Korneff Audio – The Wow Thing v1.0.1

A quirky Lo-Fi spatial effects processor – a secret weapon for guitars with a huge sound. It’s also great for expanding the stereo space of your mixes and creating warmth and lows.

A small plastic box that makes speakers sound more spacious

The original WOW Thing cost $20 and made cheap speakers sound bigger and fuller. It did this through radical EQ and weird psychoacoustic processing using delays and phase. It worked, but it was weird and quirky. Definitely NOT a pro-audio device… until one major rock engineer discovered that it did amazing things to guitars while recording one of metal’s most influential and successful albums at the plant. The WOW Thing has become the secret sauce of many a cult album.

Industry secret, now a plugin

Dan Korneff managed to buy a WOW Thing fifteen years ago, and it became a staple of his guitar processing. However, he wanted to use it for background vocals and reverb, and the original boxes are hard to come by – so he recreated them, and they are now available as a plug-in. Think of the WOW Thing as an acoustic hug: when you want a sound that extends beyond the usual stereo field, the WOW Thing is the one to go for. If you’re looking for quirky lo-fi mystery, the WOW Thing is your cheap plastic friend, now in a handy plug-in.

Add space, bass and chaos

Simple controls make it easy to add spaciousness to your stereo tracks: Simply lift the WOW knob. Any stereo source fed through the WOW Thing extends beyond the speakers. At extreme settings, the WOW Thing adds so much psychoacoustic movement and confusion that it can make you feel sick! It’s that extreme. TrueBass is a low-frequency boost that adds depth and rumble to your tracks. Add just one tap to thicken the sound, or boost it for unique low-end effects.

Beyond the original

It wouldn’t be a Korneff Audio plug-in without some additional customization options. Click on the nameplate to “lift” the cover and access options that weren’t on the original unit. Choose from two different WOW effects. Choose TYPE 1 to replicate the sound of the original desktop unit or TYPE 2 for the sound enhancement algorithms of the little-known SRS Megawide rackmount unit. The Korneff Audio WOW Thing also has a frequency selection for the TrueBass processor. With this, you can tailor the bass response to your material and mix. This feature alone makes the Korneff Audio WOW Thing much more versatile.