I’ve been meaning to check out WOW2 from Sugar Bytes for a few months but with the holidays and rebuilding my Pro Tools computer, it got put on the back burner. That is until I received an email from Groove 3 announcing a new video tutorial called WOW2 Explained. Laurence Holcombe is the presenter and instructor for this series of seven videos that have a total run-time of 43 minutes. I jumped on the opportunity and watched the videos to learn more about the WOW2 plug-in and how it could work with my recordings.
According to Sugar Bytes, WOW2 is a multi-mode filter plug-in offering 21 high quality filter types. Each filter type can be operated in vowel mode giving you the best vocal sounds available. Choose from three analog and four digital distortion types to beef up your audio. It works with Mac OS X as VST / AU / RTAS / AAX and Windows as VST / RTAS / AAX. Artists such as Skrillex, Boys Noise, SiriusMo, Modeselektor, and MouseOnMars use WOW2.
The interface for WOW2 is very clean and well organized. On the right you have five main buttons or knobs. The largest is the Cutoff control which determines what frequency to filter. There are a number of filters to choose from including Moog and MS Filter Models, along with some of Sugar Bytes’ own. The other knobs are Dry/Wet, Volume, Resonance, and Distortion. The Distortion can be placed before or after the Cutoff filter for more control over your sound sculpting. To the left there are a large number of presets to inspire you. Of course any settings you make can be saved as a user preset.
Another unique and significant feature of WOW2 is the Vowel Mode. This is located under the Cutoff control and is used to fade between two vowel frequencies. Bandpass and Comb Filter modes seem to work best and can be enhanced even more when using modulation with the effect. In addition, most all of the parameters of WOW2 can be easily automated in your DAW to give you complete control of the plug-in.
WOW2 is a plug-in that I would normally associate with creating EDM tracks however after spending some time with it, I was able to incorporate it into a rock session pretty well. With WOW2 I was able to tweak some drum sounds, enhance an organ track, and on a basic lead guitar solo, add some enhancements that made it sound more complex and interesting. With an MRSP of $99, I can see using this a bit more. I would encourage you to try out the 30 day demo to see for yourself how WOW2 can enhance your sessions.
For more information, please visit www.sugar-bytes.de
