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Hiya KVR,We just launched Alternate Timeline - a VST3/AU track, bus, and mastering processor built around six era-based characters, 1960s through Modern.
The idea is straightforward: records from different decades do not just have different EQ curves. They have different bandwidth, different compression behavior, different saturation profiles, different transient handling, and different expectations about how far a mix could be pushed before the medium pushed back. Alternate Timeline models how audio actually sounded on the media of its decade, and what had to be done to it to get there. Each era preset bakes all of that into a single processing path.
The point is to make the source react differently, not merely sound filtered.
How we've been using it
The obvious use is the 2-bus - and it does exactly what you'd expect there. The 1970s preset has been a constant around here, especially on rock material. But what got more interesting was everything else.
On a drum bus, the eras change the shape and apparent weight of the kit. On a synth lead, the 1960s setting rounds off the top and adds harmonic weight you'd otherwise reach for a saturation plugin to get. On a guitar room mic, the 1970s setting adds tape limiting character that makes the space feel larger without just turning it up.
The Blend control is parallel compression depth, NYC-style - not a simple wet/dry. You can use Alternate Timeline gently, or make the era character obvious enough that it becomes part of the arrangement.
The one that surprised us: put the era selector under automation. Switching eras mid-song reads less like a plugin change and more like a production move. Going from an older, narrower, more rounded sound into a modern section can make a chorus feel like it opens into a different recording world. Not subtle if you push it, but musical.
Demo tracks
We processed several tracks across different genres to show the range - hip-hop, stoner rock, doom, indie, garage. They are there to show the processor in different contexts rather than one idealized before/after.
Hear them at https://www.mmediaaudio.com/plugins/alternate-timeline/ (https://www.mmediaaudio.com/plugins/alternate-timeline/) - also on the KVR product page.
Free demo
Fully functional. Email gate, no account required. Silences briefly every 30 seconds. Worth running on your own material before committing.
What's next
We're building a much larger version - 14 eras going back to cylinder, wire, radio, 78s, and 1940s cinema, more extreme character ranges, Blend over the entire signal chain. Different product, different price point. Alternate Timeline stays at $39 perpetual, until the end of time.
Links
Product page + demo: https://www.mmediaaudio.com/plugins/alternate-timeline/ (https://www.mmediaaudio.com/plugins/alternate-timeline/)
KVR listing: https://www.kvraudio.com/product/altern ... edia-audio
VST3 / AU | Windows 10/11, macOS 11+, Linux | $39 perpetual | 3 activations
Happy to answer any questions, we're exceptional at bad advice too!
This one comes from a lot of years around broadcast chains, records, rooms, tape, bad transfers, good transfers, and the strange ways audio gets shaped before anybody ever calls it "vintage."Thank you for having us,
Jeff
M Media Audio