Get the sound of the SP-1200 and Akai S950 filter in your DAW
waveTracing’s SP950 plug-in combines two classic characteristics of two beloved samplers
Sampling techniques in 2020 are a little more advanced than that of the early 90s, but there’s still that longing for imperfect sounds that came with the technology of the time. A classic combo back then was the E-mu SP-1200 detuner and Akai S950 filter. For fuzz-loving sampling fanatics, waveTracing has developed the SP950 plug-in to bring these imperfections to the sounds in your DAW.
Typically, producers would sample records into the E-mu SP-1200 pitched up at 45RPM or 78RPM, and use the SP-1200’s tuner to bring it back down to normal pitch. This was a technique often used to save valuable sampling time, but it resulted in gritty artefacts within the sound, which became a signature of the device – and sparked a wider trend.
waveTracing’s SP950 attempts to recreate this with a one-slider approach, using the RPM/detune slider to combine the pitch of the source and the detune of the SP to compensate for each other.“The result” waveTracing says, “is a constant duration and pitch output, with varying detune aliasing and bandwidth artefacts”.
The Akai S950 was known for its analogue 6th-order Butterworth low-pass filter, which had a steep slope that was ideal for isolating low-end frequencies. waveTracing has included it in this plug-in for that exact purpose – and to reduce any unwanted high-frequency artefacts from the detuning process. The filter can be set from 0 to 99 as in the original hardware, with 99 acting as a bypass.
SP950’s minimalist GUI is fully compatible with HiDPI/Retina displays for crisp rendering.
Six LCD colour presets are on offer, using the small button on the right of the LCD to make your selection. Besides aesthetic considerations, this serves as a visual cue to differentiate multiple plug-in instances inside a project.
waveTracing’s SP950 is available now for $20 at wavetracing.com
