Analog Tape Plugin

[Chapin Ratte]

Thereare many ways to use and abuse a tape machine, and many modern engineers have never had the pleasure of working with a real (reel to reel) analog unit. That's why, to get you started, Tape includes presets made by Grammy-winning engineers such as Joe Chiccarelli (Beck, U2, Strokes) and Howard Willing (Smashing Pumpkins, Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson).

Tape emulations breathe life into a production by adding warmth, glue, and creative energy to a mix. With so many options in tape plug-ins, it can be hard to choose, so we've picked the five most important things to remember when selecting yours.

If this is not a parody post. I am interested to find out what people look to do with a tape emulation plugin, or think they need to do. Like, who wants the best plugin for effects (stereotypical lofi, tape wow and flutter, etc), and who wants the best for mixing (warmth, saturation, insert buzz word here).

it boils down to modulating pitch, compression and drive.

why have a baked plugin with all three if you can make your own out of your fav parts. its not like all tape machines had the same amps anyway.

I would suggest Vulf compressor as a parallel compressor for drums, Sketch Cassette on Groups and Chow on the master or drum buss. I am not saying you need to use them all on a track, but in general those applications all yield great results consistently.

I'm not an engineer and my ears might not pick up the subtly so Anyone that has an opinion Tell me About - Analog Tape Saturation.

What is considered 'the best' and why. There are so many including the built in Cakewalk tape.

I think it has something to do with making the high-end not so brittle sounding?

Tape exhibited a low-frequency "head bump" that added a low-frequency boost; this was different for different tape speeds. Also, tape softened transients and added distortion. Even sine waves as low as -20 dB would start showing a tiny bit of distortion, which increased as the level increased. The distortion also meant you could get a higher average level.

But bear in mind that there's no such thing as "universal" tape saturation. Tape required interacting EQ and bias adjustments that had an effect on frequency response, distortion, and level. So for example you could have better high-frequency response if you were willing to trade off for more distortion. Also, different tape formulations had different characteristics. Tape Emulation plug-ins should be called "emulations of particular recorders, using particular tape, calibrated in a specific way, and which may or may not have been well-maintained."

I wrote a comprehensive article for the Waves web site comparing their J37 and Kramer master tape plug-ins. It does not go into marketing-speak, it's about what tape did and what tape emulation does. It also has a couple audio examples, and I think it will answer pretty much any questions you might have about tape emulation.

I've heard really good things about Softube Tape, and I have been considering it myself. Although I've read reports from some people here saying that Cakewalk has some problems with that, forgetting settings? Is that still the case?

@Craig Andertonthank you that really is well explained AND with audio examples! Your ability to write music and detailed articles is impressive!

@GreenLightyea a good example is $99 Softube Tape vs $29 Analog Pro. Hmm I need my song to worble like it's played on a FisherPrice Stereo plastic Disc! ..oh and don't forget the dust noise, gotta add a sprinkle of that.

I am also saying Waves Kramer Master Tape - and the authorizing does not require iLok anything. You can have authorize on disk or any memory stick.

Another plugin in a bundle with Master Tape is HLS EQ(Helios) which also bring loveliness and you can go wild on eq and it just sound better, kind of. No sharp edges and harschness.

So I would look for good price on Kramer TapeTubeTransistors bundle.

ToneBoosters Reelbus 4 is like $40. You can give it a free test spin. It impacts and tames more of the high end than I generally prefer but a good option with a fully resizable gui and a number of tweaks you can make under the hood that are fairly unique.

Frankly. I the only time I use "tape emulation" is (sometimes) on acoustic guitars to saturate the pick transients, and bass so it cuts better on mixes played through crappy playback systems. And for acoustic guitars, a transient shaper is often better at taming pick transients.

I personally did not find it as satisfying as some of the other options on the market (gotta remember that Cakewalk Tape plugin is now 6-7 years old. not a huge deal, but I think we have seen some advances in efficient processing and complexity in that time frame).

For decades analog tape was the sound of records. Then the technology changed, but our ears didn't. Things tracked on tape just sound fuller, warmer, and more "finished" by default than things tracked digitally. Bring the sound of tape back to your recordings with the 15IPS Colour.

The 15IPS is currently on its third revision. The 15IPS mkI, (2014-2019), featured an IC opamp and a relatively high clipping resistor for more saturation. The mkII (2019-2023) replaced the IC with a discrete, class-A transistor circuit and reduced the clipping resistor to widen the sweet spot of the Colour. The current version, mkIII, is identical to the mkII but with schottky diodes instead of germanium. An additional resistor in the clipping circuit replicates the character of the original diodes exactly. However, because the gain staging is slightly different between each one, two 15IPS from different revisions will not make a stereo pair.

