Please note: This product is supplied as a licence code. No box, no disc or similar. Please check the manufacturer’s website BEFORE purchasing to ensure compatibility with your system, and to find out about registration, download procedures, etc. Registered software cannot be returned.
With Pixel Cat, Safari Audio delivers an effects plug-in that combines a bitcrusher, spring reverb and analogue character into a highly intuitive creative tool. Rather than simply destroying resolution, Pixel Cat shapes clean tracks into grainy LoFi textures, springy spaces and charmingly broken retro sounds. The result is an effect that ranges from subtle digital grit to deliberate chaos, whilst always remaining musical.
Many bitcrushers can quickly sound one-dimensional. Pixel Cat goes one step further, combining the digital grit of a classic crusher with spring reverb, drive and tone control. As a result, the plug-in doesn’t just sound ‘broken’, but also spatial, lively and stylish. It is precisely this blend that makes it particularly interesting for drums, bass, synths, guitars, vocals and sound design.
The Bits control lets you set the bit depth and thus the characteristic digital crunch. The more you reduce the bit depth, the more pronounced the noise, grain and that much-loved 8-bit character become. This works brilliantly for retro drums, broken synth lines or vocals that are deliberately meant to sound unpolished.
The Rate control reduces the sample rate, introducing precisely the kind of gritty aliasing into the signal that makes LoFi effects so exciting. From a light digital patina to radical decay, the sound can be controlled very precisely here. This quickly creates very distinctive timbres, particularly in electronic productions or when layering experimental sounds.
One of Pixel Cat’s finest features is its built-in spring reverb. It not only gives the processed signal space, but also that slightly springy vintage movement familiar from old spring reverb systems. This transforms a simple bitcrusher into an effect with significantly more atmosphere. From a brief slap to a broader wash, the reverb can be precisely adjusted to complement the sound without muddling it.
With Drive, you can push the signal into a pleasantly warm saturation even before it reaches the crushing stage. This ensures that Pixel Cat can sound not only digitally hard, but also musically denser and more organic. The Tone control helps you adjust the sound to be darker or brighter. This allows you to shape the effect to be either duller and dustier or more open and biting.
The Blend control makes Pixel Cat particularly suitable for everyday use, as it allows the processed signal to be blended cleanly with the original. This lets you determine exactly how much LoFi should be added to the signal. With Auto Gain, the loudness remains more stable whilst you’re tweaking the settings, making it much more pleasant to assess the results. In addition, the IN and OUT controls enable quick gain staging right at the edge of the interface.
Pixel Cat is ideal for producers and musicians who love LoFi vibes, retro textures and creative sound design. The plug-in is particularly effective on drums, synths, bass, guitars, vocals and FX buses. When a sound isn’t just meant to work cleanly, but to tell its own story, Pixel Cat is exactly the right tool.