Tek’it Audio Releases Freeware 8kut 2 Filter VST/AU Plugin

Tek’it Audio has announced the release of 8kut 2, an updated version of their freeware 8-band frequency cutter VST plugin which is now also available as an AU plugin for Mac OS.

8kut was originally released as a SynthEdit plugin (32-bit Windows only) a couple of years ago, however it seems that Tek’it Audio is leaving SynthEdit as their development platform and making a switch to hand-coding their plugins from now on. This means that Tek’it Audio audio software will now be 32-bit and 64-bit on Windows and also available for Mac users. And that’s really cool news because these guys have made some really neat plugins in the past, both free and commercial. I’m looking forward to seeing which one of their plugins is the next in line for the update!

See also: Free FilterCrusher Dual Filter VST/AU Plugin!

8kut 2 is a rather unusual filter plugin (I’ve never seen anything else like it in software form) with eight fixed frequency bands which can be cut by pressing a button or the GUI (or a key on your MIDI controller). The plugin now features zero-delay filters which should sound better than the ones used in the original 8kut.

Obviously, this tool is not something that you’d necessarily want to use while mixing a track in your DAW, but it could be a rather useful option for use on stage, both for DJs and performing musicians. In addition to the eight band switches, the plugin also has manual cut switches for the left and right stereo channels, a phase flip switch and a gain boost switch which is useful for normalizing the output when too much of the signal is being filtered out.

The plugin comes with a built-in preset manager and 40 factory presets to get you started. Although having too many factory presets is not a necessity in a simple plugin such as 8kut 2, browsing through the available presets is actually quite fun and it can give you some fresh ideas for sculpting your audio. Take a look at our demo video below to see the plugin in action and to hear some of the factory presets.

The download process is completely hassle-free. All you need to do is to click the download link on the product page linked below and the download of the ZIP archive (containing the EXE/PKG installer) will begin automatically. There’s no way to avoid the installation process though, which is a bit of a bummer as I’m getting more and more reluctant to install any additional software on my computer. On the other hand, the installation process itself is fairly straightforward and it doesn’t seem to install anything apart from the actual plugin files (you can pick your format of choice during the install process) and the user manual in PDF format.

Video Demo

Check out the 8kut 2 demo video:

Download

8kut 2 is available for free download via Tek’it Audio (4.98 MB download size, ZIP archive, EXE/PKG installer, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & Mac OS).