Massey TapeHead VST

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No I don't have much experience with 64-bit plugins, nor wish to, obviously, as my 32-bit platform is working perfectly fine for me, and not just me.

No, I don't like PT, and I don't like Avid as a company. I use Reaper personally. Some of my clients use PT due to their masochistic and cocky nature both, and I take notes from their experience. :D

No, 64 bit plugins don't work the same way for everybody, and you are in a huge minority for whom they do then. However, let me remind you that plugins on OS-X don't work in general as efficiently as on PCs with Windows, and the difference ranges all the way from insignificant to significant, but in favour of 32-bit Windows all the way. That's why I'm running XP so I can run approx. 10% to even 30% more plugins with the same computer at low latency.

I think it would be advisable to take Bluedad's advice now. You keep your toys, and I keep mine, Masterminds. :hihi: Better leave some room for people who's got something more appropriate to say on the matter. :lol:

Yeah, I haven't found the use for the "bright" setting, too, so far, but you never know. ;) Normal, with low drive sounds the best to my ears, generally.

Cheers!
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. - Jiddu Krishnamurti

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TheoM wrote: Hi Kevin, first time i have ever seen someone release native mac plugins that are vst only, not AU. i have seen the reverse of course. but in any case, that's strange, and something i hope you will attend to.

Secondly, i am sincerely surprised you have released a 32 bit version in 2013..this should have gone straight to 64 bit.

very very strange tactics.
It's not strange at all. Massey was for years PT only game, on Mac and Win. Now, that was very unusual in plugin land. OTOH, first step outside Avid realm is perfectly logical: potential VST32 customer base is much larger than any other format (maybe VST64 is close but I really doubt, lot of companies still dont have 64bit versions of their plugins). Have they come up with AU64 as first nonPT port, now that would be beyond super-strange (and it would annoy the hell out of the lots and lots of people). We'll se other formats and 64bit version but VST32 as first nonPT port is more than perfectly logical.


Now back on a Tapehead: really really good, on some sources (drums usualy) spectacualar. But what is even more important is that it uses almost no CPU compared to something of same quality like ReelBus (ReelBus does much more in overall spectrum shaping, but TapeHead can be pushed much more before it starts to sound ugly). Great plugin, and now I know what loads of PTers were raving about for quite some time.

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Anyway, i disagree with so many of the AU/VST/32/64 points here, but most important, let's forget all that for a minute, sorry i started it, we all agree the thing SOUNDS great and is dead easy to dial in a killer sound, so that's the most important.

for what it''s worth, i'd pay 100 bucks for this without a blink when the AU 64 is out, as it really is exactly what i have been looking for.

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audiosabre wrote:On a side note, I bought it. I will buy them all if they are the same calibre. Voodoo I tell you. Voodoo who do what you don't dare do people.
Can someone plz post some AUDIO ? a lot of plugs today do "vodoo" (to some extend) and at the end of the day, one stays with a LOT of "voodoo" plugins and very LITTLE by means of setting them apart... and after a week a so of playing with a given plug, he discovers that actually, they (the new plug and the older ones) all sound pretty much the same... :shrug:
Professional technicians are assessed by the abilities they possess.
Amateur technicians are assessed by the tools they possess - and the amount of those tools, with an obvious preference to the latest hyped ones.
(Gabe Dumbbell)

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^^ why don't you try it, it's free ? Nice plug in by the way, worx well along with little radiator.

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Tp3 wrote:
audiosabre wrote:On a side note, I bought it. I will buy them all if they are the same calibre. Voodoo I tell you. Voodoo who do what you don't dare do people.
Can someone plz post some AUDIO ? a lot of plugs today do "vodoo" (to some extend) and at the end of the day, one stays with a LOT of "voodoo" plugins and very LITTLE by means of setting them apart... and after a week a so of playing with a given plug, he discovers that actually, they (the new plug and the older ones) all sound pretty much the same... :shrug:
No point in posting audio for a plug with virtually 2 controls and such a generous demo.

