Free VST plugin that does Phase rotation?

[lemonchip]

This effect is named 'phase rotation' almost everywhere but it's more complex than simply rotating the phase of the audio.
It was popular in broadcast TV and FM radio (it was trendy to overdo it in the late 1990s and early 2000s) and is having a resurgence in digital TV since about 2010.

I attach an audio sample (zipped, I hope this isn't against forum rules), you'll most likely recognize the typical 'crunchy', 'granular' sound. It's a 11 second long speech sample, first without effect then put through a 16-, 32- and 48-stage static phaser in Jeskola Buzz (Rymix FlaserBox, I wish it would exist in VST).
The last sample sounds like CNN around 2012...

As far as I know it can be done with series of allpass filters, i.e. a phaser that is not modulated/LFOed (static), at least that's how I did it.
However, not every phaser is capable of doing this - at least most VST phasers can't be set to 'static' (no LFO) or they have only 8 stages (allpass filters), which is too few.

I wonder if anyone knows how to achieve this effect with a free VST? There might be separate VSTs dedicated to this, or a good phaser that can be set to zero, I unfortunately didn't find any yet (after many hours of looking).

Thanks in advance!

[cron]

I was about to recommend Kilohearts Disperser as a cheapware option, but the price seems to have swelled from 15 euros to 59 euros since I last looked at it.

The only other one I'm aware of is Serum's FX rack which can be run standalone and allows setting modulation effects to 0Hz, but Serum is hardly cheap.

Keen to hear people's recommendations in the free world also.

[jPod]

There are some 32 bit options if that's doable for you:

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?pl ... ug&id=1276

https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/20 ... ease-info/

[No_Use]

As far as I know it can be done with series of allpass filters, i.e. a phaser that is not modulated/LFOed (static), at least that's how I did it.
However, not every phaser is capable of doing this - at least most VST phasers can't be set to 'static' (no LFO) or they have only 8 stages (allpass filters), which is too few.

Have you tried it with an EQ which bands can be set to allpass ? (I have no idea if that might work, would sound obvious to try though I think.)

ReaEQ would come to mind for example, free in the ReaPlugs pack and unlimited number of bands which can be set to allpass.

https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/

[Everglide]

I seem to remember Presswork has phase rotation

[Everglide]

Free'dom

[TIMT]

Insert any phaser here that lets you switch the modulation off.off the top of my head some freebies i can think of are SuperPhaser by SmartElectronix.BlueCat Phaser,Melda's MPhaser,the old TAL Phaser might do it,but i can't be 100% certain about that,Phazor the one that is supposed to be based off of the phaser in the Virus (forgot who it is by),the phaser in the Kjarerhus Classic Bundle,but the best for this though would probably be Stardust by Arguru( that still about?)basically that is a broadcast processor of sorts which has independent phase rotation for both the low and high frequencies (like a proper broadcast phase rotator)

Your other option is to use any minimum phase multiband processor with more than 2 bands in the crossover e.g a compressor,preferably with an adjustable slope order or an option to add more bands.can't think of too many freeware multiband plugins off the top of my head,but perhaps you already have some

[aciddose]

Xhip Effects Phaser does this, up to 128 stages.


http://xhip.net/effects/

[lemonchip]

Thanks again so much for the replies and sorry for getting back this late (due to day job)...

I have again downloaded the suggested plugins - I have tried some before, such as BlueCat which I like to use as a phaser but it has such a distinct sound that sets it apart from the 'common' phasers so it can't do this effect. Arguru Stardust does have two phase rotators which are 8 stage only - for a robust 'television-like/crunchy' sound 32 or more stages are needed. (Chaining two instances of Stardust also doesn't work.) StereoTool also has a phase rotator, which is only one stage.

The ones that do the trick are Melda MPhaser and AdamSzabo Phazor. Melda MPhaser gets the closest with zero modulation (that is, the graph must be flat). I got the best results by setting both freqs around 100 Hz, output to 100% wet, feedback to zero and stages between 20 and max. With Phazor it's again 100% wet, zero modulation&feedback and at 6 stages (it's a bit mild compared to say a 48 stage phaser though).

@Aciddose: I have tried the Xhip effects, now I can access the webpage, but unfortunately the plugins don't work with Acid Pro (which I'd like to use them with). They do work with Jeskola Buzz though and the phaser does the trick with modulation set to zero, mix set to 100% wet and stages to max!

As for the tech side of things...
@jPod: It's really done with a series of allpasses, nevertheless PhaseBug will likely come handy if I have to fix phase sync errors! (Or perhaps chaining more PhaseBugs after each other...)
@No_Use: Well, I've been looking into doing this with filters (such as comb filtering, which didn't work), if I'll have some more time I'll definitely experiment with ReaEQ, it sounds quite worth it.
@TIMT: Multiband processors might be able to do the trick but IMHO only if there is allpassing involved (as in ReaEQ)...

Well, thanks everybody again for the tips and suggestions!

