TB ReelBus - thoughts?

[meloco_go]

That would be the case with lower IPS, no?
With higher IPS, tape should round and accentuate the high end with ultra clear detail and sizzle. At least that's what I expect from a great tape machine.

Sounds like marketing b-sh-t.
A really great tape machine (like ATR102) is remarkably transparent, you get some glue and it makes sound sort of deeper, but there's not much obvious coloration happening. Also, it seems Jeroen focused on making the faithful recreation of tape machines that he tested, and they are not ultra-HiFi.

[fceramic]

I LOVE this plugin! This is the sort of saturation sound I've been looking for; this is just heaven on the drum buss and can go incredibly nasty without loosing too much definition. I also love the noise modeling section and clipper.
For the people who think it's too hot, you just need to turn on auto gain and turn down the input gain and you will get very subtle saturation.
I actually like how Magnetic, Kramer Master Tape, ToTape and ReelBus all offer different features and tones. They all have their uses.

[3ee]

That would be the case with lower IPS, no?
With higher IPS, tape should round and accentuate the high end with ultra clear detail and sizzle. At least that's what I expect from a great tape machine.

Sounds like marketing b-sh-t.
A really great tape machine (like ATR102) is remarkably transparent, you get some glue and it makes sound sort of deeper, but there's not much obvious coloration happening.

Not marketing bs! Look, the plugin does what it's suppose to do, just it doesn't retain that much clarity in the hi end part of the spectrum as I wished (UAD Studer anyone? - I know, I know... that's definitely not $10 ) and I'm not talking about something that can be easily fixed with an eq hs.

In other words, it smooths out the highs pretty well, but imo it does have that special sheen that I associate with (great) tape ...among usual the punch and warmth.

Note that I tested only on an acoustic drum bus and I had high expectations (like always when testing new tools) especially with all this positive feedback around.

Also, it seems Jeroen focused on making the faithful recreation of tape machines that he tested, and they are not ultra-HiFi.

With all due respect for his work, that's exactly what it sounds like! ..and it's not a bad thing either.
I admit that my initial opinions were relative to to incredible amount of praise... I hoped to find my saturation and coloring device already... hope you'll understand!

[3ee]

...anyway, getting pretty cool results on individual drums, might buy it as well afteral ..just need a couple make a couple of more tests.

Even slightly better plugs like this are miles away price-wise so this should be worth getting (if it passes my next 2 crucial tests )

[meloco_go]

Not marketing bs! Look, the plugin does what it's suppose to do, just it doesn't retain that much clarity in the hi end part of the spectrum as I wished (UAD Studer anyone? - I know, I know... that's definitely not $10 ) and I'm not talking about something that can be easily fixed with an eq hs.

In other words, it smooths out the highs pretty well, but imo it does have that special sheen that I associate with (great) tape ...among usual the punch and warmth.

I don't own UAD so can't make first hand comments, but some of the examples of UAD Studer and Ampex posted on the web had really hyped top-end. Try some top-end boosting before the plugin on professional setting and be moderate with saturation.

[vata44]

a little high. 1.5% on my i7

pffff...

[xamido]

Was saving to buy saturn but after some demo with this plugin, it's perfect for me. Cheap and noticeably good. Butttttttttttttttt, this plugin really uses quite a lot of cpu for my old computer, so i'll probably gonna use it on the master track instead of my initial intention of using it in every bus track.

[bmanic]

That would be the case with lower IPS, no?
With higher IPS, tape should round and accentuate the high end with ultra clear detail and sizzle. At least that's what I expect from a great tape machine.

Sounds like marketing b-sh-t.
A really great tape machine (like ATR102) is remarkably transparent, you get some glue and it makes sound sort of deeper, but there's not much obvious coloration happening. Also, it seems Jeroen focused on making the faithful recreation of tape machines that he tested, and they are not ultra-HiFi.

Ultra-hifi tape machines are very rarely what people think of when they think of tape. Several years ago I posted some blind test examples here of the Telefunken M15 and very few people could tell the difference between the actual tape render and the DAW render.

The frequency response of high-end mastering machines is indeed very flat. However, it also depends on the actual tape brand and type.. and how the machine was calibrated.

I really like the approach Jeroen took with ReelBus plugin.. though the name is perhaps a bit misleading. I wouldn't necessarily use it on busses only. It works extremely well on single sound sources.

If you do want to use it on a bus then you need to do some pre- and post emphasis EQing to get the results you want, just like with real tape. It was/is very common to EQ stuff heavily (boosting highs) before hitting the tape.

The magic of this plugin is how it treats transients and thickens up all sounds. The saturation is extremely well done in this plugin and sounds very much like tape saturation.

Of course I wouldn't mind it at all if Jeroen got hold of a good quality telefunken or ATR and modeled those as well! I do have the waves tape plugin for more delicate tape compression duties though so now I have plugins for all kinds of tape flavor and that's brilliant!

Cheers!
bManic

[paul psilas]

Don't forget guys that Jeroen spends years developing/improving/embellishing his plugins so this is gonna be a work in progress and subject to change and improvement.

I say forget what it costs,let us all do our own test comparisons (Kramer,SKnote,Magnetic,UAD Studer etc)post results on here and let TB get to work on his improvements!

ps.We should all buy it anyway cause its sooooo cheap and supports an awesome developer.

Breebart = Developer for 'ALL' people

[hibidy]

a little high. 1.5% on my i7

pffff...

I know, I wasn't trying to be a jerk but most plugs run somewhere around the .04 to.......oh dear, I did it again

[hibidy]

It was a major impulse buy for me (my first TB purchase! ) I didn't really need it but at 13.6 usd and considering my PP account is a bit plump I just went "wtf"

Yeah, I got some nice results with it straight off. One thing though, the controls seem to do very little BUT the presets are all pretty different. I guess it's manual time but I'm not "getting it" in that sense.

[standalone]

Of course I wouldn't mind it at all if Jeroen got hold of a good quality telefunken

I think I still got one of this around there somewhere

[MelodyMan]

Ridiculously good plugin. Not for the price, just insanely good. No-brainer.

[kmonkey]

What bmainc said..it is EXTREMELY good on any kind of source. Try it on a 909 or 808 bassdrum

(Swiss legends )

Anyone spotted few empty slots in tape selector

[digitalboytn]

I have a feeling that Jeroen will add a few more models to the list...

There are slots reserved for them...

This is a great plugin and I'm a fan of high quality tube and tape models...

We're getting closer to analog in the digital world and I like it

BTW : If anyone thinks that the CPU hit from this is high,they should try Diva,Ace,Tyrell N6 or the Wave Arts Tube Saturator...

This one tickles the CPU and if it's modelled right,there should be a hit...

The Tube Saturator is really nice on the Master Buss...

It's modelled to component level,so it uses a bit of grunt