Best tape emulator?

[PALU]

I did a video where I abuse some of the tape plugins - it's too much over the top for your use I fear, but maybe you can find something interesting in the extreme settings I was looking for a tape emulation as an creative effect - not for tape mastering/mixing to tape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3GBR0vFyg

[Kinh]

This discussion is really interesting. Its good to get opinions by the users rather than manufacturers. Gathering this information is reassuring too. Im a heck of a lot more confident after reading this about buying something Im gonna use more than twice.

Discussions like these are Mr.Impulse-Buy's worst enemy. Keep up the fight fellas!

[EvilDragon]

Do you think I have knowledge about every Satin user

No, but I think you're purposefully dropping shit on u-he when you don't seem to have any real evidence (forum polls are not evidence) for your claims - or experience. Did you even use Satin yourself for a longer amount of time, explored what it can do? You're just repeating what a handful of people on GS said. Bandwagons and all that. Newsflash - GS is not the entirety of u-he userbase, GS is not the entirety of audio professionals (or amateurs), GS doesn't always have "the best ears", in fact GS can be full of shit a lot of the time.

Still, sometimes it's a fun place to be in. But seriously, most other times it's quite annoying to see people bicker there for stupid reasons back and forth.

[bmrzycki]

No, but I think you're purposefully dropping shit on u-he...

Sadly it seems he dislikes most of the u-he product line:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7#p6306747
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 0#p6296040
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7#p6277537
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 8#p6260948
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 6#p6257556
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 3#p6247913
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 8#p6240048

And that's just over the last 2-3 months.

To be fair, he does have Diva listed in his top 10 synths:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 9#p6247569

But I struggled to find a post where he stated he preferred anything u-he over another product.

[do_androids_dream]

No, but I think you're purposefully dropping shit on u-he...

Sadly it seems he dislikes most of the u-he product line:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7#p6306747
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 0#p6296040
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7#p6277537
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 8#p6260948
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 6#p6257556
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 3#p6247913
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 8#p6240048

And that's just over the last 2-3 months.

To be fair, he does have Diva listed in his top 10 synths:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 9#p6247569

But I struggled to find a post where he stated he preferred anything u-he over another product.

Although this is kind of relevant I find it pretty creepy when a member does a stalk job on another members posts like this..

[bmrzycki]

Although this is kind of relevant I find it pretty creepy when a member does a stalk job on another members posts like this..

I object to the term stalking in this context.

I've read threads here for about 10 years and you start to see preferences/patterns by regular posters. That's no more stalking than recalling a co-worker has a nut allergy.

As for generating the post, it took all of 15 minutes using "search users posts" to show concrete evidence instead of hearsay or personal attacks. These posts are in the public, even google indexes them. This kind of evidence gathering is no different than posting the top donors for politicians and then correlating it to the views they present. Nothing about this post shows personal information about him or obtained in ways that required anything unethical or illegal.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Anyhoo, back on topic...here are my thoughts on the tape sims I own or have at least some experience with:

U-he Satin: Excellent. It's got a crazy wide range of sound, does the high frequency compression thing better than VTM, and even the noise sounds right. The delay and flanger are nice additions too. Not to mention the noise reduction options which really enhance transients in a cool "Fleetwood Mac Rumours" kind of way (at least that's what comes to mind for me when I turn it on). Plus it's very low latency which means I reach for this first (though high CPU).

Slate VTM: Also excellent. Soundwise, I think Satin has a slight edge (or at least, the Satin preset I use by default I prefer to VTM). The downside to VTM is it can be almost too transparent at times. Satin can do clean or color equally well, whereas I could never get VTM to sound quite as varied.

Tonebooster Reelbus: I like this mostly for more lofi stuff, but it can do high end tape well too. It's closer to Satin than VTM in that regard. Very good for the money.

UAD Studer: I remember being wowed when it first came out, but I think that was more due to the cumulative effect of adding saturation to a bunch of channels. Not a fan.

UAD Ampex: I really liked this. Like a LOT. I only got so far as a demo, and didn't buy because I'm just avoiding the UAD platform as much as possible these days, but if it were a native plugin I might not have been able to resist.

Waves J37: This one reminded me more of the UAD Studer in that it felt more like a waveshaper than a proper tape emulation. Perhaps I'm being a bit too hard on it, but as a huge Beatles fan, I was expecting to be immediately reminded of "that sound" and frankly, didn't think this did the job (whereas Satin can get me in that ballpark).

