EastWest have announced the launch of LO-FI, a new virtual instrument dedicated to dark, gritty textures and edgy, distorted sounds. The release also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the company’s ComposerCloud+ subscription, which is being offered at a reduced price throughout April 2025 in celebration of the occasion.
Designed for producers seeking something beyond the clean and polished sounds offered by many instruments, LO-FI focuses instead on imperfection and extreme processing. All of the included content has been creatively reshaped though processes such as pitch-shifting, bit-crushing and distortion, with sources ranging from synths to orchestral instruments and guitars all transformed into dynamic, expressive patches that cater to everything from hip-hop beats to atmospheric soundtracks and experimental electronic music.
LO-FI features an X-Y pad with four Macro Effects that make it possible to control multiple parameters simultaneously.The instrument’s GUI centres around an X-Y pad equipped with four Macro Effects that can be used to control multiple parameters, while a knob-per-function layout ensures that users have quick access to all of LO-FI’s controls at all times.
Dual filters are joined by Amp and Mod Envelope sections, and there’s an LFO panel that offers a selection of standard wave shapes as well as a Step mode that can be used to create sequenced gated rhythms with up to 32 steps. The instrument also includes a built-in 16-step arpeggiator, along with a healthy selection of onboard effects that range from auto-panning and stereo width processing to distortion, chorus, phasing, delay and reverb.
Checkout the official walkthrough video below to hear LO-FI in action.
Compatibility
LO-FI runs in EastWest’s Opus 1.5.6, which is supported on PCs running Windows 10 or higher, and Macs running macOS 10.15 and above. VST2, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available.
Pricing & Availability
LO-FI is available now, and is currently (9 April 2025) being offered at an introductory price of $199, reduced from its full cost of $299. It is also included in EastWest’s ComposerCloud+ subscription, which is being offered at the promotional price of $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year throughout April 2025.
