Sidya

Dister

A distortion plugin that shows you what it is doing.
Dister is a free distortion plugin for Mac. Pick one of four modes, push the drive up to 24 dB, and watch the curve change as you do.
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Version 1.0.0 · VST3 & Audio Unit · macOS 10.13+ · Apple Silicon & Intel
The Dister plugin: mode tabs, a transfer-curve display, a green blob behind knurled-cap knobs for Drive, Bias, Mix, Output and Crush, and a tempo Hold switch

What’s inside

  • Four modes

    Hard, Soft, Saturation and Fold. Switching is click-free, so you can compare them while the track plays.

  • See the sound

    The curve draws exactly what your settings do to the signal, and a dot shows where your audio sits on it right now. The blob behind the controls moves with your sound: sharper with more drive.

  • Bias

    Pushes the signal off-centre for the warm, uneven clipping of a tube stage, with no DC offset left behind.

  • Crush

    One knob lowers bit depth and sample rate together, from clean to 3-bit grit.

  • Hold

    Locks the crusher to 1/16 to 1/128 notes of your project tempo, for stuttering rhythms.

  • Drive, Mix and Output

    Up to 24 dB of drive, a Mix knob to keep the original punch, and an Output trim to level-match.

Controls

ControlRangeWhat it does
ModeHard · Soft · Saturation · FoldThe shape of the distortion.
Drive0 to 24 dBHow hard the signal is pushed into the shaper.
Bias−100% to +100%Makes the clipping asymmetric. 0% is symmetrical.
Mix0 to 100%Blend between the dry signal and the distorted one.
Output−24 to +24 dBLevel after everything else.
Crush0 to 100%Bit depth and sample rate reduction. Off at 0%.
HoldFree · 1/16 · 1/32 · 1/64 · 1/128Free follows Crush. A note length holds the signal for that long at the host tempo.

Drag a knob up or down. Hold Shift for fine control, double-click to reset, or double-click the number to type a value.

Installing

  1. 1Download the installer and open it.
  2. 2Choose the formats you need: VST3 for most hosts, Audio Unit for Logic Pro and GarageBand.
  3. 3Restart your DAW, or rescan its plugins, and look for Dister under Sidya.
VST3
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Dister.vst3
Audio Unit
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Dister.component
Requires
macOS 10.13 or later · Apple Silicon or Intel

Free, and open source

Dister costs nothing and asks for nothing: no account, no licence key, no network access. It is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0, so you can read the code, build it yourself and change it, as long as you share your changes under the same licence.

Source link coming with the first release.Read the licence

FAQ

Found a bug or have a request? Write to hello@sidya.ca.