PSPaudioware offer a wide variety of processing and effects plug-ins, many of which emulate rare and sought-after hardware units. Their latest offering, BinAmp, does just that, aiming to deliver the sound of the preamp section of a Binson Echorec 2.
The Echorec 2 was a magnetic drum delay unit that was used in the stage and studio setups of many musicians throughout the 1960s and 1970s, most famously Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett and David Gilmour. In addition to its use of a magnetic drum, much of the device’s sound character was provided by its Class-A triode-based preamp.
BinAmp promises to capture that sound, and provides a set of simple, intuitive controls that help it to be tailored to suit a wide variety of audio sources. A pair of Character and Drive parameters are placed either side of a ‘Magic Eye’ display, which offers a visual indication of the amount of saturation being applied. High-pass filter and high-frequency roll-off features help to shape incoming signals, and it is also possible to blend between processed and unprocessed sounds.
Polarity switching is available at both the input and output, and a 20dB pad can be applied to control input signals whilst adding clean gain at the output to maintain a consistent level. Lastly, a Variation dial can be used to introduce subtle differences when using multiple instances of the plug-in in the same session, if desired.
PSP say that the plug-in only introduces 13 samples of latency at all sample rates up to 384kHz, and also offers a quad sampling mode when working at lower rates.
Compatibility
BinAmp is supported on PCs running Windows 7 or higher, and Macs running macOS 10.12 and above. It is available in VST, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in formats.
Pricing & Availability
BinAmp is available now, and is being offered for an introductory price of $49 until 14 August 2023, after which it will cost $99.
