D4Dirty Records

PSP Vintage Warmer Review

Did you ever wonder how your favourite producers get such a clean, clear and absolutely cranking sound out of just software? Well this Mac and PC compatible VST is one of our dirty little secrets.. Read on for my review of this awesome product.

Crushing.Kicks.Blazing

Synths.Vintage.Warmer.

Will.Kick.

Your.Ass

What is the PSP Vintage Warmer?

Here's the scoop from PSP:

PSP Vintage Warmer is a high-quality digital simulation of an analogue-style, a single or multi band compressor/limiter. It combines warm analogue sound with a straightforward user interface, and comes with a rich library of presets. The plug-in processor is highly flexible and can be used for both single and multi-band compression, as well as brick-wall limiting. This makes it an essential tool for mixing and mastering engineers.

Careful attention has been paid to PSP Vintage Warmer's overload characteristics with the processor being capable of generating saturation effects typical of analogue tape recorders. PSP Vintage Warmer also incorporates professional VU and PPM metering together with accurate overload indicators thereby assuring professional quality results.

Here's what I think it is:

I work only with digital music, using Ableton Live and plenty of VST's. When I work in the Studio with my trusted engineer it is always a pleaser to run my tunes and recordings through a few of he's many vintage hardware units. I don't care what other producers say, but it is rare that a VST can sound as good as a hardware unit. A lot of them come close, but very few ever satisfy me.

That is where PSP Vintage Warmer is different. It looks like an old great sounding analogue compressor, and feels like one and most importantly it sounds like one! This plug in is not a nice to have compressor, I think it is absolutely essential.

The Interface

PSP Vintage Warmer features a brushed aluminum and wood interface with analog VU meters and several knobs and toggle switches. There is also a numeric display that shows the precise setting for each individual knob as you hold the mouse cursor over the knob.

Clicking on the PSP Vintage Warmer name displays the plug-in's "back panel", which lets you fine-tune the behavior of most controls. For example, you can adjust the ballistics of the VU meters or set the saturation ratios for the three frequency bands of the multi-band mode.

The largest knob on the front panel is the Drive knob, which controls the overall input level. When used in combination with the compressor section, you can achieve effects from slight tape saturation to full blown distortion. Add too much gain and you'll get harsh distortion, but adding a little can give a guitar track some extra bite.

The compressor/limiter section features controls that vary from the standard threshold/ratio/attack/release controls found on most modern compressors. Instead PSP Vintage Warmer has four controls named: knee, speed, release, and ceiling. Knee let you adjust the compression from hard knee (suitable for limiting) to soft knee (for more musical sounding compression.) It can also be used to simulate analog tape effects. The Speed knob is based on tape speed, and a slow setting represents a slow tape speed or a slow attack time in the compressor section. Fast settings do the opposite and give higher fidelity just as faster tape speed would. The Release knob adjusts the release setting for the compressor based on the Speed setting. The Ceiling knob functions like a Threshold control on a typical compressor.

Usage

Since PSP Vintage Warmer is a hybrid, it's controls are a little non-standard. Fortunately, it comes with a number of presets that cover a wide range of applications from individual tracks to whole mixes. It seems like a lot of care went into the presets as nearly all of them are useful, a lot of the time I am able to get the sound I am after without changing the presets around too much.

There are several mix and mastering presets. The generic "Mastering First Aid" setting can serve as a good starting point for most mixes. Especially helpful are four "Mix First Aid" settings, each of which concentrates on different frequencies, that can really help bring out certain elements of a mix. In addition, there are a number of presets for instruments like guitar, bass, and drums. There are also a number of multi-band compressor settings, and tape speed and saturation simulations. Using the presets is a great way to get a feel for how PSP Vintage Warmer works.

Sound Quality

I have used Vintage Warmer on a lot of my tracks. I find it most useful for getting some shattering kicks to come out of the mix without distorting or destroying the mix.

Basses, synths and vocals all sound amazing using this VST. It really is surprising how much vintage warmer can bring your elements out of you mix, and warm them up without distorting or noticeably changing them.

Overall

Overall, like I mentioned earlier this plug in is essential. I have never heard a VST plug in sound this good and I am looking forward to new PSP software in the future.

Unfortunately it is CPU hungry and that is the only reason I marked it down. It makes like a little hard to have to freeze tracks as soon as stick this beast on, but it is workable because it is more like a final touch anyway.