Jaws is what we coined a ‘dynamic bitcrusher’. It has everything you would expect from a high-quality bitcrusher: bit reduction, sample rate reduction, a pre-amp, an input and output filter, and more. But it also features a host of modulation options. You can modulate the bit depth, the sample rate, as well as the mix. On top of that Jaws also has a resonant multi filter that you can modulate as well.
That means you can use Jaws in the usual way: to add a little of the charm of the samplers from the 80s by reducing the bit depth or the sample rate. An input and output filter, a vintage colored pre-amp and u-law noise reduction make it possible to approximate this old school sound more closely. Or use Jaws to destroy your sound completely if you are more into ‘industrial’.
But what Jaws is really about is that you can use all those effects in a creative, fluid way. With the Envelope Follower you can add more crunch to the loud parts of your track (or the softer parts). The LFO makes it possible to create all kinds of weird oscillating effects. If you use this subtly you can add some ‘jitter’ to the sound. On extreme settings you can really go through the roof, and alter the sound beyond recognition.
Features
- the basics: bit reduction & sample rate reduction
- a multimode filter that can be applied pre or post
- all parts of the bitcrusher can be modulated: bit depth, sample rate, multi filter, mix
- modulatable with LFO, Envelope Follower, or a mix of both
- a simulated preamp that adds vintage coloration to the sound
- an adjustable input and output filter to remove more or less aliasing according to your wishes, or to which device you want to simulate.
- la modifiable bias, which enables you to slide between two different quantization methods
- a dither function for adjustable noise masking
- u-law algorithm (used in many 8-bit samplers for noise reduction, and still used in modern telecommunications)
- 'Knight Rider'-display for easy visual feedback on what's happening with the modulation
demos
Industrial
All instruments are modified with Jaws. Presets used: Choplifter on the bass, a modified Wakawaka drums on the drums, a sample-and-hold on the pitch mod and filter mod to get a 'talking' synth, trumpet chopped on the beat.
Electro
Using Jaws on drum, bass and synth sounds but not on the synth pads creates some extra tension like a counterpart. The pads are even more pronounced and stand out. Presets used on this track: 8 Bit Macon snare drum, Hihat Dotted Down on high hats, Out of Africa on arpeggio synth, Trap One Bar on the baseline.
Trap
Jaws was used in a subtle way to add harmonics to the Juno 60 arpeggio line and baseline. Presets used on this track: Alias on arpeggio synth, Trap One Bar on baseline, Hihat Dotted Down on drums.
before and after
First half is clean, second half modified with Jaws.
Destroyer
LoFi Pump
YahYah
overview
How Jaws will modify a track depends a lot on what you use as an input. If you play around a little with the presets you will notice that some presets are really good on drums, but do nothing for a synth, and vice versa. Below we use some of the presets that are 'good for everything' to give you an impression how Jaws' output can change immensely depending on what you run through it.
All tracks consist of clean and modified versions of the same basic loops: 1. drums 2. drums with hit-hat 3. bass 4. synth. The first 2 bars are dry, the second 2 are wet.
Jamaica
Midnight Oil
Sample-and-Hold
Singing Piano
Singing Sawtooth
Trap One Bar
Tin Man
User interface
![[Jaws GUI]](images/screenshot.png)
System requirements
Windows : 7, and up
Mac OS X (Intel or Apple Silicon ): 10.8 (Mountain Lion), and up
Native Apple M1 support
Please note that the AU plugin might only show up after you rebooted your computer.
Jaws is available in VST (64-bit), AU (64-bit), and AAX (64-bit) format. The AAX plug-in (for Pro Tools) is not yet Apple Silicon compatible.
Jaws supports Native Instruments’ NKS format.
