Skip to content
anr logo webp AudioNewsRoom (ANR)

Music technology publication with news, reviews & interviews

  • About
  • SW Reviews
  • HW Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
anr logo webp
AudioNewsRoom (ANR)

Music technology publication with news, reviews & interviews

Advertisements

Crush it with Bitcom

Fab, May 6, 2013November 21, 2014

Audiodamage keep cranking out little goodies to mess with your music.

Advertisements

Bitcom is a step sequencer that sends signal to a bit crusher, and a simple synth. Sounds odd, but it can quickly destroy even the most pleasant of sounds. Think Nine Inch Nails destroy.

Each step shows a graphic button of each of the 8 bits. If all 8 bits are selected, the sound is the same coming out as it went in. As you start removing bits, the sound starts to crush. Experimenting with using different bits can really alter the sound of the crushing – so you do get some control on how the bit crushing sounds, which is useful.

There’s a useful RAND button for each step, that once selected, will re-draw the bits once they’ve been played – ensuring that no looped phrase will sound the same if you don’t want it to.

Advertisements

Sidechain Synth

The simple mono synth can be played separately via midi, or can be synced and side-chained and the volume driven by the audio going through the bit crusher. It has two waveforms, pulse or triangle, which can be tuned finely and shaped.

Conclusion

Bitcom is a fun bit crusher with a difference – the addition of the mono synth adds some interesting elements to crushing the crap out of your sounds. I wouldn’t recommend Bitcom as a playable synth – as it’s very simple, and not really designed for that. But as a combination with the crusher it gives more options. Lots of fun for the price!

Price
$39

…Bitcom is a fun bit crusher with a difference …

Product page

PROS

  • great control over the bitcrushed sound
  • Simple to use
  • Synth is a useful addition

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

  • looking for subtle analog drive? this isn’t for you. Crazy nasty distortion? This is a great option at the price

CONS

  • no presets that I could find

Related Posts:

  • Scaler 3 review on ANR
    Scaler 3 Review (2025): Does It Live Up to the Hype?
  • Bass Station II Swifty review on ANR
    Bass Station II Swifty Edition Review: Acid Arrows,…
  • Logic Pro 12 - featured image
    Logic Pro 12 - All You Need To Know
  • Krk kreate review
    KRK Kreate Review: A New Standard for Budget Monitoring?
software reviews

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Fab

Founder & main editor here at ANR, 'non-musician' and music-tinkerer. His first keyboard was a cheesy Yamaha PSS-270. He still loves it.

Follow ANR on

Instagram Facebook YouTube Twitter

Our Picks

read more
Denon Prime Go Plus
read more
read more

Recent Posts

  • Akai MPK Mini Plus II: 37 Mini Keys, Hardware CV, and Deeper MPC Hooks
  • Focusrite and Klevgrand Altitude Harmony: Fast Vocal Stacks, Less Friction
  • Loopcloud 8 Dumps Tag Hunting and Lands on iOS
  • zplane TONIC 2 Turns Key Detection Into a MIDI Chord Sketchpad
  • Pine DSP Blox Rack: Modular FX Chain With Horizontal EQ
  • Arturia MiniFreak 49: Bigger Keys, Hands-On Control
  • Serato DJ for iOS Drops with Serato DJ 5.0
  • IK Multimedia ARC Studio+ Cuts the Computer Out of Room Correction
@ANR - All Rights Reserved