Smoothie Audio Smear is a stereo filter module that doesn’t filter in a traditional way; instead, it’s more like a multi-FX, using 98-pole allpass filters.
Analog and digital filter modules are essential parts of every modular synthesizer. They can be used to attenuate the lows or emphasize the highs. Animations allow you to create beautiful filter sweeps.
Smoothie Audio has released Smear, a new stereo filter module that does not fulfill any known classic filter duties.
Smoothie Audio Smear
Smear is a dual 98-pole allpass filter that can process audio in stereo or dual-mono modes. An allpass filter passes all frequencies equally in gain but changes the phase relationships among them. It’s not comparable to classic types like lowpass, highpass, etc.
Smooth Audio has backed into the Smear module two allpass filters, available in two identical sections. Once you have plugged your audio into the sockets, it passes a stereo signal through a series of 98 allpass filters.
For each side of the module, you have controls for frequency, resonance, and stages, each with a corresponding CV input for external control.
Check the center, where it has an intriguing feedback control that can beautifully alter the resonance of Smear’s many filters. Turn it, and you can achieve truly unique timbres, including timbres that sound like physical modeling. Yep, this is not a traditional filter.
A Filter Multi-FX
It is clever that it has a dual-mono mode with a simple center-located split button, allowing each side of Smear to control channels independently. This allows the user to process and route two independent signals differently.
A highlight is Smear’s stage sliders that open the door to its hidden depth. It activates the crossfade modes between filter modes, enabling complex notch filtering, animated flams, and unusual evolving timbral movement.
The title of the article is not wrong. It’s not a traditional filter but more of a multi-FX that depends on how you set the parameters. It can be a transient smearing and spectral delay, a resonator, a percusive voice, or even a morphing, animating filter and phasor.
First Impression
We all have enough classic filters, and they’re now available in absurd quantities, from super cheap to high-end. It’s welcome to see companies not just making the same old thing but also bringing unusual designs to the Eurorack format.
Smoothie Audio Smear is available now for $349/£299.
More information here: Smoothie Audio
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