A little bit ago we reviewed the Tritik Krush, which is one of the best free bitcrushers available. Now with the pro version, you get even more modulation and sonic capabilities.
Tritik’s Krush Pro is one of the best bit crusher plugins available. It has an extensive modulation section, a clean and intuitive interface as well as plenty of great sounding effects.
- Great-sounding bitcrusher engine, with amazing options for customisation
- Crunchy, warm and Lo-Fi style distortion great for any genre to add bite to sound design or mixing
- Really simple to use with a great, clean UI
- Low CPU usage, and able to use many, many instances before overload
- Not as many features as other more expensive plugins
Contents
What Is the Tritik Krush Pro?
Tritik has pretty much just taken their free version and made it a million times better. They’ve done this adding new & intriguing modulation options.
Instead of the single filter available on the free version of Krush, Krush Pro offers a filter on both the output and input, to shape your sound even more, as well as 2 new filter shapes. The modulation section has been extensively revamped, and now includes 3 LFO’s as well as a few Envelope Generators and 2 Sequencers. Additionally, the newly introduced routing section pushes the modulation capabilities of KrushPro, even further than before.
Tritik Krush Pro adds even more functionality by featuring a new wavecrushing module.
Tritik have also included a new ring modulation & frequency shifting module for more flexibility and modulation.
The original Krush is a great sound design too, but admittedly offering limited modulation, Krush Pro feels like it’s buff, 6ft9″ older brother.
It’s taking every Krush concept and… crushing it I suppose
Wavecrushing
The New Wavecrushing module adds another layer of distortion capabilities to Krush Pro.
One of the more interesting types of digital distortion, wavecrushing works by processing the waveform of your incoming audio, based on a seperate wavetable.
You get four basic wavetables as well as thirteen more wave shapes, to morph your audio further. You can adjust the morphing applied to the incoming audio wavecycles. Morphing means, that your outgoing audio waveform is transformed to resemble the selected wave table. Essentially it’s a mix knob, which determines the amount of waveform shaping, the module is doing.
The Rate determines the amount of cycles, that the waveform gets to do in a certain amount of time. A higher rate can introduce much more defined distortion, and heavy wavecrushing effects. The width parameter controls the width of the incoming audio wavesets. Essentially, it’s squeezing and squashing the incoming waveforms, leading to very wonky distortion.
Wavecrush altogether, is a very powerful module in and of itself. Added to the already powerful Krush, you’ll never be complaining about weak distortion.
Ring Mod
While the actual physics behind Ring Modulation can be a bit convoluted, in the digital space it’s anything but. Ring modulation is very easy to compute in digital form. It’s essentially multiplication of two signals.
Ring modulation can be a very difficult effect to control, but it can also produce timbres that are difficult to achieve by any other method of synthesis.
Tritik Krush Pro also includes a new Ring Modulation module. The Ring Mod included is a very standard Ring Modulator, however, it introduces a harmonics section, as well as an “inharmonics” knob. Inharmonics is another bag of advanced music theory, so, not to bore you, we won’t delve much deeper into it.
Along with the ring mod, you also get a Frequency shifter, which allows you to mess with the frequencies of your incoming audio. These are laid out in the same module, so more often than not, you’ll be choosing one or the other.
Filter Section
Improving on the free version of Krush, you now get both an input and an output filter.
In addition to the high-pass and low-pass filters, that were available on the free version of krush, you also get additional Band-pass and comb filters. The original filter algorithms are also improved, and sound better than ever. That being said, the filters of KrushPro, don’t bring anything new to the table, but it’s nice to know we’re covering the basics.
While you won’t be using these fitlers to do any large scale shaping, these are more suited for audio cleanup. And the fact that you get a filter on both the input and output proves how well thought out this plugin really is.
Modulation and routing
Modulation is where Tritik Krush Pro stands out the most. You get three LFOs, instead of one, all of them offering six waveforms and global tempo sync, as well as a ‘free’ LFO mode.
Additionally, Tritik have included a 16-step sequencer that can be routed to any effects parameters inside the plugin. The sequencer is amazing when you want to have a more rhythmic feel to your bitcrusher. Alternatively, use the LFO’s to make more linear changes to parameters overtime for a more “wavy” modulation feel.
To control all of the available modulation, a new modulation matrix is available, through which you can add a seemingly infinite amount of routing points between your LFO’s, Envelopes and Sequencers. All the modulators are stereo, and every modulation slot has a stereo balance knob.
You can drag and reorder all FX modules, which will change the signal path of these modules, and they all have separate wet/dry controls. Individual modulation points can also be assigned to your modules by dragging and dropping.
Being able to modulate the parameters differently on the left and right channels is something we’ve not seen done that often, and it’s great for a plugin like this.
If you’re into glitchy music and strange rhythms, modulating your LFO’s and other controls of Tritik Krush Pro, is going to be something you’ll love.
The LFO’s are sync-able to your DAW global bpm, and you get the usual selection of divisions to choose from. In addition to this you can also have it going on it’s own clock to get a bit more of a wonky sound.
Overall, Krush Pro is a very well thought out plugin and easily one of the most powerful and extensive bitcrushers we’ve ever seen.
