The Mutronics Mutator is a stereo filter unit built around a pair of 24dB filters with envelope follower capabilities, the kind of design that sits in the same family as filter pedals and studio filter banks. Released in 1996, it found its way across the music spectrum and became a studio staple before production ended when one of the components required to build it went out of production12.
What it does
The Mutator gives a player two 24dB filters, one per channel, each with envelope follower capabilities, so the filter can sweep under the control of the incoming signal's dynamics. That makes it suited to stereo applications, where the two channels can move independently or together1. Sherman's own review pages, gathering published opinions, describe it as probably the Sherman Filterbank's nearest foe, while noting it is not as "modular" as the Sherman and that the Sherman's envelope controls are stronger1.
The SSM 2045 and why it ended
The rare and special part at the heart of the Mutator was the SSM 2045 filter chip. Guitar Pedal X reports that the chip was already obsolete when the device came out, so its numbers were extremely limited3. Audio Kitchen, whose own filter draws on the Mutator, puts the practical consequence plainly:
"However, its size, complexity and the obsolescence of the SSM 2045 made it difficult to integrate into a guitar rig."4
In other words, the original was a studio piece rather than a pedalboard-friendly unit, and once the chip dried up, so did the Mutator24.
Players and legacy
The SSM 2045 filter led to the Mutator being used by artists including Radiohead, Beck, Daft Punk, Nine Inch Nails and The Chemical Brothers, among others3. MusicRadar describes the Mutronics Mutator as having been used across the music spectrum2.
The original Mutator is long out of production: its life was cut short when one of the components required to build it, the SSM 2045 filter chip, went out of production2. Its size, complexity and the obsolescence of that chip also made it difficult to integrate into a guitar rig4. The unit nonetheless became a studio staple, used by artists including Radiohead, Beck, Daft Punk, Nine Inch Nails and The Chemical Brothers3.
Videos
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Sources (4)
- Reviews, Sherman (www.sherman.be)
- Mutator returns: Behringer brings back the legendary '90s analogue filter/envelope follower that is said to have been used by Daft Punk, Radiohead, Beck, The Chemical Brothers and Nine Inch Nails, MusicRadar, 2024-06-20
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2026-09-02
- Audio Kitchen, musically inspiring amp design, Audio Kitchen
