# Tape Emulation Plugins. Give me your experiences



## doctoremmet

So. Tape plugins. I know people that are very passionate about them. They add colour. They glue the mix together. Stuff like that.

Now, I am by no means an experienced sound guy. I just play piano and compose mostly singer/songwriter and orchestral (non epic) stuff. As a hobby, nothing fancy.

I was skeptical about summing mixers and channel strip plugins. Then I tried Waves NLS and I must say, I LOVE that Emi / Abbey Road channel (TG12345). I put it on all my tracks and the 2-bus now.

So this brings me to tape emulation. Would adding this to either mix and/or master be beneficial for an even more glued-together (maybe slightly retro?) sound.

There’s Acustica Taupe, U-he Satin, Waves J37, Waves Kramer Master Tape, Slate and the latest and greatest IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Machines. Probably a boatload more.

Which ones have y’all got? What are some of your experiences. Typical use cases? Put them in a mix as an insert? Or print your tracks with a tape simulation? Curious to hear from you.

(Or is it all just snake oil?)


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## storyteller

TG12345 is excellent. Agreed. NLS is fantastic too. As for tape plugins, I find Satin sounds the best... but I almost always end up using J37 or Kramer instead when sitting it in a mix. I know that feedback sounds conflicting, but it is what it is. J37 adds enough dirt that it blends better to my ears. I like using J37 on numerous tracks and then once again on a master in order to get the most realistic tape sound. Kramer sounds like it has a lot of compression going on, so that one is more of a special use case for me.


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## Living Fossil

I'm using tape plugins quite seldom. (One reason why they "glue" things together is the fact that degradation by definition glues things together, while i quite often prefer more detail...)
If i use it (which is rather on busses and tracks and almost never on the Masterbus), it's mostly u-He's Satin or sometimes the one that comes with izotope's Ozone.

However, MIA laboratories has released one that is highly acclaimed and which i will try out as soon as i'm back to work:



https://mialaboratories.com/product/413-tape-saturator/



I have several plugins from MIA and they are all excellent because they usually offer a different perspective on existing stuff, so it's possible that i would/will love this one more than the other tape emus.
(Have to add that i never tried out the one from IK multimedia. But it gets a lot of praise from people who's expertise i respect a lot, so i guess you should try that one too...)


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## easyrider

IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Machines End thread


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## doctoremmet

easyrider said:


> IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Machines End thread


Judging by some of the online threads these seem to be very good. I’m trying to sort of look through the hype to get an honest overview of what are the best options.


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## doctoremmet

Living Fossil said:


> I have several plugins from MIA and they are all excellent because they usually offer a different perspective on existing stuff, so it's possible that i would/will love this one more than the other tape emus.


I haven’t heard of either (MIA and the tape plugin they have released), so will definitely check them out. Cheers!


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## Living Fossil

doctoremmet said:


> I haven’t heard of either (MIA and the tape plugin they have released), so will definitely check them out. Cheers!




Don't forget to download their freebies too... "Border" is an extremely smooth HP/LP filter that i use quite often recently.


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## doctoremmet

easyrider said:


> IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Machines End thread


Do you have one or more of these? It seems the price point of the bundle means one either buys just one or all four? If you do use one (or all), what is your typical use case?


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## Ryan

Yes, Plugins are very cool! I thought that they did some amazing stuff until I got the real (reel :D ) deal! I bought my self a Otari MTR-12, and "oh my goood". There are so much different betwen hardware and software! I mainly use it on my master (when I have time and working on my own stuff (albums etc))



For plugins I really like the Waves J37 and the Kramer


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## method1

Most of the emulations out there these days are pretty good. 
Go with the one that feels good to you.

IMO it's important to know what these things are actually doing to your audio.

In general what you get from a tape plugin is:

A low end bump & some high end roll-off (eq curve), distortion (aka saturation), noise and modulation of the stereo field.

Sometimes this is really cool, and sometimes it's not doing your audio any favours.

Satin is the one that gives you the most control over these variables, with most of the others you have to "mix into" them to compensate for the applied frequency response.
Personally I think these types of effects need to be used judiciously, and in some cases a similar effect can be achieved with EQ and saturation. 

Here's an idea of what IK 24 at it's default setting is doing.
The different colour lines are the frequency response for the left and right channels.






These are fun tools but easy to overdo!
I've tried or own most of the tape style plugs, they're all cool, different flavours of the same, the only one of the current bunch I didn't really like was taupe.


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## JEPA

I have Waves J37, but I only use this:






ToTape5 | Airwindows







www.airwindows.com





and it's free!


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## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> I have Waves J37, but I only use this:
> 
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> 
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> ToTape5 | Airwindows
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.airwindows.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and it's free!


Interesting. There seems to be an even newer version?





ToTape6 | Airwindows







www.airwindows.com


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## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> I have Waves J37


What about J37? Does it sound less good? Airwindows workflow easier? What do you use it for and how?

I’m trying to figure out you people’s workflow. Would very much appreciate to hear more. Thanks for the feedback so far! Love it.


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## doctoremmet

method1 said:


> I've tried or own most of the tape style plugs, they're all cool, different flavours of the same


So would you say there are large differences soundwise between brands, models or for instance >8 year old Waves stuff versus ultramodern IK stuff? Have the modeling techniques advanced? Is there one model to end all other models? Or is it pretty much a psycho-acoustic affair, where personal preferences play a large role.

As for the glue effect, yes possibly one really merely needs an EQ and a saturation plugin after all?


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## Joël Dollié

I always prefered Kramer to J37. It just sounds nicer to my ears and more flat also.

Kramer is still my fav and I've tried a few.


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## NDRU

U-He Satin is pretty good. Lot's of room for tweaking  the UAD tapes are good. The tapes on the mix buses tame some elements, give some shine, can add some nice tail. Kramer from Waves are fun to use with the intuitive feedback slaps.


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## doctoremmet

Joël Dollié said:


> I always prefered Kramer to J37. It just sounds nicer to my ears and more flat also.
> 
> Kramer is still my fav and I've tried a few.


Hi Joël. I was literally just now watching your Orchestral Mixing series! Quelle surprise!

I read that Kramer adds more of a compressed sound to a track than J37. Is that your experience as well? Do you use Kramer in an orchestral mixing context? As an insert for individual tracks? Or when printing stems? Please elaborate haha. Or better yet, record one of your great videos on this very topic <3


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## doctoremmet

storyteller said:


> Kramer sounds like it has a lot of compression going on, so that one is more of a special use case for me.


Ah as a matter of fact, here’s where I read it...


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## Living Fossil

JEPA said:


> I have Waves J37, but I only use this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ToTape5 | Airwindows
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.airwindows.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and it's free!



Airwindows plugins are donationware.
Which means that you *should* pay if you use them.


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## method1

doctoremmet said:


> So would you say there are large differences soundwise between brands, models or for instance >8 year old Waves stuff versus ultramodern IK stuff? Have the modeling techniques advanced? Is there one model to end all other models? Or is it pretty much a psycho-acoustic affair, where personal preferences play a large role.
> 
> As for the glue effect, yes possibly one really merely needs an EQ and a saturation plugin after all?



I would say not "large" differences, waves coders are genius and their old stuff holds up incredibly well.
Most of these models are doing similar tricks.

Maybe the main differentiators to look at are ease of use vs extensive control, price, and that intangible quality of whether you "connect" with the UI/Sound/Feel of the plugin. 

e.g U-HE and to some extent the UAD Ampex allows finer grain control, but slate/IK/waves are more set-and-forget.

The free airwindows stuff that JEPA linked to is also really good with minimalist controls. There are also some very cool console emulations in the airwindows collection, Chris J of airwindows is a talented developer who has chosen the patreon model to support his work.


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## doctoremmet

method1 said:


> that intangible quality of whether you "connect" with the UI/Sound/Feel of the plugin.


Agreed. Which is always the hardest part when one is faced with a lot of different choices. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to chime in!


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## sumskilz

I've regularly worked on tape machines, mostly Studer A-827s, but it's been awhile. I haven't bought them yet, but from what I've listened to online, the IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Machines may be the most realistic plugins. I also like the UA ATR-102, which models the 2-track I'm most familiar with. Waves J37 doesn't sound that realistic to me, but I really like it as a delay plugin.

What I like most about tape is the way it clips the super fast transients in a way that smooths things out while keeping the performance exciting. The better plugins pull this off to some extent. I also think that wow and flutter makes virtual instruments sound more realistic. For example, consecutive hits on a real drum tend to have slight pitch variations, wow and flutter hides the fact that this is usually not occurring in virtual drums.


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## JEPA

Living Fossil said:


> Airwindows plugins are donationware.
> Which means that you *should* pay if you use them.


He encourages people to patronize him or to donate according to your possibilities, but he states that his software is of free use. He has a patreon subscription system!


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## Living Fossil

JEPA said:


> He encourages people to patronize him or to donate according to your possibilities, but he states that his software is of free use. He has a patreon subscription system!



I'm familiar with his videos; it's a very polite way to ask people to donate.
Which isn't the same as stating that something is free (like SF Labs libraries).
But i think there's need for further splitting hairs, i guess if somebody is unwilling to pay, he/she will find a way to justify it.


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## JEPA

Living Fossil said:


> I'm familiar with his videos; it's a very polite way to ask people to donate.
> Which isn't the same as stating that something is free (like SF Labs libraries).
> But i think there's need for further splitting hairs, i guess if somebody is unwilling to pay, he/she will find a way to justify it.


I am familiar with his videos also and remember when he hadn’t the patreon program past years. He wanted to support musicians and somewhen he started with the patreon and donations, which I find very generous of him.


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## Joël Dollié

doctoremmet said:


> Ah as a matter of fact, here’s where I read it...



Ohh awesome :D Well nowdays I tend to use it on busses, vocal bus for example or strings bus. I tend to prefer using more neutral transitor saturation on the master now.

I don't think Kramer compresses, in fact tape doesn't really compress the sound per se but it tames peaks due to soft saturation, so in a way it can sort of feel like compression. With that said, if you barely drive it you will get less of that. If you crush it more it will feel more "compressed".

I just really like the color it brings and the fact that it doesn't really affect the frequency response too much.


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## Anders Wall

I’m old enough to have started on tape.
We had Revoxes to edit the material captured on Nagras.
Studers and Otaris (and a Tascam 16-track) for multitracking.
Don’t miss servicing them, geeezzzz.

Still have an Otari 8-track and a Revex two-track.
Never use them :O

I’ve AB-ed the Studer and Ampex that are in the UAD-plugin-world with their analog counterparts.
In analog all machines are unique. So much that can go wrong, so many parameters that can and will make your thing sound different to mine.

What I got from the test was this.

Usually when you for example EQ something, a rule of thumb is if 6dB of boost (or cut) sounds good to you right now take 50% off for something that will sound good tomorrow.
BUT with these plugins I’d say if XXX sounds good now, overdo it some so that you’ll hear the effect tomorrow.

Best of luck!

/Anders
(blame me if the client don’t like it...)


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## Brasart

As said above Kramer Master Tape doesn't really compresses but it lightly softens transients in a very nice way, you can also control your input level going into Kramer so that there's almost no saturation going through


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## José Herring

Ryan said:


> Yes, Plugins are very cool! I thought that they did some amazing stuff until I got the real (reel :D ) deal! I bought my self a Otari MTR-12, and "oh my goood". There are so much different betwen hardware and software! I mainly use it on my master (when I have time and working on my own stuff (albums etc))
> 
> 
> 
> For plugins I really like the Waves J37 and the Kramer



Oh man, memory lane! 

As far as the plugins I've never found the right one. Once I was listening to an interview with Alan Myerson about using a tape emulator rather than an EQ. I thought it was an interesting idea so tried it and couldn't get it to work for me that way. But.... it lead me to multiband saturation and you can boost certain frequency areas by given them more depth through saturation. That's working great.

I do wish though that I could use Tape Sims. It's a great idea but just never worked for me. I think the problem lies in the fact that it's so dynamic dependent and I'm seldom slamming my music hard enough for it to have any effect. So I stick to the basics on the master buss. Compression, EQ and limiting.


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## Henu

I've drifted to use Slate's VTM for the low-mid fattening, Satin for the highs/overall bettering and if I want all the good badness, Wavesfactory's Cassette is the absolute freaking best for giving that to the sound. For me, they are all different tools for different purposes.


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## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> Interesting. There seems to be an even newer version?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ToTape6 | Airwindows
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.airwindows.com


I didn't knew. In my humble opinion this plugin does a very good work.


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## José Herring

If one had to choose between T-Racks and Satin what would be the better choice? I just listen to all the TRacks Tape sims and they are good. I'm going to listen to Satin now.

edit: And, I just need it to be plug and play and it sounds great. I'm not interested yet in tweeking 100 fine tune knobs.


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## CT

I've enjoyed using Softube Tape, but have since sold that on, not out of any complaint about the product, but because I've been trying to slim down my plugin list. I tried the demo of Satin and thought it was really good, but if you're not looking for high tweakability it might not be the best value. 

I also own the J37, which I might reinstall, along with buying the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain. Those two in tandem should finally put me at ease on the "analog plugin" front.


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## easyrider

doctoremmet said:


> Do you have one or more of these? It seems the price point of the bundle means one either buys just one or all four? If you do use one (or all), what is your typical use case?



I have them all, Got them in a promo group buy for free....I use them all and mostly on the master bus...but it can work brilliantly on acoustic guitar to smooth and fatten things out...I have the waves and the softube but the the IK tapes is different level...but come at the cost of cpu...


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## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> If one had to choose between T-Racks and Satin what would be the better choice? I just listen to all the TRacks Tape sims and they are good. I'm going to listen to Satin now.
> 
> edit: And, I just need it to be plug and play and it sounds great. I'm not interested yet in tweeking 100 fine tune knobs.


Good question. I’m trying to figure out what are some good ones to “try out and demo” as well. T-RackS ones are tempting and I’m also tempted by Kramer + J37 for both saturation AND delay effects. Satin is Uhe, a developer I love and trust and that never disappoints. So great to listen to all you tape veterans. Disclosure; I too have worked with tape: I used to ping pong using a mixer and two cassette recorder before I went the Fostex fourtracker route. Generations and generations of compressed tape noise; I swear I can still hear it


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## doctoremmet

Mike T said:


> I also own the J37, which I might reinstall, along with buying the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain. Those two in tandem should finally put me at ease on the "analog plugin" front.


Cool. I am also fond of the Waves Abbey Road stuff. The sound of TG cassettes is very cool. I always picture myself working on some Pink Floyd album (minus their cool songwriting skills of course)


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## doctoremmet

easyrider said:


> the IK tapes is different level...but come at the cost of cpu...


So one has to use the IK ones while printing tracks to audio and / or exclusively on a stereo mix / mastering?

I was thinking to maybe get the Waves pair for tracking / mixing and the IK stuff for “mastering”. (quotes because of all this is also slightly humorous given my actual musical skills / track record). If I was to get one IK model, is there concensus which one sounds best or “glues” the best? The 80 model seems to get a lot of praise?


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## doctoremmet

Joël Dollié said:


> I tend to prefer using more neutral transitor saturation on the master now.


How does one achieve such neutral saturation? Channel strip?


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## fakemaxwell

My slightly out of box take- FabFilter Saturn 2. In my experience the benefit from tape emulation comes from saturating every track/bus just a bit, rather than slapping a plugin on the master and calling it "tape." The new "Gentle" settings in Saturn 2 give you just what you want for the subtle stuff, and then of course you can multi-band go crazy on whatever else. 

If I had to pick an actual sim it would be u-he Satin. Lots of stuff to do. Otherwise I don't think it's worth getting a dedicated plugin just for tape.


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## easyrider

doctoremmet said:


> So one has to use the IK ones while printing tracks to audio and / or exclusively on a stereo mix / mastering?
> 
> I was thinking to maybe get the Waves pair for tracking / mixing and the IK stuff for “mastering”. (quotes because of all this is also slightly humorous given my actual musical skills / track record). If I was to get one IK model, is there concensus which one sounds best or “glues” the best? The 80 model seems to get a lot of praise?



I like them all...but the the 80 is very cool....blurb below....

Tape Machine 440: The Ampex 440B series dates from the late 1960's and delivers an unmistakably soulful colour that made this professional and historic mixing and mastering machine a legend. This superb blend of art and technology has the power to turn mixes into finished tracks.

Tape Machine 80: The legendary Studer A80 Mk II, in its various revisions, is an essential part of countless influential records. Engineered and manufactured in Switzerland from 1970 to 1988, it became the de facto standard for professional high-end multi-tracking. The A80's sonic signature is a perfect blend between transparency and subtle harmonic enhancement.

Tape Machine 24: A model of the MCI JH24. First produced in 1980, the JH24 was a staple in US studios during the 1980s. This completely transformerless, high performance op-amp-based design delivers a pristine, phase coherent and remarkably true-to-the-source audio performance. This results in a moderate and elegant polish.

Tape Machine 99: The REVOX PR99 Mk II is a stereo professional recorder produced by Studer in the 1980s. Engineered around a hybrid design that combines the best of discrete and op-amp topologies, this model offers a very smooth frequency response, especially on bass, with almost no trace of the typical "head bump" phenomenon. A standard for broadcast and classical music, this machine was appreciated by audiophiles for its exceptional sonic quality.

The trick is not to overdo it...You can subtly put a the 80 on and wonder what it’s doing.....then take it it off and go meh....put it back on and go happy...


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## method1

doctoremmet said:


> How does one achieve such neutral saturation? Channel strip?



Some options that come to mind:
Kush Omega TWK
Kazrog true Iron
FF Saturn 2


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## Joël Dollié

doctoremmet said:


> How does one achieve such neutral saturation? Channel strip?


Console emulations, right now I use kazrog true iron which is just transistor distortion.


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## jcrosby

I really like Slate's tape, UAD's are nice as well. And I find Ozone's to be fairly decent despite what some think, (it just has a little less personality than the previous two, but does add a nice bump in the sub). IK's are also nice but boy oh boy are they CPU hogs...

Tape's pretty infamous for the 'head bump' which is what I listen for in a tape plugin... So in addition to harmonics my favorite tape plugins fatten up the low end while smoothing highs and adding a glueing effect. That's why I prefer the ones above to Softube's which is definitely nice, (especially for adding presence). It's just a little too neutral in the low end. I tend to use it for adding some crunch and/or brightness.


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## doctoremmet

jcrosby said:


> IK's are nice but boy oh boy are they CPU hogs...


Yeah, this has me worried somewhat as an i7 6700K, 24 Gb owner...

Reason why I am considering Waves stuff for mixing (or that newly released 413) and the IK for use on a mixed down stereo track


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## doctoremmet

Joël Dollié said:


> Console emulations, right now I use kazrog true iron which is just transistor distortion.


Interesting. Will have a look at the broader “saturation” category as well!


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## jcrosby

doctoremmet said:


> Yeah, this has me worried somewhat as an i7 6700K, 24 Gb owner...
> 
> Reason why I am considering Waves stuff for mixing (or that newly released 413) and the IK for use on a mixed down stereo track


Definitely demo first! On my macbook, (i9) it's about a 15% single thread hit in Logic. This is around the same hit as some of Acustica's plugins with most features on. If you've used or demoed any of theirs that should give you an idea of the kinds of resources they demand. I basically use them when mastering and that's it more or less. Most of my mixes are too big to use them except on perhaps the mix bus.


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## doctoremmet

method1 said:


> Some options that come to mind:
> Kush Omega TWK
> Kazrog true Iron
> FF Saturn 2


Cool. Two mentions for True Iron.

What about this one:








Abbey Road Saturator – Analog Saturation Plugin | Waves


Musical analog saturation & distortion from the legendary Abbey Road Studios: The sound of classic tubes and transistors, driven from subtle to extreme, and excited by the rare EMI TG12321—a secret weapon of Abbey Road engineers.




www.waves.com





Is this somewhat similar? Just noticed it and since I am already firmly in Waves TG world, it could be interesting to add to the shortlist?


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## doctoremmet

jcrosby said:


> Definitely demo first! On my macbook, (i9) it's about a 15% single thread hit in Logic. This is around the same hit as some of Acustica's plugins with most features on. If you've used or demoed any of theirs that should give you an idea of the kinds of resources they demand. I basically use them when mastering and that's it more or less. Most of my mixes are too big to use them except on perhaps the mix bus.


Thanks, I will!!


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## jcrosby

doctoremmet said:


> Interesting. Will have a look at the broader “saturation” category as well!


It's an ednless list!!!  True Iron's REALLY good for sure..


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## method1

doctoremmet said:


> Cool. Two mentions for True Iron.
> 
> What about this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Abbey Road Saturator – Analog Saturation Plugin | Waves
> 
> 
> Musical analog saturation & distortion from the legendary Abbey Road Studios: The sound of classic tubes and transistors, driven from subtle to extreme, and excited by the rare EMI TG12321—a secret weapon of Abbey Road engineers.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.waves.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is this somewhat similar? Just notices it and since I am already firmly in Waves TG world, it could be interesting to add to the shortlist?



The AR is more extreme by default, if you turn the input gain way down it can be more subtle, but in it's "normal" operating range it's more heavy handed than true iron.


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## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> Cool. Two mentions for True Iron.
> 
> What about this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Abbey Road Saturator – Analog Saturation Plugin | Waves
> 
> 
> Musical analog saturation & distortion from the legendary Abbey Road Studios: The sound of classic tubes and transistors, driven from subtle to extreme, and excited by the rare EMI TG12321—a secret weapon of Abbey Road engineers.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.waves.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is this somewhat similar? Just notices it and since I am already firmly in Waves TG world, it could be interesting to add to the shortlist?


I have this, I have used it on voices and some percussions, but not on the Master Bus. I haven't tried it on the Master Bus cuz of the genre (orchestral) and because of the results with the voice and the percussions I don't like it on the Master Bus. But on the individual channels it's ok.


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## Petrucci

I used to like Slate VTM a lot but I started noticing that it introduced too much bass which I dialed out with its dedicated control for it. But it also took out too much highs so when I got UAD I demoed Atr-102 with its ultra-linear presets and liked it a lot on my 2-bus - instant buy, I use it all the time now, it really gives this glue and nice saturation to the mix though it also changes EQ balance depending on the tape type etc. I also like UAD Studer on individual channels with non-orchestral stuff, it seems like It's easier to mix the tracks with Studer on them. Haven't tried other tape plugins but heard a lot of praise on U-he Satin.


