The NanoFlux
Chorus · Flange · Delay · Non‑Linear · Rotary — Six Walls
The NanoFlux models the non‑reverb programs of the original Alesis NanoVerb (unofficial, not affiliated with Alesis), measured from a real unit: its chorus, flange, delay, gated “non‑linear” reverb, and rotary speaker. Input, Mix, and Output follow the same signal path as the hardware, including its analog dry/wet Mix pot.
Installing
Windows: run The-NanoFlux-<version>-Windows-Setup.exe.
Click Yes on the one security prompt and it installs the VST3 to
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\. If Pro Tools is
installed, tick Also install the AAX version for Pro Tools to add the
AAX to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\.
macOS: open The-NanoFlux-<version>-macOS.pkg. It
installs the VST3 and the Audio Unit (for Logic and GarageBand) for all users; a
Pro Tools (AAX) checkbox, off by default, adds the AAX. It is signed and
notarized by Apple, so it opens with no Gatekeeper warning.
Then restart your DAW or rescan plug-ins. Prefer to place the bundles yourself? The portable download holds the plug-in bundles and a READ ME saying where each one goes. The Installer can also keep The NanoFlux up to date for you.
Controls
| Control | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Input | ±24 dB | Level into the unit. |
| Mix | 0–100 % | Dry / wet balance, with the hardware pot’s own feel: the effect barely comes in below about 17 %, the two sides are roughly even near 50 %, and 0 % still lets a faint trace of the effect through (about −24 dB). 100 % is fully wet — use that when The NanoFlux sits on an effects send: load the Init – FX Send preset. It opens at 50 % so it works straight away as an insert. |
| Output | ±24 dB | Level out of the unit. |
| Mode | Chorus / Flange / Delay / Non‑Linear / Rotary | Which program is running. |
| Adjust | 0–100; Custom at full clockwise | The program’s one edit control, as on the hardware (see The programs). All the way clockwise is Custom, our own addition, which hands control to Rate and Depth. |
| Rate | 0.05–10 Hz | Custom only. |
| Depth | 0–100 % | Custom only; 50 % is the hardware’s own amount. |
| Tempo Sync | on / off | Delay only: Adjust picks a note value instead of a time (see Tempo Sync). |
| Pawn Shop | on / off | Header toggle: a worn unit with the hardware’s rough edges (see Pawn Shop). |
The programs
| Program | What Adjust does | In Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Chorus | Sweep speed, from very slow and deep at the bottom to about 3.6 Hz at the top. The depth shrinks as the speed rises, so the pitch wobble stays about the same. True stereo: the right side sweeps at about 0.8× the speed of the left. | Rate sets the left sweep (the right follows at 0.8×); Depth scales the sweep. |
| Flange | Sweep speed, up to about 3.6 Hz. Near the bottom of the knob the sweep stops altogether and you get a fixed comb tone. | Rate and Depth set the sweep speed and width. |
| Delay | Delay time, 0 to 1270 ms in 10 ms steps (about 170 ms at 17, 640 ms at 50, and 1120 ms at 83). Each repeat is about 10.5 dB quieter than the last. At 0 there is no audible echo, only a slight change in tone. | Depth sets the feedback (more or fewer repeats) at the longest time; Rate does nothing. |
| Non‑Linear | Gate length: about 145 ms (flat across the bottom sixth of the knob) up to about 620 ms. The classic 1980s gated‑reverb snare, not an ambient reverb. | Depth sets the gate length, 60 ms to 1 s; Rate does nothing. |
| Rotary | A speed switch, not a speed dial, as on the hardware: below about 47 the rotor runs slow (about 0.7 Hz), above it fast (about 7.2 Hz). It spins up almost at once and winds down over about two seconds. | Rate sets the rotor speed; Depth sets how strongly it swirls. |
Tempo Sync (Delay)
In Delay mode a Tempo Sync checkbox appears under Adjust. Tick it and Adjust steps through note values at your host’s tempo instead of milliseconds; the readout shows the note, and the echoes land exactly on it. t marks a triplet and d a dotted note. The list is grouped by note value, so a dotted 1/16 (3/8 of a beat) comes just before the 1/8 triplet (1/3 of a beat), even though it is slightly longer.
