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Post by Martin John Butler on Oct 2, 2015 18:17:09 GMT -6
I had the Slate tape sim, and it was buggy, so they let me return it and I then bought the FG-X, which proceeded to not work in 64 bits for two years!
The thing I felt about the Slate sim, was it sucked, was way too obvious and just changed the sound in a much too grainy way.
I feel UAD's Ampex tape sim doesn't mess things up, if you tweak the input and output, you can control the saturation nicely. I use it almost all the time, happily. I also have a couple of Waves tape sims, and they just suck even more than the Slate sim, and sound fake to me.
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Post by Guitar on Oct 2, 2015 18:35:04 GMT -6
I think it probably helps that the UAD tape was designed by an ex-NASA scientist. No joke! That's pretty cool in my book.
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Post by dandeurloo on Oct 2, 2015 19:57:12 GMT -6
Yeah, I would have used it on this current mix to give it that retro vibe. My mastering guy has one so I will ask him to give it a shot.
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Post by donr on Oct 2, 2015 20:18:57 GMT -6
I use UAD Studer on some tracks if I think it sounds better. Sometimes it's what I'm looking for. Ampex on the mix the same. I've used Slate VTM with no noise and much lower input and higher output gain than you ever would with a real tape machine, so the effect was subtle.
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Post by ragan on Oct 2, 2015 20:45:27 GMT -6
I use UAD Studer on some tracks if I think it sounds better. Sometimes it's what I'm looking for. Ampex on the mix the same. I've used Slate VTM with no noise and much lower input and higher output gain than you ever would with a real tape machine, so the effect was subtle. If I use VTM it's usually like that too. Like input at 8 o clock and output at 4 or something.
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Post by porkyman on Oct 2, 2015 22:12:09 GMT -6
I have always wondered about this. anamodaudio.com/ats1.htmlIt cost to much IMHO otherwise I would probably have one now. Actually, a mix I am working on right now could really use it! ive got one. its pretty awesome. its the best thing ever on drum bus. also tracking synth/guitars. i dont like it on the 2bus though, but i dont have the atr 102 card either, which is what most people would use there. i pretty much only use the 351 card. im not 100% sure its worth the money. i know i had no business spending that kind of money on it.. thought ide buy to try and sell it bc i had to know.... havent been able to let it go. im too afraid of not having it.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Oct 2, 2015 22:41:18 GMT -6
I preferred real Studer tape machines to other brands, but the UAD Ampex was so good, I never felt like I needed the Studer sim too.
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Post by odyssey76 on Oct 3, 2015 5:43:40 GMT -6
I had VTM for a year or so. The thing I liked most about it was the little bit of depth it seemed to add. When I got my VP28's I realized they were all I needed if I want to smooth some transients and/or add subtle punch to individual instruments or mixes when used on the 2 bus. I've been spending a lot of time pairing mics with preamps and adjusting mic distance for real depth. Nothing adds depth like mic distance, placement and..........transformers. Like Ward and @ porkyman said, get in right at tracking and the tape sims will probably make your analog tracks sound worse.
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Post by jimwilliams on Oct 3, 2015 9:48:57 GMT -6
These are all filter/distortion algo's used to add dirt digitally. I can't imgaine any of them are close to real analog tape non-linearities. If you find a need to add a certain amount of distortion to your mix, an analog box like the Aphex Type III exciter can do it without digital artifacts and errors.
Given that it is harder than ever with digital DAW's to present a listenable product, adding more dirt to that seems like watching MJ do the moonwalk.
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Post by joseph on Oct 3, 2015 11:19:59 GMT -6
I have thought about this a lot, and the only plugin that can be made not to degrade the audio more than I care for is u-he Satin. Unlike the other tape sims, it can be extremely transparent. Reason is you have control over all parameters, and the physical/theoretical interactions appear to be actually modeled with great sophistication, not just the general vibe, which is what most tape sims seem to do. Things like asperity, ips, head bump, bias, NAB/IEC curves. All on a per track/group basis, which can make a big difference to the variable texture. So you can soften transients slightly, lets say, or add subtle movement among groups, but can choose to not add much noise or shift the balance entirely, the way the other tape sims do. Has delay/flange, dolby decoding. Sounds closer to me than any effects box outside of a fulltone tape echo. uhedownloads.heckmannaudiogmb.netdna-cdn.com/manuals/Satin-user-guide.pdfThese guys make Diva, which is an extremely comprehensive and filter accurate analog synth emulation. That said, like others here, often I just use outboard line stages, compressors and a mixer to do similar things.
