What's with this funky little pixie?
A standalone 16-track tape- machine DAW designed for producers, songwriters and recording artists who want a faster, more decisive workflow.

TAPE DAW | TAPE 16 Tape Machine DAW for Modern Music Production https://share.google/rcgXKfru82CZxWy83

 

This DAW has been popping up all over the place today!

It looks and sounds really interesting, but still in development.

Here's a review I saw

 

What kind of tape does it use? I still have some 2" reels of Ampex 456 laying around. Can it use that

 

I wish we had tape mode in other DAWs.
Something like a Tascam MX2424.
There I could punch in and out all day long and get one wav file in the the end.
So it's not rocket science.
With any DAW I end up with hundreds of wave clips I have to bounce and clean up at some point.
And having that thing here on a second machine to use it as a dubber is not that fancy I'd say.

 

Funnily enough I still have some Ampex tape still in the shrink wrap.

 

I like how the creator is thinking, he was negotiating with himself about offline bounce, i´m not focusing on that but he makes decisions which will fit a certain kind of workflow, whoever starts using it might loose the overthinking part and laborious repetitive patterns from the daws and possibly be more productive. Weather it fits everyone or not, i´m sure someone will try to turn it into Ableton, wanting both options etc..

I used this Sonicbytes Phrazor "DAW" and got quite happy with it because it just limited me enough for me to start coming with solutions and making decisions, stop overthinking and so on, so i have a good feeling about this one.

 

On PT you can use Avid's Heat to mimic tape input (just the harmonics, not the behaviour or the imperfections) and the algo was designed by Dave Hill from Crane Song. That's one of the only things i envy from PT core users.

It's kinda the same envy i have for StudioOne users using MixFX thing to emulate the input of an analog console. Those things should be standards IMO. It's would kill from the beginning the need of buying emulations.

 

If this thing actually gives you 16 tracks only and you can set it so you have to erase over takes to do them again that would be cool! I grew up using tape and the emotional roller coaster involved in decision making and the kick up the arse to actually have to get it right was invigorating to say the least. Obviously today is better but it's a vibe for sure. Maybe we could sync two computers up using SMPTE lol!

 

UA Luna has a lot of this baked into it, minus the obvious picture to really let you know it.

 

I wish we could get the pro version of LUNA on the sister site, without the UA Connect dependency and other garbage required to run it.

 

Great idea - an offshoot of Yamaha's iOS Audio Rec app (which I've been using since 2014 or 2015 - great app).

 

A recent reviewer 12h ago has these thoughts:
The NEW DAW - Setting The Internet On Fire

 

Wouldn't want your Windows install to get like all bloated with running services unrelated to audio...

 

UAD software is a nightmare for Windows users. That thing eats your disk up as breakfast.

 

This isnt just something that gives you the sound of tape. Its not comparable to slapping a tape plugin on something. This is more about emulating the workflow of tape. Limited tracks, editing etc. Its an excellent way to switch things up and can be a lot of fun. ive always looked at iOS daw AUM as a sort of tape machine when it comes to workflow. I'll definitely check this out, seems great.

 

Everytime I read 'UAD' I shiver

 

I have 2 3rd party uninstallers trying to uninstall Luna as we speak..

 

Make one for Powershell? I made this one to address some of their bothersome stuff. It's funny though that each time they give away free plugins, no-one has all these problems with their other junk...because the real problem is always the price.

Spoiler

#!/bin/bash
# uadclean — Ultimate UAD Plugin Cleanup Tool
# DESCRIPTION:
# One-command on-demand cleanup for UAD installs.
# Forks for 'native-only' or 'dsp' users after backup confirmation.
# Supports --dry-run, --silent, --help.

set -e

show_help() {
cat <<'HELPMSG'
uadclean — Ultimate UAD Plugin Cleanup Tool

Usage:
sudo uacleanup.sh Run cleanup (interactive)
sudo uacleanup.sh --dry-run Preview actions (no deletes)
sudo uacleanup.sh --silent Run non-interactively (assumes backups done, defaults to DSP full cleanup)
sudo uacleanup.sh --help Show help

