PSP VintageWarmer

Have you ever wondered about those magic boxes we hear so much about by pro-engineers? The LA-2A's, 1176's, and Fairchild's? Did you ever wonder what about these particular unit's "characters" made them so particularly great, and why hardly anything in the software realm can seem to add a similar kind of voodoo to a track or mix? Well, Vintage Warmer can. This is a dynamics processor, but it's not quite a compressor or even multi-band compressor, nor is it quite a stock limiter. It's more like a multi-band limiter connected to a tape like saturation device that can even perform some EQ like functions, but can make absolutely anything sound magical. Vintage Warmer is most often pidgeonholed as a mastering tool, and to look at it simply as such is really a shame. Run VW through an acoustic rock drum set and watch how it's magic can give you an instant John Bohnam sound. Listen to how vocals suddenly get pushed up to the front of the mix, or how acoustic guitars suddenly sound so much more present and smooth. This plug-in can make just about anything cut through a mix, the only downside to using it during mixing is its rather large CPU load though. As far as Vintage Warmer's skills as a mastering device; most times Vintage Warmer can suffice as all you need in a mastering chain. It's really that good and that versatile. This plug-in can be driven extremely hard as well with very pleasing saturation sounds allowing you to get loud mixes when you need them without some of the harsh artifacts of other limiters. Vintage Warmer really is one of the few plug-ins that you absolutely must own. I can honestly not think of one other native dynamics processor that I can say comes anywhere near doing what VW can.Read Review