Beatskillz RetroVolt £99

BeatSkills deliver a sample player with synth ambitions and a plugin simply drenched in nostalgia

You have probably noticed that there’s a bit of a nostalgia thing happening – indeed our recent 90s issue, for example, was one of our bestsellers. OK, perhaps there always has been a look-back longing, and maybe it’s the fact that so many of us have been locked up watching old films (or yearning for better times) but, whatever the reason, there are definitely rosetinted spectacles being worn above face masks the world over. RetroVolt taps into the midst of it all and tugs your heartstrings. You’ll be Pretty in Pink and enjoying your Breakfast Club in no time. Yes, it’s the 80s – here we come…

Added extras

RetroVolt installs as a plugin as normal but you’ll need to download around 2.5GB of data which turns up as five files. These are best placed in the Samples folder that appears wherever RetroVolt has installed. You’ll then need to open the plugin within your DAW and install the presets, first locating the samples – it takes less than a minute all told. After 15 minutes of free use, you’ll be asked to enter your serial code to authorize the plugin and that’s it.