When hearing an electrical crackle, pop, or buzz coming from defective equipment, most engineers and producers get a shiver up their spine. With The Bad Contact, though, you have complete control of the sounds. The noise in this plugin is created by turning a giant black dial in the middle of the GUI, which functions as a rack component with a defective circuit.

If you can get past the first fear that these emulations cause, Bad Contact can be a really valuable tool. It could be a fun technique to give a recording more “character” or a useful sound design tool for multimedia productions.

Bad Contact has a simple interface with a few basic dials and switches that allow you to modify the following parameters:

• 50/60 Hz: This dial allows you to blend in a 50/60 Hz analog-style hum. The noise is eerily similar to the electrical hum produced by massive amplifiers and speakers.
• Dirt: Dirt controls how much erosion occurs in the circuit. The higher you turn the knob, the more your sounds spread out and get more broken up.
• Voltage: The overall amplitude of your created noise is controlled by this dial. This dial can be used in conjunction with the dirt knob to adjust the overall tone.

For fluid mix control, there is also a quick and easy bypass switch. Every time you toggle this switch, it produces a deep characteristic pop. Don’t worry, your gear will be alright. The fact that all of the noises are generated by oscillators is maybe the most intriguing aspect of this plugin. When it comes to impacting your audio, this means you’ll never hear the same sound twice.