Goodhertz has released LA-210, a free saturation plugin that combines an opto compressor, soft clipper, and cassette tape model in a single interface designed to look like a Southern California freeway map.
I have to point this out right away. I’m a huge fan of Goodhertz plugins, both for the way they sound and for their super clean interfaces. Lossy is my favorite of the bunch, and I’ve yet to find a bitcrusher that matches it for character, but honestly, everything from them is fantastic.
So seeing a new freebie from Goodhertz is amazing news.
LA-210 is a “greatest hits” plugin built from sections of three existing Goodhertz processors. You get the opto compressor from Tupe, the “Chino” soft clip saturation mode from VCME, and the FE90 cassette tape model and tape speed control from Tupe Wow.
There’s also a brickwall limiter on the output, which was borrowed from VCME.
The interface is laid out as a freeway diagram (the LA-210 of the San Gabriel Valley, hence the name), with sliders for Input, Comp, Clip, Tape, Tone, and Output. Each slider has a level or gain reduction meter built in.
The Tone control is essentially a tape speed control that adjusts both the wow (more wow is always better!) and the frequency response of the tape model. There’s also a Speed Limit setting (25, 65, or 99 mph) that scales the overall amount of processing, with 99 producing the gnarliest results.
A small set of advanced controls lets you reorder the Comp, Clip, and Tape stages or trim the pre/post gain.
The preset list is includes the usual starting points, but I love they also included a “Historical” section with presets named after sessions like Stax 1967 Otis Redding, Sunset Sound 1966 The Doors, Village Recorder 1972 Steely Dan, and The Record Plant 1977 Fleetwood Mac, plus a few Vulfpeck-themed ones.
LA-210 is currently in Beta 1, and Goodhertz says it will always be free, even after the final release. It’s part of the Goodhertz Free Series alongside Midside Matrix and Loudness.
LA-210 is available in 64-bit AU, VST, VST3, and AAX formats for macOS 10.13 or higher and Windows 10 or higher.
Worth mentioning that the Goodhertz Semiannual Sale is also running right now, with 35% off across the catalog for the next nine days. If LA-210 sells you on the Goodhertz sound, this is a good time to grab Lossy or anything else from the lineup.
Download: LA-210 (FREE)
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Last Updated on May 8, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
