More new old news for the “How did I miss this?” file.

Independent developer(s) Genuine Soundware/GSi have ported the bulk of their very singular product line over to VST/AU mac format. So now Mac users have another reason to stop bitching about how there are no good bargain plugins. (Does that even make sense?)

To be honest, I never paid much attention to this company when they were known by Soundfonts.it, which always read to me as a soundfont distributor. But I’m thick like that. I’m certain that I must have clicked through to the website once or twice. But I’ve only just downloaded them now, and until I figure out why my Lynx is MIA as far as my OS is concerned, I won’t be trying them presently.

So, take from this what you will. And while some might quibble about the GUI, which I would describe as utilitarian, you got to admire the spirit of these creations.

WatKat is a digital “clone” of a Wem Watkins “Custom” Copicat. It sounds very lo-fi, noisy, irregular. When you turn it off and leave the tape loaded, the tape bends in proximity of the capstan, and this turns into a periodic pitch fall during echo playback; plus, it gets hot and the background hum gets worse in time… you should turn it off every now and then; the tape is never completely erased, and the capstan motor flutters… and it gets worse if you touch it while it’s spinning; heads tend to get dirty very soon, infact you should clean them often. This is true for the actual hardware unit, and for the digital simulation as well!

That’s from the pictured WatKat plugin. It was the one which instantly got my attention, and, bonus!, it’s also free. If I like it I’ll definitely support this endeavor. Very reasonable prices, even with the fluctuations in the market.