Behavior:
- Prompts for backup confirmation unless --silent is passed.
- Forks for Native-only or Apollo/DSP users.
- Creates a zip backup of UAD files to Desktop before deletion.
- Logs all actions to ~/UACleaner/logs/uacleanup_<timestamp>.log
HELPMSG
}

# --- Parse flags ---
DRYRUN=false
SILENT=false
for arg in "$@"; do
case "$arg" in
--dry-run) DRYRUN=true ;;
--silent) SILENT=true ;;
--help) show_help; exit 0 ;;
esac
done

# --- Locations ---
AU_DIR="/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components"
VST_DIR="/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST"
VST3_DIR="/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3"
AAX_DIR="/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins"
UADX_DIRS=(
"/Library/Application Support/Universal Audio/UADx"
"/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/UADx"
"/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/UADx"
)
DIGIDESIGN_DIR="/Library/Application Support/Digidesign/Plug-Ins"
PROTOOLS_APP="/Applications/Pro Tools.app"

# --- Whitelist ---
KEEP=(
"1176LN Legacy"
"1176SE Legacy"
"LA-2A Legacy"
"Pultec EQP-1A Legacy"
"Pultec-Pro Legacy"
)

# --- Logging setup ---
TIMESTAMP=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")
LOG_DIR=~/UACleaner/logs
LOG_FILE="$LOG_DIR/uacleanup_$TIMESTAMP.log"
mkdir -p "$LOG_DIR"
touch "$LOG_FILE"

log() {
echo "$1"
echo "$1" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE" >/dev/null
}

get_size_kb() {
du -sk "$1" 2>/dev/null | cut -f1 || echo 0
}

# --- Safety prompt ---
if [ "$SILENT" = false ]; then
echo
echo "WARNING: This script will permanently delete UAD plugin files (unless --dry-run)."
echo "It is strongly recommended to back up before proceeding."
echo
read -rp "Have you backed up your UAD plugins and system? (y/n): " BACKUP_CONFIRM
case "$BACKUP_CONFIRM" in
y|Y|yes|YES) log "Backup confirmed by user." ;;
n|N|no|NO) log "Please back up before running. Exiting."; exit 1 ;;
*) log "Invalid response. Exiting."; exit 1 ;;
esac
else
log "Running in silent mode — assuming backup already done."
fi

# --- Usage mode fork ---
USAGE_MODE=""
if [ "$SILENT" = false ]; then
echo
echo "Choose your setup:"
echo " 1) Native-only (leave Native/UADx plugins in place)"
echo " 2) Apollo / UAD-2 DSP user (perform full cleanup including UADx removal)"
echo " 3) Both (keep Native, clean DSP bloat)"
read -rp "Enter 1, 2, or 3: " MODE_CHOICE
case "$MODE_CHOICE" in
1) USAGE_MODE="native" ;;
2) USAGE_MODE="dsp" ;;
3) USAGE_MODE="both" ;;
*) log "Invalid selection. Exiting."; exit 1 ;;
esac
else
USAGE_MODE="dsp"
fi
log "Usage mode: $USAGE_MODE"

# --- Backup UAD files ---
BACKUP_DIR=~/Desktop/UAD_Backup_$TIMESTAMP
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
log "Creating backup of UAD related files to $BACKUP_DIR..."
cp -R "$AU_DIR"/UAD* "$BACKUP_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
cp -R "$VST_DIR"/UAD* "$BACKUP_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
cp -R "$VST3_DIR"/UAD* "$BACKUP_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
for uadx in "${UADX_DIRS[@]}"; do
[ -d "$uadx" ] && cp -R "$uadx" "$BACKUP_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
done
if [ -d "$AAX_DIR" ]; then
cp -R "$AAX_DIR"/UAD* "$BACKUP_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
fi
if [ -d "$BACKUP_DIR" ]; then
zip -r -q ~/Desktop/UAD_Backup_$TIMESTAMP.zip "$BACKUP_DIR" || true
rm -rf "$BACKUP_DIR"
log "Backup saved: ~/Desktop/UAD_Backup_$TIMESTAMP.zip"
else
log "No UAD files found to backup."
fi

