Manic Trash Panda Software Labs

Sample workbench · Windows · launching soon

Build machines.
Mangle samples.

Turn any WAV into the sound of an old sampler, a game console, a telephone, or a machine nobody built. Stack small modules into a chain, hear it change as you turn the dials, save it as a Rack, and run your whole sample library through the same machine.

Hear the crusherRead the manual

$10planned launch price · pay once · Windows

The real app at 1920 × 1160, WILD mode, playing an arcade laser and explosion through the Glitch Lab Rack.

The idea

One chain.
Every sound in your library.

Old digital audio has a sound because of how it was built: a few bits, a low clock, a rough filter, a cheap speaker. PCMangler EX lets you build that path piece by piece, or start from one of the 36 ready-made machines, and then apply it to as many files as you like.

  1. Open a soundDrop a WAV on the window. Mono or stereo, 8 to 32 bit. It is never modified.
  2. Build a machineAdd modules and drag them into order. Bypass any of them with a click.
  3. Hear itThe preview re-renders as you turn dials. Flip between original and processed, or play them back to back.
  4. Save a RackName it, describe it, give it a picture and colours. Share it as a small file.
  5. Batch itRun a folder, or a whole tree, through the same chain and get ordinary WAV files out.

Two ways to look

Light for work.
Wild for watching.

The switch above the chain changes only how the module screens are drawn. The sound is identical either way.

Light

  • Each screen shows the module's setting: a value, or a curve of what it does.
  • Calm and easy to read while you tune a machine.

Wild

  • Each screen is a live visualizer of what that module does: staircases for bit-crushers, transfer curves for distortion, spectra for filters, rings for reverb, bit rain for the bit mangler.
  • Every screen follows the playhead together, over a scrolling arcade backdrop driven by the output spectrum.
  • Made for understanding and for showing off.

Try it now

A tiny crusher,
right in this page.

This is a small taste of what a chain does. It makes an arcade laser and explosion in your browser and lowers its sample rate and bit depth, the way an early sampler would. Press Crushed, then move the sliders. The real app has 32 modules and does far more.

OriginalCrushed

Ready. Nothing plays until you press a button.

A silent sketch of three of the app's ideas: sample-and-hold, bit-depth reduction, and companding. Turning the input filter off lets the aliasing through, which is much of the character of early hardware.

What is inside

Built to be used
on a real library.

32 modules

Bit depth, sample clock, resampling, filters, EQ, compressor, reverb, echo, pitch, codecs, and a shelf of weird ones: bit mangler, wavefolder, ring modulator, stutter.

36 factory Racks

Studies in early microcomputers, 8-bit consoles, arcades, samplers, drum machines, phones, radios and toys. Generic and fully editable.

Batch that scales

Selected files, a folder or a whole tree, several files at once, with suffixes, a policy for existing files, a progress bar and a written report.

Tame the noise floor

An automatic fade-out starts where the sound ends and silences the hiss that would run to the end of the file. Optionally cut the silent remainder.

A/B without effort

Play, pause, stop, loop, repeat three times, or play the original then the processed sound back to back. Change a dial while you listen.

Master fader

Effects can punch the level up. A fader with a clip lamp and an AUTO button puts the peak at −1 dB. It applies in preview, export and batch.

Expert mode

Type exact values into any dial, the fader and the trim boxes. Shorthand like 2.5k and -6 dB works, and dials stop snapping to steps.

Repeatable renders

Random processing is seeded. The same sound, chain and seed give bit-identical files, in preview, export and batch.

Safe to share

A .pcmrack file holds settings only: no code, no scripts, no links. Every value is checked when it loads, and a missing module fails loudly instead of changing the sound.

Undo, projects, recovery

Undo covers the chain, settings, colours, trim and fader. Projects remember your session, and a backup is offered after an unexpected exit.

Plain WAV out

Export 8, 16 or 24-bit PCM or 32-bit float at any rate from 8 to 192 kHz, with optional dither and a mono or stereo choice. Your originals are never touched.

Nothing to sign up for

No account, no internet connection needed, no plugin to install in another program. One Windows application.

Modules

32 small machines
to chain together.

Each module does one thing. Their order is the sound. The module reference has every control and range.

