Wavetable aliasing and oversampling: what to listen for
What aliasing is, why oversampling helps and how to hear the difference.
Tools for this guide
This guide uses Finish Him (paid, with a 30-day trial), 53,830 Waves (paid, with a 30-day trial) and Transient (paid, with a 30-day trial).
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The free plug-ins do not include a synth tool. Follow along with a trial above, or a similar plug-in you already own.
What aliasing is
A digital system holds frequencies up to half its sample rate. That limit is called Nyquist. Anything above it folds back down as tones that do not belong to the note.
Bright waveforms, high notes and distortion all make content above Nyquist. That is why a patch can sound clean in the bass and brittle 3 octaves up.
What oversampling does
An oversampled stage runs at a multiple of the session rate, then filters and comes back down. The extra top end is removed before it can fold back. It costs CPU and can add latency.
Plug-ins handle it in their own ways. Some have a quality control. Finish Him has detector quality from Draft to Ultra for its true-peak detection. Some set it for you. Transient picks its oversampling from the session rate.
- Find the quality setting, if the plug-in has one.
- Hold one high note on a bright patch.
- Switch the setting and listen for a harsh edge that comes and goes.
How to hear it
Play a high note on a bright patch and bend it up slowly. Aliases move down as the note goes up. That is how you spot them.
Compare at the same level. A brighter or louder setting can seem better for the wrong reason.
Hear the tools in this guide
Loop one phrase, change one control at a time and compare at the same level.
Finish Him. A clean, quick mastering limiter with 4 characters.
Side by side
Every licence is perpetual and covers up to 3 computers. 14 days to change your mind, even after download.
- Finish HimCategory: LimiterPrice: $39.99Introductory priceRegular price $79.99 from 2 December.A clean, quick mastering limiter with 4 characters.
- 53,830 WavesCategory: SynthPrice: $24.99Introductory priceRegular price $49.99 from 2 December.Pure tones to harsh digital and chip sounds, from 53,830 waveforms.
- TransientCategory: Transient ShaperPrice: $14.99Introductory priceRegular price $29.99 from 2 December.Bring out the hit or pull it back.
Each one installs as VST3 on Windows and as VST3 and Audio Unit on a Mac.
Further reading
Questions, answered
Does a bigger wavetable library mean less aliasing?
No. The number of waveforms says how many starting shapes there are. How clean they stay on high notes comes from how the oscillator plays them.
Is there one oversampling setting across the catalogue?
No. Each plug-in handles it in its own way. Some have a quality control and some set it automatically.