Coils2
TL;DW: Coils2 is a transformer overdrive emulator.
Hi! I’ve been busy. You’ll notice the download’s a bit larger than usual: that’s because it also contains a .dmg file that is the modern code-signed, M1-apple-silicon-ready version of Coils2.
I’ve been busy making this: mediafire/SignedAUs.dmg which is likewise, for EVERYTHING. At least, everything that is Audio Unit. I’m aware people want Mac VSTs in the same way, and that’s going to be my work for May: should be possible. I can’t vouch for whether that stuff will work in non-native VST hosts, but I do think I’ve got the modern Audio Unit problem solved. They also contain Intel code, so there’s now two options for running AUs on Macs: old school compile, or the new compile. Doing every plugin means there are 248 individual plugins in there.
I’m not including them in my stuff off the website until I have the code signed VSTs too, for Apple Silicon, and then it’ll be time to re-upload hundreds of things back into the dawn of my Patreon, so it will all give you all the possible versions, every time.
I do have questions: do we still want to use ‘NewUpdates.zip’ when all this is done? Or dedicated collections for each sort of computer/plugin? The numbers are getting so huge. Though an ‘ALL’ download might still be a good idea, just for thoroughness. For now, NewUpdates.zip is still the OLD SCHOOL and that mediafire link above is where you get the new Apple Silicon builds, but I’m including what I’ve got in new plugin downloads. It’s a work in progress.
Anyway, Coils2! This is to Coils what Srsly2 was to Srsly. In other words, Coils was always ultra subtle. Coils2 lets you dial up the cheapness until the tone is wrecked (if you so choose).
There’s two controls, Saturation and Cheapness. Saturation determines what happens outside the ‘resonant band’, and Cheapness narrows the band in which the transformer’s putting out clean, pure sound. This is not a ‘stompbox distortion’ type of distortion. It’s shaping the way the transformer produces sonority. If you narrow the ‘sonority’ band with more Cheapness, you increasingly distort and lose the lows and highs, and also get a hysteresis effect of magnetizing the transformer core. More Cheapness lets you hear the transformer crap out better when you overdrive it.
Saturation gives you the maximum overload you can get to, NOT ‘more total gain’. It’s clamping down, not boosting into. That means if you turn it up all the way you get a sort of bandpass: it’s no longer really a model, you’re hearing only what’s left over after the transformer dies. To hear the grind, you have to set it to less than full crank, and halfway should already be quite a lot of overload (except if Cheapness is really low, it might be hard to overload the transformer, so it’s a matter of taste.
That’s a lot of talk to say: play with the knobs. They should do what they’re labeled to do, and as long as you’re not thinking ‘turn everything up all the way’ you’ll be fine. It’s meant to pass through a great deal of sonority even for tiny cheap transformers, just in such a way that you can really hear it this time. Coils2 is still in the spirit of Coils, in that you’ll get the most accurate ‘modeling’ by not treating it as its own stompbox. It’s the output stage, for shaping and sculpting things that already exist. You might combine it with tube distortion effects to get an ‘amp-like’ character, or use it subtly on a 2-buss to tighten lows and give you more impact and vibe. Remember to not use too much saturation and cheapness for full mixes :)
Patreon, for when you want another 248 ports done by the end of the week because you got AU for free but also want VST and also that new Mackity with the EQ built in :)
Sliders work again on Big Sur! 1000 blessings and thanks!
Thanks again for the unique direction and time. Be blessed!
Amazing!! 🏆🏆🏆
Thanks for this!!
Thank you, Chris!
This is fantastic, Chris. I just got a Mac Mini, and now it’s going to be a VERY Airwindowsy Mac MIni! Thank you!
I loved the fact that you ran your voice through Coils2 as well as the music. Your songs are excellent, but sometimes because of the music’s complexity I have trouble hearing how the effect is changing the sound. With your voice, there is no mistaking exactly what’s happening.
Thanks again. Am upgrading my Patreon today!
Hi Chris, regarding your questions for how to package the plugins:
If you’re going to use an installer, then you can go the route many others do and allow to select individual plugins to install, and the type.
So on a Mac you may want just AU or both AU and VST.
Then in the installer you can do things like groups of plugins – consoles, dynamics, etc.
If you don’t want to spend the time on such an installer, perhaps a fellow developer can help with that part.
Failing that, you should have the zip file because most people don’t want ALL the plugins, it’s hard to scroll and find the right one. The zip allows to select which ones.
The option of all plugs is good when i update my airwindows every year or so…, the option of type specific is good whyen i want to keep my folders tidy and work faster with my airwindows plugs in my daw (which i painstakingly have to update often). no option manual option is feasible but assumes i’m already familiar. be brave, do all :D respex chriss.
Here is how you keep airwindows vst folder organised for FL studio on windows without “grouping”.
Create directory “C:\program files\vstplugins\AIRWINDOWS\”
open newupdates and extract only the 64bit plugins to the created directory
When a plugin comes along you think you want download the single plugin and extract only the 64bit .dll to your vstplugins/airwindows folder and rescan with DAW.
Yes, i think im saying that you just lob the whole lot together, and keep them in one folder and dont bother grouping, rather “favourite” and add one by one to your own custom plugin library and plugin menu in the DAW
I don’t think you have your transformer model correct. Transformers are (in)famous for their distortion, which only really applies significantly to the low end (in audio applications, at least). Transformers have a problem with DC and low frequencies, *not* high frequencies. The fact that high frequencies may be attenuated when you use transformers is due to their inductance really (note that well-specced transformers don’t have this problem; they may have a problem with core saturation due to DC, strong bass or high levels, but even if you use a transformer as a matching device or a voltage multiplier, for instance, it is perfectly possible, within reason and within what the design allows, to choose a transformer that has no or little impact on the high frequencies, therefore when transformers act as a low-pass filter too that’s because it’s a deliberate design “mistake”). Therefore, your transformer model should only distort the low end; a cheap transformer will roll off more extremes and distort bass more, but not treble.