best vst tape simulation?

[Brother Charles]

+1000
TB ReelBus.

[AC222]

Having tried many, I think the best is the full CDsoundmaster package of R2R, TB+, and VTM-M2. But that is expensive and EXTREMELY CPU-heavy. Each of the three separate plugins are very cpu-heavy. But if you are hardcore about tape accuracy and quality that takes the cake.

In terms of accurate to tape in an all-in-one package, I think it's a tossup but I would say that Slate's VTM comes to the closest. It does do that subtle compression and rounds off the highs like real tape. But some people don't like that rounding off the highs and may prefer Universal Audio's Ampex or Studer, which are next in line for me. The Ampex I believe is a bit higher quality than the Studer, preference for one type of sound put aside. The Ampex doesn't round off the highs as much as the Slate VTM but does sound tape-like.

There are tons of others, but I think those are at the top. I also think that for bang for the buck, the Toneboosters Ferox and ReelBus are off the charts. They are both cheap and they are both different so get both for variety. Ferox is older and ReelBus is relatively new but they are both equally usable in my opinion. Ferox is really awesome at dirtying things up on channels while the more pristine sound of the ReelBus might work better on the master bus. But they are both great so you can really use them in any application you choose. Magix AM-Tape is also cool. It does tape compression effect reasonably well and it does a bit of saturation but doesn't exactly sound like tape. But it is imo certainly one of the better ones.

There are tons of others that many love. Roundtone rounds out the sound and flattens the transients more than I like. Waves stuff seems to impart some kind of harshness in the mids that I don't like. VOS tape seems to have a heavy smearing effect and messes with the stereo image too much for me. But they all have their strengths and weaknesses and though I don't like those as much for general purposes, they might work out great for certain instances when you want to achieve those particular effects. I don't like Massey Tapehead. It sounds too dark and not very tape-like to me.

By the way, I have no experience with Virsyn V-Tape, Cranesong Phoenix, or Yamaha Vintage Plugin collection, Nomad Factor's Magnetic, or MellowMuse SATV. Those might be worth checking out as well too.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Slate's VTM is my favorite. UAD's Ampex, with it's crippling instance count is up there with VTM in terms of quality (their Studer is crazy overrated IMO).

Tonebooster's ReelBus would get my vote as having the best sound to price ratio. It really punches way above it's price class.

The Nebula stuff gets good reviews, but I tried Nebula out years ago and had such a bad experience I've stayed away from anything Nebula related since.

[oneshotdeal]

+1000
TB ReelBus.

Indeed.

[AC222]

Slate's VTM is my favorite. UAD's Ampex, with it's crippling instance count is up there with VTM in terms of quality (their Studer is crazy overrated IMO).

Tonebooster's ReelBus would get my vote as having the best sound to price ratio. It really punches way above it's price class.

The Nebula stuff gets good reviews, but I tried Nebula out years ago and had such a bad experience I've stayed away from anything Nebula related since.

Yeah I love Nebula in general but I don't use all three tape effects. Too fiddly and cpu-intensive. But the quality is there. I'm pretty much right with you on all points though, Funkybot's Evil Twin.

[75ips]

I think it's a tossup but I would say that Slate's VTM comes to the closest.

Hey man,

Thanks for your review. Would you mind running this test sample through VTM?

try_original.mp3

Here's some tries I did:

After TB ReelBus:
try_jeroen.mp3

After FerricTDS:
try_ferric.mp3

Hoping we can soon get an "After VTM" and "After Satin" too.

[V0RT3X]

I would wait for the UHE Satin to come out.

[todd_r]

I would wait for the UHE Satin to come out.

I would buy TB reelbus, then wait for Satin to come out

[AC222]

I think it's a tossup but I would say that Slate's VTM comes to the closest.

Hey man,

Thanks for your review. Would you mind running this test sample through VTM?

try_original.mp3

Here's some tries I did:

After TB ReelBus:
try_jeroen.mp3

After FerricTDS:
try_ferric.mp3

Hoping we can soon get an "After VTM" and "After Satin" too.

Sorry to disappoint but I don't actually have VTM. I stayed at my friends house that has his own mini studio and has a lot of these tools so I got to spend a week fiddling around and taking notes but I didn't actually render files or anything like that.

But I should have said there's a lot of shades of grey with this stuff and I don't think there's a world of difference in quality between the VTM and The TB ReelBus/Ferox.

