XLN Audio RC-20 Retro Color

TL;DR The RC-20 Retro Colour is a modular character plugin. It puts noise, tape wobble, saturation, bitcrushing and lo-fi reverb in one panel, so you can make a clean digital track feel vintage or lo-fi in seconds.

Is it worth it? Yes for most producers, as long as you want a fast, all-in-one creative effect rather than a precise mixing tool.

Best for: lo-fi beats, synthwave, warming clean synths and adding grit to a drum bus.

Free or cheaper route: iZotope Vinyl covers the vinyl-noise side for nothing, and your DAW's own bitcrusher and tape tools handle parts of the rest. Neither matches the all-in-one convenience. More on alternatives below.

Skip it if: you already own separate saturation, tape and bitcrush plugins you are happy with.

I take an honest look at this bold looking plugin in this XLN Audio RC-20 Retro Color review, and answer the question most producers actually have before buying: is it worth it?

This is a review for the RC-20 Retro Color plugin from XLN Audio. The review covers initial thoughts of the product, where it can be used and some ideas of how to apply it in your mix.

Jump to:

• Introduction to the RC-20
• Getting started with the RC-20 Retro Color review
• CPU Performance for the RC-20 Retro Color
• Notable Features
• Presets Available With XLN RC-20
• Hear the RC-20 Retro Color in action
• Who Uses RC-20 Plugin?
• Is there a free alternative to RC-20 Retro Color?
• RC 20 Review Summary
• Where To Buy RC-20 Retro Color
• RC-20 Retro Color FAQ

Introduction to the RC-20

The promotion of this RC-20 Retro Color plugin was something that I had see a lot about in the audio VST world. The team at XLN Audio certainly know how to cause a marketing stir and I was really excited to be able to get my hands on this plugin as it looks like one of those VST plugins which could be a gamechanger.

My initial hopes when doing this RC-20 Retro Colour review would be that the speed in which I was able to pick up the inner workings of it would be the key to helping my music production workflow. From the offset I liked the look and feel of it and the distinct design made me want to get involved. Sometimes a plugin can look a bit drab and boring but this one does not. It lives up to it's name, it's retro and colourful looking!

Getting started with the RC-20 Retro Color review

As I always hope for when getting a new plugin to play with, I want installation to be simple. This was a simple install. Offering VST, AU, AAX (64-bit) versions and supporting on Windows and Mac, most bases are covered for platform support. The team at XLN Audio have gone out of their way with testing and advise This product should run on any host supporting 64-bit VST, VST3, AU, or AAX plugins. XLN Audio actively tests on the host applications listed below:

• Steinberg Cubase 8 or later
• Ableton Live 10 or later
• Apple Logic Pro 9 & 10
• Avid Pro Tools 11 or later (Pro Tools First is not supported)
• Cakewalk by Bandlab
• FL Studio 20 or later
• Reason Studios 9.5 or later
• Reaper 5 or later

I can also confirm that it runs within Bitwig Studio perfectly well (version 5) however this is not mentioned in the supported list on the XLN site.

CPU Performance for the RC-20 Retro Color

On my system (mid-range laptop using Bitwig Studio 5), RC-20 barely moved the CPU meter even with multiple instances. It's light enough to use on mix busses without worrying about crashing your project.

Notable Features

• Epic user manual
• Light and bright features
• Modular workflow

I was particularly impressed with the interactive user guide built into the plugin. There were a number of steps which although forcing the user to complete before being able to move on, it works by way of making you familiar with the product. It's quite an intuitive design but just taking the time to investigate the options a little more before jumping in I think will help hook the producer into how everything works. Maybe there is some psychology in there which makes you think that as you have invested time in learning the product, it makes sense to keep using it. I certainly felt that way.

The look and feel of the plugin just comes across as fresh. It's modular workflow lets you switch parts of the plugin on and off as you wish. While it is a modern creative effect plugin, it easily recreates the warm feeling of vintage recording equipment and has that vibe about it. I really like it and to use it along side some other vintage compressors or classic synths will bring a distinct sound to your mix.

There are 6 distinct RC-20 modules which are up for manipulation with these being:

• Noise - Add vinyl crackle, VHS hiss, tape static, or hum. The Follow and Duck options make the noise react dynamically to your signal. This is good to use on drum loops.
• Wobble - This one mimics tape pitch instability and wow/flutter. Small amounts give a subtle lo-fi vibe, while extreme settings turn synths into seasick nightmares which are perfect for Rhodes keys or lofi pads.
• Distort - Warm saturation through to nasty fuzz. Shape the drive and tone, and blend subtly or go full broken-amp. Use it on bass lines to add grit without muddying the lows.
• Digital - Bitcrushing and sample-rate reduction. Great for crunchy retro textures. Try it on hi-hats to get that 12-bit drum machine feel.
• Tape / Magnetic - Models tape wear and dropouts. Adds that uneven, wobbly playback feel. Subtle settings on vocals add instant "cassette demo tape" vibes.

Switch them on and off as you wish or you can dial parts of each into the other. It's a difficult one to explain so I'd recommend getting it installed and having a go.

Presets Available With XLN RC-20

The RC-20 Colour comes with a good selection of presets available to cover a large amount of the track. The plugin can apply effects to a drum bus, leads synth, vocal or any sort of string or pad.

In my audio demo in the next section we can hear the "Too Bright?" preset being used. It really raises the distortion and tone of the synth in the track. So many presets to play with and they show a nice range of what the RC-20 Retro Color can do.

Hear the RC-20 Retro Color in action

I wanted to try this plugin on a few areas of a track I was working on. My challenge was to create a track in 30 minutes (to make the most of my workflow and try to improve things). The RC-20 Color was easy to work with due to the presets mentioned and how easy it is to switch elements on and off.

I added the track to a synth lead and if you take a listen to the portion of the track by clicking the appropriate buttons below, you can hear the before and after with the effect on and off. See what you think.

Heard enough to try it yourself? You can check the current price of RC-20 Retro Color or take the 10-day trial from XLN Audio first.

Who Uses RC-20 Plugin?

We've seen that XLN Audio refer to Diplo as using this plugin among other artists. It seems to be quite a firm favourite.

Is there a free alternative to RC-20 Retro Color?

Short answer: not one that does everything RC-20 does. If you only want part of what it offers, though, you can get close for less.

• For vinyl crackle and noise: iZotope Vinyl is free and does that single job well.
• For saturation and warmth: the Klanghelm SDRR2 costs little and covers the colour side on its own.
• For bitcrushing and lo-fi grit: D16 Decimort 2 goes deeper on that specific sound, and your DAW's stock bitcrusher will cover the occasional use.
• For the all-in-one convenience: nothing free matches it, and that convenience is the main reason to pay.

For more no-cost options, have a look at my free VST plugin list.

RC-20 Retro Color FAQ