Oligarc
by Stillwell Audio · Filter · Filter, drive, chorus and phaser
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Oligarc combines an analog ladder filter, drive, chorus and phaser with shared modulation from an envelope follower, ADSR and two LFOs.
It costs $79.
Best for: Keys & Synths, Guitars, Drums, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Rock & Indie.
Keywords: chorus, phaser, drums, electric guitar, sound design, synths, character-heavy, classic, heavy, lush, mixing, modular, musical, perpetual licence, standalone app, subtle, tempo-synced, warm, wide.
What it does
Oligarc is Stillwell Audio's "modular effects suite": a filter, drive, chorus and phaser that share one set of modulators, built around a ladder filter. KVR describes the modulation section as a centre that turns the incoming audio into control signals.
- Filter: an analog ladder model with musical nonlinearity and self-oscillating resonance.
- Drive: analog-style saturation, from subtle warmth to heavy colour.
- Phaser: goes beyond a classic phaser model for broader movement and texture.
- Chorus: tuned for lush width with less obvious cyclic repetition.
- Envelope follower: reacts to the input audio, for sweeps that follow the playing.
- ADSR and LFOs: a gate-triggered ADSR and two LFOs with optional tempo sync.
- Linked modulation: the modulators can drive several effects at once; KVR notes that standalone Drive, Phaser and Chorus plugins are included too.
This is version 4.1.7. A free evaluation copy is available, and updates are free with no subscription. Manuals come in English and German.
Source: Stillwell Audio product page
When to use it
Oligarc is best when you want one ladder filter plus drive, chorus and phaser all moving together from the same envelope and LFOs, like a compact synth effects section. Compared with Volcano 3, it has a single filter and far less routing, but adds chorus and phaser modules. Compared with FilterFreak, it has fewer rhythmic and filter-mode options, but its envelope follower and ADSR suit playing-reactive sweeps. Compared with The Drop, it is less focused on precise analog filter models and more on combined effects.
- Best for: envelope-following filter sweeps, synth-style movement on guitars and drums, and sound design.
- Genres: electronic music, and rock or indie for filtered guitars.
- Look elsewhere if: you need several filters in series or parallel (Volcano 3) or tempo-based rhythmic filter patterns (FilterFreak).
Where to buy
- Stillwell Audio: $79
Tutorials and reviews
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