Presets
Unlike the free version of Krush, Krush Pro does way better in terms of presets, but I mean, anything is better than none.
While the Krush came with no factory presets, Krush Pro comes bundled with plenty of presets, which demonstrate the wide variety of sonic possibilities available.
Saving your own presets and recalling them is also very well integrated. The preset functionality feels intuitive and easy to use and the Freezer function is incredible.
You can also freeze parameters inside Tritik Krush Pro, which means you can keep the setting the exact same, even while changing presets. This is pretty damn awesome if you’ve already made presets, because you can flick through them while keeping the waveform the same for instance.
It’s also extremely easy to save patches, and open them up later (with the file based preset system), so you can get creative, & make some great presets to share with your buddies.
Features:
- Tasty bit crusher module
- Ring Modulation and Freq Shifting
- New Wavecrushing Module
- Additive Modulation
- All the modulators are stereo!
- Flexible and intuitive routing
- 3 LFOs with 6 waveforms
- 2 Step Sequencers
- Envelope Follower
- Pre and Post-FX Filtering stages
- Scalable high resolution interface
- Dark & light UI theme options
- Uncluttered user interface
- File based preset system
- Presets ‘freezer’ for setting recall
- Grab it for Mac and Windows in AAX, 64-bit VST , 32-bit VST.
Why We Love The Tritik Krush Pro
We have been long time users of the free version of Krush. Tritik had grabbed our attention with just the freebie, but Krush Pro is the bitcrusher, Krush free could never be.
The UI and the user experience of any plug-in or hardware device, ultimately comes down to how easy it is to use to get the most out of it.
That being said, the good people at Tritik know how to design a plugin. It’s simple & minimal, but still colourful and exciting to look at.
All the controls are very well laid out, and even a beginner, will be able to work this beauty. In addition to this, you also get a second UI theme, which looks just as nice and sleek as the dark theme.
What usually sets great plugin effects apart is, the ease and usability of modulation, since modulation is the key to creating music that feels alive. Krush Pro offers an easy to use modulation window, that can help make the bitcrushing feel more like a part of the music than an effect.
Add the extremely powerful Ring modulation, Frequency shifting, Wavecrushing, an envelope follower and the amazing “randomize” button, and you’ve got yourself some warping, bitcrushed madness.
The new features on offer with Krush Pro, will take your bitcrushing to the next level.
By now you’re probably starting to understand that you too might really want to get a copy of Krush Pro for yourself. The good thing is, it’s not at all expensive. For a plugin this powerful, $50 is a steal.
After all, if you’re not sure you’ll like it, try out the free version of Krush.
What’s a Bitcrusher?
Bitcrushing can be a bit scary, but we’ll try to explain them in simple terms.
In the same way that a video clip is comprised of individual frames, digital audio is made up of samples. If a standard video framerate is 60FPS and, you turn the framerate down, the video loses it’s smoothness and starts feeling choppy.
An audio recording is tons of samples played in sequence. Bit crushing reduces the number of samples in a recording. This lowers the quality, raises the noise floor, and adds distortion.
Additionally, Bit depth determines how detailed these samples are.
That may sound like a bad thing at first, but if used correctly, it’s an essential tool for achieving exciting dynamics and textured digital distortion in your sound. The sonic qualities you get from this kind of digital compression are entirely unique and sound great in context.
TIP: Try layering your vocals with a bitcrushed version of the vocal. Automate the Bit Depth and bit reduction for interesting digital textures.
Finishing Up
Tritik’s Krush Pro is one of the best bit crusher plugins available. It has an extensive modulation section, a clean and intuitive interface as well as plenty of great sounding effects.
- Great-sounding bitcrusher engine, with amazing options for customisation
- Crunchy, warm and Lo-Fi style distortion great for any genre to add bite to sound design or mixing
- Really simple to use with a great, clean UI
- Low CPU usage, and able to use many, many instances before overload
- Not as many features as other more expensive plugins
Hopefully by this point you’re all caught up on the awesomeness of Krush Pro. It builds upon the free version, offering more flexible modulations, a better looking interface, and an even more insane bitcrushing sound.
While the Free version of Krush is still the best free bitcrusher around, the added stereo modulations and new effects, make Krush Pro a worthwhile investment.
The preset freezer rounds up the package nicely. It’s an incredibly well thought out plugin.
Hope you enjoyed this review, if you want to read more from us, check out some of the helpful articles below.
- 7 Music Production Workflow Tips
- How to get more plays on SoundCloud (Working Methods)
- Our Guide to Bass Compression
Toms is a music producer & DJ, born and raised in Post Soviet Latvia. Currently based in Brighton, Toms has had over 6 years of experience with all things production and in that time, he’s done a tonne of cool stuff! He’s played multiple festivals, had experience in the field with mixing & mastering and even become a freelance journalist in the music industry.
Toms currently creates music under the alias Sovereign. Producing music that’s intimate and subtle, while full of edge and energy, the young producer combines the artistic sounds of Trip Hop artists like Massive Attack, with the energy and youthfulness of producers like Flume, Jamie XX and Yaeji. You can check his stuff on Soundcloud.
