Apple Logic Pro’s plugins are, for the most part, fantastic. But one conspicuous omission is the lack of a tape saturation plugin.
Glue and Harmonic Distortion
Before digital audio workstations, signals would be summed through a mixing desk and printed to tape. Driving a strong signal to the tape deck would saturate the signal and give it a thick and warm quality. In modern parlance, we often hear buzzwords like “glue” and “harmonic distortion” to describe the cohesive effect recording to tape had on the audio.
In recent years many third party developers have tried their hand at emulating the type of warm saturation and subtle distortion that audio recorded and mixed on analog tape have. McDSP was one of the first with their AC101 and AC202 plugins. UA, Waves, Slate, to name a few, have all followed with variations on a similar theme. They all impart certain qualities that enhance digital audio and impart tape-like qualities to the audio run through them.
Softube Tape
Enter Softube. Their newest offering, Tape, is the latest addition to the smorgasbord of tape emulation plugins out there. Now, no plugin will be a panacea for bad recording, arranging, production, or mixing. But Tape may just finally be the holy grail tape plugin we’ve all been waiting for. It does all the classic tape emulation style processing we’ve come to expect from its predecessors; and more.
And it’s easy to use.
The Basics
To start with, Softube Tape contains three separate tape machine emulations. The differences between the three models are generally subtle, until you start pushing some of the other parameters beyond their normal tolerances. A simple Amount knob allows the user to dial in the amount of saturation desired. Softube got their gain staging right with this one. The Amount knob is programmed with a constant gain algorithm. So, as you dial it up, you won’t be distracted by differences in volume. You focus only on what the tape emulation is doing.
Metering
Metering is simple and efficient. A clever toggle button allows visual monitoring not only of the input signal but of the amount of total harmonic distortion (THD) the plugin is adding to the audio being run through it. The front panel is rounded off with a choice of tape speed settings. In addition to the familiar values, ultra slow tape speeds of 3 3/4 and 1 7/8ths are available in case you want to push the tape effect into a grittier type of distortion.
Additional Controls
If the functions on Tape stopped here, it would be enough to be a great sounding traditional tape emulation style plugin effect. But a click on the side panel reveals some extended parameters that really make this plugin special. A dry/wet knob and separate Input/Output faders allow for a completely different level of gain staging that opens the plugin up to much more colorful processing. Push the input to the tape emulation for more saturation, and balance the output level either with the dedicated fader, or the dry/wet knob, for a richer range of tape-based saturation.
The speed/stability knob introduces a pitch modulation, that when combined with the dry/wet knob, creates a rich tape-based style chorusing effect. I for one can’t wait to try this on some vocals! The High-Frequency Trim and Crosstalk knobs, however, push the traditional aspects of tape saturation to new levels.
High-Frequency Trim
One of the aspects of traditional tape is that the more you drive it and saturate it, the warmer the sound gets. But at the expense of some of the high end. Use the High-Frequency Trim to regulate the amount of high-frequency compensation. When pushed past twelve o’clock, a rich upper sheen is introduced to compensate. I tried it on a drum bus and the high hats came to life. They had a crystal-clear sparkle, without compromising the “tape-iness” introduced with the amount knob. Move the knob to the lower half of its range for more of the vintage tape style warmth and fatness.
Crosstalk Knob
The Crosstalk knob controls the amount of “leakage” between channels on multichannel audio. So, dialing this up on a stereo bus adds the “glue” to the stereo image that we have come to love from tape emulation plugins. The stereo imaging is maintained of course, but the crosstalk adds a cohesiveness to the stereo image that tightens up the whole stereo image. It beefed up the drum bus and master bus I tried it on nicely.
Conclusion
Logic Pro users are generally pretty happy with the effects bundled with the DAW. But, as I mentioned at the top of this review, tape saturation is absent. Tape fills a much-needed void in Logic Pro’s rich collection of effects processors. And it may very well be the last tape emulation plugin you’ll ever need to buy.
Original Source:LogicProExpert.com
Other Softube products
- sale
- bundle
- hot!
- sale
- top rated
- hot!
- top rated
Customer Reviews
Tape machine soft tube
Sounds great I use it as saturation and also drag stop effect at the end of a song I've produced this is really a great sounding plug in I'm blown away by it
Great sound, amazing deal!
Got this plugin on sale.. It really smooths out the mix. The presets are great, and add a bit of saturation and warmth.
Analog glue
Makes subtle changes to the mix. Adds that sweet sound of tape to a mix. Have used it on master mix bus, kick, snare, bass, vocals and guitar tracks. Easy to use and just works.
