Filter Freaks plug in...money well spent?

[jho]

I just picked up this plug a few days ago, expecting to be blown away as anything I've bought from the makers of Pitchblender. (their new 'soundtoys' division)

Well thus far I'm not overly impressed...it is less expensive than most (250 ish). In it's defense I haven't run it around the track for too long, but it didn't grab me by the boo-boo yet.

Anyone having any luck with it? Tell me what you are using it for and some success stories...maybe it's me.

[syra]

Have you guys tried out the Sherman filterbank 2 (outboard)?

If you have...all the rest...are just toys...

peace, syra

[Matthew Saccucci Morano]

Keep at it. There is nothing inside the box which even comes close to how good this sounds, and can scratch the surface of the intense mangling you can do with it. The distortion modeling is worth the price of admission alone.

[pk_hat]

I've only demo-ed it, but I'm sure to buy it any day now, as my boo-boo's been grabbed by Filter Freak.

[jho]

Originally posted by Matthew Saccucci Morano:
Keep at it. There is nothing inside the box which even comes close to how good this sounds, and can scratch the surface of the intense mangling you can do with it. The distortion modeling is worth the price of admission alone.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Thanks for the encouragement...I will keep at it.

[Matthew Saccucci Morano]

Have you guys tried out the Sherman filterbank 2 (outboard)?
If you have...all the rest...are just toys...
peace, syra

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Toys that:
1. Don't suffer crosstalk
2. Don't gate the input
3. Are true stereo
4. Don't require a micrometer to adjust the knobs
5. Move as fast as I do.
6. Offer waveshaping

My Sherman was a lot of fun, but not when I was on the clock. It can do things that nothing else can do, but not on demand. A good box for fishing for inspiration, though, and the company offers EXCELLENT support, especially considering they're in Belgium. They sent me a schematic and a full set of pots for my Filterbank even though I'd bought it 1. used and 2. out of warranty.

[Noah Dater]

Hi JHO,

I'm bummed to hear that you haven't gotten FilterFreak to freak. Hopefully with more tweaking you will get something you dig. If not, we offer a 30 day money back guarantee, and would be happy to give you a refund. We don't want unhappy customers. That said, I bet with some more playing around you find that FilterFreak does kick some butt...

If you have any specific questions about material or how to get a good sound out of it please let me know, and I will be happy to offer some pointers.

Definitely read the manual...while it is pretty simple at first glance it can do lots of more complicated stuff that is hidden just beneath the surface.

Also as Matt recommended, try out the analog distortion setting. Different settings work better on different source material, and the amount you turn up either the input or output will also shape the distortion.

If you have any sessions with a tempo map you should try FilterFreak on them. To enable FilterFreak to synch to the tempo, go to the "MIDI" menu in Pro-Tools and open the "MIDI BEAT CLOCK" menu. There you can enable FilterFreak. Suddenly all your filter sweeps will be in time, and very musical. IE on drums you can do some cool stuff.

Once you are synched up to the midi beat clock you should try to make some custom rhythm modulation patterns. In FilterFreak choose RHYTHM from the modulation selector switch. Then click on the the Rhythm box and edit the rhythm pattern.

Hopefully you will get something that you like after a few minutes. As with any Filter you need to use it intelligently to get great results.

Have fun, and again if you have any questions or complaints please email me and we will take care of it.

Noah
Wave Mechanics and SoundToys
email: [email protected]

[syra]

The sound of the Sherman is what makes it what it is. I agree its not half as fast as throwing a plugin on PT but what it can do with sounds its at a level of its own...

btw, 1. If you don't want it to gate the input use midi triggering, and 2. Gating the input its a great creative tool.

peace, syra

[Rubo]

Syra have you heard the sound of Sebatron Copernicus, if you did you would ditch your Sherman in a heart beat. I actually sold my Filterbank to buy Copernicus, less features, but the sound and it won't distort that easily like Sherman, well unless I drive it really hard or play with resonance. I also haven't found to this day any plug-in filter that comes even close to hardware units, I mean not cheap units like FilterFactory.

Noah a question for you. Sebastian from Sebatron will build me another filter it will be sterol all balanced signal with Class A only. I get to chose the features on that thing within my budget. I'm far away from being an expert on the design and technical issues, so if you go into more detail would be nice. My question is about chain signal. What's better:

1) HP/LP/BP ----> LFO --->Resonance ------> ASDR ------> Stereo Offset

2) HP/LP/BP ----> Resonance --->LFO ------> ASDR ------> Stereo Offset

3) HP/LP/BP ----> ASDR ---> LFO ------> Resonance ------> Stereo Offset


Well I want my filter to be smooth sounding, so form your experience does signal chain matter, and which path would be better. I know if in digital domain chain signal mater, because it's all 0s & 1s.Any other info or links you have about this issue please share.

Cheers