MIA Laboratories has announced the release of Border, a freeware dual Butterworth filter in VST, AU, and AAX plugin formats for compatible DAW software on PC and Mac.
Border features two second-order Butterworth filters optimized for smooth cleaning up of the unwanted frequency content in the processed audio signal. A second-order filter is simply a kind of filter which would consist of two components in the analog domain (two capacitors, two inductors, or one capacitor and one inductor). These filters are usually named by their inventor, as is the case with the Butterworth filter.
See also: Clean Up The Bass Frequencies With The bx_subfilter VST/AU PluginThe plugin comes with one high-pass and one low-pass Butterworth filter, both offering a cutoff range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Since the ranges of the two filters are overlapping, the audio mutes when the cutoff frequency of the HP filter is higher than that of the LP filter. Due to its simple design and smooth filtering properties, Border can be used as the first insert effect on a channel on audio tracks which suffer from high-frequency hiss or low-end rumble (or a combination of both). The plugin is able to clean up the excess frequency content without coloring the rest of the signal.
The user interface is as simple as they get, featuring only a couple of knobs for controlling the two filter modules. The text fields below the knobs allow for direct input of the cutoff frequency value, which is a neat option if one has a specific cutoff frequency in mind. One improvement I’d like to see would be the ability to link the two knobs so that they could be moved simultaneously, making Border work as a band-pass filter in addition to its two main modes.
A valid email address is required to download Border from the product page linked below. The download link arrived instantly after signing up for my free copy of the plugin. MIA Laboratories is offering several paid products in addition to Border.
Border is available for free download via MIA Laboratories (2.1 MB download size, ZIP archive containing EXE installer, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/AAX plugin format for Windows & MacOS).
2 Comments
Beener
onDecent little filter plug. Nice for free!
Jacob
onIt’s a butterworth filter but with one quirk that I think is worth mentioning.
It has two outputs and two inputs.
The first input and output are what gets filtered and the filtered result, but the second input and output appear to do nothing but pass the signal through. If your DAW can’t disable the additional input and output then you’ll need to waste a channel to route and mute them.
Another butterworth filter, among several other filter designs, is RS-MET’s free EngineersFilter. The cutoff isn’t smoothly automated, at least not for me, but it’s a good static filter with adjustable poles from 1 to 20.