Analog Obsession’s latest release, Atone, is a channel strip with analog qualities and many tone-shaping possibilities.
As a dedicated user of Analog Obsession plugins, I can vouch for their quality. The best part? They’re all available for free. If you’re feeling generous, you can support their work on Patreon.
Their new plugin, Atone Channel Strip, comes with an A-type EQ, filters, and a 436-style compressor. Thanks to its custom design and internal routing, it offers many tone-shaping options.
You know that I like user-friendly interfaces, and Atone is perfect for that. It has four sections with the high and low pass filter knobs as the first part, EQ with three fixed bands and the input control as the second, compressor with attack-release time and amount parameters as the third, and output control as the final section.
All the sections have their own bypass buttons for more control. But, I found out that the EQ bypass button doesn’t bypass the Input knob but only the bands, which I liked as you can still use the saturation control.
What I really enjoy about Analog Obsession plugins is their automatic gain compensation. Thanks to that, you never experience spikes in volume, which makes the plugin’s input control pretty cool. When you increase the input knob, you get pretty sweet analog saturation.
I tested the plugin with drum and bass recordings and liked its versatility and end results. With drum recordings, I recommend going with slow attack, fast release times, and high amounts in the compression section. This way, you get quite a bit of punch, and the plugin brings up the character of the room sound pretty clearly.
When I tried it with bass, I used fast attack and release times and added high frequencies in the EQ section for more bite. The compression amount and the input controls were also pretty high, making the bass recording dynamic.
The only thing I would have liked Analog Obsession to add to this plugin would be the exact values for the filter section, as there are no values except the start and end values. You have to go with your ears to find out the sweet spots.
The layout and the functions are similar to the famous Universal Audio Century channel strip. Just like UA Century, Atone enhances and simplifies your workflow as the first-pass tool for your vocal, guitar, bass, synth, drum, or any recording. In my opinion, Atone seems like a great alternative if you don’t want to pay high prices for a channel strip plugin.
Analog Obsession Atone comes in VST3, AU, and AAX formats for Mac and Windows platforms.
Download Analog Obsession Atone here.
Check out the manual of Analog Obsession Atone here.
I am a multi-instrumentalist musician from Istanbul, Turkey. I have played guitar, handpan, and percussion for over ten years. Having started my music journey as a guitarist when I was a teenager, playing in several bands, I met with the handpan in 2016. I fell in love with the instrument the first time I heard it and started focusing more on handpan and percussion skills after that. Since then, I have been playing in streets, festivals, bars, and stages in different countries. I also compose, record, and produce my own music, combining different instruments and exploring various genres.