Phones, laptops and earbuds can't reproduce low notes, so the bass line disappears on them. TurboBass adds harmonics of the bass that small speakers can play, and your ear hears the bass line again.
One track with and without TurboBass, at the same loudness. Switch the speaker to Phone: in the original the bass line almost disappears, with TurboBass it stays.
When you hear those harmonics, you hear the 50 Hz note too, even though the speaker never played it. This is called the missing fundamental. TurboBass takes the bass below a frequency you set and generates its harmonics, note by note.
They follow the pitch exactly, including slides and 808 pitch drops. Tone sets even harmonics (softer) against odd ones (harder), Drive adds tube-style saturation.
Loud notes get more harmonics, quiet notes less, matched to how our hearing perceives loudness. Sustain keeps them up while long notes fade out.
A separate control boosts the range just above the crossover, which small speakers still reproduce. Everything higher passes through unchanged.
The frequency response, the shape of the harmonics and how their level follows the input are drawn live. The main settings can also be dragged right on the graph.
TurboBass doesn't delay the signal, so you can use it while recording.
About 0.3% of one processor core at 48 kHz, 0.6% at 96 kHz. Measured on an Apple M5 Mac.
Catches peaks in the added harmonics. Your original signal doesn't go through it.
For subs, 808s, bass guitar, synth bass, kicks and small speakers. Switching presets keeps the overall level about the same.
Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, Reaper, Bitwig, Studio One, FL Studio and other hosts on macOS 11 or later.
All 1.x updates are included. The plug-in shows when a new version is out.
Any macOS host that loads Audio Unit or VST3 plug-ins: Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live, Cubase, Nuendo, Reaper, Bitwig Studio, Studio One, FL Studio and others. Mono and stereo tracks.
It's in the works.
TurboBass keeps working, but its output is muted for 2 seconds every 20 seconds until you activate a license. Your sessions and settings stay as they are.
A license is active on one computer at a time. Deactivate it in the plug-in to move it, or activate on the new computer and choose "Move license here" if the old one is gone.
Once, to activate. After that it works offline. When online, it checks once a day for updates and that the license is still valid. Details in the privacy policy.
No. The presets keep the overall level about the same. What changes is how well the bass line comes through on small speakers. If you also turn down the original sub, you get some headroom back.