best vst tape simulation?

[bugs]

to this day all tape emus suck and sound nothing like the real deal. waste of money and time

Most people disagree with that statement in regards to the UAD Ampex.

Most ppl think their NI FM8 is great

Now we now what you hate, please tell us some you really like. Please!

[djanthonyw]

Nebula is great.

[djeroen]

And part 3 is out:

http://www.toneboosters.com/reelproject3/

Now with some initial simulation results and comparison with real tape.

[yerusalan]

to this day all tape emus suck and sound nothing like the real deal. waste of money and time

Most people disagree with that statement in regards to the UAD Ampex.

Most ppl think their NI FM8 is great

Now we now what you hate, please tell us some you really like. Please!

I said nothing of hate. You're imagening. I'm saying I haven't heard a good tape compression/distortion in plugs. There have been threads with tape examples. Dig them and try to emulate. Also check on gearslutz raw and processed samples. I'd love to have a plug to do that so thanx if you do that.

[U-o]

And part 3 is out:

http://www.toneboosters.com/reelproject3/

Now with some initial simulation results and comparison with real tape.

I like it so much. Jeroen rulezzzzz.

[davidka]

For me, the examples showed that the simulations took the first steps right, and pointed out the shape of characters well... Crispy TEAC, and round ReVox.
What's still remaining is some sharpening. The simulations sounded somewhat 'muddy' compared to their real-world versions.

While having their respective sound, the originals still retained their accurate and clean behaviour. I suppose those are the hardest remaining bits to recreate. So I might be Captain Obvious for a sec, but I'd like to ask: don't you think that there may be too much saturation on the virtual ones?


I've never used tapes in my short life. I have consumer hi-fi equipment, and I'm prone to placebo effects

[ObsoleteAcc99]

did anyone try the newish steinberg/yamaha one?

[gpunk]

And part 3 is out:

http://www.toneboosters.com/reelproject3/

Now with some initial simulation results and comparison with real tape.

Seems the Revox simulation is much brighter than the real thing, is this intended ?
I found the Teac simulation to be pretty close to my ears to be honest.

Would love to hear some attempts at simulating a very very hot signal onto the tape (Old trick for breakbeats and stuff)
Be very interested to see if that could be matched at all

[yerusalan]

I think there's a long way to go still. Tape sweetness is missing and it sounds digital and sort of flat compared to tape. Example 4 shows best tape gives you that analogue feel and simulations just don't. Also, tape can sound much better than those examples. Hers's a link for a good tape representation http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-sho ... l-mix.html

[djeroen]

Seems the Revox simulation is much brighter than the real thing, is this intended ?
I found the Teac simulation to be pretty close to my ears to be honest.

Would love to hear some attempts at simulating a very very hot signal onto the tape (Old trick for breakbeats and stuff)
Be very interested to see if that could be matched at all

It's the other way around; the Teac sounds brighter than the Revox.
These examples are actually intended to investigate the effect of hot
signal levels. The recordings were made with peaks at +15 and sometimes
even +20 dB (!). You can clearly hear the Revox going into saturation.

[djeroen]

I think there's a long way to go still. Tape sweetness is missing and it sounds digital and sort of flat compared to tape. Example 4 shows best tape gives you that analogue feel and simulations just don't. Also, tape can sound much better than those examples. Hers's a link for a good tape representation http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-sho ... l-mix.html

Thanks for the link - interesting stuff. I do have an issue with these
examples - all tape recordings are substantially louder than the original.
This will give a substantial bias in the quality evaluation.

Tape smoothness is currently the topic of further investigation...

[bduffy]

I think there's a long way to go still. Tape sweetness is missing and it sounds digital and sort of flat compared to tape. Example 4 shows best tape gives you that analogue feel and simulations just don't. Also, tape can sound much better than those examples. Hers's a link for a good tape representation http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-sho ... l-mix.html

Thanks for the link - interesting stuff. I do have an issue with these
examples - all tape recordings are substantially louder than the original.
This will give a substantial bias in the quality evaluation.

Tape smoothness is currently the topic of further investigation...

Hey djeroen, thanks for the articles, very interesting.

May I ask: is all this leading up to a more advanced Toneboosters tape sim?

[yerusalan]

Yes, we always need to match levels.

[djeroen]

I think there's a long way to go still. Tape sweetness is missing and it sounds digital and sort of flat compared to tape. Example 4 shows best tape gives you that analogue feel and simulations just don't. Also, tape can sound much better than those examples. Hers's a link for a good tape representation http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-sho ... l-mix.html

Ouch - just discovered that the initial files were accidentally
generated without proper anti-aliasing filters and oversampling.
No wonder they sounded 'digital'

The old ones are now replaced by more representative ones.

And yes; if these attempts result in a better tape sim than
good old ferox, it's likely that it will result in a new
plugin

[bduffy]

I think there's a long way to go still. Tape sweetness is missing and it sounds digital and sort of flat compared to tape. Example 4 shows best tape gives you that analogue feel and simulations just don't. Also, tape can sound much better than those examples. Hers's a link for a good tape representation http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-sho ... l-mix.html

Ouch - just discovered that the initial files were accidentally
generated without proper anti-aliasing filters and oversampling.
No wonder they sounded 'digital'

The old ones are now replaced by more representative ones.

And yes; if these attempts result in a better tape sim than
good old ferox, it's likely that it will result in a new
plugin

Exciting!