iZotope pointed out that vinyl is a nearly century-old format with a firmly solidified place in the era of modern music. With today’s fast-paced advancements constantly pushing innovation in the world of music creation and consumption, the presence of this timeless physical format provides a sense of comfort, familiarity, and groundedness.
Even its “imperfections” (surface noise, clicks/static, warp) have become accepted as inherent characteristics that define the sound of the vinyl format as opposed to flaws.
Isotope’s free Vinyl plug-in celebrates this by allowing creators to manipulate these unique vinyl characteristics and apply them into their own productions. One of the parameters found in the plug-in is the Year settings, which models the sound of vinyl records from different decades using various filter responses.
And what better way to study these Year settings than by taking a musical trip through each decade: 1930’s, 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s 1980’s and 2000s. Start by downloading the latest Vinyl update for free from the iZotope website. Start your listening journey by switching from one Year setting to the next as you go through each decade. Keep in mind that the sound of the vinyl format is significantly determined by many extraneous factors so variations in the sound are to be expected.