Permut8

Name: Permut8
Price: 66 USD
Author: Sonic Charge

by Sonic Charge · Multi-FX · Programmable lo-fi digital delay processor

Not rated yet

Permut8 is an imaginary vintage digital processor built around a 12-bit delay with a variable sample rate and a programmable processor.

Alternative firmware turns it into a beat slicer, distortion or granular effect, and it costs $66.

Best for: Drums, Keys & Synths, Vocals, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Hip-Hop & Trap, Lo-Fi.

Keywords: lo-fi, bitcrush, glitchy, stutter, digital delay, creative, drums, experimental, granular, sound design, chorus, gritty, phaser, pitch-shifting, ring mod, vibrato, destructive, digital classic, digital, inspired by, mixing, preset-driven, samples & loops, skeuomorphic, tempo-synced, vintage, vocals.

What it does

Permut8 is Sonic Charge's programmable delay, inspired by "primitive signal processing hardware" and circuit bending. It writes audio into a 12-bit delay buffer and reads it back under the control of two programmable operators, which gives pitch shifts, stutters and glitches as well as plain echoes.

12-bit delay: the wet signal runs at 12 bits with a sample rate you can set from 0 to 352 kHz, so the grit and aliasing change with the clock.
Two Instructions: two operators control where the buffer is read; reading at a different rate from the input creates pitch shifts, beat repeats, stutters and granular-style glitches.
Operator modes: modes such as NOP (off), SUB (a basic delay) and OSC (vibrato, phasing and chorus), with parameters set by eight-bit binary toggle switches on the front panel.
Analogue stages: virtual analogue input and output stages with saturation, a limiter/clipper and variable low- and high-pass filtering.
Sync and MIDI: tempo sync, and parameters that can be controlled over MIDI.
Firmware: since version 1.1, ten alternative firmwares (Beatrick, Bender, BitBox, Flakes, Foobar, Mozaik, Pong, Reciter, RingMod and Trancelvania) turn it into beat splicers, ring modulators, distortions and other effects.
Presets: 320 presets in 11 program banks.

The current version is 1.1. It is also in the Complete Sonic Charge bundle of five plugins; updates are free, and the three-week trial starts the first time you use it. It won Computer Music's Innovation and Performance awards.

Source: Sonic Charge product page

When to use it

Permut8 is the better pick when you want a delay that behaves like an unpredictable instrument. Compared with Effectrix2, which sequences stutters and effects on a clear grid, it gets its glitches by changing how a 12-bit buffer is read, so the results are rawer and harder to predict. Unlike Infiltrator 2 or Multipass, it is not a chain of separate effects: everything grows from one delay memory, with firmware adding ring modulation, beat splicing and more. As a plain echo it is cruder than EchoBoy, but its sample-rate control and analogue stages give a gritty, warm lo-fi delay. The price is a steep learning curve with binary toggle switches.

Best for: glitchy drum and loop mangling, lo-fi digital delays, pitch and stutter effects, and experimental sound design.
Genres: electronic, hip-hop, lo-fi and experimental music.
Look elsewhere if: you want predictable, sequenced stutters (Effectrix2) or clean and vintage-style echoes (EchoBoy).
Tip: set one Instruction to NOP and use SUB mode for a simple stereo delay to start from, then try OSC mode for vibrato, phasing and chorus.

What producers say

Reviewers find Permut8 unique and great-sounding, but hard to learn.

Sound On Sound (Robin Bigwood, 2014) called it "bonkers, but also refreshingly unique, great-sounding", praising its stability, proper preset banks and range from conventional to experimental effects.
KVR users rate it 5 out of 5 from 2 reviews, praising its "incredible weirdness", quick results on rhythmic material and a responsive developer.
Criticisms: Sound On Sound found the interface bewildering at first and the binary toggles obtuse; a KVR user noted it "can be harsh and noisy" and that some effects are found by accident.

Where to buy

Sonic Charge: $66
Plugin Boutique: $66

Tutorials and reviews

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