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## telecode101

..


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## Dirtgrain

I use Audiothing Reels, but primarily on synths, for which I like it. u-he Satin seems a better fit for mastering, gluing lightly, but Reels is pretty cheap when on sale. Both offer demo versions.


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## BVMusic

I think adding TAPE plugin not only brings forward your mix sounding more organic and warm, like its getting out of analog gear, but I think if you put too much it can muddy your mix, or even perhaps, change the track. It's like cooking, too much salt everywhere, and the taste of the dish is changed! So, balancing carefully the TAPE effect , when put on the Track channels and on the Mix Buss is to be taken care of. Perhaps one of the functions In a Tape that needs careful settings when used to a achieve good balance on the whole mix, is the 'bump' function. And if I am not mistaken , there Is a kind of compression process going on as well with Tape. Correct? However, when TAPE and console emulations plugins are used attentively, you can have a great sounding result as if your DAW is now an analog machine!


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## Sean J

I'm making my own microphones right now, then putting some stuff on tape. Real tape, and all via off-grid power.

Why use a plugin, when you can be crazy like me?


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## Locks

Offtopic a little. But my partner and I recently just picked up an Akai GX-4000D. Hoping to experiment by running a few string libraries through it. I imagine the effect will be subtle.

I'm not home right now to take a photo but here's an image of one I just pulled from google.


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## Joël Dollié

Also, If you drive distortion plugins too loud you can also get a bunch of extra noise because of aliasing, unless they oversample a lot. But when driving just a bit it's ok.

But even if there was no aliasing I wouldn't recommend driving them too hard, at least on the master. It can really kill clarity.


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## doctoremmet

Locks said:


> Offtopic a little. But my partner and I recently just picked up an Akai GX-4000D. Hoping to experiment by running a few string libraries through it. I imagine the effect will be subtle.
> 
> I'm not home right now to take a photo but here's an image of one I just pulled from google.


Awesome. When you do, please post some audio examples!


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## darcvision

anyone had experience with softube tape or hornet tape? i'm looking for good tape emulation for master bus, i heard waves j37 and ik multimedia tape are good, but very cpu hungry. when it comes to tape emulation, i always using free plugin such as tape cassette 2, la petite excite, saturation knob and totape5.


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## Will Blackburn

T Racks 99.


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## doctoremmet

If I go the IK route (tempting, have most of the T-RackS stuff) I can only use it on the 2-bus, after mixing. For “mastering” if you will. Was thinking of getting the 80 in that case as it seems to compliment the J37 (which -in one scenario- I would use for individual tracks). They seem to enulate similar hardware models. Just one idea though.

What is particularly good about the 99, compared to other options?


----------



## Loïc D

I have Softube tape and I’ve got nothing special to say about it.

That was the most useful post of 2020...


----------



## doctoremmet

Loïc D said:


> I have Softube tape and I’ve got nothing special to say about it.
> 
> That was the most useful post of 2020...


Do you USE it to your satisfaction though?


----------



## Loïc D

Yes, it’s on my master bus.

The effect is quite soft, I’d say it’s not on the saturation side of tape emulation. TBH I don’t think it brings a lot to the mix, but maybe I don’t use it very well.

I love the wobble and stop/start. It’s fun to play with. Ok I’m a bit dumb.


----------



## Locks

doctoremmet said:


> Awesome. When you do, please post some audio examples!



Certainly will! I'm away at the moment so probably will be in a month or so. Very keen to test it out.


----------



## telecode101

..


----------



## Locks

I really like Satin by u-he. You can get some really interesting effects using its compander encoder and decoder settings. Dan Worrall does a really great video on it.


----------



## Living Fossil

doctoremmet said:


> Cool. Two mentions for True Iron.



+1

I really like True Iron, for different tasks.
(imo it's also great on Brass Samples and on DI guitars and Basses)
It has 6 different flavours that interact in quite different ways with the sound, so you really get a lot of options. (usually i find one model that i like specially on a specific source)


----------



## Will Blackburn

doctoremmet said:


> If I go the IK route (tempting, have most of the T-RackS stuff) I can only use it on the 2-bus, after mixing. For “mastering” if you will. Was thinking of getting the 80 in that case as it seems to compliment the J37 (which -in one scenario- I would use for individual tracks). They seem to enulate similar hardware models. Just one idea though.
> 
> What is particularly good about the 99, compared to other options?



I usually only use Tape on the MB and can thankfully run that one instance of TR99 on my MB whilst mixing. They all give a nice 3dness to the mix. Adding clarity and seperation to the mids / sides although you need to watch your stereo image becuase they can mess with that (for better or worse). I prefer the Revox 99 mainly because i find it the most transparent / Neutral. It also doesn't affect my stereo image as much as the others. It adds consistency to my mixes wether they be Hip Hop, Classical, Synth whatever.


----------



## Locks

Again not an emulator but have you heard of mixanalog.com? They run a pretty unique service. They have a bunch of high-end analog equipment where they have replaced the controls with circuits connected to their web API so you can control the equipment in real-time over their website.

You upload your audio to the site, book time with a particular unit and then you can adjust the settings and run your audio through it. They have a few very high-end tape machines you can use such as the Studer A812 Mk.1 (80s-90s) and the Telefunken M15 (70s). I gave them both a test-drive a little while back. It's an impressive setup.


----------



## doctoremmet

telecode101 said:


> i have the IKM Tape 80 and 24. I mostly use the 24. Yes, the are CPU hungry. Not sure how they compare to U-he or Waves. There is/was a very long and detailed thread on GearSluts about them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia releases T-RackS Tape Machine Collection for T-RackS 5 - Gearspace.com
> 
> 
> Add the warmth, character and glue of analog tape to your tracks more authentically than ever! IK Multimedia is proud to announce the T-RackS Tape Machine Collection, incredibly accurate models of 4 analog tape machines, available now! Using a careful mix
> 
> 
> 
> www.gearslutz.com


Thanks!!!


----------



## doctoremmet

Living Fossil said:


> +1
> 
> I really like True Iron, for different tasks.
> (imo it's also great on Brass Samples and on DI guitars and Basses)
> It has 6 different flavours that interact in quite different ways with the sound, so you really get a lot of options. (usually i find one model that i like specially on a specific source)


I am watching a playlist I made of loads of YT demos and reviews. Found out about IK Saturator X and Softube Saturation Knob - that I both own as well. Not tape but saturation still. So also considering the use of those two for certain scenarios. Anyone using them?

I am also intrigued by Satin and True Iron now. Will add more videos to my playlist. Thanks all! Very helpful so far. It appears I am heading for some demoing!


----------



## doctoremmet

Update: whoa, Kazrog True Iron sounds VERY promising!


----------



## doctoremmet

doctoremmet said:


> Update: whoa, Kazrog True Iron sounds VERY promising!


You’d put that on all tracks as an insert, yeah?


----------



## darcvision

telecode101 said:


> i have the IKM Tape 80 and 24. I mostly use the 24. Yes, the are CPU hungry. Not sure how they compare to U-he or Waves. There is/was a very long and detailed thread on GearSluts about them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia releases T-RackS Tape Machine Collection for T-RackS 5 - Gearspace.com
> 
> 
> Add the warmth, character and glue of analog tape to your tracks more authentically than ever! IK Multimedia is proud to announce the T-RackS Tape Machine Collection, incredibly accurate models of 4 analog tape machines, available now! Using a careful mix
> 
> 
> 
> www.gearslutz.com


what's difference between 80 and 24 in your opinion? do you put your tape inside master bus? i think i might go to ik multimedia because they're always offer great discount especially black friday.


----------



## telecode101

..


----------



## nas

I still quite like Slate VTM. Although I don't necessarily use it on every mix, I've found it has more than enough tweakability to get to the sound I need. For the right mix, it does a good job.


----------



## dgburns

I’ve been using Satin. Recently got J37 and Kramer. I find those two Waves ones appear to saturate more easily, and I have to watch my levels. The U-He Satin appears to be less ‘effecty’, but it can tame transients alot, but comes at a higher cpu hit. I like the Dolby A setting, it can squash and modulate the sound, if a track is sounding flat ( for lack of a better word ) this can add some excitement, I guess.

I used to work on tape. I am not sold these plugins compare, but then again, I listen back to some of the old tapes, and marvel at the sonics we have available to us now. I guess I’m not feeling the need to smash a track through a tape plugin because I am missing something fundamentally that I used to have in my tools that I lost recording to disk that is the special magic sauce that fixes everything that is wrong with the sound going in.
But as some have stated, the tape plugins are great for effects. Satin is a fan-freakin-tastic delay. 

Tape as effect- yes
Tape as sonic enhancer, yes- sometimes

Where? 

I like both Kramer and Satin on 2 bus. Before anything else actually. For score stuff, hmmm .... convince me it’s needed. Maybe on some special track that needs something period, effecty or for attitude, otherwise, nah.


----------



## juliandoe

Hi, doctoremmet

Personally if have to glue the tracks I prefer a compressor. First of all, I have to say that I use an old MacBook pro so my CPU easily go crazy so I have to choose my plugin wisely. I use the old API2500 as a glue comp in the insert of the scheps omnichannel. In this way, I also have a lot of control with the possibility to use the other elements of the channel strip. 

an upgrade that I'm considering to do the job of the API is the Townhouse Buss Compressor. I was sceptic because I'm not of a big fan of the SSL buss comp but I've tried this one and I love it. I'm just waiting for a discount. 

I'm recently experimenting with parallel clip distortion to glue the tracks and the results are really nice.

Just like you, I like NLS so I've stolen the concept and I use a routing inside Logic that allows me to have a summing mixer with the REDD (I like the harmonic distortion of the REDD more than the three options of the NLS) 
Now since I have this routing with an analogue console emulation I use the tape plugin only if I want to add a little bit of character. 

Talking about tape simulations the airwindows are nice and being free you can have them there. I prefer totape6. I've found three presets that I like I've saved it so I can quickly recall it. Every airwindows tape simulation is different so you have to test by yourself.

If you have Logic pro you already have three plugins that can do tape simulation. If you want wow and flutter you can use the tape delay. If you want the saturation the overdrive can do the job but space designer has a tape saturator preset that is really nice (warped effects/analogue circuits)

Acustica Taupe is nice but not enough to justify the price of 250. And in general Acustica audio is not a laptop-friendly plugin. As far as I understand they use impulse response technology to recreate the exact response of the analogue gear and that process will eat a lot of CPU. 

On the other hand, Satin is the best simulation I've ever tried. Tons of useful presets and a lot of range from subtle to invasive. The only downside is that if you wanna fully master the plugin there's a little learning curve. 

The J37 and the kramer are really similar. Not great but they have a character that I like. Between the two I prefer the J37 but it's just my personal taste. If you can grab one of them for 29 you won't regret it.

I haven't tried Slate ad IK multimedia so I can't give you my personal experience with it.

Another tape simulation that I've tried is the Hornet Tape and I highly suggest it. You will have few controls but a lot of really good simulation (two of them sounds really close to the J37 and the kramer) Hornet is often in discount and if I'm not wrong it should be half price now (less than 10 bucks if I'm right). If you want a quick plugin that does the job, fast to use and that you can "set and forget" this is really great.

I've tried other tape emulations that you didn't mention in your original post but nothing has impressed me 

In the end don't forget that you can find a real tape machine with three heads like sony, akai, uher for relatively cheap. Yes, you have to find the space, there are repairs and maintenance costs, you need to buy the tapes and you need time to set up everything and bounce it down but the results are something that emulations can never achieve.

Hope this helps you to decide.

Have a great day and stay safe.


----------



## TheSteven

dgburns said:


> I used to work on tape. I am not sold these plugins compare, but then again, I listen back to some of the old tapes, and marvel at the sonics we have available to us now. I guess I’m not feeling the need to smash a track through a tape plugin because I am missing something fundamentally that I used to have in my tools that I lost recording to disk that is the special magic sauce that fixes everything that is wrong with the sound going in.
> But as some have stated, the tape plugins are great for effects. Satin is a fan-freakin-tastic delay.
> 
> Tape as effect- yes
> Tape as sonic enhancer, yes- sometimes



Mirrors my feelings/experience.
The magic difference was mic selection & placement i.e. mic-ing technique.
A more expensive mic didn't necessarily improve the sound for example an SM57 or Re20 would sometimes kick @ss on a U47 when mic-ing a guitar amp.
If it sounded like crap coming in the board - putting it on tape didn't make it better.
Hearing too many things these days especially drums that sound like they were recorded by either the studio's new 2nd engineer or by the band's live, never worked in a real studio before, sound mixer. Today there are a number of plugins that can somewhat fix that - but nothin beats the sound of job done right from the ground up.


----------



## Locks

TheSteven said:


> Mirrors my feelings/experience.
> The magic difference was mic selection & placement i.e. mic-ing technique.
> A more expensive mic didn't necessarily improve the sound for example an SM57 or Re20 would sometimes kick @ss on a U47 when mic-ing a guitar amp.
> If it sounded like crap coming in the board - putting it on tape didn't make it better.
> Hearing too many things these days especially drums that sound like they were recorded by either the studio's new 2nd engineer or by the band's live, never worked in a real studio before, sound mixer. Today there are a number of plugins that can somewhat fix that - but nothin beats the sound of job done right from the ground up.



The age-old "you can't polish a turd"! Always solid advice. You can really save yourself so much time and get better results if you start thinking about your mix during the recording phase.


----------



## GtrString

I like to work with tape plugins, console plugins, saturation and transformers. I use the IK tape machines which are very good, I also use the Sonimus console plugins Satson and Britson, and the transformer plugin True Iron from Kazrog. I also work with hybrid setup using transformers and tubes in my outboard gear.

Its mostly due to being unhappy with the clean sound in the digital domain, as there is something about the linearity of the harmonics that sound unmusical to me. It mirrors real life, people that are too slick, machines that are too rigid, information that lacks nuances.. same thing. It lacks life, so I want to compromize it, make it sound experienced from life in this world..


----------



## doctoremmet

GtrString said:


> I like to work with tape plugins, console plugins, saturation and transformers. I use the IK tape machines which are very good, I also use the Sonimus console plugins Satson and Britson, and the transformer plugin True Iron from Kazrog. I also work with hybrid setup using transformers and tubes in my outboard gear.
> 
> Its mostly due to being unhappy with the clean sound in the digital domain, as there is something about the linearity of the harmonics that sound unmusical to me. It mirrors real life, people that are too slick, machines that are too rigid, information that lacks nuances.. same thing. It lacks life, so I want to compromize it, make it sound experienced from life in this world..


Same here.

Update:
- I have purchased Kazrog True Iron and Softube Tape (on sale) and will use that on all inserts and busses
- looking at T-RackS Tape Machine 80 for mastering purposes / not sure yet


----------



## Dietz

Old man here who worked on tape quite some time in his early years. Still miss the sonic colour and saturation, don't miss wow, flutter, noise and constant degradation. 

In case no-one has mentioned it before: CraneSong's "Phoenix / Phoenix II" is still my favourite tape saturation plugin. Doesn't offer any bells and whistles, but it's ridiculously close to the proverbial "Better-Button" on pretty much every source.

Other than that: U-he's "Satin" all the way. The old Dolby-A-trick alone makes it worth its price.


----------



## doctoremmet

Dietz said:


> Old man here who worked on tape quite some time in his early years. Still miss the sonic colour and saturation, don't miss wow, flutter, noise and constant degradation.
> 
> In case no-one has mentioned it before: CraneSong's "Phoenix / Phoenix II" is still my favourite tape saturation plugin. Doesn't offer any bells and whistles, but it's ridiculously close to the proverbial "Better-Button" on pretty much every source.
> 
> Other than that: U-he's "Satin" all the way. The old Dolby-A-trick alone makes it worth its price.


Would you say the U-he Satin sounds better than the IK Multimedia Tape emulation(s)? Assuming you’ve tried those as well...

The Kazrog True Iron transformer stuff appears to be very nice as well, I’ve just put it on a mix (every track, every bus) without any tweaking (init preset with no saturation or drive) and it too has a certain “make it better button” quality, or so it seems!


----------



## GtrString

doctoremmet said:


> Same here.
> 
> Update:
> - I have purchased Kazrog Real Iron and Softube Tape (on sale) and will use that on all inserts and busses
> - looking at T-RackS Tape Machine 80 for mastering purposes / not sure yet



Yeah, IK always have 50% off or more sales around thanksgiving / Christmas, so I would wait to pick that up till then.


----------



## doctoremmet

GtrString said:


> Yeah, IK always have 50% off or more sales around thanksgiving / Christmas, so I would wait to pick that up till then.


The whole bunch is almost $250 incl VAT right now. And just the one $125, so one would always feel bad just getting one. So yes, I’ll wait and/or put up a WTB on a forum or other. The reactions (of actual IK tape users) are overwhelmingly positive it seems. But I just got Softube Tape with the intention to use that for the mix, in conjunction with True Iron, to put some non-linearity in my otherwise very digital tracks. For mastering purposes I am considering tape emulation by U-he, IK or something else of the current “premier league”. I must admit that this also works very much as inspiration, I’m a romantic who likes to be suckered into the “feeling” of using “analog” gear - like my heroes did. (romantic = sucker who totally willingly buys into the marketing bs and drinks the kool-aid)


----------



## telecode101

..


----------



## easyrider

doctoremmet said:


> The whole bunch is almost $250 incl VAT right now. And just the one $125, so one would always feel bad just getting one. So yes, I’ll wait and/or put up a WTB on a forum or other. The reactions (of actual IK tape users) are overwhelmingly positive it seems. But I just got Softube Tape with the intention to use that for the mix, in conjunction with True Iron, to put some non-linearity in my otherwise very digital tracks. For mastering purposes I am considering tape emulation by U-he, IK or something else of the current “premier league”. I must admit that this also works very much as inspiration, I’m a romantic who likes to be suckered into the “feeling” of using “analog” gear - like my heroes did. (romantic = sucker who totally willingly buys into the marketing bs and drinks the kool-aid)




Tapes was on sale a month or so ago for $99...You could fall into the trap now of wanting GAS relief and then realise you should have just waited for the IK tapes wasting money


----------



## doctoremmet

easyrider said:


> Tapes was on sale a month or so ago for $99...You could fall into the trap now of wanting GAS relief and then realise you should have just waited for the IK tapes wasting money


I typically buy anything either on sale or from a fellow forum member / KnobCloud etc. Fair warming! Much appreciated!


----------



## doctoremmet

telecode101 said:


> wait for sale. IKM is one of those companies where the actual price is 10% of the posted price. I am pretty sure there will be a 50% to 70% off sale for the collection.


I’ll wait. Enough new toys to play with! Thanks for the heads-up, much obliged


----------



## Brasart

Don't forget that you can also demo Waves product for a week or so


----------



## Ashermusic

UAD Ampex here.


----------



## doctoremmet

Brasart said:


> Don't forget that you can also demo Waves product for a week or so


I think I will get both of Waves’ tape emus, given their continual sale and my ever growing Waves collection. I use a ton of their stuff


----------



## Ashermusic

doctoremmet said:


> I think I will get both of Waves’ tape emus, given their continual sale and my ever growing Waves collection. I use a ton of their stuff



I stopped using Waves years ago because of two issues:

1. Their upgrade policy where you paid more money for continued compatibility but no new features.
2. Logic and Waveshell did not always get along.

Any change in those two issues that would tell me to reconsider Waves?


----------



## doctoremmet

Ashermusic said:


> I stopped using Waves years ago because of two issues:
> 
> 1. Their upgrade policy where you paid more money for continued compatibility but no new features.
> 2. Logic and Waveshell did not always get along.
> 
> Any change in those two issues that would tell me to reconsider Waves?


Ad 1: WUP is still a thing that bothers a lot of people but I am not one of them  - never had any troubles with updates

Ad 2: I’m on Windows so couldn’t tel you. Maybe other Waves users can chime in.

I like some of the Waves stuff a lot, like the H-Delay, F6 and C6 as well as the TG12345 channelstrip. It works and sounds good.


----------



## dgburns

Ashermusic said:


> I stopped using Waves years ago because of two issues:
> 
> 1. Their upgrade policy where you paid more money for continued compatibility but no new features.
> 2. Logic and Waveshell did not always get along.
> 
> Any change in those two issues that would tell me to reconsider Waves?



Waves and Logic currently, zero issues on my end, and for a long time now.

Wup - while the concept sounds draconian, one must remember that you can update all the way up to the next full release version. I had not wupped for a few years and managed to go from 9.1 all the way up to 9.9 without paying a cent, even though technically I should have. It’s the way Wup works. When I went up to v10, and subsequently v11 as offered inside the Wup period, I can now move up all the way to just under V12 without Wup. 

Yes it hurts repaying for the plugs you bought years ago, and keep on paying, but it’s like a hybrid subscription model now.

Actually quite pleased with the newer plugins Waves has been putting out. There are a few I was surprised by, like Infected Mushroom Pusher, Kramer stuff, MV is very useful. Some may say Waves plugs are boring, but sometimes you just need something that doesn’t hog cpu and sounds good. Happy to be still on the Waves bandwagon. 

Final thought, with all the freakin changes Apple will foist on us, I think Waves will be there with updates, and fully supporting what comes down the pike. I remain skeptical some about others. I don’t want to get addicted to a plugin to find it got left behind. Now that’s money not well spent.


----------



## doctoremmet

dgburns said:


> Some may say Waves plugs are boring, but sometimes you just need something that doesn’t hog cpu and sounds good. Happy to be still on the Waves bandwagon.


Same here. The newer stuff is cool. I get a lot of mileage out of their CLA Mixhub and Scheps stuff, as well as the H-series. I am also among those people that quite frequently use H-Reverb, although I own and love others like 7H, Cinematic Rooms, SP2016, all the Relab stuff and very recently EAReverb2. Waves instruments are also cool; their clavinet and Flow Motion FM synth get a lot of use around here.


----------



## Dietz

doctoremmet said:


> Would you say the U-he Satin sounds better than the IK Multimedia Tape emulation(s)? Assuming you’ve tried those as well...



I never tested them side-by-side, but judging from memory "Satin" seems to be more subtle ("noble"?) on the saturation side, while offering more features as an actual effect, too (tape echoes, flanging, noise reduction usage and abuse  ...).


