Low Pass Filter shootout LPF Hi Cut Filter Test

[space2012]

In the last days, an A/B test was made of 28 digital filters, LPF, HPF, Filterbanks,
with 3 diferent tests.

#1.
the usual, VSTi synth fully open-->stereo delay-->Filter at 500Hz with and without resonance.

#2.
the 2 Sends Split multiband method,
AAD .wav Song--->Send1 for Hi pass Filter--->Master.
---------------->Send2 for LowPass Filter--->Master.
both HP & LP at same 500Hz or 4Khz.
standar 0.7Q, or no resonance. "flat"

both Sends, sent to Master to hear A/B the difference between the sends version vs. the original file.

#3. filters fully open vs. the original file.

bounced all tests, and hear A/B with lots of EQ.
diferent tests give a different point of view of the sound of each filter.

:::not tested:::
sonic.core.interpole............
UAD moog,.......................
nord modular....................
Arturia Modular.................
NI Pro-53fx.....................
Access Virus powercore.TDM.Ti...
********************************

some may sound similar, but all waveforms are verry diferent.
some filters 500Hz is 50% percent, some filters 500HZ is 1000Hz.
all settings to sound similar. "arround 500Hz"
some are Mono in, Stereo Out like prosoniq NorthPole, some are Mono like MDA ResFilter, and some are dual stereo filters in parallel or serial, some are free.

::::TESTED::::
Basement.Arts.frantic.filter.... dual filter Parallel or Serial
VAZ.Modular.VST................. flexible modular interface. lots of filter types.
Arturia.Minimoog.fx.............
Gforce.Minimonsta.fx............ needs hold a note to allow signal to pass thru the filters.
MDA.ResoFilter.................. Free, Mono, arround 38% is 500Hz
Sonalksis.tbk................... 500Hz
TC.works.Native.Bundle.3.1......
Tone2.FilterBank................
audiodamage.dr.device...........
camel.audio.phat.MM-FAT......... 500Hz bold resonant body like Magix Filtox, but different resonance characteristics.
Korg.Legacy MS-20fx............. input must be arround -15dB, saturation curve begins at -12dB.
Aboretum hyperprism.............
prosoniq northpole.............. Mono In Stereo Out.
PSPAudioware Nitro.............. 500Hz, 3 filter Types Moog and two other, one similar to MasterQ filters.
Antares Filter..................
FabFilter.volcano.2.............
d-dev.com zafi2................. 1000Hz is 500Hz, dual, MoogLP1 & MoogLP2 two diferent Moog filters emulated.
izotope ozone analog............
izotope ozone digital........... strange filter steps, you need 3 filters for 12dB
pariseq1.1 vst.................. Free, No resonance possible, has problems with Multi-CPU active.
Reaper.Reafir...................
Reaper.ReaEQ....................
SonicFlavours.DQ7...............
Sonictimeworks.com.EQ1.......... used in Atomic Kittens - be with you
Steinberg.Tonic.................
Waldorf.D-Pole..................
Magix.Filtox.................... bold resonant body like Camel Phat Fat, but different resonance/drive characteristics.
Admiral.Quality.SCAMP...........
MeldaProduction.................
T-Racks3.ClassicEQ.&.LPEQ.......

NuGen Monofilter is not a LPF but a sub mono for mastering plugin. ozone has something similar.
*******************************************
sonic project op-x does not have audio input.
Also, V-Station no audio in, no vocoder.
**************************************
the test has some flaws, also has >248 MB of files that wont be uploaded.

thers not a perfect filter so far, each has a thing that can be usefull or not, in each instrument or song.

[space2012]

more

[vyedmic]

Originally Posted by space2012

thers not a perfect filter so far, each has a thing that can be usefull or not, in each instrument or song.

Which are your (personal, subjective) favourites? And for what material? Thank you.