It's more one of those things if I was trying to perfectly emulate tape, I think VTM comes closer but there are plenty of times where I liked Reelbus and Ferox better. Ferox is great from just imparting a more analog signal and smoothing transients without a fuss. But I wouldn't throw that on every single tracks. For example, they are great at making guitars sound more old school. And both Ferox and Reelbus really shine on the drum bus. I just wouldn't put them on every single channel. In some cases, I liked the Reelbus better than the VTM on the master bus, especially when looking for a more subtle effect.

So in the end, I ended up buying the Nebula R2R and TB+ from cdsoundmaster and the and reelbus from toneboosters and also using the original JB Ferox that was free. But I never bought VTM-M2, which is an algorithmic tape compression effect. R2R is more like the snapshot of the tape console itself with its harmonic content and eq but the drive is subtle so the TB+ allows you too boost the saturation effect to levels closer to tape, and the vtm-m2 provides tape compression effect.

I don't particularly care about being 100% accurate for the tape effect. As said I thinkt he three-stage cdsm and the slate vtm are most accurate to tape. For me, I mostly like having something to improve the overall signal and add character in certain areas. For for example, I will use cdsm R2R (the Studer is more dirty and the Otari is more transparent) sometimes on guitar just to add subtle saturation and richer harmonic content. I hardly use the tb+ that I bought from cdsm these days. And I'll use ferox for a more dirty saturation signal when desired, sometimes even using the tape hiss. And I'll use reelbus for a cleaner tape sound on a drum bus or occassionally on the master bus. But I don't go crazy with tape effects on the master bus.

In a lot of words I guess I'm trying to say I wish I could do more to help you with the vtm thing. But I think the biggest reason to get VTM and use over toneboosters stuff that is amazing already is if you are looking to use the tape emulation everywhere on the mix and are looking for it to sound "just like" tape. Sometimes, there might be times where no tape sound might be better and I am more selective on where I put tape emulation so I never felt the need to purchase VTM as good as it is. So if you have the Tonebooster stuff you are all set and should feel good that you're not really missing much.

The CDSM Nebula stuff is also great for adding a "bigger" sound on select channels without adding volume. The Nebula stuff imo bar none is the best add adding the harmonic content of analog machines. Third order harmonics seem to be captured better on well-sampled Nebula libraries than most algorithmic attempts imo.

If you are willing to go through the hassle of downloading and installing the free vst acqua-based Nebula version of R2R, below you can get a taste of what it does. You'll get a Sony tape machine and Revox as well as a tube-sampled library in there. The ones that are a bit hit like the Studer (great on drums and almost all tracks but dirty), Akai, (adds grit on electric guitar and bass), and the one I use the most (the Otari, adds a more transparent punch and bigger sound without altering the eq balances too much) are not going to be in the free version. Regardless of the version, it is going to be extremely cpu-heavy so know that in advance.

http://cdsoundmaster.com/site/cds-softw ... r2rpc.html

You will likely have to e-mail the developer Michael Angel to authorize the free version. But it may or may not be worth it to you.

I think that's about the best input I can give you for now aside from my prior comments.

Maybe someone else with VTM could render the clip posted? By the way, know that I had nice things to say about the Magix AM-tape. Sascha is the guy behind the AM suite before he left Magix and now works for U-He, so you unless somehow his work went backwards, we could expect something at least as good as Magix AM Tape from Satin.

Good luck!

[Endor-8o8]

I would wait for the UHE Satin to come out.

Where does this screenshot come from ?

[KBSoundSmith]

I would wait for the UHE Satin to come out.

Where does this screenshot come from ?

From Urs himself in the u-he sub-forum.

[AC222]

I would wait for the UHE Satin to come out.

Wow, based on the quality of the very old Magix AM-Tape, if Sascha and co somehow managed to improve in any tangible manner, this could be incredible. Always a matter of taste but I think the GUI looks stunning and elegant. Thanks for sharing.

[75ips]

Undefined

[Uncle E]

The Ampex I believe is a bit higher quality than the Studer

I used to prefer the Ampex, as well, but I've really come to appreciate how all the Studer's channels can all be modified together. It's a less-is-more thing, driving lots of Studer channels lightly sounds better to me than slamming a single Ampex on the master buss. One thing I've been meaning to try is batch processing all my files through the Ampex at a light setting and then using the Studer real-time for additional saturation.

[hibidy]

I like realbuss.

CURSES to this satin thing Cripes, I wonder how much THAT is going to set me back