----------



## Dirtgrain

Oh, I just remembered Chow, a free tape effect--it can be quite subtle: https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=536112&hilit=chow

I saw it in a similar thread to this one on KVRForums: https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=546038&start=45&hilit=chow


----------



## Rob Elliott

I am surprised no mention of Mag II. For Strings - no better (and I have a few).

​


----------



## doctoremmet

Rob Elliott said:


> I am surprised no mention of Mag II. For Strings - no better (and I have a few).
> 
> ​


Will definitely check Mag II, thanks!


----------



## José Herring

Rob Elliott said:


> I am surprised no mention of Mag II. For Strings - no better (and I have a few).
> 
> ​


Is this short for Cubase's Magneto?


----------



## MAA

I actually just bought Kramer Master Tape today. I downloaded demos of that and J37 (which I didn't like as a tape simulator but could see its use as a sound design tool). I a/b'd mixes of a demo cue I did with and without the Kramer and it sounded much, much better. Fuller, more oomph. I should say, however, that I picked the Kramer over Satin/UAD/etc because the price, couldn't afford the others and I have a lot of stuff to mix in the coming months. Also want to add that I too do not like Waves update plans at all but haven't had any issues over the years using them.

There's also Tone Boosters Reel Bus, which I've used in the past but I think it's strength is more in the lo-fi tape realm.


----------



## I like music

Is Cubase's Quadrafuzz 2 considered a Tape plugin? I know jack shit about tape emulations etc but I found it accidentally and I understood it to be a saturation plugin.

I threw it onto my mix (especially SM strings) and everything suddenly sounded WAY better. Had a bit at a zing to it, is the only way I can describe it.

Also seemed to have quite a few saturation options e.g. tape, tube, and a few others.


----------



## doctoremmet

I like music said:


> Is Cubase's Quadrafuzz 2 considered a Tape plugin? I know jack shit about tape emulations etc but I found it accidentally and I understood it to be a saturation plugin.
> 
> I threw it onto my mix (especially SM strings) and everything suddenly sounded WAY better. Had a bit at a zing to it, is the only way I can describe it.
> 
> Also seemed to have quite a few saturation options e.g. tape, tube, and a few others.


The “tape option” type saturation is definitely a tape emulation, so yes! Thx


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> Is this short for Cubase's Magneto?


I think it’s this one:









Magnetic II


Nomad Factory introduces Magnetic II, a Reel-to-Reel Audio Tape Warming effect that gives your tracks the elusive vintage tape sound which your ears crave. This effect can inject sterile audio with the warmth and character of classic tube circuitry and analog tape saturation. The plug-in...




go.nomadfactory.com





@Rob Elliott Correct? What settings are good for strings? What other emulations did you compare this one to? Very interesting to hear back from you! Thx


----------



## doctoremmet

MAA said:


> I actually just bought Kramer Master Tape today. I downloaded demos of that and J37 (which I didn't like as a tape simulator but could see its use as a sound design tool). I a/b'd mixes of a demo cue I did with and without the Kramer and it sounded much, much better. Fuller, more oomph. I should say, however, that I picked the Kramer over Satin/UAD/etc because the price, couldn't afford the others and I have a lot of stuff to mix in the coming months. Also want to add that I too do not like Waves update plans at all but haven't had any issues over the years using them.
> 
> There's also Tone Boosters Reel Bus, which I've used in the past but I think it's strength is more in the lo-fi tape realm.


Thx. I have both of them in my cart and plan to add both to my collection. As mentioned I also purchased Softube Tabe and True Iron. My plan is to experiment with a bunch of stuff. As for Waves; I know a lot of people do not seem to like them and their update plans, but for sheer sound quality I am actually really into their stuff. I should mention I tend to not be a snob and just use my ears


----------



## Ashermusic

doctoremmet said:


> I should mention I tend to not be a snob and just use my ears



As well we all should.


----------



## Locks

I neglected to mention Tape Cassette 2 by Caelum Audio. Real nice little emulator. Can be really good if you want to exaggerate that flutter and wow sound. And it's free!


----------



## Petrucci

There is also Slate VCC which is not a tape emulation but "analog channel" emulation with regular channel and 2-bus channel of different famous brands. It seems that it does this smoothing thing too.


----------



## José Herring

doctoremmet said:


> I think it’s this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Magnetic II
> 
> 
> Nomad Factory introduces Magnetic II, a Reel-to-Reel Audio Tape Warming effect that gives your tracks the elusive vintage tape sound which your ears crave. This effect can inject sterile audio with the warmth and character of classic tube circuitry and analog tape saturation. The plug-in...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> go.nomadfactory.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> @Rob Elliott Correct? What settings are good for strings? What other emulations did you compare this one to? Very interesting to hear back from you! Thx


Oh man, I think that's the one Alan Myerson was using. I downloaded it and tested it for 2 weeks. It's maddening.


----------



## Brasart

josejherring said:


> Oh man, I think that's the one Alan Myerson was using. I downloaded it and tested it for 2 weeks. It's maddening.



Maybe he uses multiple ones, but he clearly states here that Kramer Master Tape is the one tape plugin he loves and uses everywhere _(timecoded at 16:15)_:


----------



## José Herring

Brasart said:


> Maybe he uses multiple ones, but he clearly states here that Kramer Master Tape is the one tape plugin he loves and uses everywhere _(timecoded at 16:15)_:



It was probably going back 9 years ago when these tape sims were starting to first appear. But, I'll check out Krammer for sure.


----------



## CT

I think Alan mentions Magnetic in one of his Pensado interviews. Naturally in a Waves video, a Waves plugin is his favorite!


----------



## José Herring

Brasart said:


> Maybe he uses multiple ones, but he clearly states here that Kramer Master Tape is the one tape plugin he loves and uses everywhere _(timecoded at 16:15)_:



The Kramer is what I need then. Simple with workable presets. Thx. 

Yes, I found where he mentioned using the Magento. It was on one of those Pensado place interviews back in 2014. So of course I downloaded it, couldn't make heads or tails of it. But, the Kramer looks more user friendly.


----------



## José Herring

Mike T said:


> I think Alan mentions Magnetic in one of his Pensado interviews. Naturally in a Waves video, a Waves plugin is his favorite!


Beat me to it!


----------



## José Herring

What's odd is that UAD is highly regarded as the gold standard but every time I see an Alan Meyersen mix video he's got a lot of Waves stuff and even one where he was using PSP. 

I wonder what he is using these days as Plugin Alliance and others have come up to pro level play?


----------



## storyteller

Almost every pro uses Waves in a significant capacity. It is the consumers and forums that are echochambers for brand-wars, hate, WUP, etc. I’m not saying there aren’t other great plugins out there... there are!!! But Waves has a sonic fidelity that has stood the test of time and tends to still be a first-reach for most professionals in many use-cases.


----------



## doctoremmet

Petrucci said:


> There is also Slate VCC which is not a tape emulation but "analog channel" emulation with regular channel and 2-bus channel of different famous brands. It seems that it does this smoothing thing too.


Sounds like an alternative to Waves NLS?

How does one go about and actually purchase Slate stuff. It seems they only have a subscription offer now?


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> The Kramer is what I need then. Simple with workable presets. Thx.
> 
> Yes, I found where he mentioned using the Magento. It was on one of those Pensado place interviews back in 2014. So of course I downloaded it, couldn't make heads or tails of it. But, the Kramer looks more user friendly.


Cool thing about the Kramer are those slap delay effects. They sound good (at least on the videos I watched).


----------



## doctoremmet

storyteller said:


> Almost every pro uses Waves in a significant capacity. It is the consumers and forums that are echochambers for brand-wars, hate, WUP, etc. I’m not saying there aren’t other great plugins out there... there are!!! But Waves has a sonic fidelity that has stood the test of time and tends to still be a first-reach for most professionals in many use-cases.


I also tend to notice a lot of Fabfilter and Soundtoys (Decapacitor, Echoboy and Little Radiator seem to in heavy duty for a lot of mixers). But yeah, the Waves stuff is omnipresent, and I can totally see why.


----------



## bryla

My favourite is still the Slate VTM. It has a lot of controls to dial in sound and if you subscribe to the Everything Bundle you also get VCC and VMR. VMR has great preamp modules and VCC and the VTM is built both for mix tracks and mastering bus.

I don't know if the subscription is worth it to everyone but I get a lot of mileage out of it.


----------



## doctoremmet

Brasart said:


> Maybe he uses multiple ones, but he clearly states here that Kramer Master Tape is the one tape plugin he loves and uses everywhere _(timecoded at 16:15)_:



This is a cool video. I’ve picked up some very useful stuff from it. Such as: use delays more. Sidenote: what delays are y’all using? (Mine is Waves H-Delay and Baby Audio Comeback Kid + Audiority Deleight)


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> The Kramer is what I need then. Simple with workable presets. Thx.


Curious to hear back from you in time how it’s working for you! I plan to report back here as well in a couple of weeks / maybe months.


----------



## José Herring

doctoremmet said:


> Curious to hear back from you in time how it’s working for you! I plan to report back here as well in a couple of weeks / maybe months.


I just put it on an unmastered full mix and it's doing wonders. Wow. First Tape sim that i've used that actually made a difference without sounding distorted.

This thing is really pro.


----------



## José Herring

It adds space and depth that can't be gotten through just reverb and EQ. It's like a little magic box. I'm so excited. It was only $30. Cheap. Price of lunch. Thank goodness I'm not eating out any more. I can spend that lunch money buying plugins and libraries.


----------



## CT

doctoremmet said:


> Sidenote: what delays are y’all using?



Valhalla Delay, a thousand times. That thing does amazing stuff.


----------



## doctoremmet

Joël Dollié said:


> Console emulations, right now I use kazrog true iron which is just transistor distortion.


Hi @Joël Dollié thanks for this. It sounds very good! I wasn’t really in the know what all these components even were but Mike White did a cool video on it which may be of interest for people following or contributing to this thread:


----------



## doctoremmet

In my ongoing search I also came across Klanghelm. Since gain staging is becoming more of a starting point for me (before mixing - to be honest I wasn’t even really aware of its importance) I am eyeing their VU meter. They also offer a couple of saturation options, that look promising - not sure if these were already mentioned before. Any of you that are actually using Klanghelm? Would love some feedback.


----------



## Petrucci

doctoremmet said:


> Sounds like an alternative to Waves NLS?
> 
> How does one go about and actually purchase Slate stuff. It seems they only have a subscription offer now?



Yes It's kind of Waves NLS and you can buy it separately though I would wait for sales of course since 150$ is kind of steep)


----------



## Dirtgrain

Klanghelm SSDR is my favorite saturator--I chose it after a long search. I strongly considered Saturn. When I demoed it (previous version), I found it to be nice, but SSDR got me the sounds that I wanted, and it is so much cheaper.

I, too, use Valhalla Delay--it gets a lot of recommendations everywhere--beautiful sounding, great algorithms, great developer. I also use Blue Cat Audio's Late Replies, which has a lot of possibilities, including customizing each tap by putting effects on it (if you ever want to get into that kind of detail). It has been on sale for around $75 before, and you can demo it forever (it just cuts out periodically).


----------



## doctoremmet

Dirtgrain said:


> Klanghelm SSDR is my favorite saturator--I chose it after a long search. I strongly considered Saturn. When I demoed it (previous version), I found it to be nice, but SSDR got me the sounds that I wanted, and it is so much cheaper.
> 
> I, too, use Valhalla Delay--it gets a lot of recommendations everywhere--beautiful sounding, great algorithms, great developer. I also use Blue Cat Audio's Late Replies, which has a lot of possibilities, including customizing each tap by putting effects on it (if you ever want to get into that kind of detail). It has been on sale for around $75 before, and you can demo it forever (it just cuts out periodically).


Yes SSDR looks interesting. Thanks for chiming in!


----------



## Living Fossil

doctoremmet said:


> Any of you that are actually using Klanghelm? Would love some feedback.



DC8C-3 is probably the best neutral compressor out here - you just have to turn saturation off and know quite exactly what you intend to do.xx
MJUC is also great; lots of options for coloration etc.
I have SSDR too. However, in all these years i never found much use for it. Sometimes i give it another try, but usually it gets bypassed at some point.


----------



## doctoremmet

Living Fossil said:


> DC8C-3 is probably the best neutral compressor out here - you just have to turn saturation off and know quite exactly what you intend to do.xx
> MJUC is also great; lots of options for coloration etc.
> I have SSDR too. However, in all these years i never found much use for it. Sometimes i give it another try, but usually it gets bypassed at some point.


Thanks! I will check all of these out. Cool to see that all of us seem to like different things and use the tools that our ears like. Love this thread, it has already brought me a lot.


----------



## Akarin

I have many of those and since getting BlackRooster Magnetite, I could absolutely uninstall all the others. It's the sound that I want but again, this is very personal.


----------



## Rob Elliott

josejherring said:


> Beat me to it!



Sorry for the delay - it is the nomad one. I'll try to take a pic of the settings I use for strings later today.


----------



## doctoremmet

Rob Elliott said:


> Sorry for the delay - it is the nomad one. I'll try to take a pic of the settings I use for strings later today.


Hey no rush! Most have better things to do than hang around here  much appreciated. 
By chance I was just looking at this one, judt received an email that it’s on sale for another day:









Nomad Factory Cosmos


Holiday Sale Cosmos is an audio sweetening plug-in that faithfully emulates legendary audio hardware techniques used in professional studios worldwide. It is the ultimate tool for sonic enhancement and low-end fattening.




www.audiodeluxe.com





Unfortunately, Mag II isn’t


----------



## Rob Elliott

josejherring said:


> It adds space and depth that can't be gotten through just reverb and EQ. It's like a little magic box. I'm so excited. It was only $30. Cheap. Price of lunch. Thank goodness I'm not eating out any more. I can spend that lunch money buying plugins and libraries.



Yep - good price. I think I'll also pick this up. Using the Mag II and Softube Tape now but always open to a third.


----------



## Rob Elliott

doctoremmet said:


> Hey no rush! Most have better things to do than hang around here  much appreciated.
> By chance I was just looking at this one, judt received an email that it’s on sale for another day:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nomad Factory Cosmos
> 
> 
> Holiday Sale Cosmos is an audio sweetening plug-in that faithfully emulates legendary audio hardware techniques used in professional studios worldwide. It is the ultimate tool for sonic enhancement and low-end fattening.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.audiodeluxe.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, Mag II isn’t




Yea - they know they have a 'classic' in this one. I think it is pricey. :(


----------



## doctoremmet

Rob Elliott said:


> Yea - they know they have a 'classic' in this one. I think it is pricey. :(


The fact that this one is the ONLY one not on a sale, says it all doesn’t it. On the upside: I dis just manage to get IK Tape Collection for the intro price which is cool. But the quest shall go on, so please keep contributing / sharing! I truly appreciate all your ideas and experiences, very inspiring and interesting so far!


----------



## Rob Elliott

doctoremmet said:


> Hey no rush! Most have better things to do than hang around here  much appreciated.
> By chance I was just looking at this one, judt received an email that it’s on sale for another day:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nomad Factory Cosmos
> 
> 
> Holiday Sale Cosmos is an audio sweetening plug-in that faithfully emulates legendary audio hardware techniques used in professional studios worldwide. It is the ultimate tool for sonic enhancement and low-end fattening.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.audiodeluxe.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, Mag II isn’t



I use this ONLY on the Strings. Hope it helps.


----------



## doctoremmet

Rob Elliott said:


> Yep - good price. I think I'll also pick this up. Using the Mag II and Softube Tape now but always open to a third.


@ José + Rob: cool! I’ll also hit that buy button sometime soon I reckon. J37 + KMT are still in my Waves cart. Waves all of a sudden sees a surge in sales numbers of this older but still trusted plugin 

My spree so far includes:

- True Iron (very interesting, plan to put this on a fairly neutral setting on all tracks and busses, non linear glue, very gentle but noticeable when bypassed and then immediately missed) / very cool guys! / currently on sale for $39

- Softube Tape (versatile, three types of tape machines, sounds subtle but lovely, relatively gentle on my CPU, also intended for use in mixing / on individual tracks and the 2-bus) - also on sale ($49)

- IK Multimedia Tape Machine Collection (sounds good according to “the internet concensus”, haven’t tried it yet, intend to use this stand-alone in T-RackS 5 mastering mode, on my stereo mixdowns - as a final “analog treatment”. Makes me feel very romantic about “printing” the final recording to a “mastertape”. My CPU won’t allow this as an insert effect). Got it for original intro price from a forum member.

On the watchlist:
- Nomad Factory stuff (Mag II, Cosmos)
- Waves Kramer Master Tape (on a continual sale for $29, also cool as a slap delay effect)
- Klanghelm SDRR ($23)
- if I forgot to mention something you mentioned in here, sorry - no offense but I will also have a look - no worries

Stuff I actually own but have hardly ever used but will in the near future:
- Softube Saturation Knob (free)
- IK Multimedia Saturator X


----------



## doctoremmet

Rob Elliott said:


> I use this ONLY on the Strings. Hope it helps.


These are the exact settings to get a “Rob Elliott secret-strings-sauce” sound? Cool!!


----------



## vitocorleone123

I use DDMF Plugindoctor to get a feel for what plugins do to frequencies.

I chose Softube Tape (without driving too hard into it on the amount knob) for the most overall useful and transparently. IL Tapes sounded the best, BUT... were total CPU hogs (mixbus use only, perhaps), and you have to install all IK software to use just the one(s) you want, which I refuse to do.


----------



## doctoremmet

vitocorleone123 said:


> I chose Softube Tape (without driving too hard into it on the amount knob) for the most overall useful and transparently.


Without the benefits of your analysis skills I chose the Softube Tape route as well, purely based on reading reviews and solid advice given by fellow forum members. Cool to have my choice acknowledged somewhat. As mentioned I plan to use it on tracks and busses, for mixing / glue / color.

The IKM Tape Collection is indeed very heavy on my CPU. My intended use case is for mastering my mixed down stereo mix (in T-RackS, standalone outside of my DAW).
I use quite a lot of their stuff actually but I totally agree about their software authorization and installation policies. They suck big time, but the sound still lured me in apparently. What can I say? I have no spine 

Cheers, very cool contribution!


----------



## JEPA

I would like to ask everybody in this thread, *I am on the fence of buying Taupe from Acustica Audio.* Flash Sale -55% ends today 11:59 GMT +2.

Is it worth?

How about Tonebooster's ReelBus4?





__





ToneBoosters | Audio Plug-ins | ReelBus


Pro-grade audio software




www.toneboosters.com


----------



## doctoremmet

I don’t know this one. Has come up a lot in my research, but I ended up getting Softube Tape (also on sale) and IKM Tape Machine Collection. Taupe does seem the have a large community that love it.


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> I don’t know this one. Has come up a lot in my research, but I ended up getting Softube Tape (also on sale) and IKM Tape Machine Collection. Taupe does seem the have a large community that love it.


watch the video I have put up in my previous post!


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> I don’t know this one. Has come up a lot in my research, but I ended up getting Softube Tape (also on sale) and IKM Tape Machine Collection. Taupe does seem the have a large community that love it.


Toneboosters ReelBus4 sounds interesting, isn't it?  And it's only €39...


----------



## sostenuto

Taupe strongly desired, but $$$ .... even at current discount, is toughie 

Waves - Kramer Master Tape ?


----------



## JEPA

It depends on you guys, if you encourage me to buy Taupe I will buy it... Do you have the extra vouchers of AA @sostenuto ?


----------



## sostenuto

JEPA said:


> It depends on you guys, if you encourage me to buy Taupe I will buy it... Do you have the extra vouchers of AA @sostenuto ?



Unfortunately, no. Have just a few Acqua, after years of Nebula 3 and some 3rd Pty libs. 
Checking Toneboosters ReelBus4, yet Kramer Master tape is only $30. right now, with 'save40' code. Will follow posts here to sort.


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> Taupe strongly desired, but $$$ .... even at current discount, is toughie
> 
> Waves - Kramer Master Tape ?


Kramer is old but still very good!


----------



## doctoremmet

Softube Tape is also rather cheap on sale and is held in high regard by a lot of people. Maybe a viable option as well


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> Toneboosters ReelBus4 sounds interesting, isn't it?  And it's only €39...


I have ‘t really looked into that one so couldn’t really say...


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> Softube Tape is also rather cheap on sale and is held in high regard by a lot of people. Maybe a viable option as well


Now on sale also!

*Softube Tape*
€49€99

Heeeeelp!!!!


----------



## method1

One thing to consider with Taupe is that the snapshots are static, there's no wow/flutter, stereo modulation and usual suspect aspects of tape modelling etc, it mostly applies an EQ curve based on the tape "model" selected. There's also some built in saturation & the compressor section. Some of the frequency curves are pretty wild, in my mind taupe is more of a distortion/band-limit effect than anything else. 

A nice bonus is getting a separate EQ & compressor as usual with acustica. 
There are still bugs in Taupe and some of the usual weird quirks, e.g a light boost in the EQ actually performs a low-pass instead of a high boost for part of the knob range.

I guess it's down to whether you connect with the tone and have use cases for taupe which can sound a lot more "extreme" than many of the other emulations.


----------



## doctoremmet

doctoremmet said:


> Softube Tape is also rather cheap on sale and is held in high regard by a lot of people. Maybe a viable option as well


Yes I just said it was on sale hahaha


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> Now on sale also!
> 
> *Softube Tape*
> €49€99
> 
> Heeeeelp!!!!


Seriously though @JEPA this is really good value


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> Seriously though @JEPA this is really good value


Do have it and use it for orchestral work?


----------



## sostenuto

PluginBoutique still running their 'free' Reason LITE Rack Plugin with any purchase. They have Softube - Tape @ $49. ..... FYI


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> Do have it and use it for orchestral work?


I got it based on the research in this thread. I also got Kazrog True Iron (also on sale) and Klanghelm SDRR. All three are cool. Have fooled around with all three and like what I hear. It is too soon and my experience too scarce to really be able to say anything useful for your decision making...

Let me put it this way: I quite like Softube Tape but this may as well be buyer’s bias


----------



## JEPA

JEPA said:


> How about Tonebooster's ReelBus4?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ToneBoosters | Audio Plug-ins | ReelBus
> 
> 
> Pro-grade audio software
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.toneboosters.com



No love for ReelBus4? Anybody?