[zerocrossing]

GS doesn't always have "the best ears", in fact GS can be full of shit a lot of the time.

As a Gear Slutz member I can attest to being full of sh!t a lot of the time.

[zerocrossing]

I did a video where I abuse some of the tape plugins - it's too much over the top for your use I fear, but maybe you can find something interesting in the extreme settings I was looking for a tape emulation as an creative effect - not for tape mastering/mixing to tape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3GBR0vFyg

This is exactly how I like to use a tape plug in. Thanks for this. Hopefully I'll get a chance to listen to it on decent speakers later, but by the comments I can see that we basically agree on things. Still, there's a bunch you tried out that I never did.

[Harry_HH]

Although this is kind of relevant I find it pretty creepy when a member does a stalk job on another members posts like this..

I object to the term stalking in this context.

I've read threads here for about 10 years and you start to see preferences/patterns by regular posters. That's no more stalking than recalling a co-worker has a nut allergy.

As for generating the post, it took all of 15 minutes using "search users posts" to show concrete evidence instead of hearsay or personal attacks. These posts are in the public, even google indexes them. This kind of evidence gathering is no different than posting the top donors for politicians and then correlating it to the views they present. Nothing about this post shows personal information about him or obtained in ways that required anything unethical or illegal.

I have to agree with
do_androids_dream
in this case. Although "stalking" may not be the correct word, finding and listing someones threads is not the correct way to have discussion in these kind of Forums.
"Public" in these days are so much different information that this argument is not good - I wouldn't want someone collect all the data from tax records (possible in my country) to my favorite color and all between, and use that data as an argument. Despite, people can change opinions over the time.

[do_androids_dream]

Although this is kind of relevant I find it pretty creepy when a member does a stalk job on another members posts like this..

I object to the term stalking in this context.

I've read threads here for about 10 years and you start to see preferences/patterns by regular posters. That's no more stalking than recalling a co-worker has a nut allergy.

As for generating the post, it took all of 15 minutes using "search users posts" to show concrete evidence instead of hearsay or personal attacks. These posts are in the public, even google indexes them. This kind of evidence gathering is no different than posting the top donors for politicians and then correlating it to the views they present. Nothing about this post shows personal information about him or obtained in ways that required anything unethical or illegal.

It was maybe a bit of a knee-jerk response to seeing all those links.. I would hate for someone to do this to me for instance.. that's all I was thinking in terms of.

[zerocrossing]

Although this is kind of relevant I find it pretty creepy when a member does a stalk job on another members posts like this..

I object to the term stalking in this context.

I've read threads here for about 10 years and you start to see preferences/patterns by regular posters. That's no more stalking than recalling a co-worker has a nut allergy.

As for generating the post, it took all of 15 minutes using "search users posts" to show concrete evidence instead of hearsay or personal attacks. These posts are in the public, even google indexes them. This kind of evidence gathering is no different than posting the top donors for politicians and then correlating it to the views they present. Nothing about this post shows personal information about him or obtained in ways that required anything unethical or illegal.

It was maybe a bit of a knee-jerk response to seeing all those links.. I would hate for someone to do this to me for instance.. that's all I was thinking in terms of.

Actually I find actions like this to be very useful and they often illuminate trolls. I was recently buying a high end piece of gear and one person who responded to my thread started out positive but then slipped in a bunch of negative remarks that seemed odd and out of place (comments about stability). It was pointed out to me that he was a known troll, and a quick cyber-stalk showed that indeed he spreads that type of misinformation at every chance he gets.

Now, I'm not saying that this situation is anything like the one I described, but I recommend that before every time you hit that "Submit" button, consider that you are making an indelible and searchable mark on the internet and be prepared to have it thrown back in your face at some point. I've had it done to me, and I welcome being able to have said, "Yup, I was totally full of crap on that topic" or "I've since changed my mind" or even, "No, I still stand by everything I said." I've said some mildly disparaging things about Diva in the past, but I've also said that these were based on the first version that I somewhat abandoned after a while in favor of hardware. I've since gone back and reassessed and changed my tune about it. I'd be happy to have anyone dig up my old posts for me to acquiesce if I felt I had been too harsh.

