Rhodes V-Rack

V‑Rack packs the Rhodes MK8 preamp and effects section into a plug‑in.

A big element of the Rhodes piano’s sonic palette is its built‑in preamp and effects. You can still buy hardware Rhodes pianos (we reviewed the reissued MK8 in SOS January 2022) but realistically many of us will be happier with a software version, and Rhodes’ own excellent MK8 plug‑in modelled the preamp and effects and, indeed, expanded upon them in some useful ways. Now, Rhodes are offering these in a dedicated effects plug‑in called Rhodes V‑Rack — and that means, of course, that you can now use them to treat any sound, not just Rhodes.

All This & More

V‑Rack’s contents closely reflect the original hardware, with seven effects on offer: Drive, Equalizer, Vari‑Pan, Comp, Chorus, Phaser and Delay. As Sam noted in his MK8 review, the software control options expand on those offered in the hardware, and many of these ‘extras’ are to be found in the Details panel (shown open in the screenshot). For example, in the Drive module, you can switch between three alternative drive types, each of which has a distinct flavour, while in the Equalizer module, you can choose between four different EQ modes and three different centre frequencies for both the low and high bands, and control the Resonance and Envelope parameters for the mid band to adjust the filter/auto‑wah‑style effects it can provide. All the effects sound great, but I particularly enjoyed the Delay. It’s a modelled bucket brigade delay (BBD) like the classic Electro‑Harmonix Memory Man, and it recreates the character of that sound in a very satisfying way.

The ‘extras’ mean there’s plenty of additional functionality too. For example, you get twin preset systems, operating at both the global and per‑effect levels. There are options to reposition both the Drive and Compressor modules to ‘pre’ or ‘post’ positions (I assume relative to the EQ) in the signal chain. You also get the option to enable DAW tempo sync for all the time‑based effects. MIDI Learn is also provided — just right‑click on any parameter and the pop‑up menu lets you set things up in no time.

The VCA‑style compressor not only sounds great but offers a full suite of controls (accessed through the Details panel), including both side‑chain capabilities and a wet/dry Mix knob. The side‑chain input means V‑Rack can be used for the sorts of routine ‘duck the bass when the kick hits’ processing, while the latter makes it easy to simulate parallel compression without the fuss of configuring an additional bus. Sure, these options are now found on lots of other compressor plug‑ins, but it’s great to see Rhodes putting user convenience over a rigid design approach that limits itself to mimicking the original hardware.

Think of it as a ‘character provider’. That’s exactly the role these effects play on the Rhodes pianos, and now you can apply this to anything inside your DAW.

Rack & Roll

You may well have all these effects types well represented in your plug‑in folder already, but if you like your effects to add genuine character — and a suitable dollop of ‘analogueness’ — then Rhodes V‑Rack has obvious appeal. The design team at Rhodes obviously have inside knowledge of the original hardware circuitry but it’s another thing to recreate in software a much‑loved classic sound in a convincing way — and they’ve done a good job of it.

The first thing to strike me as V‑Rack started doing its thing was just how easily it brought that sense of analogue processing to the sound — almost any sound, in fact. And perhaps that’s the best way to describe what V‑Rack does: think of it as a ‘character provider’. That’s exactly the role these effects play on the Rhodes pianos, and now you can apply this to anything inside your DAW. It won’t surprise you when I say that it can do some great things with electric guitar sounds, or that it can be used to take the sterile edge off even the most digital of synth sounds. But it can also be fabulous on vocals, where some combination of the Drive, Equalizer, Compressor and Delay make for a really impressive processing chain. Rhodes offer a 14‑day free trial and I reckon it’s well worth exploring.