----------



## sostenuto

doctoremmet said:


> I got it based on the research in this thread. I also got Kazrog True Iron (also on sale) and Klanghelm SDRR. All three are cool. Have fooled around with all three and like what I hear. It is too soon and my experience too scarce to really be able to say anything useful for your decision making...
> 
> Let me put it this way: I quite like Softube Tape but this may as well be buyer’s bias



Kazrog True Iron is top of current FX short list. Solid reports seen so far.


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> Kazrog True Iron is top of current FX short list. Solid reports seen so far.


I get why the people who were kind enough to help me in this thread and mention it like it so much. It’s subtle but definitely colors and glues like I was hoping it would!


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> No love for ReelBus4? Anybody?


Paging @Vin 





__





IK Multimedia Tape Machine - the "reel" deal?


Hi guys! I would like to know your thoughts on IK's Tape Machines. I read some comments that it has set a new (higher) bar for tape emulations. They mention it is too CPU intensive, but at the same time I guess that's the cost of sounding "better" or more realistic than the competition. I have...




vi-control.net


----------



## José Herring

The Kramer sounds nice. I really like what it does. Looking forward to trying more tape sims.

Boy, after my experiences with Ozone's tape simulator I had given up on the idea. Not any more. All of a sudden I slap on the Kramer and all those things I was trying to do with EQ, compression and reverb just magically happen.


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> The Kramer sounds nice. I really like what it does. Looking forward to trying more tape sims.
> 
> Boy, after my experiences with Ozone's tape simulator I had given up on the idea. Not any more. All of a sudden I slap on the Kramer and all those things I was trying to do with EQ, compression and reverb just magically happen.


Absolutely! The saturation you get from it is very nice and I love the delay / slap as well.


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> The Kramer sounds nice. I really like what it does. Looking forward to trying more tape sims.
> 
> Boy, after my experiences with Ozone's tape simulator I had given up on the idea. Not any more. All of a sudden I slap on the Kramer and all those things I was trying to do with EQ, compression and reverb just magically happen.


Did you also get Waves’ J37 Jose? Seeing that I like Kramer (got it inspired by your earlier expressed appreciation for it) I am kind of curious about that one as well, given that other entries in their Abbey Road series are actually very very good (TG12345 and TG Mastering).


----------



## José Herring

doctoremmet said:


> Did you also get Waves’ J37 Jose? Seeing that I like Kramer (got it inspired by your earlier expressed appreciation for it) I am kind of curious about that one as well, given that other entries in their Abbey Road series are actually very very good (TG12345 and TG Mastering).


Not yet but damn it! Now I have to check those out too.


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> Looking forward to trying more tape sims.


So far I also like Softube Tape. It’s more subtle than Kramer, but CPU wise I can slam it onto every insert. It’s good.

IK Multimedia Tape Machine Collection (got it for $99 from a forum member): first impression, VERY cool sounding - I like the 80 model - but on my rig definitely limited to use on a stereo mix down in a “mastering scenario” (makes me laugh a bit to even say this since I am very much a hobbyist hahaha). Maybe give it a try as well Jose. It’s more pronounced than Softube, but in a way does more of the Kramer magic.

I think you might also like Kazrog True Iron. I think my personal use case will be like Softube Tape. I also quite liked the design philosophy behind it (it has a link to your current thread about favorite consoles).

Klanghelm SDRR; haven’t got around to try it yet. Will update as soon as I have.


----------



## Mornats

If you own a Focusrite interface then Magnetite from Black Rooster is free as part of the plugin collective right now.


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> Not yet but damn it! Now I have to check those out too.


Sorry haha!!


----------



## ceemusic

Lots of great choices these days. For myself it's AA's Taupe for tracks which excels on gtrs, keys, vox or ST Tape. I also still like using TB ReelBus when it fits.

For 2 bus or mastering it's IK's Tape or CDS R2R TB+ VTM2


----------



## doctoremmet

ceemusic said:


> Lots of great choices these days. For myself it's AA's Taupe for tracks which excels on gtrs, keys, vox or ST Tape. I also still like using TB ReelBus when it fits.
> 
> For 2 bus or mastering it's IK's Tape or CDS R2R TB+ VTM2


Are you following this @JEPA?  Taupe AND ReelBus love!


----------



## WaverunnerAudio

I was looking for lo-fi tape plugins recently... it lead to this...






It's a ummmm... slippery slope ha.

(Waves stuff is awesome, Sate Tape is awesome, Satin is awesome)

Ross


----------



## doctoremmet

WaverunnerAudio said:


> I was looking for lo-fi tape plugins recently... it lead to this...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's a ummmm... slippery slope ha.
> 
> (Waves stuff is awesome, Sate Tape is awesome, Satin is awesome)
> 
> Ross


Well, if it isn’t my favorite sample library developer, chiming in!! Welcome Ross. Truth be told, I have been eyeing real reel-to-reel machines myself lately. I am also actively following a Dutch version of Craig’s List (on the erm..., Nakamichi cassette thread).

Cool you like the Waves stuff. I do too. U-he Satin is also still on my list but was slightly pricier than most...

So this will get some use in the creation of that upcoming sound design library of yours, I gather?


----------



## sostenuto

Can get Waves - J37 + Tape for $60. which then provides another 'free' plugin. Hmmmm ....


----------



## José Herring

sostenuto said:


> Can get Waves - J37 + Tape for $60. which then provides another 'free' plugin. Hmmmm ....


What free plugin can you get? Is it limited?


----------



## JEPA

sostenuto said:


> Can get Waves - J37 + Tape for $60. which then provides another 'free' plugin. Hmmmm ....


then you could add the Kramer gratis...


----------



## sostenuto

JEPA said:


> then you could add the Kramer gratis...



Sorry ' J37 + Kramer Tape ' > $50., so free plugin. Free plugs are mostly sale $29.99 variety ?


----------



## JEPA

I have already J37 but for some sonically reason I prefer the free/donation Airwindows Totape5. For me it's smoother and simpler.
Now very tempted by all these deals, I could get:
- AA Taupe for €95
- Waves Kramer for $29 or free with another plugin
- Softube Tape for €49

I need serious help because AA Deal is dying tonight...


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> Can get Waves - J37 + Tape for $60. which then provides another 'free' plugin. Hmmmm ....


Get NLS as the third. Its Mike console is very good (TG12345)


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> Sorry ' J37 + Kramer Tape ' > $50., so free plugin. Free plugs are mostly sale $29.99 variety ?


JUST that variety, yes.


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> I need serious help because AA Deal is dying tonight...


It sounds like you have the hots for AA Taupe. 

My research (this thread and pages upon pages over at Gearslutz) tells me that Taupe is loved by many many very satisfied musicians. As are most of AA’s products. They build some revered stuff, Jepa. You can’t go wrong with it. Taupe is right up there if you’d have to draw up a Top Five of best / most useful / most mentioned Tape Emulations. 

My advice? Get it for the sale price. Try it. Love it. And in the odd case that you wouldn’t, sell it for the sale price over on Knobcloud or here.


----------



## doctoremmet

josejherring said:


> What free plugin can you get? Is it limited?


Chose any in the 29.99 range when you spend >$50


----------



## sostenuto

JEPA said:


> I have already J37 but for some sonically reason I prefer the free/donation Airwindows Totape5. For me it's smoother and simpler.
> Now very tempted by all these deals, I could get:
> - AA Taupe for €95
> - Waves Kramer for $29 or free with another plugin
> - Softube Tape for €49
> 
> I need serious help because AA Deal is dying tonight...



So .... is $249. the sale price ?? That's all I see on site, or Aquarius App.


----------



## doctoremmet

doctoremmet said:


> Get NLS as the third. Its Mike console is very good (TG12345)


@josejherring Sorry but maybe Waves NLS may also be interesting for you, although it is way more subtle and involves a lot more “work” than Kramer Master Tape. (Also I am a sucker for romantic notions - such as “in a way I am now using the same console Pink Floyd used to record DSOTM”)


----------



## doctoremmet

doctoremmet said:


> Chose any in the 29.99 range when you spend >$50


Basically you have to chose two in the 29.99 category (or more expensive of course) to spend 60$ for three plugins in that price range. For instance, J37 + NLS + H-Delay or something.


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> So .... is $249. the sale price ?? That's all I see on site, or Aquarius App.


Well, he says it’s $95 for him.


----------



## sostenuto

doctoremmet said:


> Well, he says it’s $95 for him.



@ JEPA must have Pro code privileges from past purchases. Cannot find Recent Taupe Promo e-mail to verify expiring price. 
*** new Magenta Promo today.


----------



## doctoremmet

doctoremmet said:


> @josejherring Sorry but maybe Waves NLS may also be interesting for you, although it is way more subtle and involves a lot more “work” than Kramer Master Tape. (Also I am a sucker for romantic notions - such as “in a way I am now using the same console Pink Floyd used to record DSOTM”)


This captures the “sound” of a Neve desk (owned by Nevo), an SSL 4000 desk (owned by Spike) and an EMI mk IV desk (originally Abbey Road - now owned by Mike). Put it on all inserts and the two bus. The idea being that this works as a non-linear summing mixer in the box.

Of course Waves also offers an actual EMI TG12345 strip and the CLA Mix Hub (if you’re more into the SSL sound this is also an excellent plugin).

Good luck ))))


----------



## doctoremmet




----------



## sostenuto

Just installed Black Rooster - Magnetite. Too early to comment, but .... THX Guys for heads-up!


----------



## JEPA

sostenuto said:


> @ JEPA must have Pro code privileges from past purchases. Cannot find Recent Taupe Promo e-mail to verify expiring price.
> *** new Magenta Promo today.


It's a shame.. I had to occupy the last three hours in something different and missed the sale...


----------



## JEPA

now considering Softube Tape, Tonebooster ReelBus4, Kramer Tape...


----------



## sostenuto

JEPA said:


> now considering Softube Tape, Tonebooster ReelBus4, Kramer Tape...



..... and it's still July 9 here. Not really pleased with AA in this. No matter, as there are some very capable choices out there now. Good luck choosing !


----------



## darcvision

hello, if you have focusrite scarlett, they're gaveaway black rooster audio magnetite for free
https://focusrite.com/en/news/plug-collective-black-rooster-audio?fbclid=IwAR0Z_C08fE7jzhSyF1kZH3kW2YZctZe3Fl1SzuWL28mVtZOIdQ_XqrhF7P8


----------



## JEPA

After my research in this thread and internet and some demoing I will wait for a IK multimedia tape machines sale... I have demoed TB ReelBus4 and to my surprise I was not satisfied. Waves J37 still good but too harsh for my ears, still favoritism going to ToTape5 from Airwindows sonically results. In my case I don’t need flutter or tape-stop, I only need tape saturation. AA trial was downloading forever, I saw a video in YT and not my taste. Softube still tempting but I tempt to get something that will stay on my channels, don’t know with this one. Will wait for IK Tape Machines.


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> Will wait for IK Tape Machines.


I got it for $99 (all 4) from a forum member. Maybe he has more serials. @Diablo IV ?


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> Will wait for IK Tape Machines.


It is truly terrific


----------



## Vin

doctoremmet said:


> Paging @Vin
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia Tape Machine - the "reel" deal?
> 
> 
> Hi guys! I would like to know your thoughts on IK's Tape Machines. I read some comments that it has set a new (higher) bar for tape emulations. They mention it is too CPU intensive, but at the same time I guess that's the cost of sounding "better" or more realistic than the competition. I have...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> vi-control.net



ReelBus is indeed fantastic, just like all Toneboosters plugins - and quite underrated.


----------



## doctoremmet

Vin said:


> ReelBus is indeed fantastic, just like all Toneboosters plugins - and quite underrated.


Thanks Vin. @JEPA was looking for experiences from actual users.


----------



## JEPA

Vin said:


> ReelBus is indeed fantastic, just like all Toneboosters plugins - and quite underrated.


I have demoed it after seeing a video in YT showing superb saturation, and as I tested it I didn't get the results I was looking for...


----------



## ceemusic

sostenuto said:


> ..... and it's still July 9 here. Not really pleased with AA in this. No matter, as there are some very capable choices out there now. Good luck choosing !



Make sure you read the promo.. ends July 9, 2020 *(11:59pm GMT+2) *


----------



## sostenuto

@ JEPA ..... THX for ReelBus follow-up. Also lean more to saturation than many other Tape FX capabilities. Looking at Airwindows - ToTape6 now. 
Getting by, as well, with:
Plugin Alliance - Black Box Analog Design HG-2. Today only, PA _ SPL - Twin Tube is $30. with email Code.
Will be interesting to see your impressions of IK - Multimedia Tape in future.


----------



## Damarus

Seriously.. as mentioned before, this sounds a lot better than I expected.

CHOWTapeModel


----------



## Nick Batzdorf

WaverunnerAudio said:


> I was looking for lo-fi tape plugins recently... it lead to this...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's a ummmm... slippery slope ha.
> 
> (Waves stuff is awesome, Sate Tape is awesome, Satin is awesome)
> 
> Ross



You have *two* CD-320s!

I have a broken one somewhere. Would love to make it un-broken. That was such a handy piece of gear. I used to put it in Record/pause to use as a headphone amp.

Someone thought I was a reporter when I was carrying it on the T (Boston subway) on my way in to college one time.


----------



## WaverunnerAudio

doctoremmet said:


> Well, if it isn’t my favorite sample library developer, chiming in!! Welcome Ross. Truth be told, I have been eyeing real reel-to-reel machines myself lately. I am also actively following a Dutch version of Craig’s List (on the erm..., Nakamichi cassette thread).
> 
> Cool you like the Waves stuff. I do too. U-he Satin is also still on my list but was slightly pricier than most...
> 
> So this will get some use in the creation of that upcoming sound design library of yours, I gather?



Ah, too kind! The 'real reel' stuff is pretty sublime, and in the lo-fi realm can be achieved for a few bucks grabbing an old walkman or similar. The process itself can be pretty inspiring which brings something else to the table. And yes, some tape-esque goodness coming.

Fingers crossed for you with the reel to reel hunt if you do go down that route, get on the ambient lo-fi train: 



Nick Batzdorf said:


> You have *two* CD-320s!
> 
> I have a broken one somewhere. Would love to make it un-broken. That was such a handy piece of gear. I used to put it in Record/pause to use as a headphone amp.
> 
> Someone thought I was a reporter when I was carrying it on the T (Boston subway) on my way in to college one time.



They were the reporting 101 tools back in the day! So there's one CD 320, a C 205 and the creme de la creme CP 430 (with another 430 on its way) eBay purchases I got lucky with on pricing. The 205 and 430 have 3 heads which means... tape delay! If you google 'echo-matic' you'll see what I have planned for them, though I don't think I'll make any mods directly to the machines aside from a speed control I'd be keen to make look as factory as possible. Though the 320 I'm tempted to just go to town on and add a second head.

They're in varying states, a couple need new belts, one 430 won't fire up, the 2nd 430 is the only one in working order so I'd be happy to share how it goes with my repairs. I'll PM you some useful links I've found!


----------



## MAA

RE: Reel Bus. I posted earlier in this thread about it but it probably got lost in the mix. I used Reel Bus 3 for a couple of years but basically used it to emulate cassette tape for 80's style music. Like I said, I think it works REALLY well on the lo-fi realm but I'm not sure how well it would translate to modern scoring. When I had a bigger studio (ie spare bedroom) I had a nice tape player as part of my outboard gear and would run stuff through it but Reel Bus just saved time to have it on my stereo output.

Here's an example of it on the master. I made an 80's style horror main title song -


----------



## doctoremmet

The current Focusrite deal offering Black Rooster Magnetite for free has lead to a large offering of redeemable eCoupons in the $10 range on KnobCloud. Maybe cool for some? 

https://www.knobcloud.com/transfers.php?iid=1486


----------



## sostenuto

APD today ..... Black Octopus Sound - Reel To Reel VINTAGE LOFI ..... @ $25. for next ~2 weeks.









Reel to Reel - Vintage LoFi by Black Octopus - Audio Plugin Deals


Get Reel to Reel by Black Octopus for as low as $24.99 in the shop. This is an intro price exclusive to APD ending soon, don't miss out.




audioplugin.deals


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> APD today ..... Black Octopus Sound - Reel To Reel VINTAGE LOFI ..... @ $25. for next ~2 weeks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reel to Reel - Vintage LoFi by Black Octopus - Audio Plugin Deals
> 
> 
> Get Reel to Reel by Black Octopus for as low as $24.99 in the shop. This is an intro price exclusive to APD ending soon, don't miss out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> audioplugin.deals


Cool! Thanks for heads-up. Does anyone know / use this one?


----------



## BradHoyt

My quick take - After using virtual instruments that are actually sampled using old cassette and reel to reel tape, it has raised the bar quite a bit and I've found myself being unimpressed when hearing a plugin meant to re-create an analog sound with a digital source. I've basically become a connoisseur of analog sampled instruments at this point...


----------



## sostenuto

BradHoyt said:


> My quick take - After using virtual instruments that are actually sampled using old cassette and reel to reel tape, it has raised the bar quite a bit and I've found myself being unimpressed when hearing a plugin meant to re-create an analog sound with a digital source. I've basically become a connoisseur of analog sampled instruments at this point...



Think I'm understanding your point ..... but can you comment more given this excerpt from Reel To Reel description:

'Performed hands on through a UHER reel-to-reel tape recorder, cassette deck, and tube mic’s, this pack is entirely analog and beautifully crafted for production.'

Tending toward adding this one .... as not yet '_a connoisseur of analog sampled instruments_'


----------



## BradHoyt

sostenuto said:


> Think I'm understanding your point ..... but can you comment more given this excerpt from Reel To Reel description:
> 
> 'Performed hands on through a UHER reel-to-reel tape recorder, cassette deck, and tube mic’s, this pack is entirely analog and beautifully crafted for production.'
> 
> Tending toward adding this one .... as not yet '_a connoisseur of analog sampled instruments_'


I hope my comment made sense. lol My 'quick take' was just based on the title of the post which refers to "Tape Emulation Plugins". In my limited experience, using tape (and vinyl) emulation plugins do sound great, but when I compare them to instruments that were sampled using analog gear, I prefer that. The best examples I can think of are the instruments by ThePhonoLoop. (See: https://thephonoloop.com/)

I was specifically referring to virtual instruments and not recorded loops, chords, etc (which is what the Reel to Reel stuff is). The Reel to Reel product is not a plugin, it's a collection of recordings.


----------



## sostenuto

BradHoyt said:


> I hope my comment made sense. lol My 'quick take' was just based on the title of the post which refers to "Tape Emulation Plugins". In my limited experience, using tape (and vinyl) emulation plugins do sound great, but when I compare them to instruments that were sampled using analog gear, I prefer that. The best examples I can think of are the instruments by ThePhonoLoop. (See: https://thephonoloop.com/)
> 
> I was specifically referring to virtual instruments and not recorded loops, chords, etc (which is what the Reel to Reel stuff is). The Reel to Reel product is not a plugin, it's a collection of recordings.



Many thanks for LINK !! Was not aware .....


----------



## doctoremmet

BradHoyt said:


> The Reel to Reel product is not a plugin, it's a collection of recordings.


Yes I just found this out hahaha.


----------



## JEPA

ALERT! IK Tape Machines IS ON SALE!






IK Multimedia. Musicians First


IK Multimedia. Musicians First




www.ikmultimedia.com


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> ALERT! IK Tape Machines IS ON SALE!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia. Musicians First
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia. Musicians First
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikmultimedia.com


Cool, for this price I’d grab it. I’ve used it for a month now (mastering only) and am extremely impressed. Waiting for a sale on the Sunset Sound Studio Reverb now haha. Because I want to sound like Led Zep, Doors, Beach Boys and Vanhalen!


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> Cool, for this price I’d grab it. I’ve used it for a month now (mastering only) and am extremely impressed. Waiting for a sale on the Sunset Sound Studio Reverb now haha. Because I want to sound like Led Zep, Doors, Beach Boys and Vanhalen!


*
ALERT!* Sunset Sound Studio Reverb IS ON SALE!





__





IK Multimedia - Sunset Sound Studio Reverb


T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb - Convolution reverbs from the historic Hollywood studio.




www.ikmultimedia.com


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> *ALERT!* Sunset Sound Studio Reverb IS ON SALE!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia - Sunset Sound Studio Reverb
> 
> 
> T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb - Convolution reverbs from the historic Hollywood studio.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikmultimedia.com


Hahaha. You are like all those email services that usually send me summaries of all VI deals on friday afternoon. Thanks Jorge!!


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> Cool, for this price I’d grab it. I’ve used it for a month now (mastering only) and am extremely impressed. Waiting for a sale on the Sunset Sound Studio Reverb now haha. Because I want to sound like Led Zep, Doors, Beach Boys and Vanhalen!



I think now it's the time to spend on this with the VI Group buy! For now you buy one and can get two one plugin free...






IK Multimedia. Musicians First


IK Multimedia. Musicians First




www.ikmultimedia.com


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> I think now it's the time to spend on this with the VI Group buy! For now you buy one and can get two plugis free...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia. Musicians First
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia. Musicians First
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikmultimedia.com


I agree, but these T-RackS elements are not part of the group buy. They have a pretty restricted offering of merely instruments this time unfortunately...


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> I agree, but these T-RackS elements are not part of the group buy. They have a pretty restricted offering of merely instruments this time unfortunately...


Oh I didn't know, at least you can buy Sunset Studio Reverb discounted!


----------



## andrelafosse

Nomad Magnetic II on sale for $20:





JRRshop.com | Nomad Factory MAGNETIC II Audio Tape Warmer v1.4.1 - Download License


Nomad Factory MAGNETIC II Audio Tape Warmer v1.4.1 - Download License




www.jrrshop.com





(The image is Magnetic I, but the description clearly specifies Magnetic II.)


----------



## DarleyHavidson

doctoremmet said:


> Do you have one or more of these? It seems the price point of the bundle means one either buys just one or all four? If you do use one (or all), what is your typical use case?



i have tracks tape machine collection for sale


----------



## doctoremmet

DarleyHavidson said:


> i have tracks tape machine collection for sale


Thanks. I already purchased all four. May be interesting for other readers of this thread though. Also they’re running a sale on these now. $99 for all four (ex VAT).


----------



## Eric Stravinsky

I like Overloud GEM Tapedesk. I think it is practical and you can get an awesome sound without much tweaking.


----------



## Daniel

I like Softube Harmonics Analog Saturation Processor.


