Filterstation 2

Name: Filterstation 2
Price: 39 USD
Author: Audio Damage

by Audio Damage · Filter · Dual resonant filter

Not rated yet

Filterstation 2 is a dual resonant filter whose two filters run in series, in parallel or split across the stereo field.

It has twelve filter types, an envelope follower with sidechain, a twelve-pattern LFO, a VCA mode and a distortion section, for $39.

Best for: Keys & Synths, Drums, Bass, Guitars, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Hip-Hop & Trap, Rock & Indie.

Keywords: sidechain input, rhythmic, sound design, creative, destructive, parallel processing, clean, hardware emulation, resizable UI, 70s, bass, beginner-friendly, drums, mixing, simple, surgical, tempo-synced, tremolo, vintage.

What it does

Filterstation 2 is Audio Damage's dual filter effect: two filter slots, each with its own choice of twelve models, combined in different routings and driven by an envelope follower and an LFO for sweeps, auto-wah, ducking and rhythmic chopping.

Twelve filter models: low-pass, high-pass, band-pass and notch types, including a clean state-variable filter, Audio Damage's 914 band-pass and Filterpod low-pass models, and an MS20-style filter.
Two slots: each filter slot picks its own algorithm.
Routing: serial (one after the other), parallel (side by side) or true stereo (split hard left and right).
Envelope follower: reads the input's dynamics to move the cutoff, with a stereo sidechain input so another track can drive it, for auto-wah and ducking.
LFO: twelve patterns, including ramps, steps and random shapes, tempo-synced or free-running.
VCA mode: turns the section into a tremolo and gate for rhythmic chopping.
FSU section: extra distortion for pushing a sound past clean.
Interface and presets: a resizable vector interface with HiDPI/Retina support and XML presets shared across all formats and operating systems.

A fully working demo with a 20-minute session limit (saving disabled) is available.

Source: Audio Damage product page

When to use it

Filterstation 2 gives you a lot of filter for the price: two slots of twelve models, three routings, and envelope, sidechain and LFO modulation in one window. Compared with FabFilter Volcano 3, it has a fixed set of modulators (one envelope follower and one LFO) rather than a free modulation system, but costs much less. Unlike Cableguys FilterShaper XL, its LFO uses twelve preset patterns instead of drawn curves. Next to Soundtoys FilterFreak it offers more filter types to choose from.

Best for: filter sweeps, auto-wah, sidechain ducking, rhythmic gating and mangling sounds for sound design.
Genres: electronic, hip-hop, rock and experimental.
Look elsewhere if: you want static tonal colouring from a filter bank (Audio Damage's 914 Mk 2 is made for that) or deep drag-and-drop modulation (Volcano 3).

What producers say

Reviews are few but positive, treating it as a quick, dependable sound-design filter.

StrongMocha gave it 5 out of 5, calling it a "favorite go-to mangle effect" that is easy to use, gets usable results fast and works for slight or dramatic changes.
Criticisms: StrongMocha found the factory preset count limited and said full use takes some knowledge of filter parameters.

StrongMocha review

Where to buy

Audio Damage: $39
Plugin Boutique: $49

Tutorials and reviews

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