Post by viciousbliss on May 15, 2017 15:32:01 GMT -6
www.overloud.com/products/tapedesk
I've been doing a demo of this and think it's a game-changer. My previous chain consisted of using VCC, usually Trident, first unless I had autotune going, and then using NLS last before a limiter. Took out the tape sims but also used HEAT occasionally. Satin might've been the one I used, but the cpu hit is too much for it to be on many tracks. Phoenix II was cool last I tried it, but didn't give me results that measured up with NLS. With $315 being the lowest price for it, there's no way I could justify buying it. VTM still uses a decent amount of cpu and isn't that tweakable. MCDSP Analog Channel would be something I'd use only if I didn't have something better. Again, it's not too flexible. Enter Tape Desk. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much. But this thing is a serious contender. You've got the whole tape going in and out of the console process simulated. There's 3 consoles you can select. Like with NLS, I preferred the Neve to everything else. The Trident seems to share a lot of the same qualities with the VCC's. The SSL actually seems darker than the other two. When I load the "vocal warmth" setting, it actually works. The recording dial turned to around 3 o'clock sounds better to me than when I do the same thing with other tape sims. Seems to give you the good stuff without the things I don't like on other sims. There's "tolerance" and "mic pre" buttons that can drastically change the sound. So far I've been leaving them off on the busses and using mainly the mic pre on tracks. CPU usage is great. On sessions where I was hovering around 100% and constantly getting Pro Tools AAE errors to where I would have to deactivate tracks before saving, it often takes my cpu usage down to 40-60%. Note that this is running at 96k on a Z800 with two 5670s. Once I buy this, I will try it on another computer that has an I7 6700 on it, which I think it slightly more powerful on my older PT 12 sessions than what the Z800 is running. Sonically, I think Tapedesk gives me far superior results compared to VCC-NLS or VCC-NLS coupled with HEAT or any other tape sim. When used in mastering, I like my results better than what I was getting with VCC-NLS-Satin.
I like to do a lot of covers where I record new vocals since I don't play an instrument or understand how to program virtual ones. When I compare them to the real album versions, even when it's hearthis.at streams vs flac cd rips of the original, the Tapedesk mixes hold up far better. Tapedesk does a real good job pumping up the sound without mucking it up. With the Neve, you may have to cut some of the hissy frequencies if your mix has a lot of them. The great part about the tweakability is that if something is off, you can generally just select a different console, tape speed, or turn on/off the mic pre and/or tolerance. FX blend better too, they aren't sticking out and begging to be gated.
On another side note, I started using Nomad's Pulsetec on the master fader the other day and the clipper on that makes a big difference in getting an album style sound for Rock and Metal. It's become kind of integral to things and really pairs well with Tapedesk. Bx_console is another thing I'm also running, but as I've heard, the tolerance on this is different from the one on TapeDesk. There's a guy on gearslutz who was saying he liked TapeDesk better than his Nebula tapes. Not everyone is in love with it, but for others this is a godsend.
I've been doing a demo of this and think it's a game-changer. My previous chain consisted of using VCC, usually Trident, first unless I had autotune going, and then using NLS last before a limiter. Took out the tape sims but also used HEAT occasionally. Satin might've been the one I used, but the cpu hit is too much for it to be on many tracks. Phoenix II was cool last I tried it, but didn't give me results that measured up with NLS. With $315 being the lowest price for it, there's no way I could justify buying it. VTM still uses a decent amount of cpu and isn't that tweakable. MCDSP Analog Channel would be something I'd use only if I didn't have something better. Again, it's not too flexible. Enter Tape Desk. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much. But this thing is a serious contender. You've got the whole tape going in and out of the console process simulated. There's 3 consoles you can select. Like with NLS, I preferred the Neve to everything else. The Trident seems to share a lot of the same qualities with the VCC's. The SSL actually seems darker than the other two. When I load the "vocal warmth" setting, it actually works. The recording dial turned to around 3 o'clock sounds better to me than when I do the same thing with other tape sims. Seems to give you the good stuff without the things I don't like on other sims. There's "tolerance" and "mic pre" buttons that can drastically change the sound. So far I've been leaving them off on the busses and using mainly the mic pre on tracks. CPU usage is great. On sessions where I was hovering around 100% and constantly getting Pro Tools AAE errors to where I would have to deactivate tracks before saving, it often takes my cpu usage down to 40-60%. Note that this is running at 96k on a Z800 with two 5670s. Once I buy this, I will try it on another computer that has an I7 6700 on it, which I think it slightly more powerful on my older PT 12 sessions than what the Z800 is running. Sonically, I think Tapedesk gives me far superior results compared to VCC-NLS or VCC-NLS coupled with HEAT or any other tape sim. When used in mastering, I like my results better than what I was getting with VCC-NLS-Satin.
I like to do a lot of covers where I record new vocals since I don't play an instrument or understand how to program virtual ones. When I compare them to the real album versions, even when it's hearthis.at streams vs flac cd rips of the original, the Tapedesk mixes hold up far better. Tapedesk does a real good job pumping up the sound without mucking it up. With the Neve, you may have to cut some of the hissy frequencies if your mix has a lot of them. The great part about the tweakability is that if something is off, you can generally just select a different console, tape speed, or turn on/off the mic pre and/or tolerance. FX blend better too, they aren't sticking out and begging to be gated.
On another side note, I started using Nomad's Pulsetec on the master fader the other day and the clipper on that makes a big difference in getting an album style sound for Rock and Metal. It's become kind of integral to things and really pairs well with Tapedesk. Bx_console is another thing I'm also running, but as I've heard, the tolerance on this is different from the one on TapeDesk. There's a guy on gearslutz who was saying he liked TapeDesk better than his Nebula tapes. Not everyone is in love with it, but for others this is a godsend.