[bmrzycki]

Although "stalking" may not be the correct word, finding and listing someones threads is not the correct way to have discussion in these kind of Forums.
"Public" in these days are so much different information that this argument is not good - I wouldn't want someone collect all the data from tax records (possible in my country) to my favorite color and all between, and use that data as an argument. Despite, people can change opinions over the time.

If I had just said "4damind seems to dislike most u-he plugins" I would have likely received replies asking for proof of such a personal attack on him. That's why I supplied the links first, to show it's not just an off-the-cuff remark or a personal attack. I prefer to show evidence over emotion in a discussion.

Now, I'm not saying that this situation is anything like the one I described, but I recommend that before every time you hit that "Submit" button, consider that you are making an indelible and searchable mark on the internet and be prepared to have it thrown back in your face at some point.

I agree with this 100%.

[do_androids_dream]

Although this is kind of relevant I find it pretty creepy when a member does a stalk job on another members posts like this..

I object to the term stalking in this context.

I've read threads here for about 10 years and you start to see preferences/patterns by regular posters. That's no more stalking than recalling a co-worker has a nut allergy.

As for generating the post, it took all of 15 minutes using "search users posts" to show concrete evidence instead of hearsay or personal attacks. These posts are in the public, even google indexes them. This kind of evidence gathering is no different than posting the top donors for politicians and then correlating it to the views they present. Nothing about this post shows personal information about him or obtained in ways that required anything unethical or illegal.

It was maybe a bit of a knee-jerk response to seeing all those links.. I would hate for someone to do this to me for instance.. that's all I was thinking in terms of.

Actually I find actions like this to be very useful and they often illuminate trolls. I was recently buying a high end piece of gear and one person who responded to my thread started out positive but then slipped in a bunch of negative remarks that seemed odd and out of place (comments about stability). It was pointed out to me that he was a known troll, and a quick cyber-stalk showed that indeed he spreads that type of misinformation at every chance he gets.

Now, I'm not saying that this situation is anything like the one I described, but I recommend that before every time you hit that "Submit" button, consider that you are making an indelible and searchable mark on the internet and be prepared to have it thrown back in your face at some point. I've had it done to me, and I welcome being able to have said, "Yup, I was totally full of crap on that topic" or "I've since changed my mind" or even, "No, I still stand by everything I said." I've said some mildly disparaging things about Diva in the past, but I've also said that these were based on the first version that I somewhat abandoned after a while in favor of hardware. I've since gone back and reassessed and changed my tune about it. I'd be happy to have anyone dig up my old posts for me to acquiesce if I felt I had been too harsh.

I think what's highlighted here also, is how this 'ere internet is changing the nature of communication itself. It's all recorded.. which throws obvious negatives as well as positives. Yes, whether we like or not we do have to think for a second before hitting the submit button (not that I do most of the time.. eek).

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Nope I read all the posts linked too.. who cares if he doesn't like U-HE stuff in general... He words it very politely and causes no reason for offence. What was offensive was trying to discredit him. 4damind is not a troll.

I've never liked Zebra either, and i have tried to get into it maybe 50 times. So that means I am a troll does it? If anything it just frustrates me that I can't get any use out of it like so many can.

I love diva but he's right, the factory presets are not very good. You either need to program it yourself or invest in third party banks if you are a preset user.

Hive vs sylenth? I like them both but would choose sylenth because i find it's overall tone just that bit more pleasing. Pretty much what he said. I could happily use hive though i will admit.

The guy is not anti U-HE as a company he is just not a huge fan of their stuff in general. That's allowed. I mean you guys have GOT to get a grip and stop bothering people who don't like something you like - kvr has become so temperamental that even when negative opinions are given in the politest of ways, there is always someone ready to jump, or like in this case, spend 15 minutes trying to undo someone.

Heck i just said i prefer codex to serum because i prefer it's basic tone, and that was it! - that was apparently unfair for me to say. this is the new world order at KVR.. i can't make choices based on what my ear transmits to my brain and makes it pleasing for me personally. Or I (we) can't say anything at all. Might as well be chained to a chair with hands bolted into the handles, and our mouth taped.

But when it's a dev who has a mob against them like arturia, waves, anything with ilok, etc.. and actual *bashing* occurs, these same people pointing fingers now sit by and idly watch or join in!
But God forbid saying anything that isn't stellar about a u-he product or serum!