# Tape Emulation Plug Ins



## patrick76 (Jul 21, 2015)

I have been using Magnetic (II) by Nomad since I saw Alan Meyerson mention using it in a video. Does anyone have experience with this and some of the other tape emulation plug-ins availabe? Any comments on preferences, advantages/disadvantages, etc.? Thanks


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## Vin (Jul 21, 2015)

ToneBoosters ReelBus is a favorite of mine. And it's less than €20.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jul 21, 2015)

UAD Ampex ATR


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## patrick76 (Jul 21, 2015)

Thanks guys. I will check them out.


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## Carles (Jul 21, 2015)

Vin said:


> ToneBoosters ReelBus is a favorite of mine. And it's less than €20.


No experience with any other, but I'm using ReelBus too. It got really good criticism and certainly very affordable.
You can demo it (you just cannot save presets, but it's fully functional).


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## KEnK (Jul 21, 2015)

I'm a saturation addict 
Personally I think u-he's Satin is best one out there-
Very detailed w/ lots of tweakability.
It can be heavy on the cpu though, so I often turn to the Waves Kramer Tape
I haven't looked into the newer J37. I suspect it's better, but I don't need another one.
I like the sound of the Tone booster too, but the simplicity
of the interface makes me wonder if it has the quality of the others.
This is probably a flaw of my perception rather than anything else.
Many people do speak highly of it-
I'll have to have a look at it again

Another saturation plug I like and use a lot is the Klanghelm SDRR.
Not a tape emulation, but very good at a variety of other sat needs.


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## tmm (Jul 21, 2015)

Never used a tape saturation sim that I liked... Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but they all sound harsh to me. For saturation, I typically use either Softube Saturation Knob, Decapitator, UBK-1, or some combination of the 3. Mildly boosting a signal with the Softube into UBK and adding some additional sat + comp there works really well for fattening up synth bass tones.


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## KEnK (Jul 21, 2015)

tmm said:


> Never used a tape saturation sim that I liked... Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but they all sound harsh to me.


Then you're running your "tape" to hot 
Depending on the model, try dialing back the asperity and/or bias.
That's usually where you get the "harsh".

k


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## Carles (Jul 21, 2015)

Guys, what exactly saturation is? I know in an audible way what ReelBus is doing but how it actually works?
(I have the noise part practically killed, at -30db and also low values for the knobs so I guess what I'm listening is mostly coming from the color section, spectrum and saturation).


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## RiffWraith (Jul 22, 2015)

Carles said:


> Guys, what exactly saturation is?



When you record to tape, and as the signal gets hotter and hotter, you get to the point when you can no longer record anything. The tape is now "saturated". Most people find a little of this pleasing (probably b/c it's what many of us grew up with). However, too much saturation (hitting the tape _too hard_) can be unpleasant and result in too much distortion and clipping.

It is the goal of these tape emulation plugs to recreate this effect.

I use Nomad's Magnetic, and while it does not sound like tape (nothing does), I do like what it does to my tracks.

Cheers.


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## dgburns (Jul 22, 2015)

tmm said:


> Never used a tape saturation sim that I liked... Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but they all sound harsh to me. For saturation, I typically use either Softube Saturation Knob, Decapitator, UBK-1, or some combination of the 3. Mildly boosting a signal with the Softube into UBK and adding some additional sat + comp there works really well for fattening up synth bass tones.



I've been around tape machines alot in the past.These days I'm pretty much off tape plugins altogether.But I do like saturation plugs.
I thought the Satin by U-He was the asnwer for awhile,but I think it is ultimately a hype box,much like the SPL vitalizer and what not.I regularly use Decapitator,Slate VCC and anything by Kush.Also like ssl channel strips things and used to use the McDsp analog channel alot.McDsp analog channel can be used more as an eq ,especially in the bass areas.But pretty much off that one too.I've replace tape plugs with de-essers for the most part,as it's usually the top end that I need to tame,but only my own recorded stuff,never on sample libraries.
Never using tape plugs on orch stuff,it's just not for me.much better to be concerned about other things,like tonal balance and what not.


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## KEnK (Jul 22, 2015)

Carles-
Here's an excellent vid that talks all about what's happening w/ tape emulations.
Although he's using the Waves MPX as an example, he's actually talking about
the principles of what goes on w/ "real" tape machines.
It's very detailed- I learned quite a bit from it.



I just noticed he has a new one out also about tape emulations
I'll check that one out.

But a quick explanation of saturation-
It's a combination of compression and distortion-
Usually this is pretty subtle, and seems to effect harmonics first,
generally bringing them up a bit more-
The result when used well created more definition, to my ear

k


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## synthpunk (Jul 22, 2015)

UA Ampex is very good if you already have the platform or considering it. Also, if you have Reaktor there are some pretty cool ensembles out there.


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## Carles (Jul 22, 2015)

Many thanks Riff and Kenk.

