Reels vs Echomelt vs RC-20 (lo-fi plugin opinions)

I’ve been using Satin and Smackos for a while now, which I’ve gotten some great textures out of, but it’d be fun to add another lo-fi type plugin. Just another flavor, I guess. In this case I’d say I’m going more for whacked out modulation as opposed to subtle, though I of course want things to sound realistic and organic as well.

Reels, Echomelt, and RC-20 all look really interesting, so would love to get opinions from people who have used these.

I’m a big fan of RC 20. The Magnitude Slider alone makes it a wonderful tool in my book because mostly I’m too lazy to write complex automations and moving magnitude equals moving all parameters at once. The overall sound is awesome as well!

Edit:
Just as an example:
Thea whole master bus of this track runs through rc 20 for the intro. The magnitude slider is then moved down towards the start of the main part. So all lofi->hifi Transition you hear is just one parameter automation.

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Depends what sort of lo-fi but if we’re talking about digital lo-fi then it’s hard to recommend anything other than Plogue’s ChipCrusher. Most bitcrushers, with their bit rate and sample rate (and jitter if you’re lucky) controls seem very limited thereafter…

I haven’t used echomelt (which I totally forgot about) but own RC20 and Reels. For a long time RC20 was my go to lofi plug-in. Now though I tend to pull Daw Cassette (Klevgrand) or Cassette by Wavefactory. Also one to look at is Sketch Cassette, which happens to be on sale at the moment. I seem to collect lofi plugins like potatoe chips, ironically since I actually own a 4 track. Anyway, if you only have one, depending on your needs RC20 covers a lot of ground. If you are looking for more of a cassette emulator I think it’s Daw Cassette.

Or this one…

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/53-Multi-Effect-/7024-SketchCassette-II

Edit: back to Klevgrand, they also make a bit reducer and vinyl emulated worth checking out.

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