KVR Audio

quantum7 · Post by **quantum7** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:08 am

I need a plugin that will give me a vintage sound of an old reel to reel tape player that is playing ever so slightly in and out of normal speed, again very slightly, or perhaps the tape is stretched a bit in places giving very slight speed pitch increase/decrease fluctuations. Anything out there like that?

Thanks!

yellowmix · Post by **yellowmix** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:45 am

u-he Satin for fully realistic modelling (plus more such as delay), RC-20 for more exaggerated but pleasant.

counterparty · Post by **counterparty** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:53 am

Many of the tape plugins will do that (and more). I like Softube Tape which will do what you want and is on sale right now. It's also great at adding tape-style saturation (which is really its main purpose).

I would also recommend XLN Audio RC-20 Retro Color as yellowmix said which is not really a tape emulation but will do wow/flutter, magnetic tape degradation, vinyl noise etc - all kinds of lo-fi effects. It's a lot of fun.

Niowiad · Post by **Niowiad** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:55 am

Amongst the one I actually own, I would say...

- Waves J37
- Waves Vinyl
- XLN RC-20

The Waves plugins are modelled after actual hardware and aside from WOW and FLUTTER, they are supposed to add the original noise, character and saturation of the hardware counterparts.
The RC-20 is not modeled after anything specific, it has a more modern interface and gives much more extensive controls on all those kind of "imperfection" effects on the audio signal.

They are all "full price" at the moment and they go through periodic discounts (Waves goes down to $29 every few months, XLN usually does 50% off for Spring and BlackFriday)

db3 · Post by **db3** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:04 am

As above, true tape emulations will all do wow and flutter. Ones I've used and liked include Softube Tape, Waves J37, Waves Kramer Tape, U-he Satin.

kvaca · Post by **kvaca** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:09 am

Wow Control from Goodhertz?

handed · Post by **handed** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:19 am

Softube Tape’s version is great. EchoMelt’s “melt” section is gives you more control than most of the others - you can choose how much wow (slow wobble) vs how much flutter (fast wobble), as well as a few other controls that emulate the tape getting caught.

Goodhertz Wow Control sounds great in demos, but it’s expensive. Toneboosters Reelbus 4 also looks promising.

Elektronisch · Post by **Elektronisch** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:30 am

Here is an overview of some of those. Very positive from a real tape user.

https://youtu.be/7dpLsSEVfGs

subterfuge · Post by **subterfuge** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 3:27 pm

Positive? You better watch it again and to the end conclusion too. Unless you mean positive for the real tape users?

quantum7 · Post by **quantum7** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 3:55 pm

Thanks everyone!

Julien Unison · Post by **Julien Unison** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 3:57 pm

EchoMelt is my favourite.

And VHS ensemble for Reaktor too.

Tappistry · Post by **Tappistry** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 4:05 pm

kvaca wrote:Wow Control from Goodhertz?

Yes

Delta Sign · Post by **Delta Sign** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:03 pm

For a plain ol' "flutter" effect, I always simply use a modulated delay. A slow LFO for the "wow" and a very fast LFO for the "flutter" already does the trick fairly well. Using an env follower to increase the flutter intensity can also sound quite nice.

Add some filtered noise that gets amplitude modulated by the input signal to that, filter the whole thing and you already have a nice fake broken VHS sound with lots of control over the various aspects of the "brokenness".

JerGoertz · Post by **JerGoertz** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:20 pm

My personal faves:

RC-20
TB Reelbus
Softube tape

nordickvr · Post by **nordickvr** » Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:40 pm

Also DAW Cassette from klevgrand.
EchoMelt is pretty fun to use indeed.

Please recommend a vintage “imperfect tape fluctuations” plugin