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Post by phrazemaster on Oct 3, 2015 20:19:44 GMT -6
I DIY'ed a bunch of SoundSkulptor stuff, including their Stereo Tape Simulator. It's a box that lets you dial in various amounts of tape sim using supposably real tape recorder electronics, or clones of them. It was a fun build btw. I've gotten mixed results, no pun intended. Sometimes I convince myself it sounds a bit bigger and cooler with it on a vocal; other times I bypass and end up liking the sound right out of my M49 clone into the Lavry Blues. I do find it hard to use because it seems on the lowest possible setting it still oversaturated sometimes, and I end up using it on 1 out of 10 on input and then 10/10 on output. Then I'm rather bummed because it's no cheap thing, and I want to use it but it ruins some sources (or I ruin them with my use of it). From the website: "The STS includes the electronics of a classical tape recorder with variable gain input stage, pre-emphasis stage, recording amplifier, constant current driven tape head, playback amplifier with 6dB per octave attenuation, NAB de-emphasis stage, filter emulating the effect of head gap and differential output stage. The heads and magnetic tape behavior is simulated by the magnetic core of several coupled coils. The STS can simulate the tape recorder rolling at 3 different speeds: 7.5 ips, 15 ips and 30 ips. The tape speed modifies the bandwidth and the saturation of the magnetic core."
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Post by rickcarson on Oct 5, 2015 13:45:50 GMT -6
I have tried most all of them. They seem to cause more damage then good to my ears. Lots of strange phasey stuff happening. I basically never use them now. The only one that really lives on for me is phoenix.
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Post by dandeurloo on Oct 5, 2015 15:25:02 GMT -6
I use Phonenix but that is a whole different league.
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Post by joseph on Oct 5, 2015 16:13:43 GMT -6
Btw Sascha Eversmeier, the guy who coded Satin, is the same guy who did Spitfish, which was one of the most transparent plugin deessers for mastering until Essence came along.
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Post by mrholmes on Oct 5, 2015 16:42:43 GMT -6
I think it probably helps that the UAD tape was designed by an ex-NASA scientist. No joke! That's pretty cool in my book. Sounds like a very smart marketing move to me.
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Post by tonycamphd on Oct 5, 2015 17:37:55 GMT -6
I think it probably helps that the UAD tape was designed by an ex-NASA scientist. No joke! That's pretty cool in my book. Sounds like a very smart marketing move to me. might even be more savvy to get an ex-studer tape machine designer to design it? 8)
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Post by phrazemaster on Oct 5, 2015 23:30:54 GMT -6
might even be more savvy to get an ex-studer tape machine designer to design it? 8) After faking a moon landing, faking analog tape should be easy (LOL!). They didn't fake the landing!! They faked the launch.
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Post by rickcarson on Oct 6, 2015 7:17:32 GMT -6
I think it probably helps that the UAD tape was designed by an ex-NASA scientist. No joke! That's pretty cool in my book. Where can I confirm this information?
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Post by Guitar on Oct 6, 2015 9:20:43 GMT -6
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,817
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Post by ericn on Oct 6, 2015 9:43:44 GMT -6
Spend a day in Clear lake Texas I can find you a hundred ex NASA Scientist at Starbucks in an hour.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,817
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Post by ericn on Oct 6, 2015 9:44:52 GMT -6
Sounds like a very smart marketing move to me. might even be more savvy to get an ex-studer tape machine designer to design it? 8) That's an analog guy!
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Post by mrholmes on Oct 6, 2015 9:49:17 GMT -6
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Post by jimwilliams on Oct 6, 2015 9:55:47 GMT -6
IME, aerospace EE's were those tone deaf guys that couldn't tell if a guitar was out of tune. I wouldn't trust one to determine audio quality perameters. I would let him check all the math for errors.
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ardis
Full Member
Posts: 19
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Post by ardis on Oct 6, 2015 10:30:03 GMT -6
I do like TB Reelbus. Seems to be very natural and can add a lot if you want it too. The Glue and Master presets are great places to start. Inexpensive too! There are shootouts with it VTM and Waves offerings. Seemed again to be very natural and unhyped in the shootouts which is good for me since I tend to saturate with Mixbus. I like a bunch of small steps.....
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Post by theshea on May 21, 2019 2:25:43 GMT -6
I do like TB Reelbus. Seems to be very natural and can add a lot if you want it too. The Glue and Master presets are great places to start. Inexpensive too! There are shootouts with it VTM and Waves offerings. Seemed again to be very natural and unhyped in the shootouts which is good for me since I tend to saturate with Mixbus. I like a bunch of small steps..... Digging up this old thread ... as my teac a3300sx machine‘s right motor reel died i did some tests with tonebooster reelbus. I always liked what the teac did to snare and kick channels. I could get really really close withe reelbus and the glue II setting! Amazing plugin. So, considering all the hassle with the teac, sending tracks out and in, aligning them etc. i don‘t plan to repair the teac. I can always use it as a reelbus does some nice smoothing of the drum transients and adds a tiny tiny bit of 3d to my ears. Playing with the spectrum and bias knobs helped getting close to the real reel thing ... and not hitting the plugin to hard. so another vote for the cheap reelbus!
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