[space2012]

Originally Posted by vyedmic

Which are your (personal, subjective) favourites? And for what material? Thank you.

some filters are used for mix or mastering "making space in the mix, or sending instruments to the back or to the sides without panning or volume"
those dont need hard resonance peaks, to me, they need to be as transparent & warmth as possible.
other filters are used for effects, like medium or high resonance sweep peaks, in the Buss Mix, for separating vocals/synths from drums in the break of the song or to Intro or to outro instruments/drums/perc or vocals.
others, for removing hum or hiss.
others, small/medium resonance sometimes is used to give crispyness to some sounds.
other filters are used for creating analog percussive sounds...
others, to create like a pumping effect without compression.
others, to envelope follow percussive sounds.
others, to add something extra darker and fatter to the bass line or some synths.
some have input overload saturation that can be usefull for adding those extra harmonics to leads.
some are stable, some are unstable, and have that moving alive feeling.
etc...etc...etc...etc...etc...
almost every filter tested has a similar sound in other brand, exept d-dev zapfilter2 type moogLP1,
the moogLP2 type is similar to others...

all comes down to personal taste..., and they all change alot in high resonance mode.

[Reptil]

wow that must've been a lot of work.

[Silver Sonya]

Originally Posted by Reptil

wow that must've been a lot of work.

It's a lot of work just looking at this thread.

- c

[space2012]

missed one

[Reptil]

lol
great resource for someone looking at a soft eq purchase though.. (hope they'll use the search button)

[vyedmic]

Originally Posted by space2012

exept d-dev zapfilter2 type moogLP1

*

Sounds to me like the cutoff point was way lower or the roll-off was unusually steeper than other filters. My preference is still D-Pole.

[space2012]

Originally Posted by vyedmic

*

Sounds to me like the cutoff point was way lower or the roll-off was unusually steeper than other filters. My preference is still D-Pole.

true, the zafi2 1000hz is 500hz,
the file was bounced with 500hz in the plugin info. = arround true 250hz.

that was one of the mistakes ive made, i first made the test with numbers, no ears.
then i did again with only ears, and found out that bug/flaw.
but the demo of the plugin can be downloaded, and also the original 24-bit file dry used for the test.
anyway...
all comes down to personal taste,
for example; i hate d-pole lpf,


the band cut sounds nice., the band pass & hpf are usefull, D-Pole looks pretty, and the sample rate window looks verry nice, the sample rate decimator is nice, the ring modulator is nice, but... the filter fully open its lower than <18khz, for me thats a -1.
also the overload curve is/sounds too hard, another -1, and the filter algorithm makes the sound a bit sterille for my taste, another -1.
but thats me,
also, havent tested all filters,
so my favorite list could change...

[Reptil]

Originally Posted by Drone

Nice demo.Another idea would be to add automation in the form of a slow filter sweep with medium resonance. That would really display the characteristics each one. You go Sexxy !

can't. mine are stepped
(good idea of course, this is what seperates the nutty nuts from the fluff)

been looking at the EMI CHandler mastering package. heard it was good (considering it's an emulation) tsk tsk software tutt thumbsup

[grantlandau]

man, what do I do with all this cracked software.. filter shootout!

[space2012]

a million free plugins to test, need some help
heres some links...

Free VST plugins and effects - Free-Plugin-List.Com

KVR: Audio Plug-in Database (Search Page) - VST, Audio Units, DirectX, LADSPA, DSSI

Plug-ins - freeware downloads

GERSIC.COM free audio plugin database

Top > Free VST plugins > filters

350 VST plugins freeware et gratuits !

Ohm Force :: les cuisines du Ohm Studio

NRR Filter - Not Rom Records

****************************
for example: free the modulator 2 sounds better than waldorf d-pole ring mod. to me.

[space2012]

Originally Posted by Drone

Another idea would be to add automation in the form of a slow filter sweep with medium resonance. That would really display the characteristics each one.

so true, with maxium resonance with no clipping and self-oscillation, a sweept from minium to max freq. really shows filter characteristics...

here are some test files, including roland mmp-2/vs2480cd LPF2 algorithm with s/pdif chain "no ad/da", filter was made with endless stepped encoder with 0 encoder acceleration, the others were mouse made swepts, thats why the roland feels like it wows, becouse i rotate fast the fingers/encoder, but thers small pauses between rotations.
thats why endless 0 acceleration stepped encoder filter sweept gives a diferent wow feeling...