| Adjust | Note | At 120 BPM | Adjust | Note | At 120 BPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–7 | 1/32 | 62.5 ms | 50–57 | 1/4 t | 333 ms |
| 7–14 | 1/16 t | 83 ms | 57–64 | 1/4 | 500 ms |
| 14–21 | 1/16 | 125 ms | 64–71 | 1/4 d | 750 ms |
| 21–29 | 1/16 d | 188 ms | 71–79 | 1/2 t | 667 ms |
| 29–36 | 1/8 t | 167 ms | 79–86 | 1/2 | 1000 ms |
| 36–43 | 1/8 | 250 ms | 86–93 | 1/2 d | 1500 ms |
| 43–50 | 1/8 d | 375 ms | 93–100 | 1/1 | 2000 ms |
Synced times can run past the hardware’s 1270 ms (a whole note works down to 30 BPM). There is no Custom position while synced: the top of the knob is 1/1. Tempo Sync is not available in Pawn Shop.
Pawn Shop
Pawn Shop turns The NanoFlux into the bare hardware, rough edges and all, as if it had been through a few pawn shops:
- Looks the part. Scratches, scuffs, a torn sticker, aged ivory lettering, and a worn Six Walls sticker slapped over the spot where Rate and Depth were. The wear is the same every time, not re‑rolled on each toggle.
- Hardware controls only. Rate, Depth, and Tempo Sync are gone, and Adjust has no Custom position: all the way clockwise is simply the hardware’s maximum.
- Dirty pots. Turning Input or Output adds a little crackle, like a worn pot contact. Only those two: they are the real analog gain stages; the other knobs are read digitally.
- A wandering clock. The Chorus and Flange sweeps drift a little faster and slower on their own (each Chorus side separately), like a tired unit “breathing wrong.”
- A tired rotary motor. The rotor’s speed wanders, and every so often the motor catches and loses speed for a moment before recovering.
- The previous owner’s mod: Clock Mod. A knob drilled into the faceplate where Depth used to be, copying the most popular real NanoVerb circuit bend: a new clock for the whole unit. Below 100 % everything in the effect slows down together — delays get longer, sweeps and the rotor slower — while the sound darkens and picks up converter hiss; at 50 % a delay is twice as long, at 25 % four times. Above 100 % the unit is pushed past what it was built for and starts to crackle. The dry signal is never affected. At 100 % it sounds exactly like a stock unit.
- A slightly hot right side. The right output runs about 1.1 dB louder than the left, as on the unit we measured.
- Raw Delay time changes. Moving Adjust in Delay cuts straight to the new time, so a sweep clicks, splats, and smears like the hardware. Outside Pawn Shop each change is smoothed.
Known limitations
- Don’t sweep Adjust in Delay. On the hardware, turning Adjust while echoes are running is ugly: it clicks, splats, and smears. Pawn Shop keeps that. Outside Pawn Shop the changes are smoothed, but it is still a set‑and‑forget control, not a tape‑style pitch effect.
- Rotary has two speeds. Adjust switches between slow and fast; it is not a continuous speed control. Use Custom for in‑between speeds.
- Mix at 0 % is not completely dry, just as on the hardware. Bypass the plugin for a truly dry signal.
Credits & licences
The version number is shown in the plugin’s bottom toolbar; the ? button there opens this manual.
- JUCE 8 — built with JUCE (juce.com) under the free JUCE Personal license; the “Made with JUCE” splash on the editor is part of that license.
- Fonts — Orbitron, Rajdhani, IBM Plex Mono, under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.
- Modeled on measurements of an original Alesis NanoVerb. Unofficial, not affiliated with or endorsed by Alesis / inMusic.