Recording - June 2016 - 42

fully wet, you can simulate tape machine stops and starts and you can even automate tape wobbles. Paul Wolff demonstrated these functions at the Winter NAMM
Show; he had turned a huge Variac knob into a DAW automation controller so he
could mess with the Flanger's VSO knob in real time.
While using a flanger on guitar or keyboard is a given, my favorite use was using Fix
Flanger and automating it for deep psychedelic through-zero flange sweeps on tom fills.
Bottom line: both plug-ins sound great and offer a broad range of effects, from
simple and automated to deliciously over the top. At a bundle price of $150 for the
pair, these are hard to pass up!-PV

PSP Audioware PSP 2445
$129; www.pspaudioware.com

PSP Audioware is a Polish plug-in company known for great sounding, unique
plug-ins at highly competitive prices. PSP is perhaps best known for Vintage
Warmer, and many of the PSP plug-ins are vintage-style hardware emulations. Until
recently, with the exception of the PSP42 delay (based on the Lexicon PCM42), all
of PSP's plug-ins have been non-model-specific. Instead, they are vintage tube, tape,
component and circuit models, crafted into brand new vintage-flavored devices that
don't exist in the real world in hardware form... although I really wish they did!
PSP's latest offerings break with that tradition by being faithful emulations. There's
the PSP E27, a spot-on model of Avedis Audio's E27 EQ (side-by-side review forthcoming), and the plug-in we are looking at here: the PSP 2445, a hybrid of two
classic early digital reverbs, the EMT 244 and 245.
Released in 1979, the 244 was a simplified baby brother to the more well-known
EMT 250 model, which was the very first digital plate reverb. The 244 offered merely a reverb time knob and a pair of EQ switches. The 245, released shortly after,
offered additional control of
reflections and predelay as well
as remote capability.
In the PSP version you get both
the 244 and 245. You can switch
between the two units or use a
hybrid of the two. Both use the
controls found on the 245. You get
Input Level, (pre) Delay (up to 85
ms), (Early) Reflections, and Reverb
Time (0.2 up to 5 seconds). A pair
of EQ switches are available to
boost the low end and/or damp
the highs. There are also controls
for Mix and output Gain.
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RECORDING JUNE 2016

Not found on the original hardware is
a hidden panel where you can alter
each reverb's output routing, add a highpass filter, adjust low and high frequency decay, alter width, and set stereo balance. As of the latest 1.1 update, PSP
has listened to its user base and added
a modulation control to lessen the unit's
original tail modulation values (which
some users found a tad over the top,
despite their authenticity!).
While the EMT 250 gets most of the
fame, the 244 and 245 each offer
unique sounds of their own. Both reverbs
are a touch metallic sounding and a bit
"tunnel-esque" by today's standards, but
they can also be quite full and smooth,
depending on how you set the
Reflections control. At low Decay settings
it has a pseudo-fast-gated feel. The 244
is a touch more forward and present,
while the 245 makes sounds sit slightly
farther back in space.
The only gripe I have (and it's a tiny
one, given the high quality of the sound)
is that these are not CPU-thrifty plug-ins.
On my 2011-vintage MacBook Pro (2.5
GHz i7 quad-core with 8 GB RAM),
three stereo instances of PSP 2445 ate
up about a third of my CPU power in
Cubase 8.5.
This has fast become a go-to reverb
in my mixes, especially on vocals and
the drum bus. Despite its strong vintage sonic signature, it is quite easy to
dial in the Reflections and Decay for a
reverb that envelops a source yet can
still sit easily in the mix with little effort.
I love minimalist plug-ins that require
very little tweaking to use and sound
great, and the PSP 2445 is exactly
that: Vintage, easy, and great sounding!-PV

Joey Sturgis Tones
FinalitY lite/advanced
$79 and $49; www.joeysturgistones.com

http://www.pspaudioware.com http://www.joeysturgistones.com

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