Honestly, I have a lot these tape thingies: Slate VTM, VintageWarmer, Reelbus, Roundtone, a|m-track, Magnetic, Kramer tape (mpx), .

I'll come back in a week, and if I agree with you (that this sounds the same as any of those plugins), I'll send you a paypal gift for a beer or 2.

Sorry to break it to you, that will not happen. I knew immediately that this was different, ymmv ;)

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audiosabre wrote:
Tp3 wrote:
audiosabre wrote:On a side note, I bought it. I will buy them all if they are the same calibre. Voodoo I tell you. Voodoo who do what you don't dare do people.
Can someone plz post some AUDIO ? a lot of plugs today do "vodoo" (to some extend) and at the end of the day, one stays with a LOT of "voodoo" plugins and very LITTLE by means of setting them apart... and after a week a so of playing with a given plug, he discovers that actually, they (the new plug and the older ones) all sound pretty much the same... :shrug:
No point in posting audio for a plug with virtually 2 controls and such a generous demo.

Honestly, I have a lot these tape thingies: Slate VTM, VintageWarmer, Reelbus, Roundtone, a|m-track, Magnetic, Kramer tape (mpx), .

I'll come back in a week, and if I agree with you (that this sounds the same as any of those plugins), I'll send you a paypal gift for a beer or 2.

Sorry to break it to you, that will not happen. I knew immediately that this was different, ymmv ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gfdxeWeENY

Check out Tapehead vs FerricTDS ("two" vs "six")

Send the money to Tp3 at Stella-Artois.beer.org :P
Professional technicians are assessed by the abilities they possess.
Amateur technicians are assessed by the tools they possess - and the amount of those tools, with an obvious preference to the latest hyped ones.
(Gabe Dumbbell)

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This video got me into playing with the Analogflux Tapebus. Very versatile plugin, to say the least. I find it quite brilliant. Shame the latency is so big when you use the tape models, but even without the tape modeling it sounds very useful and good.

I find TapeHead to sound the best on 0 for me, when using "normal" mode. 0 or just a little bit more. With more "drive" I find other modes more useful.

Thank you for the video link, Tp3. If he [you?] only loudness matched the examples better, it would be easier to pick the best sounding one.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. - Jiddu Krishnamurti

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Tp3 wrote:
audiosabre wrote:
Tp3 wrote:
audiosabre wrote:On a side note, I bought it. I will buy them all if they are the same calibre. Voodoo I tell you. Voodoo who do what you don't dare do people.
Can someone plz post some AUDIO ? a lot of plugs today do "vodoo" (to some extend) and at the end of the day, one stays with a LOT of "voodoo" plugins and very LITTLE by means of setting them apart... and after a week a so of playing with a given plug, he discovers that actually, they (the new plug and the older ones) all sound pretty much the same... :shrug:
No point in posting audio for a plug with virtually 2 controls and such a generous demo.

Honestly, I have a lot these tape thingies: Slate VTM, VintageWarmer, Reelbus, Roundtone, a|m-track, Magnetic, Kramer tape (mpx), .

I'll come back in a week, and if I agree with you (that this sounds the same as any of those plugins), I'll send you a paypal gift for a beer or 2.

Sorry to break it to you, that will not happen. I knew immediately that this was different, ymmv ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gfdxeWeENY

Check out Tapehead vs FerricTDS ("two" vs "six")

Send the money to Tp3 at Stella-Artois.beer.org :P
I love these pointless tests published through youtube videos...I mean, come on, he doesn't even speak about the sample rate. Which one ? 44 100, 88 200, 96 kHz ? Some plugs show some differences depending on the sampling rate you're running your session. Also, a daw like Ableton has not the most accurate audio engine (compared to Nuendo, Ardour, Pyramix to name a few...), so not the best to make a trustful test. And like I said, youtube is just an audio/video bulldozer, and the guy think this can demonstrate something without PCM uncompressed file ?!
This video simply proves that there's a lot of clowns around youtube. You can keep your money Audiosabre. :wink:

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I wouldn't say that it is completely pointless to listen to Youtube videos, since all your audio stuff will eventually finish MP3-ised or Youtube-ised, so it's like a "preview" of what's going to "happen to it". ;) But it would be nice to know about the sample rate, indeed, and as I said - the loudness of the examples should be matched more precisely, so we could evaluate them easier.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. - Jiddu Krishnamurti

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DuX wrote:This video got me into playing with the Analogflux Tapebus. Very versatile plugin, to say the least. I find it quite brilliant. Shame the latency is so big when you use the tape models, but even without the tape modeling it sounds very useful and good.

