Audio Effects & Filters

Creative effects and filters are what give audio its character. Knowing what each one does helps you pick the right tool without over-processing your sound.

Frequency filters are the most precise tools here. A low-pass filter removes everything above a cutoff frequency, useful for warming up harsh audio or creating a muffled effect. A high-pass filter does the opposite, cutting low frequencies to clean up rumble and bass. Bandpass filters isolate a narrow frequency range, and notch filters remove a single frequency, which is great for eliminating hum or buzz from recordings.

Reverb adds a sense of space to dry recordings. It simulates the natural reflections you'd hear in a room, hall, or other environment. A short decay time creates a subtle sense of space, while longer decay times produce a more dramatic, washed-out effect. The mix control lets you blend the wet (reverb) signal with the dry (original) signal.

Delay creates distinct echoes by repeating the audio after a set time. Unlike reverb, which simulates many reflections at once, delay produces clearly separated repeats. The feedback control determines how many times the echo repeats. Short delays with moderate feedback create rhythmic patterns, while longer delays with low feedback produce a single slap-back echo.

Distortion and bit crushing both add grit to audio, but in different ways. Distortion clips the audio waveform to create warm saturation or aggressive fuzz, similar to an overdriven guitar amp. Bit crushing reduces the audio's bit depth, creating the crunchy, lo-fi sound associated with retro video games and early digital audio.

Chorus and flanger are both modulation effects that use short, modulated delays. Chorus creates a thicker, wider sound by layering slightly detuned copies of the signal, commonly used on vocals and guitars. Flanger uses an even shorter delay with feedback, producing a sweeping, metallic sound often described as jet-like.

All effects process audio through the Web Audio API's OfflineAudioContext, which renders the entire file at once rather than in real-time. This gives you consistent results regardless of your device's processing power. The output is always uncompressed WAV to preserve quality.