P565 Siren

Name: P565 Siren
Price: 192 USD
Author: Pulsar Modular

by Pulsar Modular · Filter · Resonant filter set

Not rated yet

P565 Siren combines a 1970s "Little Dipper" style active filter set with a ladder filter, with envelope followers, transformer-coupled drive and a modulated delay.

It covers subtle filtering through to self-oscillating "quack" effects, for $192.

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

Keywords: 70s, synths, transformer, bass, drums, electric guitar, low latency, sound design, surgical, classic, hardware emulation, overdrive, bright, cinematic, clean, crunchy, external sidechain, built-in mix knob, mixing, oversampling, punchy, sidechain input, smooth, spacious, subtle, utility, vintage, zero-latency.

What it does

P565 Siren is a resonant filter plugin that merges a 1970s active filter set nicknamed the Little Dipper with a classic synth ladder filter, with nods to King Tubby's stepped dub filter and the Mu-Tron III. The developer calls it "half instrument, half effect."

High- and low-pass: high-pass from 20 Hz to 7.5 kHz and low-pass from 40 Hz to 20 kHz, each with 12, 18 or 24 dB/octave slopes and resonance up to self-oscillation; the low-pass has an ALT smooth 24 dB mode, and both have a stepped, dub-style mode.
Notch and peak bands: two bands from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, switchable between band reject, bell, notch and band-pass, with three Q values and a x1, x10 or x100 range switch for fine sweeps.
Envelope followers: two followers that can move the filter cutoffs or the band centres, with ±10 amount, attack, release, level, three speeds and an external sidechain; MU mode recreates the Mu-Tron III "quack" for funk-style auto-wah.
Drive: 0 to 100 of crunchy filter distortion before or after the filters, with Overdrive and Hyperdrive modes, a Bias control to run the circuit hot or cool, and a clip indicator.
Time Machine: a modulated delay of 0 to 99 ms with a 0 to 30 Hz LFO (six waveforms), depth, smoothing, regeneration and its own mix, on the wet or dry signal.
Output: a transformer-coupled output of ±24 dB, a clean ±12 dB trim, wet/dry mix, separate wet and dry polarity, and oversampling from Off (zero latency) to HD.

Version 3.0.0 (June 2024) added a custom delay circuit and optimised code; version 2.1.0 (2023) brought the V2 engine, the ALT low-pass and Bias. A fully working 30-day trial is available.

Source: Pulsar Modular product page

When to use it

P565 Siren is the pick for analog-style filtering that sounds like part of the source, with envelope-driven wah and dub-style stepped sweeps. Compared with FilterFreak and Volcano 3, it has no LFO or step-sequencer modulation of the filters themselves, relying on envelope followers instead, but it offers more filter types at once, notch and peak bands and a transformer output. Unlike WOW2 or Filterverse, it is not built for rhythmic, tempo-synced filter movement. Against Arturia's Filter MS-20, it gives a broader set of filters plus drive and a short modulated delay, at a higher price.

Best for: resonant analog sweeps, envelope-follower and Mu-Tron-style wah, dub filter throws, and drive on synths, drums, bass and guitars.
Genres: dub, funk, electronic, hip-hop, rock, industrial and cinematic sound design.
Look elsewhere if: you want step-sequenced or LFO-heavy filter movement; WOW2, Filterverse or FilterShaper XL do more of that.
Tip: a KVR reviewer suggests combining the filter slopes with automation for phasing, flanging and slapback effects.

What producers say

Users rate it very highly for a filter sound close to hardware.

KVR users rate it 5 out of 5 from 2 reviews (2022), praising near-hardware filter quality and the range of slopes and band modes.
Sound: one reviewer said it "adds no mud and is honest with the transients," and liked that the Drive keeps the highs bright and the lows punchy.
Uses: the same reviewer found the overdrive suits guitar and industrial sound design, and even used it for mastering.

KVR user reviews

Where to buy

Pulsar Modular: $192

Tutorials and reviews

Similar plugins

Mutronics Mutator by Softube · Stereo filter · $149
stompFilter by PSP Audioware · Modulated filter and auto-wah · $61
Filterstation 2 by Audio Damage · Dual resonant filter · $39
FilterFreak by Soundtoys · Resonant analog-style filter · $149
Oligarc by Stillwell Audio · Filter, drive, chorus and phaser · $79
Sweeper by Reason Studios · Filter, phaser and flanger
Filter MINI by Arturia · Ladder filter · $49
Ladder Filter by Kilohearts · Free ladder filter · Free
Oligarc Filter by Stillwell Audio · Analog ladder filter · $39
Nonlinear Filter by Kilohearts · Drive filter with nonlinear modes · Free

All filters