Variety of Sound has released the 2.0 version of NastyVCS, a Windows plugin that offers everything you need to shape your channels’ dynamics and tone.
Variety of Sound’s rise from the ashes has been a welcome return to form. While my favorite FerricTDS has been covered here before, NastyVCS was sadly missing.
That is all in the past, however, as NastyVCS MkII is here and brings a host of modern features to bring it into today’s audio landscape.
For those new to VoS’s releases, NastyVCS is a channel strip. It features most of the processors you’d associate with a quality channel strip.
Going from left to right on the interface, you’ll note a saturation circuit and a pair of filters, which work handily for adding color and tidying up frequencies you might not need.
NastyVCS features three bands of equalization, with a further two shelves reserved for boost and air purposes. These add low-end heft and high-end sheen to your signal.
The controls are rounded out with a newly revised compression circuit, which takes inspiration from optoelectric compressors of yesteryear. You aren’t given a full range of attack and release controls, but the presets provided should be enough to get you going on the material.
The entire signal flow goes to a brick-wall safety limiter, which is always great on a channel strip. I’ve loved having one since discovering PSP’s Infinistrip, but NastyVCS is a fair bit cheaper compared to paid alternatives.
As to how it sounds, it is a VoS release, so the sound quality is superb. The compressor is well suited for all sorts of material, the saturation circuit is pleasing on just about everything I fed it, and the equalizer is quick to get to grips with.
As for who needs to download NastyVCS, I’d say it’s a must-have freebie if you’ve got a Windows computer. Good channel strips are a dime a dozen, but a wonderful free one is hard to find.
You’ll need a Windows PC with an SSE2 or higher instruction set on the CPU. Curiously, it is also available for 32-bit and 64-bit PCs.
It’s wonderful to see that all of the old Variety of Sound plugins are getting a refresh. This is fantastic news for Windows-based music producers, and it would be incredible to see these plugins on macOS, too, at some point in the future.
Download: NastyVCS MkII (FREE)
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