mode acts above, −48 … 0 dB. It is also the loudest the output gets, so lowering it makes the sound quieter: bring it back with Level.
3Drive	Gain into the ceiling, 0 … 48 dB: more drive, more of the sound goes over it.

Crush

Control	What it does
4Resolution	The bit depth, 1 … 24 bit. 24 (as it loads) is off; lower is coarser and noisier. Around 8 bit is an old sampler; under 4 the sound breaks into steps.
5Downsampling	Holds each sample for this many, 1× … 100×. 1× (as it loads) is off; higher is duller and adds a metallic ring. The pitch and the speed never change.

Output

Control	What it does
6Dry/wet	Balance between the dry and the crushed sound. 100 % as it loads.
7Level	Makes up the level a low Clip level or Resolution takes away.

The screen

8Output. One cycle of a sine wave as the Bitcrusher would return it: the thin line is the
wave going in, the white one what comes out. The steps up and down are the Resolution, the flat
stretches between the points the Downsampling, and the two dotted lines the Clip level, with a
marker at the left you can drag. The word above says what is at work: the mode (Fold, Clip or
Wrap) once Drive is up or the Clip level is down, Crushed when Resolution or Downsampling are on,
Neutral when nothing is. Below, the clip level, then the bits and the downsampling.

Try it

• An old sampler on drums. Resolution 12 bit, Downsampling 3×: a light grain and a darker top.
• A game console lead. On a plain synth line: Resolution 6 bit, Downsampling 8×.
• A broken radio. Mode Wrap, Drive 18 dB, Clip level −12 dB, Dry/wet 60 %, then Level up about 12 dB.
• Decay on an axis. Map Downsampling from 1× to 30×: the sound falls apart as the axis moves away from rest and comes back whole when it returns.

Mapping

Every Bitcrusher knob can be mapped to the Orbiter's axes: see Edit. Mode is a
choice, never on an axis.