----------



## doctoremmet

Daniel said:


> I like Softube Harmonics Analog Saturation Processor.


Based on some of the answers of this thread I did get Softube Tape, which is also very nice - albeit subtle. I also got a load of other stuff (Kazrog True Iron, all Waves tapes, all IK tapes, Klanghelm etc.). It has made a difference in my mixes. The cliché image of “glue” is a justified one, it seems.

Based on my positive experiences with Softube, I will look into your suggestion. Thanks!


----------



## Daniel

doctoremmet said:


> Based on some of the answers of this thread I did get Softube Tape, which is also very nice - albeit subtle. I also got a load of other stuff (Kazrog True Iron, all Waves tapes, all IK tapes, Klanghelm etc.). It has made a difference in my mixes. The cliché image of “glue” is a justified one, it seems.
> 
> Based on my positive experiences with Softube, I will look into your suggestion. Thanks!



You are welcome.

Me too,, I am waiting for their huge discount  
Target: TLA-100A, Abbey Road Brilliance Pack, FET Compressor, Harmonics Saturation, Tube Tech Collection, Summit EQ, Passive-Active Pack.


----------



## easyrider

IK Tapes for $99 Is a no brainer...


----------



## JEPA

DarleyHavidson said:


> i have tracks tape machine collection for sale


how much?


----------



## doctoremmet

JEPA said:


> how much?


I recently did a very smooth transaction with this seller. Recommended, FWIW


----------



## JEPA

doctoremmet said:


> I recently did a very smooth transaction with this seller. Recommended, FWIW


I just bought it from him, smooth transaction, I recommend him too! Thanks @DarleyHavidson !


----------



## doctoremmet

Denise Punisher for free:






https://vi-control.net/community/threads/free-denise-punisher-tape-saturation-and-slappy.97108/


----------



## Trace

doctoremmet said:


> So would you say there are large differences soundwise between brands, models or for instance >8 year old Waves stuff versus ultramodern IK stuff? Have the modeling techniques advanced? Is there one model to end all other models? Or is it pretty much a psycho-acoustic affair, where personal preferences play a large role.
> 
> As for the glue effect, yes possibly one really merely needs an EQ and a saturation plugin after all?


There is a dramatic difference in sound between several of the tape emulations that I have, some of which have been mentioned here: Slate VTM, the two Waves models previously mentioned, UA Studer, Oxide and ATR 102 models, Steinberg magneto tape model, Ozone 9.

To my ears, none of them sound exactly like analog tape. The Waves stuff sounds nothing like tape to my ears, yet is useful sometimes. The VTM is heavy handed. The most versatile and, for me, useable are the UA models.

I recently listened to some demos of Acoustica Adio Taupe. The examples sounded very convincing to me. I have a lot of outboard gear that I would gladly part with if there were plugins that could truly cross the uncanny valley. Acoustica may have done this with Taupe. I need to DL the demo version and play with it when I have the time.


----------



## Trace

Just to clarify...

if you place most of these emulations on a mix and then swap them for another, there is to my ears, a dramatic difference in the way that mix presents. VTM and Kramer, for instance, will restrict dynamic range and pull certain frequencies forward, adding saturation, way more so than the UA or Steinberg plugs. The differences are often exaggeratied when driving the emulations harder. Most of them don’t really sound like overdriven tape to me.


----------



## doctoremmet

Trace said:


> Just to clarify...
> 
> if you place most of these emulations on a mix and then swap them for another, there is to my ears, a dramatic difference in the way that mix presents. VTM and Kramer, for instance, will restrict dynamic range and pull certain frequencies forward, adding saturation, way more so than the UA or Steinberg plugs. The differences are often exaggeratied when driving the emulations harder. Most of them don’t really sound like overdriven tape to me.


Gotcha. Now owning several tape emulations, I can say my experiences are like yours. For subtle effects I quite like Softube Tape. It is not too taxing on CPU so I slap it on inserts and busses. I quite like IK Multimedia Tape for -dare I say- “mastering” (I’m merely a hobbyist so this always sounds slightly pretentious haha). The Waves ones are really cool as well. José’s trick to put Kramer Master Tape on orchestral strings channels was an excellent one!

So yes, there are a lot of differences. I am too inexperienced with REAL tape saturation to be able to tell which one would remotely sound authentic or not


----------



## ScarletJerry

Honestly, I don't hear a difference in any of them. Do they really make a difference?


----------



## doctoremmet

ScarletJerry said:


> Honestly, I don't hear a difference in any of them. Do they really make a difference?


When used as a “glue” type thing, the effects are often subtle, but do sum as you use tape across tracks. Bypass them and you’ll miss them immediately. Once you start applying saturation, the differences between various vendors and models are actually quite audible / large!


----------



## doctoremmet

For those who (have) follow(ed) this thread PA Vertigo VSM3 and PA Blackbox HG2 have been mentioned pretty often as great saturators for mixing / mastering / mix glue.

HEADS-UP: You can get one for $29.99 and the other for $39.99 with voucher codes ANY-2999 and ANY-3999.

Details:



https://vi-control.net/community/threads/plugin-alliance-voucher-any-2999.97908/


----------



## doctoremmet




----------



## jaketanner

I have a few tap emulations and use them all the time for mixing records. VTM is usually my go to emulation, but I also have the J37 by Waves which adds a nice subtle touch...I don't mess with the settings, just the default does the trick for a little extra oomph. The VTM gets fine tuned and gain staged...just like tape (which I remember using).

I have also been adding one overlooked saturation plugin...not many people know this one, but makes a big difference. Kush has transformer emulations...like preamps. They're only about $30 each, and emulate API, NEVE and another older pre component. So I use them FIRST, because it's emulating the proper signal flow (mic-tape)...so transformer first, then tape emulation. I will also use tape emulation on the master, or when mastering...switched to the 1/2' emulation rather than the 2".

One tip...these need to be used from the start...you need to EQ and mix into them, because they are so colored and will dictate your EQ choices...usually I follow it with a neutral EQ rather than yet another analog emulation, but not always.. case by case.


----------



## doctoremmet

jaketanner said:


> Kush has transformer emulations...like preamps. They're only about $30 each, and emulate API, NEVE and another older pre component.


Interesting. Given that you like these, I bet you’ll love Kazrog True Iron as well. $20 right now. For a quick overview, I recommend the Plugin Of The Week episode on the Mixing With Mike channel. Thanks, will check out Kush.


----------



## jaketanner

doctoremmet said:


> Interesting. Given that you like these, I bet you’ll love Kazrog True Iron as well. $20 right now. For a quick overview, I recommend the Plugin Of The Week episode on the Mixing With Mike channel. Thanks, will check out Kush.


Right now I am more than set with analog emulations...I have so many. Thanks for the info though. 

Actually, I have this plugin but never used it...called "Front DAW"...forgot who makes it.. LOL It's supposed to act as an analog saturation as the first insert.


----------



## jcrosby

Second doc's comments about True Iron. For transformer-specific saturation this thing is easily the best thing currently available (and a steal on sale, not to mention its normal retail price.) It punches WAY above its weight.


----------



## doctoremmet

jcrosby said:


> Second doc's comments about True Iron.


If I’m not mistaken I first heard of True Iron here in this thread, when you suggested it ❤ Got it, among some actual tape emulations (both Waves ones, Softube Tape, IK Multimedia Tape Collection). I must say True Iron is an excellent plugin and really adds a flavour and “glue”. I went for tape and I got iron haha. Well, I guess tape actually uses some ferro doesn’t it?


----------



## jcrosby

doctoremmet said:


> If I’m not mistaken I first heard of True Iron here in this thread, when you suggested it ❤ Got it, among some actual tape emulations (both Waves ones, Softube Tape, IK Multimedia Tape Collection). I must say True Iron is an excellent plugin and really adds a flavour and “glue”. I went for tape and I got iron haha. Well, I guess tape actually uses some ferro doesn’t it?


Quite possibly! Easily one of my favorite clean/hi-fi/console-ish sounding saturators.
(I've also had a few drinks and a night out for the first time since late June? My recall on finer details like this may very well be spotty ATM!  :emoji_beers

((Absolutely not-spotty re-True ron though! It's a daily driver for me!))


----------



## doctoremmet

jcrosby said:


> Quite possibly! Easily one of my favorite clean/hi-fi/console-ish sounding saturators.
> (I've also had a few drinks and a night out for the first time since late June? My recall on finer details like this may very well be spotty ATM!  :emoji_beers
> 
> ((Absolutely not-spotty re-True ron though! It's a daily driver for me!))


Just re-read this thread. Here’s how that went:

First one to mention True Iron was @method1 - closely followed by orchestra master mixer extraordinaire @Joël Dollié and you were quick to second their recommendation. File under: totally trivial facts haha! But as they say: all good things come in threes. Shortly after I went to the Kazrog website


----------



## Joël Dollié

doctoremmet said:


> Just re-read this thread. Here’s how that went:
> 
> First one to mention True Iron was @method1 - closely followed by orchestra master mixer extraordinaire @Joël Dollié and you were quick to second their recommendation. File under: totally trivial facts haha! But as they say: all good things come in threes. Shortly after I went to the Kazrog website




KRANK IT!!!





True iron is great but a little bit shy. Here are my settings for subtle saturation if you're interested. Settled with this for most cases after playing around with it for a while


----------



## Ashermusic

PSP just added a Saturator to their infinitiStrip, now called InfinitiStrip Fire. (Also a Brickwall Limiter.)

Free upgrade if you already have it.


----------



## CT

I can't shake the desire to have a nice vibey EQ/compressor, or a channel strip, or a tape plugin, just one select thing or things, to use as a little bit of fairy dust over stuff. At the same time, I have no idea what I'm after or if it's really something tangible to begin with, or if I shouldn't just stick to the plain transparent stuff I use in Logic. Guess I'll read this thread again?


----------



## Living Fossil

Joël Dollié said:


> Here are my settings for subtle saturation if you're interested.



Happy to see this.... 
I use it quite often with almost this setting (just with the Mix knob at around 50% or less).
Out of the six voicings the 111C is by far the most noble; the other ones break up much more and sound often better with fewer crush.
I recently added Kush's Omega 458A to my collection and think that it adds a great alternative. Do you use the Kush stuff too?
(also got Clariphonic at that occasion, i had to demo it about reading so often about it. And the first project where i tried it out [solo piano] was a perfect match...)


----------



## Ashermusic

Mike T said:


> I can't shake the desire to have a nice vibey EQ/compressor, or a channel strip, or a tape plugin, just one select thing or things, to use as a little bit of fairy dust over stuff. At the same time, I have no idea what I'm after or if it's really something tangible to begin with, or if I shouldn't just stick to the plain transparent stuff I use in Logic. Guess I'll read this thread again?



The PSP. Channel strip I just mentioned may fit that bill perfectly. It has a thirty day demo to try.


----------



## MartinH.

Mike T said:


> I can't shake the desire to have a nice vibey EQ/compressor, or a channel strip, or a tape plugin, just one select thing or things, to use as a little bit of fairy dust over stuff. At the same time, I have no idea what I'm after or if it's really something tangible to begin with, or if I shouldn't just stick to the plain transparent stuff I use in Logic. Guess I'll read this thread again?



I would recommend to test out a 14 day trial version of some of the TMT consoles on plugin alliance:








All Plugins & Products


M/S Mastering Tools & Audio Plugins




www.plugin-alliance.com


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

I have a lot of tape plugins, and I like the waves and u-he stuff (You should try the waves vinyl plugin as well). If you are looking to color your sound, RC-20 is still the one I like most. It goes on almost everything I do. 






RC-20 Retro Color - XLN Audio


RC-20 Retro Color is a creative vintage effect plugin that adds life and texture to any recording.




www.xlnaudio.com


----------



## CT

MartinH. said:


> I would recommend to test out a 14 day trial version of some of the TMT consoles on plugin alliance:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All Plugins & Products
> 
> 
> M/S Mastering Tools & Audio Plugins
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.plugin-alliance.com



I actually had the Neve and Focusrite for a while before reselling them. Maybe I just don't have the right ears to be as wow'd as I always hope to be by these things.


----------



## kgdrum

MartinH. said:


> I would recommend to test out a 14 day trial version of some of the TMT consoles on plugin alliance:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All Plugins & Products
> 
> 
> M/S Mastering Tools & Audio Plugins
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.plugin-alliance.com





Agreed BUT and this is a very big but,wait until Plugin Alliance has one of their inevitable sales,
I have several of them and paid either $29 or $39 for all of them.
In case you haven’t purchased from PA they have frequent sales and if you’re patient you can get some great plugins at amazing prices.
BUT you have to wait and be patient..............


----------



## kgdrum

Mike T said:


> I actually had the Neve and Focusrite for a while before reselling them. Maybe I just don't have the right ears to be as wow'd as I always hope to be by these things.




Both the Focusrite and the Neve are Neve‘s, maybe you should check out some of the SSL’s they might be more suited for what you’re looking for.


----------



## CT

See I know that I do actually like the Neve sound in general. It's more just that I'm expecting this stuff to be something that it isn't, I think. If I were really slamming these emulations and stacking them on every single track I know it'd be a major change, but my use is probably just too subtle to really make much difference.

I also know that if I were recording anything orchestral in the real world, I'd be doing it as transparently as possible, so this occasional fixation for me is more about whether or not this stuff is adding anything welcome to the sound in the virtual world, or if it's just doing the same kind of thing I'd rather avoid in reality, or even less.


----------



## stevedeath

Satin is gorgeous. I like the Wavesfactory Cassette one for a more dramatic lo-fi effect.


----------



## MartinH.

kgdrum said:


> Agreed BUT and this is a very big but,wait until Plugin Alliance has one of their inevitable sales,
> I have several of them and paid either $29 or $39 for all of them.
> In case you haven’t purchased from PA they have frequent sales and if you’re patient you can get some great plugins at amazing prices.
> BUT you have to wait and be patient..............



Very good point! I should have mentioned to only ever buy their stuff on sale, but I was typing the message from my bed and was too tired to go into detail. My first plugin from them (Console N) I bought for 49.99 I think, but now I'm getting their 29.99 coupons as well. 




Mike T said:


> I actually had the Neve and Focusrite for a while before reselling them. Maybe I just don't have the right ears to be as wow'd as I always hope to be by these things.



Hm, I think out of all my plugins the TMT Neve is the closest to being "magic fairy dust" (doesn't mean I sprinkle it over everything though). Even if you don't touch any dials, putting one on every track and assigning different TMT channel numbers to each makes a noticable difference to the sound, as you noted yourself too. If that isn't the change in sound you were looking for, maybe you're after something else entirely but can't quite put your finger on what it is yet. Might be worth looking for reference recordings that have the mojo you're looking for and digging into their process a little. Either way, good luck in finding the tone you're after!


----------



## CT

MartinH. said:


> Very good point! I should have mentioned to only ever buy their stuff on sale, but I was typing the message from my bed and was too tired to go into detail. My first plugin from them (Console N) I bought for 49.99 I think, but now I'm getting their 29.99 coupons as well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hm, I think out of all my plugins the TMT Neve is the closest to being "magic fairy dust" (doesn't mean I sprinkle it over everything though). Even if you don't touch any dials, putting one on every track and assigning different TMT channel numbers to each makes a noticable difference to the sound, as you noted yourself too. If that isn't the change in sound you were looking for, maybe you're after something else entirely but can't quite put your finger on what it is yet. Might be worth looking for reference recordings that have the mojo you're looking for and digging into their process a little. Either way, good luck in finding the tone you're after!



Do you mean the original Neve, or the newer one by Lindell? That one is supposedly a real leap forward for these plugins.


----------



## MartinH.

Mike T said:


> Do you mean the original Neve, or the newer one by Lindell? That one is supposedly a real leap forward for these plugins.



I only tried this one: 






Brainworx bx_console N


This revolutionary Brainworx plugin delivers a startlingly realistic model of the rare 72-channel Neve® VXS™ analog console of producer/engineer Dirk Ulrich. TMT Inside!




www.plugin-alliance.com





I don't think I have good enough ears yet to pick a favorite among different consoles and I thought since this is the emulation of the console they physically own, it's probably the one they did the best job on because they can compare it easier to the real thing. 

I like the sound of it but I think the interface is unneccessarily hard to use for someone unfamiliar with real consoles. It should be much more self-explanatory than it is imho.


----------



## doctoremmet

MartinH. said:


> since this is the emulation of the console they physically own, it's probably the one they did the best job on because they can compare it easier to the real thing.


I get this thought! I also tell myself: in the hardware realm you would have had just ONE console and learn to maximize its characteristics to get the most out of it, rather than flipping through dozens of options...


----------



## CT

Sure, having just one thing and maximizing its potential is how I approach most stuff... the problem is choosing which one thing will suit you best out of all the options!

Of the PA stuff, I narrowed it down to the Elysia EQ/compressor, Millennia EQ/compressor, or one of the consoles as being most relevant to what I'm after. The thing about the consoles is that the gates and even in many cases the compressors wouldn't be of much use for me, so it feels a little like overkill. Looks like their sale thingy has ended though anyway, oh well.


----------



## lychee

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> I have a lot of tape plugins, and I like the waves and u-he stuff (You should try the waves vinyl plugin as well). If you are looking to color your sound, RC-20 is still the one I like most. It goes on almost everything I do.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RC-20 Retro Color - XLN Audio
> 
> 
> RC-20 Retro Color is a creative vintage effect plugin that adds life and texture to any recording.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.xlnaudio.com



+1000

RC-20 is clearly a gem, and not only in tape emulation:


----------



## doctoremmet

lychee said:


> +1000
> 
> RC-20 is clearly a gem, and not only in tape emulation:



Great. Will check this one out. Have gotten a lot of mileage out of @lychee’s recommendations lately. Thanks!

@DimensionsTomorrow Thanks for the initial mention. Also: somehow Waves AR Vinyl (together with the Kings’ Mics one) is the only AR plugin that never appealed to me, conceptually. I have never given it a second look. I will now though... what is your use case?


----------



## telecode101

..


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

doctoremmet said:


> Great. Will check this one out. Have gotten a lot of mileage out of @lychee’s recommendations lately. Thanks!
> 
> @DimensionsTomorrow Thanks for the initial mention. Also: somehow Waves AR Vinyl (together with the Kings’ Mics one) is the only AR plugin that never appealed to me, conceptually. I have never given it a second look. I will now though... what is your use case?



Well, it’s just another way to color the sound. I find it does something different than the tape plugins I have, and pretty much everything I do is meant to have more of an old school vinyl vibe.

I first learned about that Waves vinyl plugin from this guy. You can hear a few of his “fake (vinyl) breaks” from around 1:37 I believe. This three part video series is really fun and there’s lots about tape plugins in there. But for me RC-20 is a must have, and one that I also like that isn’t mentioned much is the Klevgrand DAW Cassette plugin. RC-20 is the top choice though. Everyone loves Wavesfactory Cassette these days, but I haven’t bonded with it as much as I thought I would.


----------



## doctoremmet

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Well, it’s just another way to color the sound. I find it does something different than the tape plugins I have, and pretty much everything I do is meant to have more of an old school vinyl vibe.
> 
> I first learned about that Waves vinyl plugin from this guy. You can hear a few of his “fake (vinyl) breaks” from around 1:37 I believe. This three part video series is really fun and there’s lots about tape plugins in there. But for me RC-20 is a must have, and one that I also like that isn’t mentioned much is the Klevgrand DAW Cassette plugin. RC-20 is the top choice though. Everyone loves Wavesfactory Cassette these days, but I haven’t bonded with it as much as I thought I would.



Awesome video. Thanks for the tip! I’ve always been fascinated by producers and musicians that actually take time to program all of the individual little noises in a break, in stead of just mangling some Amen break or other in ReCycle. I’ve always suspected Jazzanova and Photek went the extra mile and programmed every little detail. Their breaks were constantly changing and sounded different than most.

A very cool modus operandi if you ask me


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

doctoremmet said:


> Awesome video. Thanks for the tip! I’ve always been fascinated by producers and musicians that actually take time to program all of the individual little noises in a break, in stead of just mangling some Amen break or other in ReCycle. I’ve always suspected Jazzanova and Photek went the extra mile and programmed every little detail. Their breaks were constantly changing and sounded different than most.
> 
> A very cool modus operandi if you ask me




Definitely. I saw an interesting exchange between Alex Ball (“My Computer is a 1950s Orchestra”) and Barry Beats (Si Spex) in the comment section on one of Alex’s videos. Alex’s stuff is the “gold standard” for me, and his advice to Barry was to put tape emulation on each of the individual tracks and not just the main output as he thinks that the build up of the various plugins is what gives a more authentic vintage vibe. That was basically what I had been doing, but it was good to hear that I was on the right path.


----------



## doctoremmet

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Definitely. I saw an interesting exchange between Alex Ball (“My Computer is a 1950s Orchestra”) and Barry Beats (Si Spex) in the comment section on one of Alex’s videos. Alex’s stuff is the “gold standard” for me, and his advice to Barry was to put tape emulation on each of the individual tracks and not just the main output as he thinks that the build up of the various plugins is what gives a more authentic vintage vibe. That was basically what I had been doing, but it was good to hear that I was on the right path.


Yes. That’s something I’ve actually learned since starting this thread... and getting my first tape emulations. I now use True Iron and Softube Tape on all tracks, and IK Multimedia Tape on the 2 bus. I’ve just purchased Vertigo VSM 3. Been using Klanghelm as well. It’s a world of difference really. I think the non-linear summing effects are really making the difference. I am totally digging these breaks though - that guy has some skills! Thanks again!


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

doctoremmet said:


> Yes. That’s something I’ve actually learned since starting this thread... and getting my first tape emulations. I now use True Iron and Softube Tape on all tracks, and IK Multimedia Tape on the 2 bus. I’ve just purchased Vertigo VSM 3. Been using Klanghelm as well. It’s a world of difference really. I think the non-linear summing effects are really making the difference. I am totally digging these breaks though - that guy has some skills! Thanks again!



Yeah, those Barry Beats videos were very inspiring. I ended up buying Addictive Drums because of that. Lol.

I’m no Barry Beats, but there are a lot of these plugins on a couple of tracks did for fun for a weekly beat battle I occasionally participate in. These are a mix of sampled albums and virtual instruments. You can even play name the virtual synths with the second track.


