brief unscientific example of Digidesign's Reel Tape Saturation on 2buss

[jdjustice]

if anyone is interested, here is part of a track i recorded of a song by Belle & Sebastian, 'The Chalet Lines', where i applied Reel Tape Saturation on the 2buss.
the track is just electric piano and voice but i think you can hear the effect of the plugin well.

the settings were as follows:
Reel Tape Saturation with the following settings:

DRIVE: +4dB; SPEED: 15ips; NOISE: off; BIAS: -0.5dB; OUTPUT: +2dB; CAL ADJUST: +6; MACHINE TYPE: Swiss; OUTPUT: Hi-Output.


i have attached a screenshot of the Reel Tape Saturation settings.
the upload function is not working so i have provided links to the clips on my website:


Original Clip
Reel Tape Saturation on 2buss



.........

[bcgood]

The sample with the Reel Tape is louder so that kind of skews perception. Having said that I do like the Reel Tape, it sounds nice. Thanks for posting that!

bcgood

[jdjustice]

Originally Posted by bcgood

The sample with the Reel Tape is louder so that kind of skews perception.

yep the levels are not matched so it isn't a very fair example... that's why i said 'unscientific'...

Thanks for posting that!

sure!


cheers.
~j.d.

[3rd world order]

i dont like it at all... it sounds a lil pushed back and oddly distorted.. it doesnt sound like tape to me.. there's a harder edge to the distortion artifacts than tape... it kind of tries to do the depth thing.. but.. i'm not impressed.

no drums??? how can you test a tape sound without drums?

[jdjustice]

Originally Posted by 3rd world order

i dont like it at all... it sounds a lil pushed back and oddly distorted.. it doesnt sound like tape to me.. there's a harder edge to the distortion artifacts than tape... it kind of tries to do the depth thing.. but.. i'm not impressed.

no drums??? how can you test a tape sound without drums?

well it could be the settings i chose... i just went with what i personally liked which was to drive it a bit harder than you might desire for certain tracks.
i like the effect but obviously not everyone will.

as far as the drums: i don't own any and i don't play.
Skip Burrows of Sunrise Sound mentioned in another thread that he would post some more professional examples of this plugin.
including, i think, drums!

check the thread in the High End forum for updates/more examples to come soon!

[3rd world order]

Originally Posted by jdjustice

well it could be the settings i chose... i just went with what i personally liked which was to drive it a bit harder than you might desire for certain tracks.
i like the effect but obviously not everyone will.

its just trying to do the impossible and failing... *shrug*

who wants bottled beer taste in a can anyhow?

[thearnicasync]

Wow.

I recorded on 2" ifor the first time in a couple years last week. After I got used to the frequency response, I'm loving, loving, loving it. So much easier to mix bass!

In any case, even on this song, the difference from computer to tape is uncannily similar to what I've noticed going from computer to 2" in the last week...at least how I'd begun to qualify it anyway. Sounds a lot more like tape than the Fatso, that's for sure.

I wish I still had my Fatso.

[The Reel Thing]

It does sound ok, it's nice - but it doesn't have anything to do with the way tape sounds. It's another plug-in that pretends it is something that it is not.

Originally Posted by jdjustice

the settings were as follows:
Reel Tape Saturation with the following settings:

DRIVE: +4dB; SPEED: 15ips; NOISE: off; BIAS: -0.5dB; OUTPUT: +2dB; CAL ADJUST: +6; MACHINE TYPE: Swiss; OUTPUT: Hi-Output.

This makes no sense at all. How many nWb, that's what counts. dB contains no information about tape saturation.
A bias of -0,5 won't work with any tape at 15 ips.
Bias information itself only makes sense in conjunction with the input EQ settings.

From what I see here, this plug-in could be something like a racecar simulator or one of these programs where you can pretend you're a pilot and fly Boeing 747s. It's fun, but the real world is different and requires a couple more basics.

Am I wrong?

THE REEL THING - Real Music Production

[jdjustice]

Originally Posted by The Reel Thing

This makes no sense at all. How many nWb, that's what counts. dB contains no information about tape saturation.
A bias of -0,5 won't work with any tape at 15 ips.
Bias information itself only makes sense in conjunction with the input EQ settings.

From what I see here, this plug-in could be something like a racecar simulator or one of these programs where you can pretend you're a pilot and fly Boeing 747s. It's fun, but the real world is different and requires a couple more basics.

Am I wrong?

THE REEL THING - Real Music Production

i am sure you are right.
i know very little about recording with actual tape.
i appreciate the plugin because i like how it sounds, and even if it doesn't closely approximate tape in your opinion, i will still use it because of what it does to the sound.
not to mention i could never afford to record to real tape on a regular basis (it might be something that i would do to a finished album).


cheers.
~j.d.

[norman_nomad]

I like the original much better. The "tape" version sounds unnecessarily distorted and a little pinched.

[severe]

I like both. I do get what the plugin is doing and I like it, but I have to agree with norman here. Maybe it's the settings used, but it does sound a bit pinched to me as well.

If you could retain a bit more of the openness of the orignal, while keeping some of the tape(ish) qualities you've given it, I'd like it more.

Thanks for the example.

[lorenzo]

Hi,

i really like this singer's voice a lot ( yours ?) and the interpretation of this song.

How did you process the voice ?

Thank you.

Regards

[jdjustice]

Originally Posted by lorenzo

Hi,

i really like this singer's voice a lot ( yours ?) and the interpretation of this song.

How did you process the voice ?

Thank you.

Regards

thanks, it's my voice.... but i thought the link was no longer functioning?
i can repost the cllps and make the links work again if there is any interest.
i barely remember how i processed the voice but i can pull up the PT session and check if you like.

cheers,
~j.d.

[jdjustice]

ok i fixed the link and will look into the PT file for more info.

[lorenzo]

Thank you very much jdjustice.

You have a pleasant voice, i will listen to your album.

Regards

[macleodgrant]

i actually liked the way the plugin softened a certain ferquency around 4-5k and made it less harsh. oddly i didn't notice much dynamic change at all which is i do with duy tape. so it seemed mostly spectral

[3rd world order]

totally random thought:

if i were to design a tape sim plug-in i'd start with granular synthesis... simulating the different size of iron oxide particles stuck on plastic... and the speed in which they respond to being charged... IMO that's the key to getting the depth.. like using multiple levels of blur in photoshop.

AFAIK no one has even attempted this... but who knows, maybe they have. i think it's the biggest reason tape sounds like it does.

now back to your regularly scheduled..

[wildpark]

i like the original more

comes front like api do

have your try mcdsp channel ac1 and the duy !? this comes closer too a tape efekkt how suite your voice id think better

beside i own the digi tape bundle and use it sometimes but more cranesong and mcdsp