Portway DSP has released PINGPAN, a physics-driven auto-panner with a ping-pong delay, sweepable filter, and, believe it or not, a playable Pong-style game mode. We are taking a closer look at the plugin and giving away one free copy to one lucky BPB reader.
PINGPAN is the debut plugin from Portway DSP, created by developer Nic Mulvaney. It is available at an introductory price of $9, down from the regular $29 price, and includes lifetime updates.
Right off the bat, this is much more fun than a standard auto-panner. It’s the same principle, but with a video game twist.
Basically, there’s a ball that bounces around a playfield, and its position controls the sound. The X-axis drives the stereo pan, while the Y-axis sweeps a resonant filter. Each bounce can then feed a stereo ping-pong delay, so the visual motion becomes movement across the stereo field.
You can fine-tune the movement with the Rate, Angle, and Width controls.
Rate controls the ball speed and can run host-synced to BPM or in Hz. Angle sets the launch angle of the ball, with steeper angles placing more emphasis on the filter sweep. Width adjusts the bounds of the game and the stereo width, while Mix handles the global dry/wet balance.
The filter section has minimum and maximum cutoff controls, so you can define how far the Y-axis movement travels. The Res control adds resonance and makes the movement more obvious when you want a sharper sweep.
The delay side is kept simple, too. Feedback controls how much of the ping-pong delay repeats and stacks up as the ball bounces, while Delay Mix sets the wet level. There are also filter and delay on/off toggles in recent updates, so you can use PINGPAN more like a pure panner when needed.
But that’s not all. If you need a quick break from your mixing or sound design session, there’s the Game Mode.
Tap the logo, and you can play Pong directly inside the plugin. The paddle can be controlled with the mouse or with a MIDI instrument. When using MIDI, the highest and lowest notes you hold define the paddle’s top and bottom positions.
It’s a fun way to take a break during long sessions.
Get PINGPAN
PINGPAN has already received several small updates, including smoother ball motion at slow BPM rates, improved physics response, editable input values, a large window mode, a 0-degree angle option for pure left-right panning, and better MIDI keyboard detection after the plugin loads.
PINGPAN is available in VST3 format for macOS and Windows, AU format for macOS, and as a standalone app. It supports macOS 10.13 or later on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and Windows 10 or later on 64-bit systems.
More info: Portway DSP PINGPAN ($9 intro offer)
The Giveaway
To enter the giveaway, simply answer this question in the comments section below: What’s your favorite retro video game?
We will pick one random comment and announce the lucky winner on June 25th.
Last Updated on June 17, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
