Cryostasis

Name: Cryostasis
Price: 34.5 USD
Author: United Plugins

by United Plugins · Multi-FX · Spectral freeze effect

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Cryostasis from JMG Sound (sold by United Plugins) progressively freezes audio in the spectral domain, from slight smear to an infinite hold.

Slow-motion pitch and frequency shifting, wash, bit and rate reduction and filters shape the frozen tail; $89.

Best for: Sound Design, Keys & Synths, Vocals, Guitars. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic, Electronic & EDM.

Keywords: freeze, spectral, vocals, electric guitar, lo-fi, musical, synths, cinematic, creative, dreamy, eerie, glitchy, infinite, lush, mixing, pitch-shifting, resizable UI, smooth, sound design, pads, swirling.

What it does

Cryostasis is a JMG Sound spectral effect, sold by United Plugins, that smears audio progressively until it is frozen. The developer calls it "a spectral inertia effect"; the freeze knob is continuous rather than on/off, with an optional automatic switch.

Progressive freeze: a continuously variable freeze amount, with auto-switch timing set in milliseconds or musical measures.
Freeze Designer: a Size control for the spectral window: low values sound robotic and unnatural, high values smooth and atmospheric.
Slow Motion: a built-in pitch shifter for tape-stop style slow-downs, or a frequency shifter for dissonant risers and downshifters.
Wash: turns the frozen sound into a lush, modulated reverb-like tail.
Bit and Rate: reducers for lo-fi results, from robotic glitches to dusty, washed-out textures.
Filters: high-pass and low-pass filters for sweeping the effect in and out on transitions, intros and outros.

It runs with 64-bit internal processing at any sample rate up to 192 kHz and beyond, with smart bypass, latency compensation and a sleep mode when idle, behind a resizable interface. Updates are free for life, and a free 15-day trial has no saving limits or noise.

Source: United Plugins product page

When to use it

Cryostasis is the pick when you want spectral freezing as the main event, with tape-stop, wash and lo-fi tools built around it. Compared with Infiltrator 2 and Effectrix2, which cover many effect types in rhythmic or multiband setups, it does one job in more depth. Unlike Graindad, which builds textures from grains, it holds and smears the spectrum, so it suits sustained drones more than stuttered patterns. Its continuous freeze knob and auto-switch in musical measures make it easy to automate for builds and breakdowns.

Best for: drones, frozen pads, tape-stop drops and transitions made from vocals, synths or guitars.
Genres: ambient, cinematic and electronic.
Look elsewhere if: you want rhythmic glitch and stutter effects; Effectrix2 or Stutter Edit 2 is better suited.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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