IK Multimedia T-racks Tape Machine Collection

[zentatonic]

Tried to use plugins I owned already and had to enter serial #s. Should just authorize everything if you're logged in (like XLN, Toontrack etc.). These sound great though.

The custom Shop experience needs some tweaking, imho. Should be an option to not use it at all.

[plexuss]

After having worked with these tape emus for about a week, I have one suggestion that I think will make these more accessible to more people (and hence more sales) - are you listening IKPeter?

Because these are so CPU heavy, they need a playback and render quality setting so that they are low CPU during real-time mixing and can be switched to a higher quality for render. This would really make these tape emu much more usable to more people inlcuding me.

My Mac Pro 12-core 3Ghz machine still chokes on these during real-time mixing.

This is how Cytomic handles it. IK could take a cue from this approach. It really would transform the usability of the IK Tape emus. Please.....

Screen Shot 2019-06-18 at 9.56.46 PM.png

[electro]

Because these are so CPU heavy, they need a playback and render quality setting so that they are low CPU during real-time mixing and can be switched to a higher quality for render. This would really make these tape emu much more usable to more people inlcuding me.

My Mac Pro 12-core 3Ghz machine still chokes on these during real-time mixing.

This is how Cytomic handles it. IK could take a cue from this approach. It really would transform the usability of the IK Tape emus. Please.....


Screen Shot 2019-06-18 at 9.56.46 PM.png

I think IK had to use higher internal sampling rate (more CPU cycles) to achieve an authentic emulation.

What I would suggest is to exploit "VST3 Suspend CPU" which is already built into the VST3 spec (parameter gange control group can bypass/re-enable all instances simultaneously). I would keep these plugins loaded, but always in internal bypass mode. This VST3 feature avoids a plugin eating CPU cycles until it is taken out of bypass. It might make more sense to have a "process during offline export only" option than to have reduced quality settings.

[Mathematics]

Just got this pack activated and installed, and man it makes violins sound like themselves. It really melts ensembles together so smoothly. I'm really impressed. I was already impressed with Softube's Tape.

As far as clock cycles...I can afford 1 instance of an IK Tape machine, no specific one, in Ableton Live 10 on an i7 7700 at 3.6/4.2GHz with a buffer size of 128 for mixing. I have to bump the buffer to 1024 to run 2 instances. I'm not complaining, just posting my results. I'm using this for mastering purposes because I run Softube's Tape on all the strings independently. I just freeze and bounce in place to run two or more instances. IK's Tapes cycle consumption reminds me of the J37 and AR Chambers when they first came out. Remember how much Chambers used to eat up?! It's like that, but I was running a 4th Gen i7 at 3.2GHz back then.

The main reason for this post was to say how good these Tape machines sound. Great great job IK. Seriously. Well worth the money. Again, I'm ok with the cycle consumption for the sound I get.

Without opening a ticket on the IK site, maybe someone with upgrade experience could enlighten me on the following. I'm not sure how IK's upgrades work because I just started my GAS quest with them not too long ago starting with TR5, but now that I have Tapes, is the upgrade path to one of the Max packages less or just a static crossgrade upgrade price by owning anything over $99, regardless of how many modules one owns to complete a package?

[Aloysius]

i7-8700 @ 3.2 GHz. 16 GB RAM.

I seem to be able to run as many of these Plug-ins as I like. Haven't had to even think about buffer sizes.

ASIO set to 256 samples on my Roland Quad-Capture.

Ableton Live 10.

[Burillo]

you can basically forget it. the only instance i remember when T-Racks plugins were changed in any way were 1) when that first LSD-infused SSL4000 GUI was replaced with current one, 2) when LA2A and 1176 got saturation emulations on upgrade to T-Racks 3 (or was it 4?), and 3) when T-Racks plugins got updated oversampling and GUI's on upgrade to T-Racks 5. otherwise everything pretty much stayed the same throughout T-Racks lifetime, regardless of the plugins' usability issues, lack of wet/dry knobs, adjustable oversampling, offline mode, and other stuff that people have been asking for years.

