Telephone
Narrow-band line, earpiece resonance, µ-law grit, and dying-call dropouts.
A narrow band, a tinny earpiece resonance, and µ-law companding grit — the sound of a call you can barely hold onto. The core is mono (stereo inputs are collapsed), with a subtle decorrelated hiss keeping the sides alive. Reach for it when a vocal should feel small, distant, or overheard.
The macros here
- AmountSqueezes the band from both ends (roughly 250 Hz–3.8 kHz down to 450 Hz–2.6 kHz), sharpens the 1–1.5 kHz earpiece peak, and deepens the µ-law grit from 8-bit toward 4.5-bit.
- ToneScales the top cutoff ×0.8–1.4 — from muffled handset to crispy line.
- NoiseLine hum, crackle clicks, and a soft comfort hiss.
- DropoutsLine clicks and hard cuts — the classic dying-call chop.
Answering machine
Amount 65%Tone 40%Noise 25%Dropouts 10%Mix 100%
A verse-opening vocal. Automate Mix to 0% at the drop and the arrangement opens up with it.
Long distance
Amount 85%Tone 55%Noise 45%Dropouts 30%Mix 100%
A line that is failing on purpose — bridges, outros, spoken-word interludes.
Presence grit
Amount 70%Tone 60%Noise 0%Dropouts 0%Mix 35%
Parallel edge that pushes a vocal through a dense mix without obvious lo-fi.