First post here. Forgive me for any subcultural improprieties!
My problem is with plugins designed to create noise, similar to tape or vinyl. Two in particular, Lo Fi AF and Mello Fi give me noise (vinyl pops or mechanical when a track is not muted although the clip is not playing. I have one from AIR (Flavor Pro) that only produces vinyl noise when the clip is playing.
It seems like the other plug-ins are missing a gate?
If anyone has encountered this or has a setting to avoid this, I’d love to hear from you! Thanks in advance!


(Mac Ventura, Logic Pro.)

 

i do not use those two plugins, but you often will get the same results if a plugin has some kind of self-oscillating delay or filter. You will hear it when the plugin is not muted or that noise-making parameter is not controlled somehow. The easy fix is to usually automate that plugin to Bypass until you want sound from it.

 

IIRC, the old Grungelizer by Steinberg is also producing crackles and noise, even when the DAW is stopped.
There seem to be two different approaches, one is to always have an active output, the other one is to apply the effect only to an incoming signal.

 

If you're on Reaper, you could try enabling auto-bypass for the plugin in question.

 

That's what vinyl does - produce noise and crackle even when it plays silence.

 

I don't even mind the plugins that do this stuff making a little ambience before the actual track starts. Although it usually sounds unnatural to turn it off, too. People leave them on the entire track and vinyl doesn't even sound like that. I guess it just bothers me that they keep cranking out these "vinyl" plugins, as if we need even more of them. Many of these "lo-fi" plugins are junk.

 

Yeah, agreed. But adding dirt, imperfections, wow, flutter, noise and "junky plugins" might just be what's needed (when many productions are "similarly" clean and prestine these days). It's all about context.

 

Many of them achieve way more than they should, beyond just a retro kind of lo-fi sound. They go to piercing, abrasive, metallic sounding noise. Like a catch-all blanket excuse for junk. Using them as a Send FX, rather than an insert can be a little more tasteful.

 

"Trouble with noise from noise plugins!"
I love your title ...
You could use a gate, like in the old time...
Let's hope the gate doesn't make noise lol

 

Thanks all for your thoughts. I agree that in this scenario, using an automation lane to bypass is probably the best solution. One would think however that any plug-in that generates noise should auto-bypass unless there was a signal coming in, obviating the need to draw automation. (Didn’t know Reaper had that, @xorome).
FWIW, I only wanted the effect on a trumpet part that I band-passed like an old radio as a sort of haunted bit coming into my downtempo song.
Cheers.

 

ok, Lo-Fi-AF,

The Vinyl preset does what you are referring to. It is because the Gate Mode is set to Always On.

It is the Middle Drop Down menu in the Noise section. First downward facing Arrow on the lower right side of the GUI. You can switch to Follow Transport, or Envelope Follow modes and it will no longer make noise while not playing. It's behavior is a little unpredictable. It doesn't do the same thing with Audio as it does with Midi channel. It does not begin making noise until Play is pressed, but continues after it is stopped. If you change it to the other 2 modes, Envelope Follow or Follow Transport; it will stop making noise when paused/silent channel.

The Arturia Mello Fi does basically the same behavior. When it is on an Audio Channel, it does not always produce noise; but when added to a Midi channel as an insert FX it does. Unlike the Unfiltered plugin, I don't see a way to change the behavior, but you could maybe stumble onto one.

 

Last edited: Jul 27, 2023

That is super-helpful Clone! In fact that is exactly what I was hoping for.
Funny, I wrote Plug-in Alliance about this and they came back with one sentence, “It’s probably your settings”. Uh, thanks so much….
I appreciate your help with this Clone.

 

OMG, the flashback... I once spent over an hour shitting myself because I suddenly had crackles in my system before finally figuring out that I had tried a vinyl plugin (forget which) and it was making pops even when the track wasn't running. I turned the surface noise off, all I wanted were the tonal characteristics.