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PLUG-IN OUTLET

PSP Audioware N2O
By Paul Vnuk Jr.

Actually, the Native Instruments Reaktor analogy is appropriate, because this is a deep, deep program no matter how you slice it, and just like Reaktor, the end user has two choices: You can be content to stick with the presets, of which there are three banks, and then add in some hands-on tweakage on the real-time control knobs... or you can go deep. And when I say “deep” we are talking such depths of down-the-rabbit-hole fun that you will need breadcrumbs, a rope, and a GPS to find your way back. Unlike many plug-in reviews where I go knob-by-knob and screenby-screen, in N2O that’s just not possible or practical. Start in the center and scroll in real time through the presets and twist knobs. When that voyage of discovery ends, read the manual, or better yet, go to PSP’s site and watch the hour-pluslong series of instruction videos, and then watch them again. Down the rabbit hole My sound-design partner Chris Short and I did just that, and two months in, we are still getting the hang of N2O. Just like programming some of the early digital synths, rolling your own effects takes experimentation, patience and time, and especially a “Hey, what does this do?” attitude. The sound created in N2O is more on the extreme and aggressive side by nature, and not as pretty as what you can achieve with a program like the PSP85 which is based more on choruses and delay lines. In N2O you have strange pulsing tempo-synced soundworlds, odd filtered glitch goodness, and alien pseudo sub-octave harmonic fun, and more. Language can only approximate the experience. On one of our experiments we started with nylon-string acoustic guitar and added an LFO-modulated phaser going into an LFOmodulated delay into a step-sequenced volume attenuator into a reverb, and ended up with glitchy, rhythmic melted tonal water. If you are now thinking, “But I am not now—nor do I plan to become—a professional sound designer,” fear not! This plug-in is also handy for adding shifting rhythmic delays to drum kits, sweeping pulsing formant filters to punk-style guitars, and strangely modulated vocals, all at the pick of an easily alterable preset. Conclusions Of course, with a plug-in this deep, there are bound to be a few issues, and both of mine are organizational. First, a plug-in this complex needs its own Undo feature—it’s very easy to go one or two steps too far when creating a sound, and not know how to get back. Second, the user preset saving scheme is also a tad confusing and we could not figure out a way to create our own integrated bank of custom presets. Yes, you can create and save them, but it would be nice to have a bank D of user presets. As professional sound designers, for us to say we love this plugin is an understatement; N2O will instantly add the weird and unusual to any mix, and—again—you can get as deep as you want, or not at all, and at a price that won’t break the bank. PSP has another strange sick wonderful little plug-in on its hands.

N2O is the chemical symbol for nitrous oxide (laughing gas), but it is also the latest plug-in from the software wizards at PSP Audioware: essentially version 2.0 of PSP’s Nitro plug-in (reviewed March 2005). N 2.0, get it? When they see the letters PSP, most people think of vintage-flavored compressors, equalizers and, of course, the Vintage Warmer; but there is another side to Antoni Ozynski’s company, and that is the world of twisted and unusual effects. Let’s hit the Nitrous...! Multi FX, modulation, routing—and ’90s vintage GUI In simple terms N2O is a multi-effect plug-in with four effects slots (called operators) that can be filled with a choice of morphing filter, resonant filter, formant filter, eq, delay, reverb, pitch-shifter, compressor/expander, bitcrusher, distortion, rectifier, and more. Of course N2O does not stop there, and unlike a typical effects processor, it also borrows heavily on the synthesizer paradigm in regards to modulation and routing. You also get four modulator slots that can be filled with everything from real-time control knobs (8 in all) to LFOs, ADSR, envelopes and even a step sequencer. These can then be routed to each other and or to modulate any of the operators. In other words, almost anything can be routed to almost everything. Looking at the plug-in window, you will see three large virtual screens, each with a set of knobs below them, similar to Nitro in feel and function. The older version had a single window which toggled through the programming screens; here each section gets its own screen, making it slightly easier to keep track of what you are doing. The left screen starts with the modulators, the right screen is your operators, and the center screen handles routing, preset management and global parameters. There is also a handy set of stereo input and output meters at the bottom of the screen. Although not vintage-looking in the old ’50s and ’60s retro gear sense, N2O’s operator and routing screens look very much like a throwback to the days of second-generation digital synths, especially Yamaha’s FM-infused SY series. Seriously twisted and unparalled If you are thinking at this point, what’s the big deal? Why do I need a multi-effects plug-in when I can just chain any plug-ins I want together in my DAW? Let me assure you, other than a serious hardware box like an Eventide H-Series or the old TC Electronic FireworX, nothing comes close to this type of sound-effecting experience. Other than Nitro, in software there is nothing like this plug-in short of perhaps building your own from scratch in Native Instruments’ Reaktor.
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Delivery: Web download Formats: Windows XP/Vista/7 VST/RTAS; Mac OS X 10.5+ (PowerPC or Intel) VST/AU/RTAS, 32- or 64-bit Copy Protection: Serial number License: single user/multiple computers not used simultaneously Documentation: PDF download Price: $149 More from: PSP Audioware, www.pspaudioware.com

http://www.pspaudioware.com

Recording - September 2011

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