Achieve a “perfectly imperfect” vintage cassette tape feel for $15 with Spectral’s OCS-45 plugin
With four different cassette types to experiment with, the launch brings varied lo-fi vibes to your sound
Image: Spectral
Spectral has announced the launch of its latest plugin, the OCS-45, a cassette tape emulator that promises to capture the “perfectly imperfect” sound of vintage tape, according to the brand.
Using OSC-45, you can emulate the wows and flutters of tape – a sound that has been popularised in recent years by genres such as lo-fi hip-hop, dream pop, lo-fi house and more. The cassette tape simulation also brings a range of lo-fi filters and nostalgic presets to their DAW.
Using four authentic cassette types, Ferric, Chromium, Ferrichrome and Metal, the plugin gives users the option to choose from a range of different, distinctive effects, with each option said by the company to provide its own signature character.
To capture this retro, on-tape sound, Spectral states that the plugin combines pitch modulation, background noise and inserts dropouts into the audio. This combination of effects enables the software to generate tape’s charming and imperfect sound that became most widely associated with the original 1980s devices.
In addition to emulating four types of cassette, the OCS-45 also sports Wow and Flutter modulation effects with rate and depth parameters, plus a visual aid to see how much you’re manipulating the sound. There are five types of distortion with drive, tone, dry and wet dials, four noise models, and a single knob for applying dropouts.
With these added features, you can easily experiment with the types of atmospheres they want to generate – allowing for both the retro sound of a good old-fashioned cassette to more unconventional, boundary-pushing options.
Running on macOS and PC in VST/AU/AAX formats, the OCS-45 is shipped with more than eighty nostalgic presets and is also available for a seven-day free trial.
The plugin is available now for $15 at spectral-plugins.com.
