LO-FI-AF Review
There’s dozens of lofi and glitch effects out there, what makes Unfiltered Audio’s Lo-Fi-Af special? For me Lo-Fi-Af continues to be one of those lofi plugins I actually reach for, this particular set of effects can be loads of fun to introduce subtle texture or extreme audio destruction to a track. 4 lofi modules can be rearranged and combined for a myriad of textured effects. The Ui is simple and very visually pleasing, with many colorful options, my favorite being “The Purp” skin, a soft purple and pink variant.
SPECTRAL: The spectral module warps the audio spectrum in some fun ways, a ripple and mp3 effect add watery digital artifacts, and the zero shift/ stretch let you smear the harmonics in unusual ways. This section alone is quite different from the majority of lo-fi effects, focussing more on abstract qualities you might find in data compression.
DIGITAL: The digital effects are simple, but effective. A rather self explanatory cd skip effect lets you set a skip rate and probability for skips to occur. Also in the digital section is a simple bitcrusher which includes the 6 different algorithms you tend to find in other Unfiltered Audio bit crush modules.
ANALOG: Here you will find some different analog interference effects. Flux replicates tape warble, and Press is a fairly powerful analog style maximizer. Next you can replicate radio interference, setting a frequency or “station” to change the pitch of the interference. A few of the modes in this section are great fun, such as the feedback and demodulate modes which can get rather gnarly, and the noise mode which is great for adding some soft top end texture to basses.
A few more effects litter Lo-Fi-Af’s interface, such as a simple filter, auto gain compression, a convolution for replicating cheap speakers, and generated noise to simulate vinyl crackle, ground hum and even cell phone interference. A global strength control works as an alternative to mix by reducing the intensity of each effect rather than a standard dry/wet. I also enjoy some of the decorative control art that changes shape with the control value. If you’re looking for a unique lofi aesthetic, give Lo-Fi-Af a spin. I tend to reach for Lo-Fi-Af when I want to combine multi-media artifacts instead of just tape or vinyl or mp3.