distortion · the manual, first draft
Vortex
Drive it into a filter that fights back, until the whole chain rings on its own.
An analog-destruction chain: saturating VCAs, folding distortions and a filter that fights back.
soft.systems · VST3 / CLAP · macOS & Windows
01the plugin
overview
A filter, two folding distortions and a bucket-brigade comb, in any order or morphing between orders. The feedback is deliberately left unfiltered.
Switch to poly mode and it becomes an eight-voice plucked-string resonator you play from MIDI.
This manual is a draft. The full manual, control by control, comes with the release.
02the plugin
activation
sign in once
- In the plugin's licence panel, choose sign in. Your browser opens this website with a short code.
- Sign in if you aren't already, then approve the code.
- The plugin installs its licence. From then on it checks the licence on this computer, offline.
One licence covers 3 computers at a time. To free a computer, deactivate it from the plugin or from your account page.
computers without internet
The plugin shows a machine ID. Paste it on your account page, download the licence file, and load it in the plugin. The file uses one of your 3 computers.
staying offline
When the plugin happens to be online, it refreshes its licence about every 60 days. If it can't reach the website, it keeps working.
03controls
chain
| control | what it does |
|---|---|
Input |
a saturating VCA at the door |
VCF |
low, band or high pass, before or after the distortion |
Dist |
two folding curves |
Comb |
bucket-brigade flange and comb, with regeneration either polarity |
Routing |
six orders plus parallel, and a morph between them |
04controls
engine
| control | what it does |
|---|---|
Chip |
ten voicings for the bucket-brigade line |
Temperature |
one control for drift and age |
Clock bleed |
lets the clock whine through, like the hardware |
Noise |
the floor, on purpose |
05controls
motion
| control | what it does |
|---|---|
LFO |
four, with a drawable shape and tempo sync |
Step |
two step sequencers |
Matrix |
LFOs, steps, envelopes and a follower, including sidechain CV |
Poly |
an eight-voice plucked-string resonator played from MIDI |
06reference
design notes
reorder the damage
Put the filter before or after the folds, or morph from one order to another.
self-oscillation is the point
The feedback isn't tamed: push it and the filter screams on its own.
it plays notes too
Poly mode turns the chain into a resonator you play from a keyboard.
07reference
specifications
| spec | value |
|---|---|
| formats | VST3 · CLAP |
| platforms | macOS · Windows |
| licence | 3 computers at a time, checked offline |
| status | in development |
08reference
questions
how many computers can i use it on?
Three at a time. Sign in once from the plugin and it checks its licence on that computer without going online again. Deactivating a computer, from the plugin's settings or from your account page, frees its slot.
my studio computer is offline. can i still activate?
Yes. The plugin shows a machine ID; paste it on your account page and download a licence file for that computer. It counts as one of your three.
do updates cost anything?
Not within the version you bought. Download them from your account page.
still stuck?
Write to hello@softsystems.app with your system, your host and the plugin's version. If it crashed, attach the crash report.
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