Topos plug-in from Forever 89

Published 27/3/25

Blend between sounds with Map View GUI

Described as an “all-terrain tone explorer”, the latest release from Forever 89 combines saturation processing with speaker simulation, providing musicians, producers and sound designers with a wealth of control over their tracks’ tone, depth and spatial presence.

Topos is built around a pair of interactive Map Views (Amp and Speaker) that have been designed to provide an intuitive, visual way to blend multiple amp and speaker models, allowing users to audition sounds by seamlessly morphing between different settings rather than navigating and toggling between presets. Those who want to dig a bit deeper can switch to a Designer View that reveals a set of more advanced controls.

The Amp section offers an array of saturation options that include emulations of classic effects pedals, tape machines and valve amplifiers, with Drive and Auto-Gain parameters providing some tonal control. Switching to the section’s Designer View provides some more in-depth controls including Emphasis, Rectify and Smoothing parameters. The Speaker Map then makes it possible to blend between a diverse selection of different speaker models, while its Designer View comes loaded with Venting, Scatter, Leak and Damping controls.

Topos' two Map View sections make it possible to seamlessly blend between different amp and speaker sounds.

In addition to its saturation processing and speaker simulation, Topos includes an input filter section equipped with high- and low-pass filtering that can be applied ahead of any amplification processing. Finally, Flux and Dynamics controls at the plug-in’s output stage allow for some overall tonal adjustment.

As well as the full paid version, Forever 89 have also created Topos: Play, a packed-down version with a reduced feature set that can be downloaded for free.