Brings back memories of 2' Analog Tape
I've been on the fence for awhile regarding 'Analog Tape' emulators, tried few of the highly regarded programs, close but just wasn't convinced that they were actually similar to the Ampex, Studer, Otari I have experience in? With Digital there are many advantages and many great 'Tube Preamps' to warm it all, but after giving Softube Tape a try (really pushing it) It 'Convinced' me. There are many Filters and I wasn't interested in colorization & EQ the tone to the song, to sound like Analog? It can be so subtle but it's a feel when your listing to music that I was looking for.
Softube Tape brings back the days of 2' Analog Tape, 'It's really that Good!' I love the fact it's simple to get great tones, depending on the song even subtle it sounds Beautiful! From solo Piano/Synth to Rock Guitar to full band, Professional results are possible, now I'm a believer! As always Sweetwater are wonderful, helpful & professional.Great Stuff!
This is really good stuff to smooth out those ear piercing transients, couldn't live without it! They really did a great job on this plugin!
FANTASTIC!
The 'Tape' plugin by Softube is an incredibly believable tape emulation machine. Of all the other tape machines I've tried with varying degrees of satisfaction (I won't mention names); I must say this Softube Tape is pure perfection. It is not only a superb tape plugin, it is dead simple to use! Not much precious time wasted getting that 'perfect' sound. Overall, I found the Softube Tape plugin to be the 'holy grail' of tape machine emulators. Until you actually use it, it's hard to convey in mere words how truly accurate the emulation really is. It makes a subtly, yet huge improvement in your final mixes with zero undesirable noise or transients like some others. It also performs flawlessly on individual tracks as well. It provides that 'magic' that glues your whole project together like nothing else. I'm extremely pleased with what this plugin does (and doesn't do). I have so far been heavily reliant on the 'B' setting because of the type of material I'm producing; but 'A & B' are just as amazing depending on the style of audio you are mixing. I give Softube Tape plugin an A+ !
Really excellent
I did a shootout in my own studio between this plugin, Slate's VTM, and UAD Studer A800. Incredibly, I actually preferred this one to the sound of the other two! I like the overall warmth Tape applies to the tracks I used. I think the Slate had better saturation behavior (sounded more like real tape clipping), and the UAD Studer had better control, in my opinion. But SONICALLY, this thing was beautiful. I like tape setting 'B' with the input cranked and the output backed off by the same amount - I mean really crush it. Then use the saturation knob for the magic. It should be noted that you should ALWAYS GAIN STAGE your tracks before doing this. If you're tracks are running at -5dBFS and you do this it's gonna get ugly real quick. Gain stage to -20dBFS (per AES) and let the plugin do the rest of the work. Seriously, if you need to EQ the hell out of your track with this on it, you did something wrong in the recording stage. It's just heavenly sounding.
Warm & Clear
This is my go to plugin now. I have other tape emulatetors, but this one is it. It puts the warmth and shine on anything you put it on. I use it on my master buss for just the right effect. Softube has it going on. Thanks Sweetwater. I got it as soon as it was available.
Great
Does pleasing things to transients in a way the slate vtm never did when I used it. Also the wow and flutter and crosstalk sound legit.
Softube Tape
Item ID: TapePlugSaturation Plug-in with 3 Tape Machine Emulations - Mac/PC AAX Native, VST, VST3, AUMore Info..Windows PCAUSoftware Compatibility
Most software is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers, but check to make sure.
If you're using Pro Tools, AAX plug-ins (or RTAS for older versions) are what you need. Most other Mac DAWs support AU plug-ins. VST is compatible with a number of Mac and Windows programs. Be sure you choose plug-ins that work with your DAW!
To learn more about software compatibility, check out our buying guide.
List Price:Or $5/month* for 24 months$119.99
Tape deck emulations seem to be very much in fashion at the moment. Over the past few years, we've seen all kinds of machines and many types of tapes mimicked in software, and the quality of some of these has been nothing short of astounding.
Waves' latest is unique in the fact that it emulates the first ever Studer multitrack tape machine, built for - and subsequently modified by - Abbey Road Studios in 1965. If you know your recording history, you'll appreciate the significance of this particular unit, which recorded many a classic record, including The Beatles' seminal Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Tape it down
J37 Tape (VST/AU/RTAS/AAX) emulates the fundamental qualities of that very machine, including controls for Wow and Flutter (Rate and Depth), Noise Level and Saturation amount. It runs a selection of three emulated oxide tape formulae at either 15ips or 7.5ips: the 815 from the 70s (clean but characterful), the 811 from the mid 60s (slightly less sharp and more distorted), and the 888 from the early 60s (quite grubby in comparison to the other two).
The audible differences between the three tapes are pretty subtle (especially on the cleaner 15ips mode, and even more so if you don't drive the input level), but that's reflective of the real thing. And this is, after all, a plugin more suited to the tone connoisseur than the casual producer just looking for a quick, obvious fix.