I use a pair of 15ips since 2 years and really liked the low end boost with mid enhancement. However beyond 60% lows became increasingly muddy and mids-enhancement sounded rather distorted.

I now did the 'less-distortion' mod and used 240 instead of 470 ohm for R6 (mk II) on another pair of ips15. Man the mod is insane! Now the sound appears more defined with more emphasis on the attack instead of decay concerning the low end. The sound now is more transparent and has more weight/body. The upper mids remain enhanced but hardly distorted. For me the R6/R7 mod lifts the module to another level. 240 ohm appears perfect in this respect.

Hi, thanks for taking the time to dig into the 15IPS and write a review. I'm glad you're enjoying the CP5 and I'm sorry the 15IPS isn't to your liking. I just wanted to reply with a bit more context and point you to our 15IPS mods. You may be able to customize the 15IPS to work better for you via the resonant filter and distortion mods here: -15ips-mkii

Now, onto a couple specifics from your comment that I think warrant more discussion. (These points aren't meant to change your impression of the 15IPS's sound. Rather, they're to provide more context about why the 15IPS is designed the way it is.)

Regarding the head bump, it's a 3dB bump with a corner frequency of 47Hz. This is right about in the middle of measured head bumps on machines running at 15IPS. You can see a bunch of sweeps here: If you want less that 3dB you can mod it by changing the value of R7 (Mod here: -15ips-mkii-change-filter)

Regarding the harmonic content, the number of visible and audible harmonics is related to the amount of distortion. Like real tape or vacuum tubes, the 15IPS uses soft clipping to emphasize lower harmonics. But any piece of analog gear will introduce higher harmonics as it reaches it's limit. I think what you are noticing is more the amount rather than the character of the distortion. The 15IPS is dialed in to be a bit hotter than a high-quality tape machine so that those who want it for aggressive tone shaping have that available. But depending on your goals and the levels of your equipment, it can be too much. If you'd like it to be more subtle just reduce the value of R6. (Mod here: -15ips-less-distortion)

The 15 IPS definitely adds the smooth warmth and the low end bump reminiscent of analog tape, but with the added flexibility of dialing in only as much as you need. Unlike most tape emulation plugins, which I've found don't add very much, this actually makes an audible difference. Plus, you can dial in even more to dirty up your sound in a not-so-pleasant way if that's what you want to do. Great module. Just like analog tape channels, the effects are cumulative as channel count increases. We use five of them in our DIYRE preamps. Be careful when building this one because the NOS glass diodes are fragile. We found a couple defective ones in one of the modules we built. But you can be sure that Peterson always makes it good and if anything is amiss, he will make it right and send out the parts you need.

Developed by the same team behind UA's industry-leading Ampex and Studer tape machine plug-ins, Oxide Tape Recorder gives your productions the warmth, presence, and vibe of professional analog tape, with only the essential controls, so you can get sounds faster.

Did not know what to expect when I got this plugin because I haven't seen many people use it much in tutorials but when I placed it on my master chain, I felt the warmth and added volume I was looking for without pushing my levels too high.

I never expected that this type of tape saturation would give so much character, quality and also presence to the instruments respectively and clearly depending on how it was recorded and what is used.

With a few movements and depending on the results it shows, it is perfect to give it that "Presence" that we all seek quickly and to be as neutral as possible, although the latter one must "witness" it properly to understand it, at least in my opinion.

Without a doubt a necessary Plugin for any studio.

Cela fait plus d'une semaine que je n'arrive pas joindre le support d'uaudio, ils ne rpondent pas aux messages que j'ai envoys via l'application uaconnect ou via le site web.

Aucun des produits obtenus via le bundle du BF ne fonctionne.

Mon ilok est fonctionnel, je possde un nombre incalculable de librairies d'autres marques qui fonctionnent sans problme.

L, tout semble valide, les licences sont bien visibles dans mon ilok cloud et pourtant les plugins sont flouts avec un message comme quoi le produit n'a pas de licence.

C'est inadmissible de ne pas avoir de rponse du support !

J'ai achet le bundle du BF 50 balles pour rien si ce n'est tre frustr et en colre...

Ce n'est pas srieux de traiter ses clients de la sorte.

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