Tape simulations for that mastering mojo.

[ramseysounds]

I totally agree with you. I think used in moderation, that and the J37 can add a lovely finish to any track. As I stated before, it's all about personal taste

[ElevateAudio]

Now i'm very tempted to buy the Kramer Tape, the J37 tape, the REDD, the Reel ADT, the BSS DPR-402, and the Brauer Motion, in the latest offer (for a bit more than 100dollar total)

(Correction: I just noticed that i do actually own the Kramer Tape. It was included with the Dave Clarke EMP toolbox but i don't remember reading about it)

In recent testing, I was very surprised at how noisy the DPR-402 is. It might be even noisier than the GW Mixcentric and Tonecentric which was already too much for me.

[peterdh]

As part of ToneBoosters BusTools 3 https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_bustools_v3.html , I got ReelBus 3 on the 2bus. IMO it's one of that software wonders that levels with hardware. A kind of magic. I use Softube Tape on individual tracks.

[Spring Goose]

Now i'm very tempted to buy the Kramer Tape, the J37 tape, the REDD, the Reel ADT, the BSS DPR-402, and the Brauer Motion, in the latest offer (for a bit more than 100dollar total)

(Correction: I just noticed that i do actually own the Kramer Tape. It was included with the Dave Clarke EMP toolbox but i don't remember reading about it)

In recent testing, I was very surprised at how noisy the DPR-402 is. It might be even noisier than the GW Mixcentric and Tonecentric which was already too much for me.

Cheers for the tip but i bought it now.

[jens]

MOst analog modelled plugins are designed to work at optimum level when input = 0db VU / -18db FS or roughly in the same ballpark .

This is exactly what I do using a VU meter plugin at every stage in any chain using analog modeling processors.

That won't help you much at all though - you need to know what kind of input gain the plugin expects by reading the f**king manual. And the plugin should have its own means of measuring its input - which you will know all you need to know about by - yes, you guessed right - reading the f**king manual.

Whatever man. You feel the need to be aggressive and condescending, that’s on you.

That was not my intention at all. I apologize if it came across that way.

My intention was to really stress the point that there is no general recipe but that much rather gain-staging needs to be applied on a per-plugin basis depending on the plugin in question. If you generally hit the input of every analog-modelling plugin With -18 dB without taking care of what the plugin in question expects/ is calibrated internally to / is calibrated externally to (if possible), you will end up under-driving some of them, just as you will overdrive others by all of them feeding with -6dB.

There really is no golden rule. Sometimes even experimentation is required - at times even to generate desired artifacts. As the T-Racks Manual put it for their SSL channel-strip emulations:

IN: this control lets you trim the input level of the signal going into the British Channel module. It can be used to correct the level of the incoming signal when needed (in case of a particularly weak or hot track) since it has a range of +/- 15 dB. As described above (in the compressor’s threshold parameter section) it can be used to drive the compressor’s section harder by boosting the input signal, thus producing some very particular compression effects which can be further emphasized by ratio, attack and release time settings. [...]

THRESHOLD: this control sets the level in dB which has to be passed by the input signal coming into the British Channel module for the compression to start working. At the 0 position the module is not compressing. Turning the knob clockwise will lower the threshold and, depending on the input signal, start compressing. Turning the knob counterclockwise towards the +10 value will lift the thershold[Sic!] so that hotter signals can be easily managed. This control and its behavior can be affected by the Master section’s I/O level controls. As an example, try driving the compressor’s input level harder with the Master’s section IN knob and set the threshold low for some serious squashing and pumping compression effects. The OUT knob will make calibrating the final output of the module easy in order to avoid clipping.

[telecode]

MOst analog modelled plugins are designed to work at optimum level when input = 0db VU / -18db FS or roughly in the same ballpark .

This is exactly what I do using a VU meter plugin at every stage in any chain using analog modeling processors.

That won't help you much at all though - you need to know what kind of input gain the plugin expects by reading the f**king manual. And the plugin should have its own means of measuring its input - which you will know all you need to know about by - yes, you guessed right - reading the f**king manual.

