Kind of had the same experience looking for the better Studer emulation between IK and UAD and came to the conclusion that I prefer the IK one. There was something that the UAD did to kind of smear the transients, whereas the IK enhanced them and made them more punchy, but other than that you can get them to sound pretty close.

 

Ah, that makes sense.
I'd have voted Flywheel since it's easily the most-used, since it's my "clean" every-channel tape plugin.
Also, since it's a newer plugin, and one some people may not have tried yet, I have to say that I didn't think I'd end up using Safari's Rabbit Tape as much as I do, but I actually dig the mojo it has, in the right context. Highly recommended.

 

i still use PSP vintage warmer for analog tape saturation or fab filter saturn for modern, but this free one is ok
https://plugins4free.com/plugin/2544/
Also check out NOMADS Magnetic

 

Last edited: Jun 28, 2024

I worked on a project a couple of years ago where the intention was to emulate a 50s/60s sound. I tested a number of tape emulations and concluded that none of them actually behaved like tape. I settled with Saturn being the most pleasing.

I also used a bunch of vintage comp/eq emulations, retro verbs etc in the project to get as close to authenticity as possible. Vintage drums, guitars and amps, were also used. Musically, the song was 100% authentic.

In my opinion, the result failed to be convincing. No matter what I did it still sounded like a modern recording imitating vintage. In the end I actually had to use some modern plugins (FabFilter etc) in order to shape the sound closer to the desired outcome.

Having had plenty of experience working with fully analog systems for the first 10/15 years of my career, I know for a fact that if I had been using "real" gear that I wouldn't have had to even think about it - the song would have virtually mixed itself.

I'm not saying it's not possible, just that in that instance I consider my attempt to have been unconvincing. Perhaps if I was doing that sort of thing on a regular basis I'd get closer to authenticity.

I'd be very interested to hear anyone with genuine analog experience's take on this subject and if they've managed to achieve convincing results ITB.

 

Damn, I might have to give Flywheel a spin after this review!

btw, it's 50% off until the end of June FYI to anyone who's looking into it

 

i mean you can use em on their own but they are still in that -let me call it framework, to use em in their modular structure . am i wrong ?

 

not on the list

KISS OF SHAME

 

seems compression overdrive coloration or whatever and decapitator is valve ,distortion and what not mojo ...
not tape ....but i kno where you coming from ....i like it too ...here isa intersting quote on vw

I asked him to try Vintage Warmer instead just to see how it stacked up, not really expecting too much. To our surprise, we both felt that the Vintage Warmer version sounded better than the version going through $5000 worth of high-end analog gear.

 

so UAD,ik and softube seem the most used and fuse is the secret tip . didnt expect softube to be light on cpu ,good to know .
that slate did fall down behind did wonder me .

 

yes they still work in standalone
idk about the subject, but it feels like their detailed algorithm, and fancy GUI, also contributes for a heavy CPU usage

maan that's a crazy good deal. thx for the link

 

Last edited: Jun 28, 2024

Also worth mentioning that the IK Tape plug-ins have some pre-ringing which people have complained about on GS. A representative from IK responded and noted the pre-ringing was present on the actual machine they were modelling, and that's why it happens on the plug-in.

They're CPU hungry because they're internally oversampled to a high degree, I'm assuming to prevent aliasing.

The magic in a lot of these tape plug-ins for me lies with the Bias function. I've noticed on the IK stuff and to a lesser extent when I used the Slate Digital VTM, altering the bias control makes the transients crunchy in a really pleasing way. Don't overlook that function.

Overall I think the "best" tape plug-in also can come down to the genre you make or what your desired outcome is with it.

 

No one talks about blackrooster or three body technology tapes?

 

im not using tape so much... but when i need one just for the tape drive/glue.. i always grab Softube tape.. just because in studio one i can use it as MixFX.. and also the softube tape fx are more subtle compared to others i have tried...

but if i just want to make it dirty or some special fx like lo-fi or woobly detune.. i go with any other brand...

 

every time here and there , im pretty much amazed to see the blindness popularity and praise on stuff by ik multimedia..

it certainly comes from the fact that many people just can't afford UAD

 

For endless possibilities : Satin

For good "ready set go" ease-of-use winner : Magnetite

For push-it-to-the-limit colored FX : Cassette

 

Our legendary Studer® and Ampex® tape emulations

• 
  392,00 €

 

Straight? I've run into a lot of people who like Fuse Audio in general, but complain that Flywheel "doesn't really do anything unless you crank it up." I'd disagree, with it taming peaks in a subjectively pleasing fashion and is a subtle, cumulative deal across a mix. It's sound is about as far from a tape effect that many plugins aim for as you can get, despite it having a Speed Variance knob which adds "warble" to it and a feature to add nearly nonexistent Hiss (I don't count the Hysteresis as an "effect.") Also, the crosstalk feature is stellar.
If you want a tape effect, but still want something scripted by Reimund from Fuse Audio, grab NEOLD's Warble, it's not subtle.

I like Magnetite, I own it, but it has very specific tones that work well in certain situations, but it isn't versatile enough to be a cover-all.
And, oddly, I didn't have any idea that TBT made a tape emulation. Thanks for the heads-up.

Huh—this is a mixed bag.
I fully agree with your assessment of the highly overrated IK Multimedia (due partially to their slick graphics and promos, because let's be real here, their website is even sexy,) but I don't understand putting UAD on a pedestal in 2024, not with everything available.

I've worked around it enough I'm more than familiar, never as the engineer, usually when recording stand-in for other musicians (which is a nice way of saying when they drummer or guitarist never showed up after leaving the bar the previous night with some shady looking chic,) or fuckin with other gear at a friend's home studio. I'll get back to you on this later since my feline compatriot just puked... but I have a basic technique (he said mysteriously.) I mean, shit won't reveal the face of gawd to you in all his/her/it's glory, but...

 

what are they even for

 

For me it's Airwindows ToTape! I also really like U-He Satin.

 

None. Tape sounds like sh1t.