Sherman Filterbank plugin?

[HcDoom]

Hello - is there any Sherman Filterbank emu plugin around? Cant find any. If not, I wonder why no one ever tried to do it in digital world? Thank you!

[aMUSEd]

I guess The Drop comes the closest?

[ChamomileShark]

There is an emulation in the Reaktor user library, no idea how close it is though.

[zerocrossing]

I don't think there's really anything, but you can try any decent fixed filter bank and automation, plus some drive plugins to get you there.

https://www.pulsarmodular.com/product/f ... lter-bank/

or

https://www.audiodamage.com/products/ad ... ilter-bank

or

https://www.softube.com/us/plug-ins/mutronics-mutator (multiple plugin instances needed)

Basically, get creative. You won't end up with a Sherman Filter Bank clone (also confused as to why no one's attempted one) but you will end up with something cool.

[Sekops]

If you're in Bitwig, then yes, there's something that resembles it, but it is far from trivial:

https://www.ambientspace.com/technical- ... filterbank

Here's the behind the scenes look at the Grid patch that is driven by the rack. Andy from Cytomic stated that "Sorry to say, but unless you have the schematic, and are very good at analog modelling it’s going to be hard to get something to sound like a Sherman Filterbank. You could make something with has the same sorts of knobs and does filtering but that filter spanks hard."

https://community.vcvrack.com/t/eurorac ... 93?page=15

Chris was working on a VCV rack patch, but not yet available AFAIK.

Screenshot 2025-08-21 at 11.06.44 am.png

[c_bomb]

https://ravegeneration.io/#Filterbank

[hey212]

[Halma]

Here you go:

Philteroid from Phuturetone (32 bit only).

Unfortunately I haven't found any valid link on KVR. And afaik, it is Synthedit. But it is from Phuturetone, the developer of GR-8 and Phutura. And it sounds great. IIRC those are all custom modules with custom filters. A lot of work went into this little piece of art.

https://plugins4free.com/plugin/1310/

[Progmatic-Studios]

https://ravegeneration.io/#Filterbank

[justin3am]

The Sherman Filterbank uses a switched capacitor filter design based on the AD LTC1060 chip (if I remember correctly). It's similar to the Wasp filter in the way it works. As far as I know, the plug-ins which are inspired by the Filterbank use SVF filter topology and don't sound much like a Filterbank. Maybe I'm wrong but the Phuturetone and Ravegeneration versions didn't sound much like the hardware to me.

At some settings, you will get clock noise from the hardware. At certain harmonics settings, it can sound similar to aliasing... so perhaps an accurate emulation isn't what most folks are looking for. It sounds like they attempted to emulate some of the clock noise in the Bitwig Grid FX version. I like the sound of that one a lot but it's still not very close to the Filterbank hardware.

[mi-os]

Here you go:

Philteroid from Phuturetone (32 bit only).

Unfortunately I haven't found any valid link on KVR. And afaik, it is Synthedit. But it is from Phuturetone, the developer of GR-8 and Phutura. And it sounds great. IIRC those are all custom modules with custom filters. A lot of work went into this little piece of art.

https://plugins4free.com/plugin/1310/

I wonder if he could compile it as VST3. It looks like SynthEdit supports it. Most of the other plugins listed here are quite expensive.

[mikeyo]

https://www.soundtoys.com/product/filterfreak/

from the Soundtoys website:

"Are you searching for smooth, silky, analog filter sweeps? Or are grimy, resonant squelches more your style? Nothing adds character to a track faster than a great filter, and FilterFreak can do it all. From funky envelope follower sounds reminiscent of the classic Mutron, to wide resonant LFO sweeps like the Sherman Filterbank. From timeless wah-wah tones to campy sci-fi sample-and-hold effects.

Whether you’re controlling it manually, or locking it to tempo for rhythmic effects, FilterFreak delivers the warm, fat, resonant tones you crave. And we’ve also added exclusive features you won’t find in the classics, so you can create practically any filter effect you can dream up."

[HcDoom]

I had Filterfreak long time ago - its aliasing fest 2003 - and sounds nothing like Sherman or any other proper analog filter. Cytomic the Drop wipes the floor with it. But thx for recommedation and thx to everyone else for recommendations as well. One recommendation doesnt have demo at all and I wont buy anything without demoing and also there are no reviews around and other recommendation is made in synthedit. So, it looks like we must wait for some proper dev to do the emu.

[dayjob]

the sherman filterbank doesn't have a software equivalent. the entire input stage is unique. it's fuzzy and tube like and a bit weird. the resonance and the modulation up to audio rates and all the separate bits of it combine to make up something unique. cytomic the Drop is a great plug in.. truly probably the best plug in filter and most accurate to what it emulates but it doesn't emulate the sherman filterbank

like it or hate it... there's all kinds of weird edges and feedback that happen in that thing. i owned one long ago and it's a hairy beast full of surprises.

[ChamomileShark]

it's a hairy beast full of surprises.

Sounds like our cat. I had to clear up one of it's surprises last night.