Module Reference · Saturation & Character

Lo-Fi

Lo-Fi is broken media as an instrument. Bit-depth reduction down to 4 bits and vintage-sampler rate reduction, with a filter choice that decides how rough the digital grit gets - from full harsh-artifact chaos (aliasing) to clean vintage-sampler crunch - plus jitter and noise-shaping options for precise control over exactly which kind of digital dirt you get.

The media layer stacks vinyl scratches, cassette wear, mains hum at 50 or 60 Hz, disc warp, and five noise characters from white to radio static. A modeled Speaker stage - telephone, AM radio, cassette deck, small speaker - and a dedicated lo-fi saturator finish the picture. Every degradation is a separate knob, so you can dial a specific broken device instead of a vague "lo-fi" wash.

Lo-Fi module editor in GhostInTheMachine
LO-FI MODULE SCREENSHOT INCOMING
ACTUAL UI · LO-FI MODULE CLICK TO ENLARGE

Why it hits different

The GhostWare take.

  • Separately dialable digital, media and speaker degradation layers.
  • Pre and post filters choose your flavor of digital grit - harsh or rounded.
  • Five noise types plus hum, scratch, wear and warp - a whole junk shop.

In the shot

Reading the panel.

  • 1
    BIT TRANSFER

    The bit-crush staircase with live BITS / HOLD readout.

  • 2
    WOW METER

    Playback wobble from the wow / warp section.

  • 3
    CRUSH DECK

    Bit depth, rate reduce, noise, speaker and dither.

Control Showcase

Every control, explained.

26 controls, named exactly as they appear in the plugin.

Bit Depth 4 to 16 bit (default 16 bit)

Reduces resolution from 16 bits down to crunchy 4-bit grit.

SR Reduce 1 to 50 x (default 1 x)

Reduces the digital resolution for classic vintage-sampler grit - higher values are rougher.

Jitter 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Randomizes the resampling clock for unstable, dirty conversion.

Noise 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Level of the added media noise.

Dust 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Random dust ticks and pops on top of the noise bed.

Wow 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Slow pitch warble, like a worn cassette.

Flutter 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Fast pitch instability on top of the wow.

Filter 200 to 20000 Hz (default 20000 Hz)

A low-pass that darkens everything, like cheap playback hardware.

Crush 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Extra digital crush on top of the bit-depth reduction.

Quantizer

Flavor of the bit-crush grit: Midtread (classic, quiet passages can cut to silence) or Midrise (always a little noise, never fully silent).

MidtreadMidrise
Dither

Adds a whisper of noise that turns the bit-crush crunch into smooth, tape-like hiss.

OffTPDF
Recon Smooth 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Softens the stair-step roughness left by the rate reducer.

Anti-Alias

Filter before the rate reducer: Off is full harsh-artifact chaos (aliasing), Steep is clean vintage-sampler style.

OffGentleCleanSteep
Anti-Image

Filter after the rate reducer that rounds off the leftover digital fizz.

OffOn
Noise Type

What the noise sounds like: White, Vinyl crackle, Cassette hiss, digital Hash or Radio static.

WhiteVinylCassetteHashRadio
Hum 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Mains hum level.

Hum Freq

Mains hum frequency - 50 Hz (Europe) or 60 Hz (US).

50 Hz60 Hz
Scratch 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Vinyl-style scratches and surface damage.

Wear 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Overall media wear: duller, dirtier, less stable.

Warp 0 to 100 % (default 0 %)

Slow disc-warp pitch bending.

Warp Rate 0.1 to 2 Hz (default 0.5 Hz)

Speed of the warp cycle, like RPM of a warped record.

Speaker

Plays the result through a modeled device: Telephone, AM Radio, Cassette deck or a Small Speaker.

OffTelephoneAM RadioCassetteSmall Speaker
Saturation

The lo-fi saturation flavor: Soft, Hard, Fold or degraded Media.

OffSoftHardFoldMedia
Sat Drive 0 to 24 dB (default 0 dB)

How hard the signal hits the lo-fi saturator.

High Pass 20 to 2000 Hz (default 20 Hz)

Thins the low end, a key part of small-device realism.

Ceiling -12 to 0 dB (default 0 dB)

A hard output ceiling: nothing leaves the module louder than this.