A bitcrusher reduces the sampling rate and resolution of a signal without any filtering, resulting in aliasing and quantization noise. When a digital signal is resampled at a lower sampling rate it creates copies of the signal (aliasing). Unlike a fuzz, these copies are not harmonically related to the original signal. Samplers and digital audio workstations use filters to remove the aliased components, but they are essential to a bitcrusher’s character.

When too few bits are used to represent a signal, each sample is rounded to the nearest allowed value and no longer matches the true signal level. The rounding errors cause noise, called quantization noise, because the actual signal is approximated using a small set of values. 8-bit computer audio is a good example of quantization noise, but the Red Panda Bitcrusher can go all the way down to 1 bit.

Bit crushers are great for shredding your signal, but they can also make your ears bleed. We spent months tweaking to make a more musical bit crusher (but it can still shred).

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