Filters

FabFilter Twin 2 has four multi-mode stereo filters. The two main filters are put right after the oscillators and the other two are used within the delay section. The filters can be routed in three modes: serial, parallel and per oscillator/delay. Every filter can be switched between low-pass, high-pass, and band-pass responses with 12, 24 and 48 dB/octave slopes and a staggering amount of eleven different high-quality filter characteristics that define the unique sound and overdrive of the filter. They range from smooth with moderate overdrive to raw, self-oscillating and over-the-top! All characteristics have been tuned very carefully, using our state-of-the-art FabFilter filter technology.

For every filter the following parameters are available:

• Frequency
  The filter frequency is adjustable over the entire audio range. The Frequency controls the center or cut-off frequency of the filter and can be controlled in real time, either manually, via modulation, or via external devices using MIDI.

• Pan
  The Pan ring around the Frequency knob lets you filter the left and right channels differently. It works as a stereo balance setting for the center frequency of the filter. For example, when you turn the Pan knob to the left, the left channel will be filtered with a lower center frequency, and the right channel will be filtered with a higher center frequency. You can use this to create various stereo filtering effects and thus it makes for a great modulation target.

• Peak
  The Peak knob adjusts the resonance of the filter. A little resonance will cause the filter to create warmer and more characteristic tones. At maximum resonance, the filter will self-oscillate with most filter characteristics.

• Characteristic
  FabFilter Twin 2 lets you choose between 11 different filter characteristics:

  1. FabFilter One, the original filter characteristic taken from our award-winning FabFilter One synthesizer
  2. Smooth, like the cream in your coffee
  3. Raw, a filter with lots of overdrive and exhibits a character of its own
  4. Hard, moderately distorting filter, with a nice clean whistle
  5. Hollow, juicy moderate distortion with fairly much low-end self-oscillation
  6. Extreme, for more wild sonic ideas
  7. Gentle, a more smooth and clean general purpose characteristic
  8. Tube, with a warmer sound and nice overdrive, great for synth sounds
  9. Metal, with a rough, sharper sound and distortion
  10. Easy Going, a softer version of the Tube filter
  11. Clean, linear behavior with no clipping or distortion at all

• Response
  The response of each filter can be set to either Low Pass, High Pass, or Band Pass. In Low Pass mode, the filter will pass through frequencies lower than the center frequency. In High Pass mode, frequencies higher than the center frequency will be passed through. In Band Pass mode, only the frequencies around the cut-off frequency will be passed through.

• Slope
  The slope sets the steepness of the filter, which controls how aggressively the frequencies around the center frequency are filtered. You can choose between 12 dB/octave, 24 dB/octave or 48 dB/octave settings. For example, if the response is set to Low Pass, more high frequencies will be passed above the cutoff frequency using at 12 dB/octave than at 48 dB/octave. But let your ears decide! Just listen to the sound as you move the filter around and see if you like it...

• Routing
  The routing of the filters can be changed. The different settings are clearly graphically represented in the interface. There are three different setups:

  1. Serial: the sound passes through both filters serially. So the sound of all oscillators are led through filter 1 and then through filter 2.
  2. Parallel: the sound is led through both filters in parallel and the result is then mixed together after the filters.
  3. Per Osc / Delay: the output of oscillator 1 or delay 1 goes through filter 1, the output of oscillator 2 or delay 2 goes through filter 2. For the main filters, the output of oscillator 3 is routed through both filters.

Tip: The section presets button next to the routing button lets you store and retrieve all filter parameters as a section preset, which is very useful for accessing often-used combinations of parameters.

Filter component buttons

Each filter is visually represented as a component button. By clicking on the component button and dragging, you can directly alter the most important filter parameters:

• Frequency: drag horizontally
• Peak: drag vertically
• Pan: drag horizontally while holding down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (OS X) key
• Response: drag vertically while holding down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (OS X) key

Click on a button to open the full filter interface (shown in the screen shot above) that provides access to all parameters. For other component shortcuts, see Component buttons.

Next: Interactive filter display

See Also
Oscillators
Modulation
Overview