----------



## doctoremmet

That first one with that Brigitte Bardot like sixties vibe is incredible! Those spring reverb guitar eruptions from-LSD-bad-trip hell were fun!

Second one has more of a laid back late eighties vibe, doesn’t it? In my mind that second verse could easily have featured Q-Tip. Although I am quite deep into synths, I wasn’t able to name a single one


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

doctoremmet said:


> That first one with that Brigitte Bardot like sixties vibe is incredible! Those spring reverb guitar eruptions from-LSD-bad-trip hell were fun!
> 
> Second one has more of a laid back late eighties vibe, doesn’t it? In my mind that second verse could easily have featured Q-Tip. Although I am quite deep into synths, I wasn’t able to name a single one




Cheers for that. The guitar was fun to do. I recorded a few hits from the bridge pickup of my strat and ran it through a bunch of Soundtoys plugins.

The synths from the other track were U-he’s Diva for the bass and the Buchla Easel from the Arturia V collection for the lead. I like both of those synths a lot.


----------



## Geoff Grace

FYI, Plugin Boutique has Softube Tape for $39 this month:

Tape | Saturation by Softube

Best,

Geoff


----------



## John Longley

All the current ones I have i.e Slate VTM, Softube, Satin sound better than my old Otari 1" did. If you aren't laying back onto a pristine Studer or fully restored MCI JH or a characterful MM1200-- you can't really lose with current plugin options. I use VTM when mixing on occasion, and in mastering I very rarely use any of them as people saturate their mixes so much (often). I like Slate as it is pretty well behaved and the head bump feels about right. Satin is nice if you want to *redacted* something up.


----------



## ceemusic

https://cupwise.com/shop/cupreels-1-ax102/?v=0a10a0b3e53b


----------



## YaniDee

Hornet Tape..currently on sale for 8 Euros..I just bought it, but haven't tried it out. Had some good reviews.









HoRNet Tape, vst tape emulation plugin with analog saturation


HoRNet Tape is a complete analog tape emulation plugin including distortion and frequency response of different vintage classic decks



www.hornetplugins.com


----------



## doctoremmet

YaniDee said:


> Hornet Tape..currently on sale for 8 Euros..I just bought it, but haven't tried it out. Had some good reviews.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HoRNet Tape, vst tape emulation plugin with analog saturation
> 
> 
> HoRNet Tape is a complete analog tape emulation plugin including distortion and frequency response of different vintage classic decks
> 
> 
> 
> www.hornetplugins.com


This thing is dope! I was totally unaware of this vendor, but they appear to have more cool stuff for extremely affordable price points...

@ThomCSounds has a new Facebook group where he spotlights weekly deals. He has posted a link to a survey (which can be done in 30 seconds) that earns you an EXTRA 30% discount. He also mentions some other cool plugins from Hornet.



Thanks @YaniDee!


----------



## Markrs

doctoremmet said:


> This thing is dope! I was totally unaware of this vendor, but they appear to have more cool stuff for extremely affordable price points...
> 
> @ThomCSounds has a new Facebook group where he spotlights weekly deals. He has posted a link to a survey (which can be done in 30 seconds) that earns you an EXTRA 30% discount. He also mentions some other cool plugins from Hornet.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks @YaniDee!



Hornet have regular almost weekly sales but the extra 30% makes it particularly good. There are lots of plugins on there.


----------



## doctoremmet

Markrs said:


> Hornet have regular almost weekly sales but the extra 30% makes it particularly good. There are lots of plugins on there.


I had never heard of them...


----------



## doctoremmet

Markrs said:


> Hornet have regular almost weekly sales but the extra 30% makes it particularly good. There are lots of plugins on there.


Any ones you’d recommend?


----------



## kgdrum

I haven’t used them yet but Hornet has a great reputation,great prices even when they don’t have these frequent sales.
I recently bought Auto Gain VU meter and the Normalizer,these are touted as great for gain staging.
One plugin everyone raves about that I’m about to purchase is Hornet 31.
fwiw besides having useful plugins at amazing prices Hornet doesn’t believe or use any kind of authorization method so all you need to do is download and install.

With the sale and the extra survey discount in my opinion Hornet is in no-brainer territory.

Good luck 👍


----------



## Markrs

doctoremmet said:


> Any ones you’d recommend?


Thirty one is old but well rated to help with mastering. They have a new version MasterTool but it is not very stable according to forum posts. Nothing else really interested me but they do have choruses, delay, reverbs etc, all very cheap. Just not sure they will do anything better over what you have or the free meldaproductions ones.


----------



## Markrs

kgdrum said:


> I haven’t used them yet but Hornet has a great reputation,great prices even when they don’t have these frequent sales.
> I recently bought Auto Gain VU meter and the Normalizer,these are touted as great for gain staging.
> One plugin everyone raves about that I’m about to purchase is Hornet 31.
> fwiw besides having useful plugins at amazing prices Hornet doesn’t believe or use any kind of authorization method so all you need to do is download and install.
> 
> With the sale and the extra survey discount in my opinion Hornet is in no-brained territory.
> 
> Good luck 👍


Gain staging is still a bit of a mystery to me, so want sure if I needed those plugins or not but they are very cheap


----------



## method1

doctoremmet said:


> Any ones you’d recommend?



Tape, ThirtyOne, normaliser, autogain, Magnus, sybilla, are some highlights. 
Generally good stuff at excellent prices.


----------



## doctoremmet

method1 said:


> Tape, ThirtyOne, normaliser, autogain, Magnus, sybilla, are some highlights.
> Generally good stuff at excellent prices.


All in my cart... Graffio seems nice too


----------



## doctoremmet

Markrs said:


> Gain staging is still a bit of a mystery to me, so want sure if I needed those plugins or not but they are very cheap


Check @José Herring ’s recent/current thread on it. Especially @jaketanner ‘s tips have been great


----------



## kgdrum

p.s. I just bought Thirty One for 5.60 Euro ($6.58) with the extra survey discount applied.
With all of the raves and love for this plugin I just couldn’t resist! 😊


----------



## Markrs

doctoremmet said:


> All in my cart... Graffio seems nice too


Have you gone for any of them?


----------



## doctoremmet

Markrs said:


> Gain staging is still a bit of a mystery to me, so want sure if I needed those plugins or not but they are very cheap


Well, metering is very helpful if your goal is to have all tracks to have a common “pre-fader” gain below 0dB to allow for some headroom


----------



## doctoremmet

Markrs said:


> Have you gone for any of them?


ThirtyOne, Tape, Graffio and the metering / autogain pro ones for gain staging.


----------



## Markrs

doctoremmet said:


> ThirtyOne, Tape, Graffio and the metering / autogain pro ones for gain staging.


There are so many related to auto gain, did you go for auto gain Pro MK2?


----------



## doctoremmet

Markrs said:


> There are so many related to auto gain, did you go for auto gain Pro MK2?


Yes, that one. And now I am seriously done! I swear the only things left to buy now are Infinite Strings and Century Strings 2.0 update...


----------



## sostenuto

doctoremmet said:


> ThirtyOne, Tape, Graffio and the metering / autogain pro ones for gain staging.



Very different, but I picked up this one for longer term fun !! Maybe try Demo ?









HATEFISh RhyGenerator, euclidean rhythm generator plugin


RhyGenerator creates euclidean rhythm patterns in a matter of few seconds, up to 16 different sequencers are available that can work in 5 different modes



www.hornetplugins.com


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> Very different, but I picked up this one for longer term fun !! Maybe try Demo ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HATEFISh RhyGenerator, euclidean rhythm generator plugin
> 
> 
> RhyGenerator creates euclidean rhythm patterns in a matter of few seconds, up to 16 different sequencers are available that can work in 5 different modes
> 
> 
> 
> www.hornetplugins.com


Yes that one caught my eye too. When I need euclidian arpeggiators I am well served in Falcon 2 and Ableton Live. But I am sure you’ll have a ton of fun with this!! ❤


----------



## el-bo

Mike T said:


> I can't shake the desire to have a nice vibey EQ/compressor, or a channel strip, or a tape plugin, just one select thing or things, to use as a little bit of fairy dust over stuff. At the same time, I have no idea what I'm after or if it's really something tangible to begin with, or if I shouldn't just stick to the plain transparent stuff I use in Logic. Guess I'll read this thread again?



@Mike T 

There are vibey goodies to be had, within LPX:



Try using different units on different channels/tracks,while mixing into a 'main' unit, on the masterbuss. If you don't want to look elsewhere, CHOW seems like a great place to start:












GitHub - jatinchowdhury18/AnalogTapeModel: Physical modelling signal processing for analog tape recording


Physical modelling signal processing for analog tape recording - GitHub - jatinchowdhury18/AnalogTapeModel: Physical modelling signal processing for analog tape recording




github.com













Release 2.6.0 · jatinchowdhury18/AnalogTapeModel


Release version 2.6.0. Update include: Added Pre/post emphasis filters for the hysteresis stage. Added "mix groups" to allow instances of the plugin to be synced across a mix. Added Chew variance ...




github.com


----------



## CT

Yeah the Logic stuff is nice, although I'm not sure how it holds up to the most picky gear peoples' ears. I like using the Pultec and SSL compressor when I want something a little less pristine.


----------



## el-bo

Mike T said:


> Yeah the Logic stuff is nice, although I'm not sure how it holds up to the most picky gear peoples' ears. I like using the Pultec and SSL compressor when I want something a little less pristine.



There are going to be many times when a more subtle touch is needed, but I imagine the audience for many of these types of videos are looking for a much more obviously destructive sonic signature. 

Would definitely be interested to see how these algo's would fare if they were adding slight drive, on each track, culminating in some kind of mix summing glue.

Might give it a try, at some point.


----------



## darcvision

Hi,

IK multimedia has a sale right now including their tape emulation. it's only 25 euro each and if you have jampoint, the price will be reduced to 17 euro.






IK Multimedia. Musicians First


IK Multimedia. Musicians First




www.ikmultimedia.com





i am interested with IK Multimedia Tape for master bus especially for orchestra. Which one do you think it's the best? I heard Tape machine 80 which is based on studer A80 is pretty great...


----------



## doctoremmet

I think I like the 80 the best too. And the IKM tape emulations all sound fantastic - I think they’re the best currently on the market. And... I found them via this very thread a short while ago!

I can only use them for mastering though... CPU wise. So for inserts I use the free and excellent Chow Tape, Hornet tape, the Waves ones and mainly Softube Tape.


----------



## SupremeFist

I really like Flywheel.


----------



## LoveEnigma

Any idea which Tape Machine is the most characterful/versatile in terms of usage on individual tracks, busses, and for mastering?

I am not looking for old school (60s/70s) vibe or trying to replicate that, just something that is more modern and adds a little warmth/character to the sounds.

I am thinking to get only one, so some help would be appreciated. Tape Machine 80 is recommended the most in the posts that I have read, but one final check before jumping on it.

The second plugin I am thinking to get is Space Delay. Although I am not sure I need it, since I have Replika XT, EchoBoy and a few other delay plugins.

Cheers!


----------



## doctoremmet

In this thread Softube Tape was mentioned a lot, as a not-CPU-heavy very subtle colouring device (once put on several inserts). The kind of affair you hardly notice when applied, but miss once you bypass it.

U-he Satin is generally regarded as a great emulation. Taupe got a lot of mentions. And IK Multimedia’s emulations are seen as belonging to the absolute top tier at the moment.


----------



## Alchemedia

Softube Tape via Studio One mix engine FX is great.


----------



## darcvision

LoveEnigma said:


> Any idea which Tape Machine is the most characterful/versatile in terms of usage on individual tracks, busses, and for mastering?
> 
> I am not looking for old school (60s/70s) vibe or trying to replicate that, just something that is more modern and adds a little warmth/character to the sounds.
> 
> I am thinking to get only one, so some help would be appreciated. Tape Machine 80 is recommended the most in the posts that I have read, but one final check before jumping on it.
> 
> The second plugin I am thinking to get is Space Delay. Although I am not sure I need it, since I have Replika XT, EchoBoy and a few other delay plugins.
> 
> Cheers!


i like using airwindows IronOxide 5 for individual track, it's very great to make it sounds warm or bright.


----------



## doctoremmet

stefandy31 said:


> Hi,
> 
> IK multimedia has a sale right now including their tape emulation. it's only 25 euro each and if you have jampoint, the price will be reduced to 17 euro.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia. Musicians First
> 
> 
> IK Multimedia. Musicians First
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikmultimedia.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i am interested with IK Multimedia Tape for master bus especially for orchestra. Which one do you think it's the best? I heard Tape machine 80 which is based on studer A80 is pretty great...


I re-read part of this thread and @easyrider said it best in post #40


----------



## re-peat

Not for everyone I suppose, but there are several hardware units that do tape simulation, and one of them is the Anamod ATS-1. Pretty good. I’ve bought one many, many years ago and while I don’t use it very often — sample-based tracks are, in my experience anyway, the worst candidates for enhancement with things like tape- and/or analog-gear-simulators —, every time I do, I immediately hear again why I bought it. Haven't used it on anything mock-orchestral and I don't plan to, but it’s certainly on stand-by whenever there’s drums, basses and keyboards involved.







What the Anamod is really good at, I find, is this: with the audio being sent through actual circuitry rather than algorithms, something physical happens to the sound which, thus far, I haven’t heard any plug-in quite manage. (And I’ve tried them all.) Can’t really describe it and you can barely hear it, but whenever I line up various mixes of mine some of which went through the Anamod while others didn’t, months and even years later I can still pick out the ones which did. That sound has a certain something, subtle but noticeable (especially dynamically) and totally un-DAW-like, which is really different.

A thing that disappoints me in most plug-ins that do this kind of thing, is that they literally only scratch the surface a little but do nothing else. It’s very superficial cosmetics at best. They seem unable to get really ‘into the sound’. The Anamod, on the other hand, is able to penetrate much deeper.

That said, I never quite understood how people can pretend to be able to judge tape sound in isolation. I can’t, even though I’ve worked with real reel-to-reels. Tape sound in complete isolation doesn’t exist. A tape machine is always preceded and followed by a more or less intricate chain of other hardware (pre-amps, compressors, dbx, consoles, EQ’s, etc …), all components of which have just as much influence on the sound, if not more, as the tape does. What we find so attractive about ‘tape sound’ is never just the sound of tape, it’s the sound of an entire chain of (often analog) hardware doing its creamy thing. So, if you hope to get close to that sound, it’s going to take more, a lot more, than just a tape simulation plugin.

_


----------



## LoveEnigma

stefandy31 said:


> i like using airwindows IronOxide 5 for individual track, it's very great to make it sounds warm or bright.


Thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## LoveEnigma

I have tried Satin before, but it's a bit too much for me, so I had sold it. Not that interested in iLok based plugins either.

I think I will skip on the IK sale/plugins. I just looked at my folder and I think I am happy with what I have. Keep promising myself to avoid overcrowding, so want to make sure I do that, at least this time.


----------



## easyrider

LoveEnigma said:


> I have tried Satin before, but it's a bit too much for me, so I had sold it. Not that interested in iLok based plugins either.


Satin is not Ilok....


----------



## LoveEnigma

easyrider said:


> Satin is not Ilok....


I said "not interested in iLok based plugins *either*" where I was referring to Softube Tape that *doctoremmet *suggested above.

I have owned Satin in the past as I mentioned, so I know it is not iLok based.


----------



## re-peat

Here’s *a comparison between 5 tape simulations*. The first is the *Anamod*, then the *UAD Ampex*, followed by the *IK Multimedia 80*, the *Slate Virtual Tape* and* u-He Satin*. I’ve chosen “mastering” presets for all of them (except for the Anamod which, being analog hardware, doesn’t have presets). Didn’t go for any of the obvious ‘tape idiosyncrasies’ (like wobble, hiss, rumble, crosstalk, etc.) either.

Of course, all these simulators have different tape formulas and countless possible parameter settings, and it is therefore impossible to do an exhaustive comparison between them, but I hope this gives some idea.

A good sound system is critical for these kind of comparisons, and ideally, I should have used a more highres audio-format than the 320kpbs mp3 for the final audio file, but the essence is there alright I believe. Is it just me, or does the Anamod turn in the most full-blooded sound?

If anyone’s interested I can do a few more: the UAD Studer, the IK 240, the Goodhertz WowControl, ChowTape, … (All the others I’ve ever had or tried, are either deleted or uninstalled.)

_


----------



## doctoremmet

re-peat said:


> Here’s *a comparison between 5 tape simulations*. The first is the *Anamod*, then the *UAD Ampex*, followed by the *IK Multimedia 80*, the *Slate Virtual Tape* and* u-He Satin*. I’ve chosen “mastering” presets for all of them (except for the Anamod which, being analog hardware, doesn’t have presets). Didn’t go for any of the obvious ‘tape idiosyncrasies’ (like wobble, hiss, rumble, crosstalk, etc.) either.
> 
> Of course, all these simulators have different tape formulas and countless possible parameter settings, and it is therefore impossible to do an exhaustive comparison between them, but I hope this gives some idea.
> 
> A good sound system is critical for these kind of comparisons, and ideally, I should have used a more highres audio-format than the 320kpbs mp3 for the final audio file, but the essence is there alright I believe. Is it just me, or does the Anamod turn in the most full-blooded sound?
> 
> If anyone’s interested I can do a few more: the UAD Studer, the IK 240, the Goodhertz WowControl, ChowTape, … (All the others I’ve ever had or tried, are either deleted or uninstalled.)
> 
> _


This is the type of quality post that makes this forum not only one of the best places on the internet, but one of the most informative as well. Dankjewel Piet!!


----------



## AudioLoco

I have had nothing but disappointment from most tape plugins.
Softube's Tape best feature is the bypass button... 
Kramer works sometimes very well, but only on occasions...
Chow tape and Cassette are the nicest and most interesting ones I have tried until now (!) (free...)
Airwindows ToTape6 is interesting sometimes but I don't trust whatever it is doing, especially on my 2 bus...
I remember liking the UAD80 but it's UAD.

I will take advantage of the IK A80 sale and purchase my last tape plugin before I give up on tape plugins.

I should like the "sound" of tape, as 99% of the albums I grew up on were recorded on this medium, maybe technology is just not there.

As for now I tend to use the 1000s of other techniques available to obtain a "tape-y" sound. 
Obviously compression, bit of EQ low end bump, and especially added noise and saturation (which come in so many pretty and colorful sauces.... True Iron, HG1, Decapitator, DevilLoc etc...)


----------



## doctoremmet

AudioLoco said:


> As for now I tend to use the 1000s of other techniques available to obtain a "tape-y" sound.
> Obviously compression, bit of EQ low end bump, and especially added noise and saturation (which come in so many pretty and colorful sauces.... True Iron, HG1, Decapitator, DevilLoc etc...)


Much in line with what @re-peat says really...


----------



## darkogav

IKM Tapes are too CPU heavy to be used on individual tracks. I dont think they were designed for that. I just use them on a bus or master and use the appropriate tape. (from the manual)

_TAPE FORMULA: selects between the 4 available tape formulas. Each tape formula has its own harmonic characteristic and the way it characterizes the sound will changes. This dynamic modeling is important in order to have an even broader palette of sounds:
• 250: modelled after the 3M/Scotch “250 Audio Recording Tape”. it delivers a warm tone with slightly more distortion and saturation than the other formulas included in the package.
• 456: modelled after the Ampex “456 High-Output Mastering Tape”. It offers a warm, round tone with a slight touch of saturation that greatly responds to the recording level.
• GP9: modelled after the Quantegy “Quantegy GP9 Grand Master Platinum”. It’s very punchy and it’s
perfect for high-quality analog recordings of nowadays.
• 499: modelled after the Ampex “499 Grand Master Gold Studio Mastering Audio Tape”. This tape is
designed to handle a great amount of level with minimal distortion and compression. It also exhibits
a high frequency added definition that makes it perfect for printing “digital-like” recordings, while still
maintaining an analog sound._


----------



## Snoobydoobydoo

doctoremmet said:


> In this thread Softube Tape was mentioned a lot, as a not-CPU-heavy very subtle colouring device (once put on several inserts). The kind of affair you hardly notice when applied, but miss once you bypass it.
> 
> U-he Satin is generally regarded as a great emulation. Taupe got a lot of mentions. And IK Multimedia’s emulations are seen as belonging to the absolute top tier at the moment.


I have never seen or touched a real Tape, but im using the Softube one too. 
The subtility makes me wonder how the real machines were acting.
So many things everywhere to choose from, to add warmth, color or just for automatic eq'ing...
im lost.


----------



## darcvision

Just bought the Tape machine 80. It's pretty subtle effect but i really like it, it makes my mix sounds more brighter and wider. When the VU meter hitting it very hard, i dont know why it's still sounds good and not distorted too much, maybe that's the point of using tape machine for saturation and distortion


----------



## proggermusic

I have several tape emulations, and the two that I've found most useful are Fuse Audio Flywheel and Black Rooster Magnetite -- both, if I'm not mistaken, developed by the same genius audio/software engineer. I've found these to be very intuitive, versatile, and great-sounding. Fuse and Black Rooster are making phenomenal stuff these days.

I do also have a big affinity for the Waves Abbey Road stuff, too, though... particularly the REDD channel, which I use all the time. Pretty much the only Waves plug I use anymore, I just haven't found anything else that sounds quite so good for that specific thing!


----------



## AudioLoco

proggermusic said:


> I have several tape emulations, and the two that I've found most useful are Fuse Audio Flywheel and Black Rooster Magnetite -- both, if I'm not mistaken, developed by the same genius audio/software engineer. I've found these to be very intuitive, versatile, and great-sounding. Fuse and Black Rooster are making phenomenal stuff these days.
> 
> I do also have a big affinity for the Waves Abbey Road stuff, too, though... particularly the REDD channel, which I use all the time. Pretty much the only Waves plug I use anymore, I just haven't found anything else that sounds quite so good for that specific thing!


I didn't get Flywheel at all, which did nothing for me apart then disappoint.

But REDD is truly special I'm with you!! It has a great tone and I love that low end boost. Have you tried the compressor on the TG12345? In parallel it spanks nicely!


