SuperflyDSP releases Lost-Vinyls, a freeware lo-fi effect in VST3 and AU plugin formats for Windows and macOS.
While we often associate it with chill, vintage, sounding hip-hop beats, the sound we associate with the word “lofi” goes way beyond “chill lofi beats to study to.”
At its core, lofi is simply a blanket term for various effects that add an aged, retro sound to tracks. If you look beneath the hood, you’ll see saturation, tape delay, and vinyl distortion are the accurate sources for this distinct effect.
SuperflyDSP offers a collection of these vintage effects in their plugin, Lost-Vinyls, a FREE lofi effect plugin.
At the heart of this plugin are what SuperflyDSP says are “state-of-the-art distortion algorithms,” which help producers create an “old-school sound.”
The user interface of Lost-Vinyls reflects a vintage look, featuring sliders and knobs that look like old-school tape players.
To begin adding a warm tone, producers can move the noise slider up and down to their liking. This slider adds vinyl crackle and character to the sound, emulating the style of a record player.
While it’s pretty easy to configure your custom effects, Lost-Vinyls does include four presets: Broken, Lost, New, and Old. These presets are a great starting point for producers seeking a specific vibe.
SuperflyDSP also adds two classic tape controls: depth and rate.
The depth slider allows users to increase the overall tape effect, giving tracks a different delay and depth.
The rate determines the flutter frequency. Adding tape flutter gives tracks an old warbly vibe.
For those looking to step it up a notch further, Lost-Vinyls features a crunch switch. The extra crunch adds harmonic distortion and creates a naturally gritty sound when activated.
As a final touch, SuperflyDSP added a stereo switch to add track width. There is also a master mix slider for overall dry/wetness and an artifact slider.
To get this plugin, follow the link to the website and put in the password SuperflyDSP to access Lost-Vinyls (the password is available on SuperflyDSP’s Instagram account, but we pasted it here for our reader’s convenience). Download links and installation instructions are provided on the plugin page.
Lost-Vinyls is compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, or mac OS (Intel versions only). This plugin is available in VST3 and AU formats.
Download: Lost-Vinyls (use the password SuperflyDSP to unlock the product page)
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7 Comments
Darryl Lim
on“Free Piano 3” by Refined Digital Group seems good. Virtual piano, many nice presets, “…velocity sensitive with AI Powered Dynamic Round Robin and over 400 Samples included”, etc.
https://rdgaudio.com/freepiano3/
MRG
onWebpage refers a lot to Lost-Tapes, and the Windows zipfile seems to contain a version of it… Weird. Was the page protected by a password because it’s unfinished, beta-testers only?
Sir Otter
onSo how does it fare against iZotope Vinyl?
Mastartiq
onIndeed it downloads Lost-Tapes earlier version plugin instead of Lost-Vinyls. I do not know why, might be an error, if someone knows the developer should let him / her know.
MRG
onThey lost Lost-Vinyls, but they had a backup on Tapes. I’ll… I’ll get my coat…
Neytcev
onTested and liked! Useful for me and our needs …
I’d recommend output volume control.
Their Lost-tape plugin is similar and very good too.
Mix and artefact sliders cause “like a phasing” defects.
Probably using some better parallel algorithms can prevent that.
Thanks!
MRG
onAh, yes, link for Windows is fixed indeed.
Well, I didn’t spend too much time on it, but I can already see some ‘problems’ with it. Only one needle artifact loop, with no control other than gain AND is being filtered by the broken/old/new selector, which to me sounds like total nonsense… Surface and needle noise, they shouldn’t be affected by the state of the vinyl. o_O? No selectable 33/45rpm, nor 78 for gramophones enthusiasts.
It’s still an interesting effect in itself, but it sure can evolve into being a lot better.
I give it 33 out of 78 rpms for now.