Exploring the presets makes it obvious that the delay section is one of the most valuable parts of the J37, expanding the sonic palette on offer from gentle saturation and colouration to wild delay effects. In this respect, the J37 reminds us of Waves' Kramer Master Tape, which features a similar variety of presets - although the J37 is certainly a lot cleaner, brighter and harder-sounding than the Kramer.
In fact, the plugin has a nice general tone to it, regardless of which tape formula is selected. It does a good job of making whatever you run through it sound slightly firmer and more present. Sometimes it can be quite hard in the upper-midrange in a way that we haven't heard in other tape plugins.
And it's a sensitive beast: push it even a little too hard and the resulting effect can be quite irritating - but then hard, driving distortion wasn't a desirable mix characteristic in the 60s, hence the Bias settings for reducing the level of distortion.
J37 Tape probably isn't an effect you'll want to splash all over every channel unless you're specifically emulating a 60s-flavoured mix - in which case you'd better have a pretty fast computer, since it demands more CPU power than other, similar plugins.
Having not worked in Abbey Road Studios in the 60s, it's hard for us to judge how closely it replicates the nuances of the real thing, but we can say that, applied lightly, J37 Tape definitely evokes at least some of the essence of the classic records that were recorded with its hardware ancestor.
Saturation-based effects have always been Softube’s bread and butter, so it was only a matter of time before it brought us a tape emulation.
Softube Tape Trial
Tape (VST/AU) is about as simple as this kind of thing gets, sacrificing the configuration depth of, say, u-he Satin, for a simple interface that boils the architectural minutiae of its three modelled tape machines (each complete with unspecified tape) down to a streamlined set of controls that no one’s going to have any trouble getting to grips with.
Deck hand
Softube Tape Plugin
The three vintage decks in question aren’t specifically named, but A is described as “Swiss” and popular in the 60s, and therefore can only really be a Studer; B is “transformer- based” and thus, we reckon, probably the Ampex ATR102; and C is “British” - an EMI, we suppose.
Switching between them is done with the Type button, and the Amount knob increases the depth of processing - ie, tape saturation - with separate input overdrive available in the Remote Control panel (see below). Like the machines they mimic, each model has its own distinct sound: Type A is the flattest and most versatile in terms of frequency response, while Type B delivers a fairly hefty boost to the lows and highs, and Type C tilts a touch towards the top end.
Remote Control
Clicking the Remote Control bar down Tape’s right hand edge slides open a panel containing an additional set of parameters.
Speed Stability simulates wow and flutter, dialling in wholly convincing pitch and volume wobbling, and opening Tape up to flanging and chorus effects when used in conjunction with the Dry/Wet mix knob above. High Frequency Trim boosts or attenuates treble response, rather like a shelving filter; while Crosstalk bleeds the left and right channels into each other, profoundly boosting central punch and weight at high settings.
Coreldraw design files free. Finally, activating Noise adds in emulated tape noise that increases in loudness and low- end emphasis as the Tape Speed is reduced, but is effectively imperceptible at high speeds; and the Run and Stop buttons trigger very cool tape start and stop effects, the lengths of which are, annoyingly, entirely dependent on the Tape Speed setting.
The Tape Speed knob steps between five settings, starting at the studio standard 30 inches per second, halving down through 15ips and 71⁄2ips, then dropping all the way to 33⁄4ips and the snail-like 17⁄8ips. As the speed decreases, the top end response rolls off, the distortion increases and the signal progressively deteriorates, from bright and smooth at 30ips to dark, lo-fi and fabulously crunchy at 17⁄8ips.
The VU meters respond smoothly and accurately to changes in Amount and Input gain, showing you exactly how hot you’re running your virtual tape, and can be flipped to THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) mode to visualise the weight of saturation being brought to bear.
It’s on, Tape
Having worked the aforementioned Satin deeply into our retro production workflow some time ago, Tape had its work cut out impressing us, but we fell in love with it pretty much instantly. Satin might have the advantage in terms of power and configurability (not to mention its deployment as a delay effect), but Tape just sounds incredible - as close to the real deal as we’ve ever heard.
On the master bus at 30 or 15ips, it warms the mix and glues its component tracks together beautifully, with each Type yielding very different results; while on individual instruments and vocals, it’s ideal for subtle saturation or creative effects, thanks to the slow speeds and wet/dry flanging. Also worth mentioning is that Presonus’ Studio One DAW can load Tape as a Mix FX plugin (called Tape Multitrack), with the Crosstalk control (see boxout) bleeding discrete tracks into each other rather than just left and right channels.
A dazzlingly authentic tape emulation plugin that you’ll want to build into your template DAW project for use on just about everything (particularly if that DAW happens to be Studio One), Tape is unmissable.