IK is not listening. (or rather, Peter does, but he's basically talking to a wall, and all he can do is "relay concerns" to people who don't actually care)

[Mathematics]

Oh yea, I have 16GB as well on SSDs. I guess I should have mentioned my project has 70+ tracks (so far) consisting of something like 12 instances of Omnishpere, 20 Instances of VIpro, 5 instances of Zebra 2, 4 instances of Massive, 4-6 instances of Sylenth, and random instances of Kick 2, sends with H-Reverb, J37, Tube saturator 2, Trash 2, some sample tracks, UVI instances of whoosh, meteor, and Ravenscroft. Crap...now I'm shaking my head. Not to mention I'm also running like 30 instances of Tape and about 8-12? subharmonic generators. My bad guys. I guess I should have mentioned this.

Testing this out again, I created a project in Ableton Live with 200 audio-only tracks, and I can run 16 instances of all 4 IK Tapes in 4 groups at a reasonable 86% CPU at a buffer size of 128. I'd say, this is enough for mixing a decent song. I would suggest running Softube Tape if you want tape EMU on your tracks.

[electro]

I guess I should have mentioned my project has 70+ tracks (so far) consisting of something like 12 instances of Omnishpere, 20 Instances of VIpro, 5 instances of Zebra 2, 4 instances of Massive, 4-6 instances of Sylenth, and random instances of Kick 2, sends with H-Reverb, J37, Tube saturator 2, Trash 2, some sample tracks, UVI instances of whoosh, meteor, and Ravenscroft. Crap...now I'm shaking my head. Not to mention I'm also running like 30 instances of Tape and about 8-12? subharmonic generators.

What type of music is this?

[Mathematics]

Orchestral /ambient.

[mixtur.se]

Just got this pack activated and installed, and man it makes violins sound like themselves. It really melts ensembles together so smoothly. I'm really impressed. I was already impressed with Softube's Tape.

As far as clock cycles...I can afford 1 instance of an IK Tape machine, no specific one, in Ableton Live 10 on an i7 7700 at 3.6/4.2GHz with a buffer size of 128 for mixing. I have to bump the buffer to 1024 to run 2 instances. I'm not complaining, just posting my results. I'm using this for mastering purposes because I run Softube's Tape on all the strings independently. I just freeze and bounce in place to run two or more instances. IK's Tapes cycle consumption reminds me of the J37 and AR Chambers when they first came out. Remember how much Chambers used to eat up?! It's like that, but I was running a 4th Gen i7 at 3.2GHz back then.

The main reason for this post was to say how good these Tape machines sound. Great great job IK. Seriously. Well worth the money. Again, I'm ok with the cycle consumption for the sound I get.

Without opening a ticket on the IK site, maybe someone with upgrade experience could enlighten me on the following. I'm not sure how IK's upgrades work because I just started my GAS quest with them not too long ago starting with TR5, but now that I have Tapes, is the upgrade path to one of the Max packages less or just a static crossgrade upgrade price by owning anything over $99, regardless of how many modules one owns to complete a package?

No, they don’t provide discounts based on what you have, but typically give a generic crossgrade offer to anyone who spent 99 or more on a purchase. Further more, they don’t automatically add plugins to their current bundles like soundtoys and waves does (for instance). Most people don’t seem to particularly like this policy but IK clearly doesn’t care.

[fese]

Mr. Peter - IK Multimedia, could you please relay to the product managers that your installers should be signed, else at least Win10/Windows Defender complains about unknown issuer and yadayada... It's 2019. A signing certificate can't be too expensive and if tiny one man plugin companies can do it, so should IK Multimedia.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

I (or Ryan_IK) will relay suggestions to the team. Thank you. Note that there will likely be some optimization but some of the suggestions would affect the actual tone imparted quite a lot so that (and this is my opinion, I'll still relay the suggestions) is counter intuitive to the mixing process. At least how I learned it and my workflow/methodology. I want to hear what it sounds like mixed, not "almost what it will sound like". But I do see the point if you don't want to print tracks or have other limitations that don't allow for resource-intensive plugins.

Just got this pack activated and installed, and man it makes violins sound like themselves. It really melts ensembles together so smoothly. I'm really impressed. I was already impressed with Softube's Tape.

