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Bit Crush

The Bit Crush is a lo-fi effect that degrades the signal on purpose. It lowers the effective sample rate and bit depth to add digital grit, quantization noise, and aliasing — anything from a subtle vintage-sampler color to harsh, broken digital artifacts.

A screenshot of the Bit Crush effect

Parameters​

Rate​

Sets the sample rate the signal is decimated to, from 20 Hz to 40 kHz. Lower values hold each sample for longer, adding aliasing and a grittier, more downsampled sound.

Bits​

Sets the bit depth the signal is quantized to, from 2 to 24 bits (snapped to musical steps). Fewer bits quantize more coarsely for a noisier, lo-fi sound.

Jitter​

Randomizes the sample rate reduction, for a noisier and less pitched downsampling artifact.

Shape​

Bends the quantizer curve. At 0 it's a plain linear quantizer; higher values give finer resolution to quiet passages and a more pronounced effect at low bit depths.

Anti Alias​

Filters out aliasing introduced by the sample rate reduction. Turn it off for a harsher, more aliased sound. It only engages when Rate is well below the host sample rate, since there's nothing to alias near the top of the range.

Dry / Wet​

Sets the balance between the unprocessed (dry) signal and the processed (wet) signal.