I find TapeHead to sound the best on 0 for me, when using "normal" mode. 0 or just a little bit more. With more "drive" I find other modes more useful.

Thank you for the video link, Tp3. If he [you?] only loudness matched the examples better, it would be easier to pick the best sounding one.
Not me, dux... just a fella that did this. apparently, more guys did those videos as they tread tapehead as "free" plug, although it is certainly NOT (well, it is... but with limitations. but still... some people treat it as a full-on free version).

Regarding TapeBus : you should try Michael Kingston's famous Otari 5050mx MkII preset (http://www.michaelkingston.fi/files/tapebus_otari.zip). at the time he was saying :
my all time favourite is Voxengo TapeBus as I once managed to match it damn close to Otari MX5050 mkII reel to reel (at 96khz). it's close enough that you can stick it everywhere (in moderation) without ill-effects and mixes will certainly get that tape sound..... Turn off the impulses completely (from the "about" back panel) and then you only need to touch the input gain knob
BTW, afaik, Kingston is a ReelBus (Toneboosters) devotee, now-days.
Professional technicians are assessed by the abilities they possess.
Amateur technicians are assessed by the tools they possess - and the amount of those tools, with an obvious preference to the latest hyped ones.
(Gabe Dumbbell)

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DuX wrote:I wouldn't say that it is completely pointless to listen to Youtube videos, since all your audio stuff will eventually finish MP3-ised or Youtube-ised, so it's like a "preview" of what's going to "happen to it". ;) But it would be nice to know about the sample rate, indeed, and as I said - the loudness of the examples should be matched more precisely, so we could evaluate them easier.
Not really a preview, you're not forced to end with mp3 (what about flac ?), and even with mp3 you can still have a 320kbps which doesn't destruct your audio signal too much. If you end with that kind of sound quality, I think there's a problem.
Concerning loudness, well it's just one aspect of the process. And even if it's not matched perfectly, I think that the differences are too subtle to be noticed by human ears.
Concerning tape emu we should also consider frequency response, dynamic range, saturation, transient processing, stereo image etc...
I can assure that Reelbus, VTM, Kramer Master Tape, Roundtone or Ferrics don't sound the same at all. ;)
It's also important to say that Ferrics isn't a pure Tape machine replica. This plug is intended to apply a tape compression and saturation to the signal, it's more a compressor/saturator than a tape deck emu (compared to VTM, Reelbus or KMT e.g.).

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Tp3 wrote:Check out Tapehead vs FerricTDS ("two" vs "six")

Send the money to Tp3 at Stella-Artois.beer.org :P
LOL :help:

The differences are really apparent when the plugins are driven to distortion.

Two things happen; the distortion sounds different (in the way the sound breaks up), and secondly, the units compress differently. That's not to mention the different colours of sound they imprint on the source.

Okay, here's some audio, 1st 2 bars dry, the rest are 3 different tape plugs (one is Massey TH), driven to exaggerate the differences (roughly level matched, nothing precise)...

http:///audiosabre.com/music/mp3/TapeTest.mp3

Hardly the same now :shrug:

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I'll be the first to admit, what I did there was completely and utterly flawed. But it suits the theme :lol: 8)

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audiosabre wrote:I'll be the first to admit, what I did there was completely and utterly flawed. But it suits the theme :lol: 8)
LOL :help:

Enjoy your beer, Bud :wink:
Professional technicians are assessed by the abilities they possess.
Amateur technicians are assessed by the tools they possess - and the amount of those tools, with an obvious preference to the latest hyped ones.
(Gabe Dumbbell)

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