Eventide CrushStation
Overdrive/Distortion Command Center
The Ultimate Distortion Plug-in
Ported directly from the award-winning H9 Harmonizer, CrushStation is a versatile, best-in-class, stereo distortion platform for your Mac, PC, or iPad/iPhone. Its controls can drive your tone from creamy saturation to a brutal sonic assault. But distortion is just the starting point. CrushStation brings multi-effects to the mix by adding a three-band EQ, Compression, Octave Mix, and Eventide’s unique take on failing hardware, the Sag control. Use the MIX Control to blend your dry signal with CrushStation to create parallel compression, distortion, and other creative effects.
Fix, Fit & Feature
CrushStation’s combination of ingredients creates a plug-in that excels at the three broad ways distortion effects can be deployed. FX expert and author, Alex Case, refers to them as the “3Fs”: FIT, FIX, and FEATURE.
- “FIX” a weak snare track by adding just a bit of Grit & Compression.
- “FIT” finesse the lead into your mix by adding a bit of warmth and bottom.
- “FEATURE” the lead by crushing it ‘til it hurts.
Play It Live
Originally developed for the Eventide H9 Harmonizer pedal, CrushStation has been enhanced for experimentation and live performance and fine-tuned for your desktop, laptop, or iPad. Like all H9 series plug-ins, CrushStation is designed to ‘play’.
The Ribbon lets you sweep the effect between two completely different settings. On one end you can have a gritty, dark EQ and on the other a wall of sound using heavy Compression, Sag, and Octaves during a solo or intense transition. Even a dramatic effect can become boring if it remains static throughout a track. Use the Ribbon to add a bit of ‘life’ while you’re mixing. For desktop users, plug in a MIDI keyboard and gain control of the Ribbon via the mod wheel for tactile and nuanced morphs and sweeps.
Presets Make it Easy
The plug-in comes loaded with 35 Factory Presets that cover the many ways that you’ll want to use it. Presets capable of adding spice, flair, crude, and crunch to suit a variety of production styles. Get guitars, bass, and synth to sit perfectly in the mix by dialing in warmth and depth with “PunkRock Lobster.” The Grit control in “Fat n Snappy” adds preamp-style distortion that can help bring out kicks in the mix. “Big Pop Octaves” adds subtle distortion and lower octaves for unique pitch-blending vocal effects. Further fine-tune your sound using the three-band EQ to tame cymbals and vocal sibilance.
Features
- 35 presets painstakingly tailored to cover all the bas(s)es
- Drive from shallow subtle boost to deep overdrive distortion
- Grit and Sustain pushes into fuzz territory
- Sag was inspired by our experience of the sound of dying analog gear; the power rail sags and the amp starts sputtering, cutting out, and sounding ‘broken’
- Mix in higher and lower octaves then turn up the Drive and Sustain to crush them together to form massive new textures
- Grit for low-end, gritty, chugging sounds
- 3-Band EQ to shape your tone
- Gate your signal to tame an aggressive distortion output, or get aggressive with high threshold gating and dry Mix for parallel gated crunch
- Ribbon lets you ‘play’ the effect in real-time and provides dynamic and fluid control to morph back and forth between the settings of your choice
- HotSwitch allows you to instantly switch between two different distinct settings within the same preset at the push of a button
- MixLock keeps MIX control constant as you audition presets
- Available for Mac and PC as VST, AAX, and AU plug-in
