LTL Tape 79

Looks cool. Thinking about picking a couple up to try with my Chroma's. I do like the Hitmaker though so that would be a bit of a loss but this feels more unique.

It appears to be a stereo unit, so only one is needed for the SB II. Very tempting. But as said, the Hitmaker has to come out. Hopefully LTL is making some progress on some sort of multi-module accessory. Then it is tempting to have all their modules!

I think the Hitmaker is also a stereo unit. I have not opened up my Silver Bullet 2. drBill is a genius with all this and may be able to respond to all your questions.
Also drBill - maybe you can also give us an update on an expansion unit for all these modules. I want all of them!

I have to say though, I love the SB2. It does so much.

A single Colour module is not going to be able to be stereo. They go in a single 500 series slot.

There are two products here.

TAPE•79 is a stereo module for the SB mk2.

TAPE•C is a mono colour module.

Hitmakers are mono Colour modules.  Hitmaker comp is a stereo Mojo module.  For SBmk2 it's one Tape 79 stereo Mojo module, or 2 Tape-C mono Colour modules.  

Yes.  I've been using Tape•79 for months now inside one of my SBmk2's.  More info on the product announcement in the other sub-forum.  This is a repost, so apologies if you're already seen it.  It's my $0.02 as relayed to another interested party on the other thread. These are from my personal perspectives, experience with tape, and listening sessions with the LTL Tape•79 modules. Might be helpful for what to expect - and what NOT to expect. . Tape•79/TapeC is nothing like Zulu.  I'll just leave it at that.  Other than to say it's less expensive.  It is a very detailed and proprietary amalgamation of phase relationships, head bump, HF contouring, EQ curves, etc..  I.e. - it's goal is to sound like tape used to sound, and have as simple a workflow as tape used to have.  It's goal is not to sound like an effect.  It is an analog model and took well over a year of design and decades of research.



"Question : Will hitting it with a mono drum buss with the drive cranked to max give a blown out tape sound?"


I'll give my perspective, and let Brad give his - and I probably won't be able to answer your question for you even though I own a ton of "saturation" devices. For ME - growing up on real tape machines and consoles in recording studios - for me - "tape" is not an effect - it’s just the medium we recorded and mixed too. A medium that left its mark on the music of that era. A medium that is much sought after - and often a medium that is sometimes misunderstood.

The era of "tape" as an "effect" came along after digital had wiped out recording with tape, and relegated it to the dinosaur era of recording. IMO, the era of saturation, distortion, drive, clipping, etc. is most decidedly the stepchild of digital recording - not of the tape era of recording - as something was lost when we transitioned to digital.

Back in the analog tape days, if we recorded something that had saturation, distortion, clipped transients, etc. on it we would have been slapped as a sloppy, ignorant or tone-deaf intern/assistant. :cool: (Haha!! Been there, done that, got the participation trophy! :heh: ) Those artifacts that we now seek were all things we were taught to fight AGAINST back in the day. Still, due to the medium of tape itself, they were things that inevitably crept in to the recordings - to one extent or another.

Now....don't get me wrong - those things are cool. And there are a TON of boxes that do just that - including a bunch from LTL - the Silver Bullet mk2, Chroma, Mr.Focus, etc. along with a bunch of colour modules and Mojo modules that I dearly love and use daily. Many were designed to do exactly what you are looking for. (I'd suggest a SBmk2 for you - probably with the HM4000 in the C slot)

But Tape C is/was designed to simulate tape by folks who worked years (decades) on tape machines and understand their strengths and quirks. It was designed to give those glorious sonic layers of varnish - not to jack up the signal — there are other tools for that - many of which would would wonderfully hand in hand with Tape C / Tape•79.

IMO, I would have given most anything 25 years ago for what LTL is putting out for ridiculously inexpensive amounts today. And to be up front and 100% transparent, that's why I teamed up with Brad for the Silver Bullet, and a following era of products. Again to be transparent - I had pretty much nothing to do with the Tape C conception and design.

Hope that helps define what Tape C IS and what it ISN'T.




One users thoughts (not mine)

Thanks for the kind words.  I don't know about all the genius stuff though......

There are many new products on the horizon, but only so much time in the day and money in the bank.  LOL.  There are a couple of things that have priority but I hope we will see an expansion unit soon - but "soon" of course is relative.  But it is definitely on the horizon to make an expansion host to host the Mojo modules.  Until then, I think I may need to get a 4th mk2.....  heh heh

On the mojo modules - YES!!  They are brilliant.  I'm loving the hitmaker 4000's (which I moved out of my mk2 and into a MrFocus to make room for more true Mojo modules.  The Locomotive Fairi-Mu is BRILLIANT!!  Hitmaker comp is so nice - but I do have other options for SSL style buss comps.  And the upcoming (can't wait to get my hands on one) AudioScape LA-76 looks to be amazing : A mash up between an 1176 output amplifier circuitry, and LA4 compression.  So many good things on the horizon.

Hang in there.  We got your back!!

My Mx5050 mk ii won't function now but after running some mixes through it I just remember thinking "ahhhh. Now it sounds like music".

Maybe this would give me the same feeling. Would have to be tape C though. Don't have a DB or a full time job to buy it. Unfortunately I'm a musician and audio engineer 😆

Yes!!

To be crystal clear as there is still some confusion by others :

The Silver Bullet mk2 will accept EITHER :

(1) Stereo Mojo module which is a proprietary format which at this point in time only fits inside a LTL Silver Bullet mk2 chassis.  Tape•79 the Mojo Module product.

OR

(2) Mono Colour modules which are a DIYRE format (Colour) that have many hosts options.  The LTL options are the various Chroma modules, as well as MrFocus.  Tape C is the Colour module product.


Tape C is sonically identical to Tape•79 with the exception that Tape•79 is stereo while Tape C is mono, and Tape•79 has more full featured contouring options (more dip switches for changing the sonics).  And of course, they have differing footprints to fit their prospective hosts.

Of note : Personally, I have my Tape•79 set to the settings you see on the Colour version photography.  I.e. Head bump ON, and HF contour (flat) OFF.

I believe Brad refers to this as an Ampex machine running 456.

Thanks for clarifying this.  To add a few more details.  TAPE•79 has additional dipswitches that TAPE•C doesn’t have so you can further customized and get more granular with the emulation.

Brad