New London-based developer Circuit Haze has released Howl, a free delay and reverb plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Howl combines both effects into a single feedback loop and reduces the interface to three knobs and a tone switch. One big bonus for me is that it’s shaped as a guitar pedal rather than some complicated multi-effects processor.
I love the simplicity of guitar-style effects like this. A plugin with three knobs lets you simply focus on listening and turning the knobs until it sounds right. That feels infinitely more fun and intuitive to me than messing around with a complex interface.
So, the workflow here centers on the three controls.
The Reverb knob creates a fairly thick atmosphere. Most of its range stays relatively restrained, but the effect swells more aggressively as you near the highest settings.
Feedback sends every delay repeat back through the same filter and saturation stages. The repeats change progressively with each pass, and pushing the knob to the top puts Howl into self-oscillation, which can sound pretty wild (and that’s probably where it got the name).
D-Time lets you go from recognizable delay to a short slapback or resonant effect. Short settings blur the repeats into a ringing tone, while longer values separate them into individual echoes.
The three-position switch selects Deep, Full, or Bright voicing and changes the tone of both engines.
This one sounds pretty good on guitars, and you can use it for all sorts of ambient textures, dub echoes, shoegaze, and sound design.
Howl v1.0.2 is available as separate direct ZIP downloads, with no signup, license key, activation, subscription, dongle, or plugin manager required. The files are approximately 21.2 MB for macOS, 6.5 MB for Windows, and 7.8 MB for Linux.
The plugin supports VST3 and CLAP on Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus AU on macOS.
Download: Circuit Haze Howl (FREE)
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Last Updated on September 22, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
