JMG Sound Retronaut

Promising to infuse the crackle of yesteryear into your tracks, Retronaut goes beyond its lo-fi headline to deliver thrilling sound-shaping abilities

A wise man once said “the past is another country, they do things differently there”. In the world of music production, this sentiment rings exceptionally true. The way that people used technology to not just record, but to shape their music was wildly different to what we have at our disposal on our hard drives today. As with the majority of vintage hardware, effects units suffered from the limitations of their format – crackle, hiss and signal degradation was rife.

While old-school gear might have technically been superseded, the mark it left on some of music’s most beloved moments has meant that people still seek to resurrect those long-lost ‘qualities’ and add them to their 21st-century tracks. We’ve seen no short supply of such plugins in the lo-fi domain, but JMG Sound’s Retronaut might just be our new favourite. Whilst doing what it says on its aged tin ably, Retronaut’s deep filtering and sound augmenting abilities mean it’s also a colourful option for shaping fresh, modern sounds.

The chips are down

On a surface level, Retronaut is a multi-voice vibrato and chorus plugin with additional lo-fileaning effects. Imparting the character of the old bucket brigade analogue delay chips, cassette tapes, the crackle of vinyl and the wow and flutter of tape, alongside the degradation of quality served by multi-generational transfers (or keeping the tape locked in a cupboard for a few decades).