As far as clock cycles...I can afford 1 instance of an IK Tape machine, no specific one, in Ableton Live 10 on an i7 7700 at 3.6/4.2GHz with a buffer size of 128 for mixing. I have to bump the buffer to 1024 to run 2 instances. I'm not complaining, just posting my results. I'm using this for mastering purposes because I run Softube's Tape on all the strings independently. I just freeze and bounce in place to run two or more instances. IK's Tapes cycle consumption reminds me of the J37 and AR Chambers when they first came out. Remember how much Chambers used to eat up?! It's like that, but I was running a 4th Gen i7 at 3.2GHz back then.

The main reason for this post was to say how good these Tape machines sound. Great great job IK. Seriously. Well worth the money. Again, I'm ok with the cycle consumption for the sound I get.

Without opening a ticket on the IK site, maybe someone with upgrade experience could enlighten me on the following. I'm not sure how IK's upgrades work because I just started my GAS quest with them not too long ago starting with TR5, but now that I have Tapes, is the upgrade path to one of the Max packages less or just a static crossgrade upgrade price by owning anything over $99, regardless of how many modules one owns to complete a package?

You don't have to open a ticket, you can see your Upgrade/Crossgrade/MAXgrade eligibility on this page that is tailored to you once you log on to the IK User Area: https://www.ikmultimedia.com/userarea/eligibility/ Also, thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated, these do sound great and I'm proud that we released these.

Wanted to edit to also make another note. I wouldn't recommend a buffer size of 128 for mixing anyway. I'd go a good bit higher than that. Sweetwater has a good short article on buffer sizes that also points out that you can go higher for mixing (and probably should, so there's no issue with what you did already Plus, I'd personally print/freeze some of the VI tracks, other effects that are set, etc to allow for more instances of these tape machines if you need them) https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... in-my-daw/

[Mathematics]

No, they don’t provide discounts based on what you have, but typically give a generic crossgrade offer to anyone who spent 99 or more on a purchase. Further more, they don’t automatically add plugins to their current bundles like soundtoys and waves does (for instance). Most people don’t seem to particularly like this policy but IK clearly doesn’t care.

You're right. I checked my crossgrade offer with a registered license of TR5 and later with the Tapes added, and the "custom" crossgrade price was the same. So, having 99% of a bundle consisting of individual licenses, you'd still have to pay 100% of the crossgrade price for that 1% to complete the bundle. Ok, got it. Thanks for being VERY clear and succinct about this.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

No, they don’t provide discounts based on what you have, but typically give a generic crossgrade offer to anyone who spent 99 or more on a purchase. Further more, they don’t automatically add plugins to their current bundles like soundtoys and waves does (for instance). Most people don’t seem to particularly like this policy but IK clearly doesn’t care.

You're right. I checked my crossgrade offer with a registered license of TR5 and later with the Tapes added, and the "custom" crossgrade price was the same. So, having 99% of a bundle consisting of individual licenses, you'd still have to pay 100% of the crossgrade price for that 1% to complete the bundle. Ok, got it. Thanks for being VERY clear and succinct about this.

Crossgrade is a discount, eligibility is having a 99.99+ product registered, yes. You also can take an additional up to 30% off using JamPoints accrued from other purchases (plus the other ways we give them, more details at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/jampoints/ ) to get quite a good deal.

If you feel that purchasing individual plugins was not the right decision, you can always contact IK directly via our web site to see if there's anything that can be done in your case. The convenience and savings of buying individually is good for some, but sometimes the bundle purchase would have been better. If you only have 1% to go, the individual price of that processor or those processors with the JamPoints discount might work out for you, or there are sales etc that may fit your needs.

[Mathematics]

Wanted to edit to also make another note. I wouldn't recommend a buffer size of 128 for mixing anyway. I'd go a good bit higher than that. Sweetwater has a good short article on buffer sizes that also points out that you can go higher for mixing (and probably should, so there's no issue with what you did already Plus, I'd personally print/freeze some of the VI tracks, other effects that are set, etc to allow for more instances of these tape machines if you need them) https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... in-my-daw/

While mixing, I always end up layering synths and adding in lines; it helps me to keep the buffers down to play in near real time to the song. Different workflows...but yea, with USB interfaces and after I'm done playing anything new into a track, 512 is my set it and forget buffer size.