Phantom Sounds Analog Drift

Yet another delay plug‑in — just what the world needs, right? While you’d be forgiven for thinking that, a few minutes’ experimentation with Analog Drift might well change your mind, and that’s something you can do using the 14‑day free trial. Supporting AU, VST3 and AAX platforms and macOS or Windows hosts, Analog Drift is designed with a clear layout and a very manageable number of controls. It offers three echo modes: Glass Delay is the most conventional, being based on a clean digital delay; the delays can be set to Ping Pong mode; and there’s also a Mid‑Sides mode that applies different delays to the Mid and Sides signals when instantiated as a stereo plug‑in.

Once you get beyond the familiar delay time and feedback controls, which are independent for each channel and have tempo sync and linking options, further stages can be used to sculpt the delay in a number of ways. The sliding high‑ and low‑cut filters operate on the delayed signal in the usual way, but we then get to a Tape section, with separate controls for wow and flutter plus a Wear control that blurs the sound to emulate a worn tape. A further control, Dust, adds what sounds like vinyl crackle and, though that’s not something you’d expect to hear from a tape machine, it is certainly a useful addition for creating lo‑fi effects.

Finally, a Drive section has two controls: Bias and Density. Bias degrades the clarity of the delayed signal (the highest settings are the cleanest). Density adjusts the harmonic content and goes from a gentle warmth to the sound of overdriven tape. A Reverb knob gives the delays a denser, more reverb‑like character, while a Ducker allows the delays to swell during pauses between sounds but drops their level when the dry sound is present. There are separate level controls for the in and out levels, plus the usual wet/dry Mix control.

I was greeted by what I can only describe as a granular shimmer that swells in level between sounds.

So far so good, but that’s still nothing too far out of the ordinary. However, switching to Prism mode takes you closer to special effects territory. I’m not entirely sure what happens behind the scenes in Prism mode (it sounds like the feedback increases, dub‑style, combined with modulated low‑cut filtering), but the manual describes it as “a dynamic, shimmering delay that brings vibrant and ethereal soundscapes to life with subtle movement”. I tried this with a few widely spaced guitar chords and, when setting the Ducker around half way, was greeted by what I can only describe as a granular shimmer that swells in level between sounds. The timbre of the effect can be fine‑tuned using the Feedback, Filter and Wear controls as well as the Ducker, and with even modest Feedback settings I found the shimmer could continue indefinitely during pauses. By the way, the sustained delay tail is also affected by the Tape controls.

Finally there’s the Vaporwave Bliss mode, which comes complete with another poetic description: “Dreamy, lo‑fi echoes infused with vintage warmth and gentle pitch modulation for a nostalgic vibe.” This mode does pretty much what it says on the tin, offering a warmer, somewhat more vintage character compared with the Glass Delay mode, and turning up the Reverb knob makes it even dreamier.

Describing something as sounding ‘musical’ is a somewhat overused adjective, but in this case it’s absolutely apt. Analog Drift is easy to use, and can handle all the usual delay treatments, but it adds a few surprises of its own that add greatly to its creative potential and have already earned it a place in my ‘favourites’ plug‑in folder.