Baby Audio Super VHS

A Lo-Fi Flavor Beast

As kids of the 80s, Baby Audio have always been drawn to the sound of slightly out-of-tune synths, warm tape saturation, gritty samples, and grainy reverbs.

So they set out on a mission to capture the lo-fi spirit of our favorite decade - and bring it into a new decade.

Meet a complex algorithm with eight simple knobs. They named it ‘Super’ for its powers and ‘VHS’ for its sound.

Features

Six unique 'one-knob' effects in a versatile channel strip:

1. STATIC — Static noise synthesizer
2. HEAT — ‘Analog tape’ saturator
3. SHAPE — Sample rate reducer
4. MAGIC — Dark chorus FX
5. DRIFT — Pitch fluctuation LFO
6. WASH — ‘Bad hall’ reverb
7. Plus Internal EQ, bit-crusher, and limiter.

Rewind to the VHS-Era

Baby Audio wanted this plugin to be like sending your sounds back in time, then re-discovering them on a worn-out VHS tape 30 years later.

All with the click of a single button, right inside your DAW.

The result is six unique effects coming together in a versatile channel strip. Super VHS will add some 1980s lo-fi authenticity to whatever clean sound you run through it - especially as you mix and match the effects.

Each effect has just a single control, but multiple parameters under the hood, allowing you to find endless combinations to transform your synths, samples, guitars, drums, and beyond.

STATIC: A synthesized hum, generated by a pink noise oscillator mixed with a digital saw wave.

HEAT: A warm sounding saturation algorithm inspired by 'consumer-grade' tape machines from the early 1980s.

SHAPE: A sample rate reducer (with some extras) inspired by 1980s 8-bit samplers.

MAGIC: A lush "Juno style" chorus — but modeled with a slightly darker and more detuned tone.

DRIFT: An internal LFO creating unpredictable pitch and time fluctuations.

WASH: A grainy, unnatural sounding, hall reverb, inspired by digital rack effects from the VHS-era.

MIX: Controls the over-all wet/dry balance.

OUTPUT: Controls the global output.

HIDDEN PROCESSING: EQ, bit-crusher, limiter.

Wait, where are the presets?

Like the 'I Heart NY' parallel compressor, Super VHS isn't designed for preset browsing.

Instead, you have all the controls you need at your fingertips, allowing you to create the right sound for any purpose on the fly.

The effect algorithms respond very differently to different sounds and instruments, so you never know where you'll end up.

And a final word of warning: Super VHS is a temperamental beast.

Each effect will sound amazing on some things and totally destroy others (which may be exactly what you’re after!).

More often than not, a little goes a long way.