# --- Helper functions ---
clean_dir_uad() {
local dir="$1" ext="$2"
[ -d "$dir" ] || return
cd "$dir" || return
for file in UAD*."$ext"; do
[ -e "$file" ] || continue
keep=false
for k in "${KEEP[@]}"; do
[[ "$file" == *"$k"* ]] && keep=true && break
done
file_path="$dir/$file"
if [ "$keep" = false ]; then
if [ "$DRYRUN" = true ]; then
log "[Dry-Run] Would remove $file_path"
else
sudo rm -rf "$file_path"
log "Removed $file_path"
fi
else
log "Kept (whitelist): $file_path"
fi
done
}

remove_folder_safe() {
local target="$1"
[ -d "$target" ] || return
if [ "$DRYRUN" = true ]; then
log "[Dry-Run] Would remove folder: $target"
else
sudo rm -rf "$target"
log "Removed folder: $target"
fi
}

strip_slices_in_dir() {
local dir="$1"
[ -d "$dir" ] || return
local arch
arch=$(uname -m)
cd "$dir" || return
find . -type f | while read -r pl; do
full="$dir/$pl"
if file "$full" | grep -q "Mach-O"; then
if [ "$DRYRUN" = true ]; then
log "[Dry-Run] Would strip opposite slice from $full"
else
if [ "$arch" = "arm64" ]; then
[ -x "$(command -v lipo)" ] && sudo lipo -remove x86_64 "$full" -output "$full" 2>/dev/null || true
else
[ -x "$(command -v lipo)" ] && sudo lipo -remove arm64 "$full" -output "$full" 2>/dev/null || true
fi
fi
fi
done
}

# --- Mode-based actions ---
if [ "$USAGE_MODE" = "native" ]; then
log "Native-only mode: minimal cleanup, keep UADx."
clean_dir_uad "$AAX_DIR" "aaxplugin"
strip_slices_in_dir "$AU_DIR"
strip_slices_in_dir "$VST_DIR"
strip_slices_in_dir "$VST3_DIR"
elif [ "$USAGE_MODE" = "both" ]; then
log "Both mode: keep native, clean DSP bloat."
clean_dir_uad "$AU_DIR" "component"
clean_dir_uad "$VST_DIR" "vst"
clean_dir_uad "$VST3_DIR" "vst3"
if [ ! -d "$PROTOOLS_APP" ]; then
remove_folder_safe "$AAX_DIR"
else
clean_dir_uad "$AAX_DIR" "aaxplugin"
fi
strip_slices_in_dir "$AU_DIR"
strip_slices_in_dir "$VST_DIR"
strip_slices_in_dir "$VST3_DIR"
elif [ "$USAGE_MODE" = "dsp" ]; then
log "DSP mode: full cleanup."
clean_dir_uad "$AU_DIR" "component"
clean_dir_uad "$VST_DIR" "vst"
clean_dir_uad "$VST3_DIR" "vst3"
if [ ! -d "$PROTOOLS_APP" ]; then
remove_folder_safe "$AAX_DIR"
else
clean_dir_uad "$AAX_DIR" "aaxplugin"
fi
for uadx in "${UADX_DIRS[@]}"; do
remove_folder_safe "$uadx"
done
fi

log "Cleanup finished. See log at $LOG_FILE"
exit 0

 

I don't think UAD is expensive, you can grab the whole bundle through the year depending on the season and a lot of freebies.

 

Thanks!

I was almost going to make my own ,but i went even further in the end, you know when an app cant go away it is a time for the fresh install, i´m afraid tho with the w10 lite i´ll probably bang my head a week from now when i figure out it cant run everything i need it to run. And i´m not going to n´lite it because i´m furthest away from the creativity i can basically get at this point...

I´m not sure if i´ll ever want to install a daw at this point, if i cant make sh*t happen in a few months i´m going to start coding plugins, or whatever it is down the line.