Xynth Audio releases Le Phonk, a freeware distortion audio effect plugin for Windows and macOS.
2022 has certainly been the year of the distortion plug-in, and the latest from Xynth Audio is no exception. Le Phonk combines distortion, OTT, and soft clipper into one handy package with minimal controls.
It certainly appears to be geared towards more extreme or heavier styles of music. The distortion comes in six different flavors, with the visualization on the center of the display reflecting the transfer curve and its shape. The first distortion selection, Ungh, is perhaps the most versatile with a good amount of saturation being imparted on the first half of the slider’s travel before going into active distortion.
The other distortion types are less subtle, Scrimbly appears to have just a triangle wave as the transfer curve. There’s good variety in the selection of distortions, with more extreme types having the utility to impart a certain level of aggressiveness to sounds not easily coaxed out of more sedate processors.
Le Ottz is a cheekily named implementation of the OTT compression algorithm. It lacks the finer controls here of the Ableton Multiband Dynamics processor or Xfer’s own OTT plug-in. The rotary knob feeds ever-increasing levels of upwards and downward compression to the sound. This setting, at its most extreme, can push the sound of the room to the forefront of the sound.
Le Fonz sounds out the integrated effects chain, providing soft clipping at the end of the signal flow. This one, pushed to its maximum value, can lead to tonal transformation or annihilation of a sound. It sounds nice, though it would be nice if there was some sort of visual indication of how much of the signal is getting clipped.
Le Phonk provides some handy sound shaping, especially for manipulating drums and other sounds which benefit from more overt processing. Having distortion, compression, and a soft clipper in one unit with simple controls is helpful. It doesn’t appear to have a manual or any documentation upon download, but installation is simple. On Windows, it’s as simple as dragging the file to wherever your VST3 or AU directory might reside.
Le Phonk is available in VST3 for Windows computers and VST3 and AU formats for macOS.
Download: Le Phonk
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9 Comments
Neytcev
onThank so much! But finally i’ll be really glad if they change
the name of the first skin, then i’ll be able to use it, as i prefer!
Please you, Xynth Audio! Do that for me (us)!
Neytcev
onHmm …
Plus that, it appears in Logic as developer’s name “Zekete Inc.” …
Brenny C
onWhat’s your issue with that one name? You’re talking about “Ungh”, correct? Sure, it’s a rather silly and uncreative name but why do you care that much about the name? It’s the sound of the distortion that matters most, yeah?
MRG
onUngh is the name of his ancestor back in 50.000 BC who his whole family is distancing themselves of due to nasty rumour involving a… Oh, wait, he’s talking about “Hell”. >:)
Neytcev
onThank you, MRG!
Yes, the sound of the distortion matters most,
but i’m afraid why too much people don’t care
what think, speak and what exactly they are doing
and all caused consequences, words and symbols.
Noticed that is so “modern” speaking about evils,
instead of God, angels, good hope, etc, for examples.
I really didn’t expect that all people will agree in this,
but i always decide to mention and pay attention.
Bless you!
MRG
onDistortion has always been a staple of music genres making, and I can’t stress this enough, tongue-in-cheek references to the darkside. The same is happening here. You shouldn’t worry. But I understand you might have trouble using it as-is.
You’ll find people who dismiss organized religions are just trying to live their lives as good as anyone else, but are not convinced of certain concepts, ideas or ways to live their life. They want hope just as much as you, they just think that only humans can bring it to other humans.
Only you can now respond to this question: Are your beliefs stronger than a simple word, used as a joke. My sincerest good luck with that.
As an alternative, maybe the author can provide the Hell skin only as an unlockable feature of which you only get access by drawing an inverted pentagram with the blood of a freshly sacrificed goat on the screen while saying the name of the plugin in reverse three times. (j/k)
Neytcev
onThanks!
I just prefer that dark red skin, i can collaborate with well,
(adding the right mood expected, regarding distorted audio)
but without the associated message, which stays in front.
Bthelick
on“certainly seems to be aimed at heavier styles of music”
Yes, that style is actually called “phonk” haha
ElmoDeFuka
onAMAZING Plugin… I have so much to do with this wonder…THANK YOU!