----------



## SupremeFist

re-peat said:


> Here’s *a comparison between 5 tape simulations*. The first is the *Anamod*, then the *UAD Ampex*, followed by the *IK Multimedia 80*, the *Slate Virtual Tape* and* u-He Satin*. I’ve chosen “mastering” presets for all of them (except for the Anamod which, being analog hardware, doesn’t have presets). Didn’t go for any of the obvious ‘tape idiosyncrasies’ (like wobble, hiss, rumble, crosstalk, etc.) either.
> 
> Of course, all these simulators have different tape formulas and countless possible parameter settings, and it is therefore impossible to do an exhaustive comparison between them, but I hope this gives some idea.
> 
> A good sound system is critical for these kind of comparisons, and ideally, I should have used a more highres audio-format than the 320kpbs mp3 for the final audio file, but the essence is there alright I believe. Is it just me, or does the Anamod turn in the most full-blooded sound?
> 
> If anyone’s interested I can do a few more: the UAD Studer, the IK 240, the Goodhertz WowControl, ChowTape, … (All the others I’ve ever had or tried, are either deleted or uninstalled.)
> 
> _


The Anamod sounds best to me too here (listening on VSX). Very cool groove btw!


----------



## chrisav

proggermusic said:


> I have several tape emulations, and the two that I've found most useful are Fuse Audio Flywheel and Black Rooster Magnetite -- both, if I'm not mistaken, developed by the same genius audio/software engineer. I've found these to be very intuitive, versatile, and great-sounding. Fuse and Black Rooster are making phenomenal stuff these days.
> 
> I do also have a big affinity for the Waves Abbey Road stuff, too, though... particularly the REDD channel, which I use all the time. Pretty much the only Waves plug I use anymore, I just haven't found anything else that sounds quite so good for that specific thing!


Magnetite is the only plugin of this kind I own, and I honestly haven't ever felt the need for another tape plugin. Does the trick and sounds absolutely phenomenal on a string bus or drums or anything else you'd need it on.


----------



## proggermusic

Magnetite is really great. All the Black Rooster stuff sounds excellent to my ears, they're doing great work.


----------



## ceemusic

If you're into Acustica & have N4 check out Cupwise's FX- AX102, also Acustica currently also has their Acqua Taupe plugin on sale. (BTW IK's uses a similar tech. which is why the cpu is on the high side, similar to AA products)


----------



## VSriHarsha

I find Softube’s Saturation plugin is pretty impactful. I think the word is “Powerful”? & just a little amount of settings will do a very good job.
On the other hand, Magnetite Tape Emulation is pretty subtle, from my experience. I mean you gotta play around with the settings & you have to be extremely careful, when using Magnetite coz a little tweaking can bring out some vast changes & it might even kill your mix, as if you’re losing your control on it. Yes, you can disable the plugin & that’s not the point. How would you know which plugin to choose between. Often it pops up the question “Is it actually a Saturation plugin or what?”.

What you think about it?


----------



## VSriHarsha

Lol! I actually almost copied & pasted this from what I wrote in a new thread I started in here but after checking this, I thought it’s better to ask here so I reported to delete that thread.


----------



## Alchemedia

proggermusic said:


> I have several tape emulations, and the two that I've found most useful are Fuse Audio Flywheel and Black Rooster Magnetite -- both, if I'm not mistaken, developed by the same genius audio/software engineer. I've found these to be very intuitive, versatile, and great-sounding. Fuse and Black Rooster are making phenomenal stuff these days.
> 
> I do also have a big affinity for the Waves Abbey Road stuff, too, though... particularly the REDD channel, which I use all the time. Pretty much the only Waves plug I use anymore, I just haven't found anything else that sounds quite so good for that specific thing!


The AR Saturator is great too.


----------



## darcvision

VSriHarsha said:


> I find Softube’s Saturation plugin is pretty impactful. I think the word is “Powerful”? & just a little amount of settings will do a very good job.
> On the other hand, Magnetite Tape Emulation is pretty subtle, from my experience. I mean you gotta play around with the settings & you have to be extremely careful, when using Magnetite coz a little tweaking can bring out some vast changes & it might even kill your mix, as if you’re losing your control on it. Yes, you can disable the plugin & that’s not the point. How would you know which plugin to choose between. Often it pops up the question “Is it actually a Saturation plugin or what?”.
> 
> What you think about it?


I think Magnetite isn't subtle because you could crank it very hard and it will distorted a lot. I am using IK multimedia tape 80, cranked the input very hard and hitting VU meter very hard, but the distortion and saturation is still subtle.


----------



## VSriHarsha

Ok I don’t see it like that. But yea, what you said is right.
What about Softube’s Saturation plugin?

On the other hand, I also have seen the Industry pro mixing engineers using it for overall widening too.


----------



## sostenuto

Early days with IK M _ Tape Deck 80. 
Now checking Tone Empire - Reelight Pro @ -50% = $49.

Does this get on many short lists ??









Reelight Pro - Tone Empire


Reelight Pro is a plugin designed to bring back the authentic tape sounds of not one, but 6 different sought Tape Machines at different speeds and levels to bring us even closer to the “reel” sound of tape.




tone-empire.com


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> Does this get on many short lists ??


It sure doesn’t get a lot of mentions...


----------



## doctoremmet

doctoremmet said:


> It sure doesn’t get a lot of mentions...


No reason to be sad about it... perhaps it’s a competitive edge to know and love a plugin not many people use (yet)


----------



## sostenuto

doctoremmet said:


> No reason to be sad about it... perhaps it’s a competitive edge to know and love a plugin no many people use (yet)


True .... Can do 'decent' spec compares, and there is a Demo. Just not wide-range experience /chops of many others here. This seems capable product and will focus more time/effort on Demo ! 🤞


----------



## doctoremmet

sostenuto said:


> True .... Can do 'decent' spec compares, and there is a Demo. Just not wide-range experience /chops of many others here. This seems capable product and will focus more time/effort on Demo ! 🤞


Cool! Oh... I figure you already own Hornet Tape (currently 50% off, but he always runs some crazy sale or other - cheap anyway but pretty damn decent plugins all the same) and the free Chow Tape? Because honestly... those are outstanding...


----------



## Propellerheads

Living Fossil said:


> I'm using tape plugins quite seldom. (One reason why they "glue" things together is the fact that degradation by definition glues things together, while i quite often prefer more detail...)
> If i use it (which is rather on busses and tracks and almost never on the Masterbus), it's mostly u-He's Satin or sometimes the one that comes with izotope's Ozone.
> 
> However, MIA laboratories has released one that is highly acclaimed and which i will try out as soon as i'm back to work:
> 
> 
> 
> https://mialaboratories.com/product/413-tape-saturator/
> 
> 
> 
> I have several plugins from MIA and they are all excellent because they usually offer a different perspective on existing stuff, so it's possible that i would/will love this one more than the other tape emus.
> (Have to add that i never tried out the one from IK multimedia. But it gets a lot of praise from people who's expertise i respect a lot, so i guess you should try that one too...)


It say i need an iLok. Can i activate my license on my PC without dongle?


----------



## Alchemedia

Propellerheads said:


> It say i need an iLok. Can i activate my license on my PC without dongle?


Yes, it's free iLok software.


----------



## Propellerheads

Alchemedia said:


> Yes, it's free iLok software.


Thank you gonna buy and activate on my PC!


----------



## sostenuto

doctoremmet said:


> Cool! Oh... I figure you already own Hornet Tape (currently 50% off, but he always runs some crazy sale or other - cheap anyway but pretty damn decent plugins all the same) and the free Chow Tape? Because honestly... those are outstanding...


How about _Nomad Factory - Magnetic II_ __ on VST ||| BUZZ now @ $18.15 ???
Have Chow Tape, but not HoRNet Tape.









85% off "Magnetic II" by Nomad Factory


Nomad Factory introduces "Magnetic II", a Reel-to-Reel Audio Tape Warming effect that gives your tracks the elusive vintage tape sound which your ears crave. This effect can inject sterile audio with the warmth and character of classic tube circuitry and analog tape saturation.




vstbuzz.com





------------------------------------------------------------------------

(edit) ... and _tone EMPIRE - REELIGHT v2_ __ on sale @ $49.









Reelight Pro - Tone Empire


Reelight Pro is a plugin designed to bring back the authentic tape sounds of not one, but 6 different sought Tape Machines at different speeds and levels to bring us even closer to the “reel” sound of tape.




tone-empire.com


----------



## kgdrum

sostenuto said:


> How about Nomad Factory - Magnetic II __ on VST ||| BUZZ now @ $18.15 ???
> Have Chow Tape, but not HoRNet Tape.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 85% off "Magnetic II" by Nomad Factory
> 
> 
> Nomad Factory introduces "Magnetic II", a Reel-to-Reel Audio Tape Warming effect that gives your tracks the elusive vintage tape sound which your ears crave. This effect can inject sterile audio with the warmth and character of classic tube circuitry and analog tape saturation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> vstbuzz.com


I will recommend saving the $18 towards a better tape emulation,I can’t even remember the last time I opened or used Magnetic II. To my ears Magnetic sounds like a filter/EQ,can it sound nice if used properly,sure. Does it sound at all like Tape,not at all.
There are some very good reasonably priced tape emulations out there like Softube’s Tape,Reels from Audiothing,Tapeface from Kiive Audio, that are presently or often available on sale.
This is just my opinion but from my perspective an old outdated plugin that’s being heavily discounted is not always a true bargain.

*edit* fwiw- At this moment I think Audiothing has a 35% off sale and if anyone wants to buy the Kiive Audio Tapeface (using the code: GEARSPACE) will give you a $35 discount.
Both of these imo are much better tape emulations than Magnetic II.
Softube’s tape is often on sale,if you’re on Softube’s newsletter mailing list,you will undoubtedly get an offer sooner or later.


----------



## sostenuto

kgdrum said:


> I will recommend saving the $18 towards a better tape emulation,I can’t even remember the last time I opened or used Magnetic II. To my ears Magnetic sounds like a filter/EQ,can it sound nice if used properly,sure. Does it sound at all like Tape,not at all.
> There are some very good reasonably priced tape emulations out there like Softube’s Tape,Reels from Audiothing,Tapeface from Kiive Audio that are presently or often available on sale.
> This is just my opinion but from my perspective an old outdated plugin that’s being heavily discounted is not always a true bargain.


Cool Reply !! Audiothing - Reels now @ $38.35 at site. Demo too ! ✌🏻 
(_assuming from your post that REELIGHT v2, @ similar sale pricing, has not measured up_)


----------



## jaketanner

Going to add in my thoughts here again. My few favorites: Waves J37, Slate Digital VTM. I also use some analog saturation plugins along with tape…doesn’t always have to be tape emulation to get nice saturation. Crane Song Phoenix plugins are great also. I personally don’t like the Soft tube Tape. SSL makes a saturation plugin, and an excellent analog saturation plugin for cheap are the Transformer plugins by Houseofkush.com. They’re $30 each and excellent!


----------



## kgdrum

sostenuto said:


> Cool Reply !! Audiothing - Reels now @ $38.35 at site. Demo too ! ✌🏻
> (_assuming from your post that REELIGHT v2, @ similar sale pricing, has not measured up_)


I have and know both of the Magnetic plugins, Reellight I’ve never heard of.
I came up in tape based studios,we had a Scully and Ampex in my 1st band owned home recording studio in 1976 so I know what I like and what I’m trying to hear in tape emulations.
Audiothing thing is on a roll I will recommend any effect they release now,lol
Kiive is a new developer,they are still figuring out the plugin developer game but the developer is a nice guy,responsive and quite active on GS.
Softube’s is subtle,although it’s usually not my 1st choice it’s pretty good,it doesn’t eat the CPU for lunch and can be used on multiple tracks easily.
I have lots of tape plugin emulations but imo these 3 are some the best affordable ones.Honorable and quite affordable mentions should also go to Fuse and Black Rooster for Flywheel and Magnetite which imo are just as good as as the previously mentioned tape emulations,I overlooked them when I originally posted (these are also discounted regularly in frequent sales).
I haven’t tried Hornets tape plugin but they’re a great developer so I can imagine it will be worth checking out.
As it is I already have and use the 3 tape emulations I’m mentioning but I also have all of the gems from UAD,Satin-U-he,Magnatite from Black Rooster, Flywheel from Fuse, which is very nice and often on sale.
I’m not even mentioning the various cassette based tape plugin emulations I have,lol
So I guess we can agree I’m either confirmed or leaning towards a tape plugin emulation obsession 😱


----------



## doctoremmet

I use Softube Tape a lot. Subtle and won’t kill too many CPU cycles. The other ones I still use are J37, Kramer Tape, Chow and Hornet. And for master bus: IK Multimedia (which is top of the bill imho).


----------



## kgdrum

doctoremmet said:


> I use Softube Tape a lot. Subtle and won’t kill too many CPU cycles. The other ones I still use are J37, Kramer Tape, Chow and Hornet. And for master bus: IK Multimedia (which is top of the bill imho).


I have the IK , I bought it during IK’s anniversary sale but I haven’t tried it yet.
I anticipate if and when I do use it it will be used quite judiciously,lol
I’m waiting for a finished complete piece of music to try it on, unfortunately I might be waiting a while…………………..😂


----------



## sostenuto

jaketanner said:


> Going to add in my thoughts here again. My few favorites: Waves J37, Slate Digital VTM. I also use some analog saturation plugins along with tape…doesn’t always have to be tape emulation to get nice saturation. Crane Song Phoenix plugins are great also. I personally don’t like the Soft tube Tape. SSL makes a saturation plugin, and an excellent analog saturation plugin for cheap are the Transformer plugins by Houseofkush.com. They’re $30 each and excellent!


Wake-up call ! ⚡ .... _duuhhh_ _ spaced out having BRA - Magnetite 👍🏻 
J37 on short list for long time _ Kush as well.
THX!


----------



## kgdrum

sostenuto said:


> Wake-up call ! ⚡ .... _duuhhh_ _ spaced out having BRA - Magnetite 👍🏻
> J37 on short list for long time _ Kush as well.
> THX!


Flywheel from Fuse is also an excellent affordable tape emulation.


----------



## sostenuto

kgdrum said:


> I have and know both of the Magnetic plugins, Reellight I’ve never heard of.
> I came up in tape based studios,we had a Scully and Ampex in my 1st band owned home recording studio in 1976 so I know what I like and what I’m trying to hear in tape emulations.
> Audiothing thing is on a roll I will recommend any effect they release now,lol
> Kiive is a new developer,they are still figuring out the plugin developer game but the developer is a nice guy,responsive and quite active on GS.
> Softube’s is subtle,although it’s usually not my 1st choice it’s pretty good,it doesn’t eat the CPU for lunch and can be used on multiple tracks easily.
> I have lots of tape plugin emulations but imo these 3 are some the best affordable ones.Honorable and quite affordable mentions should also go to Fuse and Black Rooster for Flywheel and Magnetite which imo are just as good as as the previously mentioned tape emulations,I overlooked them when I originally posted (these are also discounted regularly in frequent sales).
> I haven’t tried Hornets tape plugin but they’re a great developer so I can imagine it will be worth checking out.
> As it is I already have and use the 3 tape emulations I’m mentioning but I also have all of the gems from UAD,Satin-U-he,Magnatite from Black Rooster, Flywheel from Fuse, which is very nice and often on sale.
> I’m not even mentioning the various cassette based tape plugin emulations I have,lol
> So I guess we can agree I’m either confirmed or leaning towards a tape plugin emulation obsession 😱


_Fuse Audio - Flywheel_ also on sale now at $ 28. 
Many thanks ! Well set now.


----------



## vitocorleone123

doctoremmet said:


> I use Softube Tape a lot. Subtle and won’t kill too many CPU cycles. The other ones I still use are J37, Kramer Tape, Chow and Hornet. And for master bus: IK Multimedia (which is top of the bill imho).


Just used it as a Studio One MixFX for the first time on my last track. Worked well!


----------



## nordicguy

Here’s a recently launched one.
It’s called TAIPEI and it’s made by London Acoustics as an official third-party plugins for N4 Player.
Trial version available.


----------



## Alchemedia

If you're a Studio One user Softube Tape is a no-brainer for mix engine FX magic. 
Tape Echoes is brilliant for dub-like FX. U-He Satin & Wavefactory Cassette are very good. 
@nordicguy Taipei looks interesting however Aquarius is a no-go for me.
My favorite tape emulation trick however is exporting to my Revox or Tascam.


----------



## Alchemedia

doctoremmet said:


> I use Softube Tape a lot. Subtle and won’t kill too many CPU cycles. The other ones I still use are J37, Kramer Tape, Chow and Hornet.


Chow is a great freebee!


----------



## sostenuto

Alchemedia said:


> Chow is a great freebee!


All in User ears ...... _imho _..... but would go straight to Waves J37 were it not for WUPS. 😜


----------



## sostenuto

nordicguy said:


> Here’s a recently launched one.
> It’s called TAIPEI and it’s made by London Acoustics as an official third-party plugins for N4 Player.
> Trial version available.


Downloading Trial now. Most interesting ! THX !


----------



## KEM

I always use the Slate Virtual Tape Machines and I’m very happy with it, it has a permanent place in my mastering chain and it often gets used on individual tracks as well. Thankfully it has the ability to turn off the noise emulation, I absolutely hate how companies do baked in white noise to sound “analog”, it’s annoying and I’m glad they put the option to just turn it off in this plugin


----------



## doctoremmet

True. If I want noise I’ll take out Dawesome ABYSS. Ever since I’ve gotten my hands on that synth, I have almost exclusively created “noise patches” with it. I have never quite understood all the different colours of noise (well, I did - but I can’t seem to memorize which colour does what haha), but ABYSS noise is happening haha. /off-topic


----------



## Trevor Meier

Has anyone run across a tape plugin that will emulate varispeed, or even just running at half speed (ie an octave down). I’ve tried various experiments with existing plugins and repitching methods, and they don’t have anywhere the same oomph as the real thing.


----------



## CT

All right, well, after 19 pages, what's the best? IK stuff?


----------



## re-peat

Goodhertz Tupe, Michael.

The IK’s are pretty good, but not worth the massive CPU sacrifice, in my opinion. (If I load two instances in the same session, there’s hardly any computing power left to run something else too. Granted, that's on an older Mac.) Used them a few times since I bought two of them, but that was weeks ago. Haven’t touched them since. And I doubt I ever will again.

Also: with too many of these tape simulators, there’s rather a lot of fooling-yourself-that-you-can-hear-a-meaningful-difference, I find. If I were to do a blind-test, I guarantee the results would prove to be a rude awakening, and very sobering.
This tape-simulation fad, and the beneficial impact these type of plugins are supposed to have on your sound is often a bit silly (and self-delusional), in my opinion. Unless you wanna go for a caricature of what you imagine ‘tape’ is supposed to sound like, of course. But that's not my thing.

With Tupe, on the other hand, you can actually do something that *does* make a difference (as small or as big a difference as you like or need) and be *very* precise with it too. Its brilliant EQ-Emphasis tandem is a design of unparallelled "near-the-red-or-into-the-red" character-shaping power.

On my machine, Tupe has now replaced just about every other saturator/analogifier/tape-simulator/vintage-vibe-injector I have.

_


----------



## doctoremmet

Michaelt said:


> All right, well, after 19 pages, what's the best? IK stuff?


Yes. iK Multimedia’s emulations are considered the best, but are mostly used for mastering given the huge CPU strain they cause.

For inserts there are many other options, that people seem to like. Softube, Chow, the Waves stuff.


----------



## CT

re-peat said:


> Goodhertz Tupe, Michael.
> 
> The IK’s are pretty good, but not worth the massive CPU sacrifice, in my opinion. (If I load two instances in the same session, there’s hardly any computing power left to run something else too. Granted, that's on an older Mac.) Used them a few times since I bought two of them, but that was weeks ago. Haven’t touched them since. And I doubt I ever will again.
> 
> Also: with too many of these tape simulators, there’s rather a lot of fooling-yourself-that-you-can-hear-a-meaningful-difference, I find. If I were to do a blind-test, I guarantee the results would prove to be a rude awakening, and very sobering.
> This tape-simulation fad, and the beneficial impact these type of plugins are supposed to have on your sound is often a bit silly (and self-delusional), in my opinion. Unless you wanna go for a caricature of what you imagine ‘tape’ is supposed to sound like, of course. But that's not my thing.
> 
> With Tupe, on the other hand, you can actually do something that *does* make a difference (as small or as big a difference as you like or need) and be *very* precise with it too. Its brilliant EQ-Emphasis tandem is a design of unparallelled "near-the-red-or-into-the-red" character-shaping power.
> 
> On my machine, Tupe has now replaced just about every other saturator/analogifier/tape-simulator/vintage-vibe-injector I have.
> 
> _


Thank you, re-peat. I will have to listen in to Tupe a bit more. My only purpose for a tape plugin of any type at this point is to work in concert with Neve console emulation on VIs lacking that genuine signal path, when using them alongside samples that _were_ recorded that way. Hence being particularly interested in the Studer as modeled by IK. However, I agree that this is all, to put it charitably, a pretty subtle business, so I'm not zealously tied to the idea that Tupe would be less suitable for the task.


----------



## sostenuto

Checking Tupe now, and appreciate the info !

Also trialing Acustica Audio_ _ London Acoustics - __Taipei__ Studio Tape Recoder_, to learn what it brings _ @ ~$68.






Taipei - Acustica Audio


London Acoustics - TAIPEI STUDIO TAPE RECORDER is a plugin made to deliver strong analogue character, in the form of a 16 track 2” tape machine for the...




www.acustica-audio.com


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## SupremeFist

Baby Audio have a supposedly AI-powered tape plugin coming out soon...


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## vitocorleone123

SupremeFist said:


> Baby Audio have a supposedly AI-powered tape plugin coming out soon...


Out yesterday. Already purchased. It’s really good for an audible tape saturation or distortion effect. Probably won’t replace some other tape plugins for subtle glue on a master. I’m having too much fun with the distortion to test subtle stuff so far.

I found a 15% coupon for BabyAudio at some coupon website that worked with the sale price. I didn’t use it because Baby adds sales tax so i bought it elsewhere.


----------



## Alchemedia

vitocorleone123 said:


> Out yesterday. Already purchased. It’s really good for an audible tape saturation or distortion effect. Probably won’t replace some other tape plugins for subtle glue on a master. I’m having too much fun with the distortion to test subtle stuff so far.


Just demoed it. Sounds great. Of course it won't replace Softube Tape magic via Studio One Mix FX. Not sure about that AI shinanagans nor crazy about BA's GUI's tbh.


