Goodhertz LA-210

LA-210 by Goodhertz is a free saturation and dynamics plugin. It combines an opto compressor, a soft clipper, and a cassette tape model into a single interface that looks like a Southern California freeway map. It’s basically a “greatest hits” plugin built from sections of three existing Goodhertz processors. The opto compressor comes from Tupe, the Chino soft-clip mode comes from VCME, and the FE90 tape model and tape speed control come from Tupe Wow.

It has a brickwall limiter on the output and sliders for Input, Comp, Clip, Tape, Tone, and Output. There’s also a Speed Limit toggle (25, 65, or 99 mph) that scales the overall amount of processing. Calling LA-210 a “compressor” undersells it, to be honest. It works better as a channel strip than as an isolated dynamics tool. For example, you can drop it on a vocal or a drum bus, push the Tape and Clip sliders, set the Speed Limit to 99 for maximum drive, and you get a Goodhertz-flavored analog vibe that touches the signal in three different ways at once.

The Historical preset section is a nice touch, with named sessions like Stax 1967 Otis Redding and The Record Plant 1977 Fleetwood Mac. LA-210 is currently in Beta 1, but Goodhertz says it will stay free even after the final release. It’s part of the Goodhertz Free Series alongside Midside Matrix and Loudness. You need a free Goodhertz account to download.