Codec

Modern Degradation

Codec is for sound destruction.

Unlike other plugins that simulate degradation in “old school” ways like vinyl, tape or cassette, Codec degrades sound in the most common way we hear today, through internet compression algorithms!

Codec is essentially a container that holds an audio compressor (not that kind of compressor) so you can compress and then decompress your sound, in real time, in your DAW of choice.

Since Codec is basically just a container, we figured it would only be fair to provide it for free as a VST3 and AU plugin, so enjoy!

codec plugin screenshot on a solid background with a shadow

Mode Selection

The internal state of the algorithm can also be altered. If you click on the Lese logo in the title bar, you can switch between a “voice” mode, a “music” mode, and a “low-latency” mode. Each of these modes respond to incoming sounds a bit differently.

A "Bit" Of Crunch

You can take Codec to it’s limits via the crunch section. Massive amounts of gain can be applied to the frequency section of your choosing, and then removed once compression & decompression have been completed, keeping your sound at the same volume but adding even more artifacts.

Packet Drop

Codec can simulate a poor internet connection through the use of it’s “Loss” system (as well as how ‘lost packets’ are handled). Packets can either be lost totally (and the internal algorithm will try to “reconstruct” your sound in real-time), or they can be held and repeated (for a super glitchy effect).

Demo Sounds

Extra Information

Features

  • Bitrate adjustment for real-time packet size constraint
  • Bandwidth selector feature, allowing for bandwidth adjustment beyond filtering out artifacts
  • Coloration (crunch) option
  • Packet loss simulation
  • A funky visualizer
  • Fully vectorized, resizable interface

Manual

codec tutorial legend

  1. Packet Loss Rate. In codec, the audio is split up into “packets”, which are 10-20 milliseconds in length. As the loss rate increases, more and more of these packets will be affected by the loss algorithm selected.
  2. Loss Type. This selects how the lost packets are treated & distributed. At “Random” & “Smooth” modes, the fashion in which the packets are distributed will be different. In the “Repeat” mode, packets which are lost will be “sampled and held”, allowing for a glitchy effect.
  3. Bitrate. This controls the amount of size compression that the internal algorithm will attempt to reach. Internally, the amount of information that each packet contains will be reduced as this control is turned down.
  4. Bandwidth Selection. This selector will influence the bandwidth that the internal algorithm will operate at. In “Auto” mode the algorithm will change itself to filter out any artifacts that might be generated by lower bitrates.
  5. Crunch Amount. This knob controls the amount of crunch distortion that will be introduced into the algorithm.
  6. Crunch Frequency. This control adjusts the center frequency that the crunch distortion will be applied to.
  7. Crunch Bandwidth. This controls the bandwidth of the crunch effect. At lower values, the distortion will take up a larger section of the spectrum. At higher values, it can be used to create “resonances” at the specifically defined “Crunch Frequency”

Important: One thing to note is that Codec does not feature a dry / wet mixer system, this is because the latency created by the internal compression algorithm can vary moment-by-moment, and having the latency compensation of your plugin host change constantly is not practical (we opted to ignore worrying about that altogether, we hope you understand).

Requirements

  • Windows: VST3, AAX
  • OSX (Intel / ARM): VST3, AU, AAX

Should run fine on any recent operating system.

Updates

Blog posts related to Codec

Codec was created with the Opus Codec, the same protocol that Discord uses! Authentic!

Also Check Out:

Infinity Filter (Also free!)