Conversion

  • Sample clockSample-and-hold clock
  • QuantizerBit depth / dither
  • Mu-law codecG.711 companding
  • Clock jitterClock instability
  • IMA ADPCM codecIMA ADPCM codec
  • Delta modulatorDelta modulator

Resampling

  • ResamplerRate conversion
  • Pitch / speedPitch by speed

Filtering

  • Low-pass filterLow-pass filter
  • High-pass filterHigh-pass filter
  • 3-band EQ3-band equalizer
  • Resonant filterResonant filter
  • Band-pass filterBand-pass filter

Dynamics

  • CompressorCompressor

Nonlinear

  • Saturation / clipSaturation / clip

Noise & Dither

  • Noise / DCHiss / DC offset

Time & Space

  • ReverbRoom reverb
  • EchoFeedback echo
  • ReversePlay backwards

Modulation

  • Comb resonatorComb resonator
  • TremoloAmplitude wobble
  • Ring modulatorRing modulator

Weird

  • Bit manglerBit-level XOR / AND / OR
  • WavefolderWavefolder
  • StutterRandom slice repeats
  • RectifierWave rectifier

Utility

  • GainLevel / gain
  • Mono mixStereo to mono
  • NormalizePeak normalize
  • PolarityInvert phase
  • FadeFade in / out
  • Silence trimSilence trim

Racks

36 machines to start from.

Each factory Rack is a study in the signal path of a kind of vintage or lo-fi digital device, using typical sample rates and bit depths. They use generic names and are not exact emulations of any product. Edit them, and write what you know in the Rack's notes.

Early microcomputers

  • Beeper 2-bit
  • Home Computer 4-bit DAC
  • Cassette Loader

8-bit consoles and handhelds

  • Early Console PCM
  • Console Delta-Style
  • Handheld 4-bit Wave
  • Handheld PCM
  • Handheld Stereo Speaker
  • Speech Cartridge
  • ADPCM Cartridge

16-bit era and arcades

  • 16-bit Console ADPCM-Style
  • Arcade Board PCM
  • CD Console 37.8 kHz
  • Multimedia PC 22 kHz
  • 8-bit Tracker Sampler

Samplers and drum machines

  • 8-bit Desktop PCM
  • 8-bit Rhythm PCM
  • 12-bit Long Play
  • 12-bit Studio Sampler
  • Early Drum Machine
  • First-Gen Sampler 8-bit
  • 90s Rompler 16-bit
  • 16-bit Linear Reference

Phones, radio and toys

  • Telephone 8 kHz
  • Voice Line Mu-Law
  • Answering Machine
  • Talking Toy
  • AM Radio
  • Cheap Digital Recorder
  • Tape Echo Lo-Fi

Experimental

  • Glitch Lab
  • Delta Buzz
  • Backwards Swell
  • Cavern Crush
  • Chiptune Crusher
  • CHECKFIRE PCM

Planned release

Pay once.
Keep your sounds.

Launching soon

PCMangler EX

$10 once

  • The full Windows application
  • All 32 modules and 36 factory Racks
  • LIGHT and WILD modes, batch processing and Expert mode
  • No account, no subscription

This is the planned launch price. Nothing is on sale yet, and the price and details may change before release.

What you need

System
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
Audio in
WAV files: mono or stereo, 8, 16, 24 or 32-bit PCM, or 32-bit float.
Audio out
WAV: 8, 16 or 24-bit PCM, or 32-bit float, from 8 to 192 kHz.
Listening
Any audio output device. Exporting works without one.
Not included
It is not a plugin and not a DAW. It processes files. MP3 and other compressed formats are not read.

Questions

Good to know.

Does it change my original files?

No. Originals are only read. Exports go to a new file, written under a temporary name and then renamed, and the app refuses to write over the source WAV.

Are the factory Racks exact copies of real hardware?

No. They are generic studies of a class of device, with typical rates and bit depths. They are a good starting point, not a measurement. The notes field is where you record what you know about a specific machine.

Can I use it on a whole sample library?

Yes. Batch processing runs the current chain over selected files, a folder or a folder tree, several at a time, and keeps the folder structure. One bad file never stops the rest, and you get a report.

Will it sound the same next week?

Yes. Random processing uses an explicit seed. The same source, chain, seed and settings produce bit-identical output.

Can I share what I build?

Yes. Racks save as small .pcmrack files that hold only settings, a name, notes, a picture and colours. They cannot contain code, and every value is checked when a file is opened.

Mac or Linux?

The processing engine is portable, but for now PCMangler EX is a Windows application.

Where do I learn how it works?

The help library covers the workspace, every module, Racks, batch processing, the end fade, Expert mode, shortcuts and troubleshooting.