Lowdown

Cherry Audio's Lowdown faithfully recreates the Moog Taurus, the archetypal floor bass synthesizer that defined low-end synthesis across prog-rock, new wave, and post-punk. The plugin models the original's dual oscillators, ladder filter, and the distinctive Hz/octave scaling that gave the Taurus its signature coherent fatness when both oscillators sounded simultaneously.

The synthesis architecture centers on two oscillators offering sawtooth and square waveforms, feeding into a 24dB/octave Moog-style ladder filter with dedicated envelope generators for both filter and amplitude. The Hz/octave design is crucial to Lowdown's character: by maintaining constant detuning across the keyboard range, it avoids the phase cancellation artifacts that plague conventional volt/octave dual-oscillator designs, resulting in a dense, woody bass that never thins out in upper registers.

DSP designer Mark Barton's emulation captures the original's circuit behavior with considerable accuracy, including the subtle nonlinearities and saturation characteristics that contribute to its aggressive character. Whether dialed for deep, resonant foundations or configured for edgy, aggressive lead tones, Lowdown delivers the aggressive midrange coloration and natural compression that made the Taurus indispensable across decades of recordings.

The plugin suits bass-focused producers, keyboardists seeking period-appropriate textures, and engineers reconstructing classic tracks. While Lowdown's monophonic architecture and vintage synthesis approach limit it to single-note lines, its narrow focus delivers genuine sonic territory that modern polyphonic synths struggle to replicate. For producers prioritizing authentic low-end weight over synthesis flexibility, it remains a compelling specialized tool.