^^ I did not know that. thanks. will need to check the IKM manuals (if they exist)

i downloaded and checked out the Tracks manual. There i some useful and interesting stuff in it but it seems the Tape plugins is just a copy and paste job. They just change the first paragraph and give brief history and put vague working like "soulful color" or "elegant polish". whatever that means.

[MMaarrkk]

It really seems like Waves is really a case of you love it or you hate it, isn't it?

[MogwaiBoy]

J37 is unique, I like it - but as an effect like a lofi delay, not a simulation of running my mix through tape for mastering. I think Waves have always had the expertise to produce really high quality stuff but they've always opted for the mass-market, mass-appeal thing. Almost all their EQs cramp, saturators alias, or have noise and hum you can't disable etc.

Wouldn't put J37 on my master and I don't care if Dave Pensado was paid to say he loves it.

[Dark Fiber]

I really like Kramer Master Tape. With Reelbus4 my go to Tape plugins.
Two completely different plugins: KMT is an emulation of a 50's or 60's tape machine and Reelbus4 is not an emulation, but more clean/modern sounding with a lot more options to fine-tune the sound.

If KMT doesn't work on a specific track, Reelbus will

[rezoneight]

MOst analog modelled plugins are designed to work at optimum level when input = 0db VU / -18db FS or roughly in the same ballpark .

This is exactly what I do using a VU meter plugin at every stage in any chain using analog modeling processors.

That won't help you much at all though - you need to know what kind of input gain the plugin expects by reading the f**king manual. And the plugin should have its own means of measuring its input - which you will know all you need to know about by - yes, you guessed right - reading the f**king manual.

Whatever man. You feel the need to be aggressive and condescending, that’s on you.

Interesting how we all read this I didn't think Jens was being aggressive or condescending. Just think he was trying to stress read the fine manual for the plugs vs just making general guesses.

Learning a lot in this thread and quite honestly its one of the best I've read on KVR in a long time.

[Noumena]

I’ve seen very few instances of gainstaging guidelines in documentation for plugins. Saying RTFM is ok, but gainstaging, which is important and hard to do properly, is rarely well supported by documentation. In this regard it’s not very different than the way stand along effects processors work.. it’s always been a bit of a challenge to find the sweet spot. I have spent a long time doing just that and would love for there to be more information and documentation.

[rezoneight]

It's not sarcasm. What i meant is contrary what been said here in this thread, the sound of a hot Kramer tape can be quite/very beautiful. I love that Duran Duran song, it's a fantastic finish to an album, and some great drums, and reverent to the lovely sound of the Kramer tape (i think). I assume they (Duran Duran) used the original machine not the Waves plug but i think it does sound basically the same.

Given when Paper Gods came out and the description of how hard it was to come up with the right recording medium I'd assume they used the Waves plugin, not the real thing

[sleepcircle]

Given when Paper Gods came out and the description of how hard it was to come up with the right recording medium I'd assume they used the Waves plugin, not the real thing

i figure you probably meant the wink emoji to convey "i am a friendly, laid-back, cool guy," but in most places on the internet it just makes people think you're an arrogant jerk, so you might want to figure out a different way to convey this emotion.

[telecode]

It's not sarcasm. What i meant is contrary what been said here in this thread, the sound of a hot Kramer tape can be quite/very beautiful. I love that Duran Duran song, it's a fantastic finish to an album, and some great drums, and reverent to the lovely sound of the Kramer tape (i think). I assume they (Duran Duran) used the original machine not the Waves plug but i think it does sound basically the same.

Given when Paper Gods came out and the description of how hard it was to come up with the right recording medium I'd assume they used the Waves plugin, not the real thing

i liked paper gods. saw that tour as well. how do you guys know they used tape plugins on that record? you'd think DD have access to a lot of real good studios and gear.

[rezoneight]

Given when Paper Gods came out and the description of how hard it was to come up with the right recording medium I'd assume they used the Waves plugin, not the real thing

i figure you probably meant the wink emoji to convey "i am a friendly, laid-back, cool guy," but in most places on the internet it just makes people think you're an arrogant jerk, so you might want to figure out a different way to convey this emotion.

Really? Most places huh? First time I've heard that and I've been using the Internet since about 1989. Maybe you need to rethink your biases?