Overview

The authentic sound of vinyl—and beyond
Unfiltered Audio raises the bar (and lowers the tonearm) with Needlepoint: a revolution in vinyl simulation. Featuring a full platter of advanced physical modeling technology, it offers a deep into the warm, fuzzy sound of turntable noises. Use it subtly for among the most convincing vinyl emulations available, or push the needle far past realism for some seriously warped sounds.

Physical modeling for enhanced realism
While many vinyl plugins are content to use looping samples of vinyl noise, Needlepoint uses physical modeling to achieve its incredible sounds. It synthesizes all sorts and sizes of detritus and distress on a record: hair, dust mites, scratches, warping, and more. These are not randomly modeled, but rather accurately distributed onto a virtually rotating, algorithmic platter. 

Classic vinyl effects with creative, next-gen controls
Change the speed of the emulation to alter Needlepoint's tone, going beyond conventional RPMs like 33 1/3, 45, and 78–and even tempo syncing the turntable to your DAW! Use the SPINDOWN button to create classic vinyl stop (and start) sounds. Adjust WOW and FLUTTER, and explore the BROKEN mode to generate unpredictable looping effects and cut-up, glitchy phrases. Or, take advantage of the granular pitch shifter to help you achieve a chopped up vibe without changing the speed of your tracks.

Tone shaping that’s powerful, intuitive, and fun
Beyond noise, ambience, and vinyl effects, Needlepoint includes other processors to help fully etch out your vibe. Chief among them is a single knob compressor that recreates algorithms from famous hardware samplers associated with vinyl-based beatmaking, and can even mimic the analog distortion introduced by the vinyl pressing process. 

Complex processing that’s easy to control
Thanks to an interface that’s beautiful to look at and incredibly easy to use—plus an extensive set of handcrafted presets—Needlepoint will help you scratch that nostalgic itch in your productions and add true analog groove to your tracks, whether you need it to be subtle or over-the-top.

Features

  • Physically modeled vinyl emulation to degrade your audio in persuasively nostalgic ways
  • Choose from a variety of classic and custom turntable speeds
  • Warp your sound with continuous control over WOW, FLUTTER and PITCH that’s easy to automate by hand
  • Use the BROKEN mode for analog-style looping, stutter and glitch effects
  • A SPINDOWN button for authentic vinyl stop and start effects
  • Onboard single knob compressor with 6 flavorful modes
  • Customizable interface with choice of beautiful color schemes
  • A full suite of handcrafted presets for subtle and severe tonebending alike 

Audio Examples

Industry Reviews

  • James

    James "Fluff" Harley

    Producer & Mixing Engineer (KoRn, Prince, Yumi Matsutoya)

    The new Needlepoint plugin is a completely badass lofi plug. From the sonic imprint to the depth of the parameters, the Needlepoint plugin is a must-have tool in my arsenal.

  • Joker

    Joker

    Record Producer & Mixing Engineer (Stormzy, Kojey Radical, Swindle, Sir Spyro)

    I have no idea whats going on under the hood or if its actually modeled on a real record player/cutter but it sounds great. It has a cool way of handing top end, especially boosting top end into… Read More

  • MACK

    MACK

    Producer, Artist, Engineer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Singer, Songwriter

    Needlepoint should also stand for how you can specially tailor the sound of the grit and white noise to your input signal, like crafting different sonic clothes for each sound. Honestly, it’s… Read More

  • Neenah

    Neenah

    Multi-platinum mixing engineer

    Needlepoint is incredibly fun and creates instant texture and color. My favorite part is the Spindown button, it just sounds so damn good! And the Age knob is great for quickly automating a filter… Read More

  • Brad Cox

    Brad Cox

    Producer, Mixer, Mastering Engineer (Slash, T Pain, Moonshine Bandits)

    This is a fun tool for your toolbox. Add some color, warmth, character or a little bit of vinyl excitement. You can also go crazy with it for audio warping, mangling and slow down effect. This… Read More

Customer Reviews

  • LoFi swiss army knife

    ★★★★★
    by willcando
    Now Hear this! Now Hear this! Needlepoint is such a creative way to get your signature LoFi sound for any style of music. another must have unit for the creativity you want from a company you can… Read More
  • better..

    ★★★★★
    by Synthitize
    this FX vynil emulation is very good and the FX start & stop was very impressive and very realistic... Beter than other i tested
  • Needlepoint

    ★★★★★
    by Ray Seay
    This plugin brings me back to when we use to sample sounds off of records. To think we would try to find ways to eliminate the record noise not knowing that it added character to the sample. With… Read More
  • fuzzy funky warm versatile

    ★★★★★
    by Rew
    This thing just adds some grit and warmth to whatever you put it on. Has a lot of character potential but you also have a lot of control over what this is doing to your sound so if youre going for a… Read More

Specifications

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 14 down to macOS 11
Windows 11 down to Windows 10

Mac
Intel or Apple Silicon architecture

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM

 

 

Downloads

With the Installation Manager you can select, download & install all the Plugin Alliance products. Select any and all formats you need for your system! Mac & PC.

ChangeLog

Needlepoint

# Needlepoint

### 1.0.6 (03/16/2023)
- Add AAX ARM support for Apple Silicon.

### 1.0.5 (03/01/2023)
- Fix latency reporting causing Cubase issues when plugin is bypassed.

### 1.0.4 (02/24/2023)
- Bundle previous changes for release on Mac and Windows.
- Credits page was always printing "1.0.0". Fixed.

### 1.0.3 (12/07/2022)
- Remove OpenGL on iOS to fix rendering on many devices.

### 1.0.2 (11/29/2022)
- Fix latency reporting for certain DAWs, especially on iOS.
- Optimize visualizers. Reduce unneeded repaint calls and limit maximum frame rate to prevent runaway CPU usage.
- Fix for mono rendering on visualizer.
- Add ability to disable the visualizer to conserve CPU.
- Fix rare situation where colors wouldn't update properly.

### 1.0.1 (10/07/2022)
- Fix for situations where multiple instances of Needlepoint could cause crashing, especially on sample rate change.

### 1.0.0 (08/25/2022)
- Initial Release