I did suspect that it has to have something to do with compression and clipping, something like that signal seemed raised and the "crests" of the peaks apparently clipped moderately (thus when you abuse of saturation rather than the "crests" only, everything becomes distorted and unpleasant as there is no room for clean signal at all).
But sounds like is not only that, as Kenk says I also feel more definition (perhaps the harmonics thingy?), like if it was more "alive" and vibrant.
Unlike an exciter which seems to affect only a given part of the spectrum (highs only in the exciters I've tried) with the tape emulator feels like all, highs, mids and lows are all enhanced simultaneously (to my ears).
Well, hard to explain with words, but certainly used moderately I really like the results.
Can't wait to have a free minute to check the video.
Again thanks for your hints guys.
Carles


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## KEnK (Jul 22, 2015)

Carles said:


> Unlike an exciter which seems to affect only a given part of the spectrum (highs only in the exciters I've tried) with the tape emulator feels like all, highs, mids and lows are all enhanced simultaneously (to my ears).
> Well, hard to explain with words, but certainly used moderately I really like the results.


Well I understand exactly what you're saying there, and you're right.
One of the things I like about Satin, is you can regulate the amount of highs or lows that's gets saturated-
This is displayed on a little graph, but it is based on the physics of tape- (I think it relates to asperity)
So it is not as variable as an eq, but does behave that way.
Also fast tape speeds (30ips) will effect the highs more that the lows,
Lower tape speeds are the opposite.

And that vid does explain exactly what kind of compression is occurring on tape-
it's variable, according both to input level, and the audio itself.

k


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## dgburns (Jul 22, 2015)

KEnK said:


> Well I understand exactly what you're saying there, and you're right.
> One of the things I like about Satin, is you can regulate the amount of highs or lows that's gets saturated-
> This is displayed on a little graph, but it is based on the physics of tape- (I think it relates to asperity)
> So it is not as variable as an eq, but does behave that way.
> ...



Just a little note here- faster tape speeds mean cleaner signals ,slower tape speeds mean less top end and more saturation.With tape,faster is better if you want fidelity.But when a reel of 2 inch was (maybe still is) 200 bucks and you get 15 min of record time,running slower was an option .(15 ips with noise reduction was my norm)
Also with tape,the faster the speed,the more signal you can print due to the increased speed,again in the past it was all about fidelity and trying to achieve linearity.And you had to watch out for extreme high end instruments like perc,hats etc cause the vu's would not really show the actual level where the tape would saturate that sound too much.also high end tracks next to low end tracks like bass gtr ,you could hear the bleed on playback if you printed the high end stuff too hot.Same thing went for smpte stripes,always had to keep the track next to it clear,so I used the last track,say 24 with track 23.sittng empty for bleed.Same thing with stereo tracks,it was not a good idea to record them on sequencial tracks like 5 and 6,so you recorded stereo on every second track,like 5 and 7 say.It had to do with the bleed that would/could happen during records by the record head.Especially if you hit the tape hot.Asperity was not your friend there.Also,having the bias just a slight bit on the cold side was a favorite of mine,less compression and a bit more top end comng back on playback.

Funny that now all seem concerned about the special magic saturation tape brought to the table.
I don't really miss tape anymore.All the cleaning and degausing and storage.And trying not to play the thing too many times while tracking to not lose too much top end in the process.
we have it pretty good now,really we do.Tape plugins are a bit of snake oil to me.I really don't think they give THAT sound like tape machines do,but I think a large part of it is the electronics the old studers had,not so much the tape itself.just my opinion though.
now if you want to talk consoles,that's a different beast.


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## Dietz (Jul 23, 2015)

My favorite (most unobtrusive, yet efficient) tape emulation plug-in is CraneSong's "Phoenix". The most flexible one (including a wide range of typical noise reduction units and their sought-after modifications) is U-HE's "Satin". For tape distortion (rather than just nice saturation), it's SoundToys' "Decapitator".


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## 1982m (Jul 23, 2015)

If you ever get into Nebula these are outstanding sound/ quality wise.
You use the 2 together in combos.

http://cdsoundmaster.com/site/CDS-Software-Online/tb.html
http://cdsoundmaster.com/site/CDS-Software-Online/r2r.html

I have all the others mentioned here too & they're all worth checking out.


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## chimuelo (Jul 27, 2015)

Have to chip in fot Satin not just for Saturation but Tape Flange and Delays are incredibly authentic.
We also use this live and punch in the desired FX on the fly.
The only native plug in we use.
AES/EBU ADAT hardware for everything else.


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## DHousden (Jul 27, 2015)

+1 for Ampex.


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## Living Fossil (Jul 27, 2015)

I like Satin quite a lot; since it has lots of possibilities.
However, i don't use it too much.


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## Joram (Jul 29, 2015)

An interesting saturation & distortion plugin to check out is iZotope's Trash2


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## woodsdenis (Jul 29, 2015)

u-he Satin


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## Leo Badinella (Jul 29, 2015)

I like ToTape by Airwindows


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## synthpunk (Jul 29, 2015)

Anyone using UA Studer A800 with Apex 102 ? Just wondering what your getting when you add the Studer in on your channels and busses.


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## Chris Hurst (Jul 29, 2015)

Slate digital VTM for me. Sounds great, really good on CPU and can be picked up on sale from time to time. Only thing is you are tied to ilok, which some people don't like.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jul 29, 2015)

Exciter is a very different effect. It mixes in a little HF distortion to add what sounds like brightness and clarity (if it's used right, otherwise it adds HF nastiness). 

Tape saturation is a rich, buttery effect.


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## Will Blackburn (Aug 5, 2015)

Satin or if you want best of the best you should check out Acustica Audio's Nebula and Cd Soundmasters two libraries (used one after the other) R2R and Tonebooster +

http://cdsoundmaster.com/site/r2r.html
http://cdsoundmaster.com/tb.html


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