Topos: Play is the little brother of the currently discounted Topos plugin. It is a saturation plugin based on emulations of classic gear and physical modeling.
While Topos: Play has more limited functionality than the paid version, this freebie is definitely worth checking out if you want a fast and flexible tool to shape individual sounds or beef up your mix bus.
The plugin has three main stages: A lowpass and highpass filter for the input signal, a saturation stage, along with a module for physical modeling.
First, the filter stage lets you roll off any excessive low or high end to better set the sound up for saturation. You could also use this stage as a band-pass filter for blending frequency-specific distortion into the main sound.
The saturation stage features several emulations of classic gear you select as a starting point. Dial in some tube-y goodness with the gain-compensated drive knob, and you’re good to go.
Auto-gain is always handy for effects like this, ensuring that any sudden level increase won’t fool your ears by keeping your overall gain staging intact.
Next in line is the speaker simulation section. Running your sound through anything from car stereo speakers to monitors or even impulse responses of a piano can yield some interesting results.
This stage could add a sense of placement and realism on the one hand or larger-than-life impressions of instruments or sounds on the other hand.
In addition to the simulations themselves, you can control fidelity, size, and presence parameters that further shape the sound.
Everything then runs through a mix section where you blend the overall effect level and apply your desired amount of speaker flux and dynamic action.
Topos: Play has a simple and intuitive UI with appealing visuals that reflect the applied processing in real-time.
This freebie might not have all the advanced functionality of the paid version, but it focuses you on the essentials letting you act quickly without feeling restricted.
Topos: Play can deliver nice sounds ranging from subtle sweetening and warming to wild crunch with unnerving frequency responses. I tried it on dry material transient-rich material and wet, bloated pads, amongst other things.
It managed to bring something interesting to the table in all circumstances.
According to the developers, CPU usage is supposed to be low and the plugin has anti-aliasing under the hood. For what it’s worth, Topos: Play ran nicely in Reaper, and the sound was great to my ears.
If you’re in the mood for hoarding even more saturators, check out the randomized overdrive plugin rePEDAL by Sampleson.
To download Topos: Play simply head over to the Forever 89 website page and choose your installer. MacOS is only 4 MB while Windows is 2 MB. The files come in AU and VST3 formats.
You don’t need any license, account, or sign-ups to annoying mailing lists, which is terrific. We can only hope that more developers follow Forever 89’s example!
Download: Topos: Play (FREE)
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