[mister-rz]

Try this, tis free,

http://www.airwindows.com/phasenudge/

[TIMT]

Thanks again so much for the replies and sorry for getting back this late (due to day job)...

I have again downloaded the suggested plugins - I have tried some before, such as BlueCat which I like to use as a phaser but it has such a distinct sound that sets it apart from the 'common' phasers so it can't do this effect. Arguru Stardust does have two phase rotators which are 8 stage only - for a robust 'television-like/crunchy' sound 32 or more stages are needed. (Chaining two instances of Stardust also doesn't work.) StereoTool also has a phase rotator, which is only one stage.

The ones that do the trick are Melda MPhaser and AdamSzabo Phazor. Melda MPhaser gets the closest with zero modulation (that is, the graph must be flat). I got the best results by setting both freqs around 100 Hz, output to 100% wet, feedback to zero and stages between 20 and max. With Phazor it's again 100% wet, zero modulation&feedback and at 6 stages (it's a bit mild compared to say a 48 stage phaser though).

@Aciddose: I have tried the Xhip effects, now I can access the webpage, but unfortunately the plugins don't work with Acid Pro (which I'd like to use them with). They do work with Jeskola Buzz though and the phaser does the trick with modulation set to zero, mix set to 100% wet and stages to max!

As for the tech side of things...
@jPod: It's really done with a series of allpasses, nevertheless PhaseBug will likely come handy if I have to fix phase sync errors! (Or perhaps chaining more PhaseBugs after each other...)
@No_Use: Well, I've been looking into doing this with filters (such as comb filtering, which didn't work), if I'll have some more time I'll definitely experiment with ReaEQ, it sounds quite worth it.
@TIMT: Multiband processors might be able to do the trick but IMHO only if there is allpassing involved (as in ReaEQ)...

Well, thanks everybody again for the tips and suggestions!

Hmm..32 stages.i highly doubt any broadcasting consoles can actually provide that.based on some of the literature i was able to find from Orban and a few suppliers of such consoles they all seem to use the same design which is based upon 4 cascaded allpass filters(each being 1st order)that seem to be set around the low mids (345hz was one of the referenced frequencies for vocals on one of the papers) and the circuit is called or referenced as in a couple of these papers as a "Phase Asymmetry Eliminator" circuit

The only reference to broadcast processing providing such a ridiculous amount of cascaded filters on google is this post

I think it's safe to say you are misinformed

Also i don't think you understand what it is you are after from an allpass filter if you think that a crossover does not provide the same result.it doesn't need to have an actual allpass filter at all because what you are after is not the phase rotation itself (which technically does not have a sound)but the group delay(not technically correct definition but the distribution of a frequencies peak energy into the "time"domain.sometimes colloquially referred to as "phase smear" or "phase distortions") that accumulates from using a high order filter or cascading smaller order filters together when using minimum phase or IIR filters.even so most of the literature pertaining to these kinds of circuits used in broadcasting consoles and DSP don't seem to reflect your observations of using anything above 4th order allpass filters

It's already been mention but it's not free but the only thing i see satisfying your requirements is Kilohearts Disperser

https://kilohearts.com/products/disperser

This is basically the same as most if not all those phaser plugins when static except the "pinch"parameter acts as a Q allowing you to focus the group delay which might be what you was after,but again doubt this was being don with broadcast consoles/DSP.it also goes up to your request for 32orders (you can hear for yourself just how utterly useless that much group delay is on
on sounds except for things like pads,drones and ambiences etc)

[lemonchip]

@Mister-rz:
Unfortunately it's a .dmg file which suggests it's for Mac (if I get it right?) - thanks anyway!


@TIMT:

Well, it's true I was kind of clueless as how this is done, I didn't really read up about the tech behind this. I like to learn new stuff so thank you for the exhaustive followup!

I could have started with this earlier: the first two plugins I had were the Leif/ClaessonEdwards Phase Rotator and Phase Tornado for Winamp (DSP):
http://www.claessonedwards.com/componen ... icle?id=80

Unfortunately as there is no reliable DSP-VST adapter I was forced to replicate this effect by ear in other DAWs. That's how I came up with the idea of doing it with a phaser (turned out it wasn't too far fetched, not orthodox or "academic" idea, I know, but kinda did the job).

Disperser is most likely the right way to do it in a digital DAW, I might go for it, not that expensive... definitely worth experimenting around with! Until then I'll tinker with the phasers.

[mister-rz]

@Mister-rz:
Unfortunately it's a .dmg file which suggests it's for Mac (if I get it right?) - thanks anyway!

Yeah your right, apologies, I linked to the older mac version, here is the updated version, zip file, has windows x86 and x64 vst installers.

http://www.airwindows.com/phasenudge-vst/

[lemonchip]

@Mister-rz:
Thanks a lot! This one sounds more like one very short delay, interesting to experiment around with!

In the meantime I have downloaded the trial of Disperser and it's also interesting - it sounds a bit differently from what I usually did but three instances set to different frequencies produce that wet/smudgy texture.

[zyguli]

Melda MFreeformPhase https://www.meldaproduction.com/MFreeformPhase