Well I guess my hearings gone because...(Tape VSTs)

[ChamomileShark]

I can't really hear any difference when I add U-he Satin, Toneboosters Reelbus4 or Ozone Vintage tape when they are in mastering type modes. Tried it on an orchestral type mix and a sparse electronic one. Used Gainmatch to ensure overall levels didn't change.

Tried it on speakers and headphones, can't really hear it.

Just me?

[plexuss]

I can't really hear any difference when I add U-he Satin, Toneboosters Reelbus4 or Ozone Vintage tape when they are in mastering type modes. Tried it on an orchestral type mix and a sparse electronic one. Used Gainmatch to ensure overall levels didn't change.

Tried it on speakers and headphones, can't really hear it.

Just me?

It's not just you. When it comes to audio minutia the ability to perceive them varys. For mastering tape emulation, listen for a more-full low end and a change in the soundstage where individual instruments are either more or less defined. Also the perceived depth of the soundstage which can sound deeper with tape. However mastering tape systems (real ones) are designed to sound as transparent as possible so it's good that those emulations are also subtle. If you end up not being able to hear a difference, that's ok. Not everyone can or needs to. Just focus on what you can work with and don't think of it as a personal deficiency. It's not.

[ChamomileShark]

thanks, I couldn't really pick up any EQ or apparent depth. Guess I'll be selling some plug ins soon!

[Agreed]

I think it's why there are two dozen tape plugins, haha, the effect can be pretty subtle if you're not slamming it and slamming it isn't always a good move. I tend to like the IK tape machine plugins the most for the overall shaping and subtle compression thing.

Run through Plugin Doctor if you're ever really curious what something is doing and the ears aren't revealing the truth, you can see the behaviors visually and that might help you hear them better (could also just fool you, placebo effect and confirmation bias are both REALLY strong, it's our nature!)

[martiu]

they are very subtle, Sketch Cassette 2 is my fav because you can saturate and overdrive it if you want

[e@rs]

Use the Delta function in GainMatch to hear what the tape plugins are doing.

[egbert101]

My guess is they're adding some harmonics and gluing the mix together, pretty standard stuff, even though you don't hear any change in the volume or tone.

[audiorea]

I think what you've tried is particularly subtle.
Try IK Tape 80, Waves Abbey Road Vinyl (not J37), Slate VTM
Coincidentally, these companies have the worst installers and policies…
But the sound was good. I like them.

[zerocrossing]

...Also the perceived depth of the soundstage which can sound deeper with tape.

I have a hunch that this is totally the noise floor of tape. It's sort of the equivalent of "room tone" that's recorded to add to dubbing tracks in movies. It's nearly impossible to experience pure silence, which is why a fully digital recording with a huge s/r can sound strange. Luckily, as a guitarist, I have plenty of other noise sources.

[dmbaer]

Just me?

Almost certainly not, but you're one of the few here who's willing to admit to not being able to hear any any change to the audio when it comes to the higher-end tape machine emulations.

[Frantz]

When in doubt, leave it out. People are slathering these 'analog' plugins all over their mixes to add magic but often they are just adding murkiness. I am not saying there aren't some legitimate use cases but it is very easy to overdo it.

[funky lime]

I think it's why there are two dozen tape plugins, haha, the effect can be pretty subtle if you're not slamming it and slamming it isn't always a good move. I tend to like the IK tape machine plugins the most for the overall shaping and subtle compression thing.

Run through Plugin Doctor if you're ever really curious what something is doing and the ears aren't revealing the truth, you can see the behaviors visually and that might help you hear them better (could also just fool you, placebo effect and confirmation bias are both REALLY strong, it's our nature!)

To be fair, plugin doctor shows you what the plugin does to a sine wave at a fixed frequency, not necessarily how it affects musical material. interesting data, but i often question its usefulness to the average musician or producer, due to the two contexts being wildly different. the doctor's orders are misleading as often as not, in my experience

I reckon, if one can't hear what a plugin is doing, then one needn't waste any more time on it... lest one fall into the trap of using it because the internet wisdom said so, not because one actually needs to.

edit to add: yeah, the irony of me advising to ignore advice is not completely lost on me

[sonidomolino]

idk, "tape" plugins can be useful for taming spiky transients at times.

... slathering these 'analog' plugins all over their mixes to add "magic" but often they are just adding murkiness.

but agreed with this. a few are reasonably "transparent" including Fuse Audio, BRA (same dev?) and UAD Studer A800. most of the rest are pretty good at "gluing the life out of the performance". jmho

[kritikon]

I'm in the "it's voodoo" camp. Likewise don't hear these voodoo plugins unless I crank them up to unpleasant levels, and this is in the studio, not on crappy speakers. To me, if I can't hear it then WTF is it there for? I never cranked up levels back in the old days - in fact I used to record carefully to try and MINIMISE analogue distortion. Certainly not going to try and emulate the bad aspects of analogue recording now. When DAT arrived I loved it. It really puzzles me when I read posts about how people can't hear the effect an effect plugin gives, but it's essential to use this inaudible plugin. Why dirty up a master that you can't hear is dirtified?

Honestly I'm doing some of my best recordings now than ever before. After a long break out of music I got back into it and deliberately kept things simple and minimal. I barely use Eq, very few effect plugins outside of delay, reverb and occasional phaser, and my reverbs are far drier than I used to use and better for it. No voodoo plugins, no trying to emulate analogue (though I do use a lot of analogue synths). I record cleanly using the attributes of digital that was what made digital so popular initially. So that includes no saturation, no warmifiers unless distortion is a specific effect I want on an instrument...

...and it's giving me my best recordings.

[ChamomileShark]

thanks all for your replies.

For a bit of added context I'm a hobbyist in my 60s that started with tape, although always at consumer/ project studio levels (a Tascam 4 track & ReVox).

I get that there are lots of tape emulations, including some that I mentioned that have low quality type modes, but that's not what I was looking for.

Recently, 3 years after my low speed A77 ReVox caught fire, I got it fixed up, recalibrated, the works. I ran a few tracks into it and oh my goodness, yes I can hear the difference! I may use it for some vintage electronics tracking but there is no way I could use it to bounce mixes to, everything changes so much.