Unfiltered Audio Dent 2 v2.4.0 WiN

It’s time to go deeper with your sound – way deeper. Sure, you’ve made your tracks sound nice – balanced the levels, added just the right EQ – maybe you even performed all the music. But that’s only the beginning. You want to get inside those waveforms, to tinker and explore, to realize your track’s potential and draw out a sound that had only existed between your ears. It’s time to get to know Dent 2.

The original Dent was a different kind of distortion plugin, made by Unfiltered Audio for every engineer and sound designer who had ever longed to manipulate the waveform on a molecular level. Now, with the release of Dent 2, audio control freaks rejoice, because Unfiltered Audio has gone subatomic. We’re talking about a let’s-sharpen-the-peaks-on-the-negative-half-of-the-waveform level of control! So if you’re looking for sweet analog hardware emulation, you better look elsewhere, because the mad scientists at Unfiltered are digital to their core, and they know exactly how to turn those ones and zeros into magic.

When it hits Dent 2, your audio is first met with the plugin’s sample reduction engine, which is freely adjustable and highly customizable. Next, the signal passes through as many as three different types of distortion in series, which are selectable from among ten unique clipping algorithms. Within these gain stages, users can add or subtract a DC bias, adjust the waveform’s shape by flattening or sharpening it, and independently adjust the positive and negative halves of the waveform. Next comes the bitrate engine, which is a continuous and automatable parameter with six different bit-crushing algorithms. And finally, the audio passes through one of four different resonant filter types… that is, unless of course you opted to put the filter at the beginning of the signal path, instead of the end. Or maybe you opted to make its position dynamic – alternating on dotted eighth notes between placements at the beginning and the end… now the possibilities are really starting to unfold!

You’d be hard-pressed to dream up a wave-shaping technique that can’t be customized by Dent 2 with exacting precision. Got a busted guitar amp that has an interesting sound? Now you can emulate it by adjusting the Probability controls so that Dent randomly applies distortion to only 70% of your signal’s wave cycles. Or take it a step further by flipping on the Drop switch to silence all the undistorted segments of the waveform. Then set the clipping type to Tape, and the filter type to Low Pass, and now you’re emulating the sound of an old cassette that’s been chewed up by the tape deck.

And here’s the best part: Almost all of these parameters can be modulated with Unfiltered Audio’s unique and intuitive modulation system. Just assign a parameter by using a virtual patch cable, and then select from among eight different modulators, including LFOs, a randomizer, and even a user-programmable step sequencer. Use a sine-based LFO on the filter frequency to produce a conventional wah effect, or set the filter to Band Reject mode and apply the step sequencer, to create a Leslie effect with syncopated rhythms. Modulate DC offset with an input follower to make a snare drum track with high hat bleed sound like heavy machinery pounding away in a demonic assembly line.

Still not enough control for you? Check out one of Unfiltered Audio’s newest additions to their modulation section: The ROLI Lightpad modulator. Thanks to Unfiltered’s seamless integration with ROLI's innovative controller, you can use simple gestural controls to modulate Dent 2’s parameters in real time. Using the Lightpad’s unique three-dimensional interface, you can easily modulate multiple parameters, or even modulate other modulators. Apply a step sequence modulator to the sample rate, and then use your finger pressure to scale the amplitude of the modulator. While you’re at it, apply the X and Y axes to the filter’s Cutoff and Resonance parameters to “draw” filter envelopes on the Lightpad’s surface in a live performance.

With Dent 2, the twist of a few knobs can create new and exciting sounds that keep your productions sounding fresh and contemporary. Don't just distort it. Dent it.

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