----------



## zwhita

I recently used T-Racks Tape 24 to process 3 of the Miles Davis box sets. I dunno about sounding like tape, but it definitely improved the sound staging. If anything it may have compressed some of the dynamics in the midrange too much, but I kinda like that. I listen to these masters regularly and am quite pleased with them, so I'm sure I could get good results with my own projects.


----------



## vitocorleone123

Alchemedia said:


> Just demoed it. Sounds great. Of course it won't replace Softube Tape magic via Studio One Mix FX. Not sure about that AI shinanagans nor crazy about BA's GUI's tbh.


I quite like the UI. It's mostly flat with some dimension. Much, much better than totally skeuomorphic UI of almost every other tape plugin (except Sketch Cassette II !!). It could be more usable, though, with slightly larger sliders, the ability to enter the numbers, etc. It scales really well, too, which is much appreciated and, again, much better than many plugins.

The AI isn't for settings, it's on how they modeled the sound. To me, TAIP sounds more organic than most tape plugins, as well. Definitely sounds more lively than Softube Tape, for example. But that can also make it less subtle, of course.

Studio One: I've moved to using a Console instead of Tape, but I have both, now. Why can't we use both if we have the CPU?


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## kgdrum

zwhita said:


> I recently used T-Racks Tape 24 to process 3 of the Miles Davis box sets. I dunno about sounding like tape, but it definitely improved the sound staging. If anything it may have compressed some of the dynamics in the midrange too much, but I kinda like that. I listen to these masters regularly and am quite pleased with them, so I'm sure I could get good results with my own projects.


Interesting idea I haven’t tried anything like that but I have the Miles cd box set : *Extended Bitches Brew* and I can imagine it will sound amazing!Great idea 👍


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## Alchemedia

vitocorleone123 said:


> Studio One: I've moved to using a Console instead of Tape, but I have both, now. Why can't we use both if we have the CPU?


Good question!


----------



## AudioLoco

I have finally got to live with the IK A80 for a bit. 
I have to say - finally it is the first tape plugin that actually does something for me.
Really good.
Until now, apart from the Kramer Tape, which worked (nicely) on maybe 10% of the things I tried it on, all the other tape plugins let me down big time and their best features were the bypass buttons.
The CPU strain is meaningful, but worth it.


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## darkogav

zwhita said:


> I recently used T-Racks Tape 24 to process 3 of the Miles Davis box sets. I dunno about sounding like tape, but it definitely improved the sound staging. If anything it may have compressed some of the dynamics in the midrange too much, but I kinda like that. I listen to these masters regularly and am quite pleased with them, so I'm sure I could get good results with my own projects.


Just curious, why would you want to process MD music through tape effect.


----------



## KEM

Any comparisons between Baby Audio’s new Taip and Slate’s VTMs?


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## from_theashes

I never got along with tape machine plugins (Slate VTM or Waves J37) and was never able to make them sound good. Seems to be my fault… but atm I‘m getting better results by using Soundtoys Radiator on tracks, instrument-busses and master bus.


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## vitocorleone123

from_theashes said:


> I never got along with tape machine plugins (Slate VTM or Waves J37) and was never able to make them sound good. Seems to be my fault… but atm I‘m getting better results by using Soundtoys Radiator on tracks, instrument-busses and master bus.


I believe the latest Black Rooster plugin emulates the same hardware and has even more controls? Might be worth checking out if you like that flavor of distortion.


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## zwhita

darkogav said:


> Just curious, why would you want to process MD music through tape effect.


Long story, but I was trying to get an improved sound from the box set CD's and thought I'd try it out. Let's just say the vinyl re-issue was not satisfactory. Most vinyl re-issues these days just sound like CD's and manufacturing quality assurance is kind of pathetic, even in Europe.


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## Tronam

I'm sure Tupe is very good because their algorithms tend to be excellent, but goodness, that interface. A million different fonts, text randomly warped at all different angles, harsh contrasting colors, no rhyme or reason to the size or orientation of UX elements. It doesn't need to be skeuomorphic, but at least hire a graphic designer who understands the basics of how humans see. Even though SketchCassette looks like it was drawn on a restaurant napkin, at least it has a consistently legible aesthetic.


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## Tronam

SupremeFist said:


> Baby Audio have a supposedly AI-powered tape plugin coming out soon...


As expected from Baby Audio I'm finding it pretty fun to use so far. I wouldn't call it subtle, but it's reasonably priced and offers plenty of tone shaping flexibility without being overly heavy on the CPU. I like the glue control which behaves kind of like an upward compressor. One thing which wasn't obvious at first is both the Drive and Output knobs offer their own distinct distortion characteristics since there appears to be a soft clipper or limiter always engaged on the main outs.

Kiive Audio's Tape Face belongs in the conversation too (unless you need wow or flutter control) and it uses so little CPU for the quality that it deserves more attention as a great alternative for those looking for a zero latency tape saturation plugin that can go everywhere. It even has linked input/output controls, a feature I wish all effects plugins included; Not just for gain staging, but to combat the "louder is better" bias.


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## muziksculp




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## Tralen

Just posting my favorite tape plugin, in case someone didn't know it.


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## proggermusic

Speaking of Black Rooster.... their "Magnetite" tape plug sounds quite good. The two I use are that and the Fuse Audio Flywheel (made by one of the developers at Black Rooster...) and they both do anything I think I'd ever need a tape plugin to do.


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## Tronam

proggermusic said:


> Speaking of Black Rooster.... their "Magnetite" tape plug sounds quite good. The two I use are that and the Fuse Audio Flywheel (made by one of the developers at Black Rooster...) and they both do anything I think I'd ever need a tape plugin to do.


I've actually never heard of either one. Thanks for the suggestions! More tape plugins to obsess over... for some reason.


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## proggermusic

Black Rooster and Fuse Audio Labs are both great developers! And they've got folks who have developed some of the creme de la creme for UA, Brainworx, and others. Seriously top-shelf stuff, and not too expensive.


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## Alchemedia

Tronam said:


> I'm sure Tupe is very good because their algorithms tend to be excellent, but goodness, that interface. A million different fonts, text randomly warped at all different angles, harsh contrasting colors, no rhyme or reason to the size or orientation of UX elements. It doesn't need to be skeuomorphic, but at least hire a graphic designer who understands the basics of how humans see. Even though SketchCassette looks like it was drawn on a restaurant napkin, at least it has a consistently legible aesthetic.


Glad to see someone agrees with me on this.


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## kgdrum

proggermusic said:


> Black Rooster and Fuse Audio Labs are both great developers! And they've got folks who have developed some of the creme de la creme for UA, Brainworx, and others. Seriously top-shelf stuff, and not too expensive.


and during upcoming and frequent sales quite reasonably priced.


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## Tronam

kgdrum said:


> and during upcoming and frequent sales quite reasonably priced.


And of course Flywheel just had to be on sale right now until Oct 1st. Be still my quivering wallet. Oh, all of Fuse Audio Labs' plugins are Apple silicon native as well; nice touch. They're on the ball!


----------



## re-peat

Another plugin that ought to be mentioned here is WavesFactory *Spectre*. It doesn’t look like a saturation plugin, and even less like a tape simulation plugin, but it’s way more powerful and versatile than most in this category. Spectre gives you six adjustable frequency bands which you can ‘push’ into the saturation engine — each band can have its own saturation algorithm (from very gentle warming up, to quite aggressive distortion) — and you can also emphasize or de-emphasize the according EQ change. Moreover, each of those bands can be set to work on either the stereo signal, the left channel, the right channel, the mid channel or the sides. Gain compensation, parallel processing and oversampling are included as well.

What I like about this plugin, apart from its exceptional quality, is that, as with Tupe, this software isn’t into the sillyness of emulating specific vintage equipment nor does it produce results that, when you close your eyes, you can’t be sure whether the plugin is enabled or bypassed.

There are no tape or reel-to-reel models to choose from — in fact, apart from the included tape saturation algorithm, there is not a single knob, dial or switch that refers to tape or tape machines — this is just a very cleverly collected and brilliantly programmed set of parameters with which to shape the optimal, most musical saturation for any given sound in any given mixing situation.

The sound of tape is much more than just saturation of course, but since that distinction seems to be of very little significance to many people here, Spectre more than earns a mention in threads like these, I believe.










_


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## Trevor Meier

A big fan of Spectre here too 👍


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## muziksculp




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## vitocorleone123

muziksculp said:


>



The audio examples were definitely nice, but he's clearly coming to audio from a career as a mime, given his overacting....


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## proggermusic

Tronam said:


> And of course Flywheel just had to be on sale right now until Oct 1st. Be still my quivering wallet. Oh, all of Fuse Audio Labs' plugins are Apple silicon native as well; nice touch. They're on the ball!


I'm a huge fan of the guy behind Fuse Audio Labs... he's been a developer for the biggest names in the industry and Fuse is his "indie" project. His plugins are all extremely well-made and simply sound fantastic. Small developers like Fuse and Valhalla are doing some of my favorite work in the audio software world, and I think they're pretty exciting.


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## sostenuto

proggermusic said:


> I'm a huge fan of the guy behind Fuse Audio Labs... he's been a developer for the biggest names in the industry and Fuse is his "indie" project. His plugins are all extremely well-made and simply sound fantastic. Small developers like Fuse and Valhalla are doing some of my favorite work in the audio software world, and I think they're pretty exciting.


Yeah ! Flywheel at promo is very likely buy ( with only 1-day left ). TAIP seems cool _ have Trial.
Sad to not have chops to maximize deep capabilities of any of these top choices. 😢


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## kgdrum

proggermusic said:


> I'm a huge fan of the guy behind Fuse Audio Labs... he's been a developer for the biggest names in the industry and Fuse is his "indie" project. His plugins are all extremely well-made and simply sound fantastic. Small developers like Fuse and Valhalla are doing some of my favorite work in the audio software world, and I think they're pretty exciting.


Agreed Raimond is one of the best developers out there. 👍


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## vitocorleone123

sostenuto said:


> Yeah ! Flywheel at promo is very likely buy ( with only 1-day left ). TAIP seems cool _ have Trial.
> Sad to not have chops to maximize deep capabilities of any of these top choices. 😢


If you have Softube Tape, it’s probably not worth Flywheel. If you don’t have Tape, and don’t use Studio One MixFX, I’d suggest Flywheel, over Tape. But that’s my ears.


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## Pier

Tralen said:


> Just posting my favorite tape plugin, in case someone didn't know it.



wtf did I just watch


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## vitocorleone123

Pier said:


> wtf did I just watch


That's not even their best video!

To me, their videos are a a clear nod to the Skinny Puppy music videos, such as Worlock (warning: contains a fantastic dark electro-industrial song set to bloody/disturbing b-movie footage so I'm not direct linking it).

On topic: Mishby is a fantastic plugin for destroying audio. There's a sale on ADSR where you can get all 3 Freakshow Industry plugins for $30. Or you can "steal" them from Freakshow directly on their site.


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## Tronam

proggermusic said:


> I'm a huge fan of the guy behind Fuse Audio Labs... he's been a developer for the biggest names in the industry and Fuse is his "indie" project. His plugins are all extremely well-made and simply sound fantastic. Small developers like Fuse and Valhalla are doing some of my favorite work in the audio software world, and I think they're pretty exciting.


I picked up Flywheel and a few of their pre-amps. You're right, fantastic stuff.


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## proggermusic

Yep, his VPRE376 is on almost everything I do lately. Sounds just lovely, and so very easy.


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## Russell Anderson

Trevor Meier said:


> Has anyone run across a tape plugin that will emulate varispeed, or even just running at half speed (ie an octave down). I’ve tried various experiments with existing plugins and repitching methods, and they don’t have anywhere the same oomph as the real thing.


I assume you’ve tried something like MRhythmizer or Image-Line Grossbeat or Halftime etc.? Or automating a delay?

If you have and that’s not working
any differently than normal resampling methods then you could try following with a resampling at a lower sample rate, cut it down to like 1.8khz or even lower sample rate.


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## el-bo

Not an effect so much as a synth/looper kinda-thing, but feel it still has its place in a thread about tape emulation 






Portatron Tape Synthesizer – Robotic Bean







roboticbean.com


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## b_elliott

Have not read all the thread, but today was pleasantly surprised with the quality of tape emulation in the ToneBoosters (TB) freebie Ferrox Tape Satuator. 

In fact I went ahead and made a default mix chain on the 2-bus to start each of my projects based on how Graham Cochrane demoed how he starts a mix: 
TB Equalizer v3
TB Compressor v3
TB Ferrox Satuator v3 (preset "very clean" is nice)

Cheers, Bill


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## kgdrum

Kiiive Audio Tapeface 3 was updated and released recently,imo it’s a very nice tape emulation.









Kiive Audio | Plugins







www.kiiveaudio.com





Tapeface 3 can currently be purchased for $24.99 using the code : TAPE_2499
It’s also a free update for people that purchased Tapeface 2


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## Fidelity

Another vote for AudioThing's Reels, which occasionally goes on sale and can often be purchased below sticker price as a crossgrade while buying another product from their shop.


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## chopin4525

ToneBoosters released all of his v3 vst plugins for free. So now even one of my favourites ReelBus3, which was the successor to Ferox, is availble for free.


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## nordicguy

el-bo said:


> Not an effect so much as a synth/looper kinda-thing, but feel it still has its place in a thread about tape emulation
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Portatron Tape Synthesizer – Robotic Bean
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> roboticbean.com


Pretty addictive!

I also think that Tapeface 3 deserves some attention.
Kiive Audio is a really good developper!


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## el-bo

nordicguy said:


> Pretty addictive!


Haha! Nice one.

I daren't try it, as I reckon I'd want it. And it’s unfortunately way outside the price-range that I’m currently able to spend :(

Would love to hear some examples, if you feel open to sharing. 

Cheers


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## antret

el-bo said:


> Not an effect so much as a synth/looper kinda-thing, but feel it still has its place in a thread about tape emulation
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Portatron Tape Synthesizer – Robotic Bean
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> roboticbean.com


Robotic bean is on my ‘insta buy’ list. I’ve got a few reason rack goodies from there and glad to see him branching out into the vst world. Needless to say I’ve got this one….

Don’t try it. You’ll definitely buy it!


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## el-bo

antret said:


> You’ll definitely buy it!


Like I said, it's more of a can't than a wouldn't. One day, perhaps


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## Obxa

Another great tape plug worth checking out: Neold Warble. Also made by the same guys from Black Rooster/Fuse Audio. Available through Plug in Alliance, and usually part of their constant sales. This month $49.00 If you use coupons, it's even cheaper. I do the monthly sub with PA and this is one of the plugs I instantly bought with my accumulated rewards. 
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/neold_warble.html 

Love this thing for putting some dust, age, or grit on drums, strings, and pianos. (Acoustic and Electric) when needed. It does subtle to extreme. Still use Kramer on the 2 buss, as well as Soft Tape, and go between those two based on the project- and sometimes none at all.


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## Bee_Abney

Obxa said:


> Another great tape plug worth checking out: Neold Warble. Also made by the same guys from Black Rooster/Fuse Audio. Available through Plug in Alliance, and usually part of their constant sales. This month $49.00 If you use coupons, it's even cheaper. I do the monthly sub with PA and this is one of the plugs I instantly bought with my accumulated rewards.
> https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/neold_warble.html
> 
> Love this thing for putting some dust, age, or grit on drums, strings, and pianos. (Acoustic and Electric) when needed. It does subtle to extreme. Still use Kramer on the 2 buss, as well as Soft Tape, and go between those two based on the project- and sometimes none at all.



I like to use NeOld Warble on very clean sounding virtual synths. It gives them a bit of texture that helps them blend well, as well as giving them a sense of physicality.

I haven't really used it on acoustic instruments or voice, though.


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## ceemusic

nordicguy said:


> Here’s a recently launched one.
> It’s called TAIPEI and it’s made by London Acoustics as an official third-party plugins for N4 Player.
> Trial version available.


Excellent choice


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## sostenuto

and another __ Acustica Audio _ AQUA - Taupe. Right now -64% @ Euro 89. ( from Euro 249 ) 
21- analog and digital tape machines. 






Taupe - Acustica Audio


Xmas Arctic sale: €99 (€249) save 60% until Jan 8, 2023! The king of sample-based analog tape plug-ins. "I have so many good memories of the early...




www.acustica-audio.com


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## Montfort

I got an email from iZotope announcing you can purchase u-he plugins through them. I have some good tape plugins already, but anyone still really keen on Satin after all these years? (Can pick up for $64.50 at the moment)


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## Pier

Montfort said:


> I got an email from iZotope announcing you can purchase u-he plugins through them. I have some good tape plugins already, but anyone still really keen on Satin after all these years? (Can pick up for $64.50 at the moment)


It's great (like everything by U-He) but can be overkill if you just want to add a bit of tape saturation.


----------



## fakemaxwell

Pier said:


> 's great (like everything by U-He) but can be overkill if you just want to add a bit of tape saturation.


I sort of disagree, only in that I think the whole point of tape saturation is to add a little bit of it to everything. Satin does this easily with its group settings. 

You don't want to use it the entire time you mix though, it's definitely a finishing ingredient. But you'll be pretty amazed every time you use it. I usually just use the A27 30ips setting and tweak the bias a bit.


----------



## vitocorleone123

fakemaxwell said:


> I sort of disagree, only in that I think the whole point of tape saturation is to add a little bit of it to everything. Satin does this easily with its group settings.
> 
> You don't want to use it the entire time you mix though, it's definitely a finishing ingredient. But you'll be pretty amazed every time you use it. I usually just use the A27 30ips setting and tweak the bias a bit.


In Studio One you can apply Softube Tape wherever you want with the MixFX (though I use Britconsole instead, and generally don't use tape anything anywhere) and it adds variations etc.


----------



## Montfort

fakemaxwell said:


> I sort of disagree, only in that I think the whole point of tape saturation is to add a little bit of it to everything. Satin does this easily with its group settings.
> 
> You don't want to use it the entire time you mix though, it's definitely a finishing ingredient. But you'll be pretty amazed every time you use it. I usually just use the A27 30ips setting and tweak the bias a bit.


Thanks to you both for sharing your experience. It's always had a great reputation, so I'm seriously considering picking it up. More sharing about how people are using it would be very useful!


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## Living Fossil

Montfort said:


> I got an email from iZotope announcing you can purchase u-he plugins through them. I have some good tape plugins already, but anyone still really keen on Satin after all these years? (Can pick up for $64.50 at the moment)


I'm using it again more lately (on electronic/non-orchestral tracks) and think it really shines on busses.
So I don't see it that much as a "finishing" tape-emu (like e.g. Tape Machines 90, 440 and 240 from IK Multimedia), but rather as a tool to get coherent groups in short time.

(then again, since it's laid out in a way that emulates different parts of the behaviour of tape machines, it takes quite a while to fully learn its feature set resp. its sonic possibilities)

One thing I do though is to turn off the noise sources (in the service panel, see attachement). 
And I like its group function.


----------



## Dietz

Montfort said:


> I got an email from iZotope announcing you can purchase u-he plugins through them. I have some good tape plugins already, but anyone still really keen on Satin after all these years? (Can pick up for $64.50 at the moment)


One of Satin's hidden gems is its often-neglected emulation of noise reduction systems, which can be a lifesaver for those who need to transfer actual tape recordings to the digital domain. It also allows for the abuse of these systems, such as the typical 80s-vocals chain that used Dolby A encoding without decoding for an otherwise unattainable sheen.

That said, Satin allows for all kinds of super-rich flanging and tape echo effects - something that is often overlooked.


----------



## Bee_Abney

Dietz said:


> One of Satin's hidden gems is its often-neglected emulation of noise reduction systems, which can be a lifesaver for those who need to transfer actual tape recordings to the digital domain. It also allows for the abuse of these systems, such as the typical 80s-vocals chain that used Dolby A encoding without decoding for an otherwise unattainable sheen.
> 
> That said, Satin allows for all kinds of super-rich flanging and tape echo effects - something that is often overlooked.


Good to know. It's back on the list. It's a long list, though.


----------



## Pier

fakemaxwell said:


> I sort of disagree, only in that I think the whole point of tape saturation is to add a little bit of it to everything. Satin does this easily with its group settings.
> 
> You don't want to use it the entire time you mix though, it's definitely a finishing ingredient. But you'll be pretty amazed every time you use it. I usually just use the A27 30ips setting and tweak the bias a bit.


I didn't articulate it well... but my point wasn't about the amount added but rather about needing a bit of "tape flavor".

Satin has some unique features like the noise reduction encoding/decoding but honestly it seems rather technical and niche. I could be wrong but my impression is most people are just looking for a simple way to add tape saturation and Satin is a lot more than that. Something like Softube's Tape is probably a better fit for most people.

But of course if one needs the specific features of Satin then it's a really good option.


----------



## storyteller

Montfort said:


> I got an email from iZotope announcing you can purchase u-he plugins through them. I have some good tape plugins already, but anyone still really keen on Satin after all these years? (Can pick up for $64.50 at the moment)


I think Satin is one of those desert island plugins. It makes almost everything sound better (e.g. more analog) and there are a lot of paths to get there within it. Other tape emulators are must-haves for me as well like J37. But having Satin+J37 at my disposal is the ultimate mixing duo for tape. There are other tools to be used for “traditional saturation” btw.


----------



## Dietz

Pier said:


> Satin [...] seems rather technical and niche.


... considering that we're talking about a virtual replica of a prototypical piece of audio _technology_, namely a tape _machine, _I'd say: mission accomplished._ _


----------



## TheSteven

Obxa said:


> Another great tape plug worth checking out: Neold Warble. Also made by the same guys from Black Rooster/Fuse Audio. Available through Plug in Alliance, and usually part of their constant sales. This month $49.00 If you use coupons, it's even cheaper. I do the monthly sub with PA and this is one of the plugs I instantly bought with my accumulated rewards.
> https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/neold_warble.html
> 
> Love this thing for putting some dust, age, or grit on drums, strings, and pianos. (Acoustic and Electric) when needed. It does subtle to extreme. Still use Kramer on the 2 buss, as well as Soft Tape, and go between those two based on the project- and sometimes none at all.


Currently on sale (2 day sale started last night)
NEOLD WARBLE for $19.99
with code: XMAS22-WARBLE





NEOLD WARBLE


WARBLE is the ultimate vintage tape modulation & lo-fi effect that makes everything you throw at it sound special, unique, and creative.




www.plugin-alliance.com


----------

