Lossy
Digital artifacts, on demand.
What is Lossy? It’s the infinitely desirable sound of crappy mp3’s, broken cellphones, streaming videos, and much more. Everything you thought you hated, but maybe now you don’t?
Are you ready to nostalgize the beautiful harmonics of heavily compressed digital audio? Are you ready to enter the underwater cathedral?
Downloads 💾
Advanced Controls
Lossy has 1 page of advanced controls. Click on the image below to see the advanced page in detail. You can also read about the advanced controls in the plugin manual.
The History of Lossy
In June of 2014, producer & friend-of-Goodhertz, Tyler Duncan, wanted a certain drum fill to sound like the year 2001 — that is, like a low bitrate digital mp3 ripped from KaZaA.
We understood him immediately. Since the dawn of the second recording format, mankind has longed for the aesthetic imperfections of the previous recording format.
“Would a bitcrusher do?” No, Tyler didn’t have 8-bit in mind. He wanted lossy digital audio: streaming music on a 56k modem, an mp3 ripped from a CD-R, light jazz music streamed over a cellphone, a YouTube video uploaded in 2007. What if a plugin could degrade digital audio and simulate those quintessential compressed sounds in realtime?
So we built Lossy: artifacts of heavily compressed audio in a highly tweakable realtime plugin.
-> Original blog post from 2015 about the story behind Lossy: “Lossy’s Uncharted Waters”
Lossy in use
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Instagram:
Charlie Puth - Vitamix x Lossy
Charlie Puth uses “great plugin” (Lossy) to transform a blender into music.
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YouTube:
Omar Apollo - Evergreen (You Didn't Deserve Me at All)
Producer Teo Halm used Lossy to filter & sound design the vocal hooks.
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Instagram:
Noam Wallenberg - Guitars Don’t Have to Sound Like Guitars
Noam shows off his guitar chain for messing up a guitar with Lossy.
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YouTube:
Lorde - Shapeshifter
Lossy was used to crunch up the background ambiance on Shapeshifter — seen on Tape Notes Ep. 158 with Lorde and producer Jim-E Stack.
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YouTube:
Lossy Pedal Demo
We collaborated with Chase Bliss to make a Lossy pedal!
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YouTube:
How to Sound Like Phoebe Bridgers in Your Bedroom
Not to spoil the ending, but the answer is: Lossy
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YouTube:
Loyle Carner breaks down Hate
“A plugin that’s really instrumental to this record is the, um, Goodhertz — this company called Goodhertz — and they do this plugin called Lossy […], used that on a lot of Ben’s vocals actually […]. The Goodhertz plugins in general are a lot of fun to use — very easy to use — and really nice to look at and inspiring.” — Tape Notes Podcast (ep. 102): Loyle Carner, Kwes, & Nick Mills
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YouTube:
Bad Snacks - Lucky
Bad Snacks’ Lucky features Lossy on the intro loop!
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YouTube:
Jane Remover - movies for guys
Goodhertz Lossy can be heard throughout the production of Frailty, used as both a textural and transitional tool. Lossy is on the master bus (!) of tracks like “goldfish.”
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YouTube:
Phoebe Bridgers - Savior Complex
Lossy was featured on Phoebe Bridgers’ “Savior Complex” (mostly in the bridge section) and throughout the Grammy nominated, Punisher LP.