CHOW Tape Model by Jatin Chowdhury

[chowdsp]

Is there a difference sound-wise to the regular ChowDSP TAPE ?

Good question. The majority of the algorithm used by the VCV Rack tape module is identical to the algorithm used by the plugin, but there are three differences.

1. The VCV module currently does not support oversampling, I'm still trying to work out how possible this is within the VCV format. Running your session at a higher sampling rate will help reduce aliasing artifacts, but the algorithm also relies on internal oversampling to help with stability. With that in mind I had to make a couple tweaks to help improve stability in other ways...
2. The latest Chow tape plugin allows users to pick which type of ODE solver to use for running the tape hysteresis simulation. In the VCV module, I've fixed this to use a Newton-Raphson solver, since it is most robust to potential instabilities.
3. Finally, in both versions, I use an Alpha Transform for digitizing the hysteresis equation. This transform has a parameter alpha, that is typically chosen between 0 and 1. In general, lower values introduce high frequency damping, but also make the system more robust to potential instabilities. In the plugin algorithm, I have alpha fixed to 0.85, while for VCV I've set this to 0.25. While I do notice a slight audible difference at lower sample rates, I think this trade-off is worth it for the improved stability.

Hope this answers your question!

Thanks,
Jatin

[Michey]

Is there a difference sound-wise to the regular ChowDSP TAPE ?

Good question. The majority of the algorithm used by the VCV Rack tape module is identical to the algorithm used by the plugin, but there are three differences.

1. The VCV module currently does not support oversampling, I'm still trying to work out how possible this is within the VCV format. Running your session at a higher sampling rate will help reduce aliasing artifacts, but the algorithm also relies on internal oversampling to help with stability. With that in mind I had to make a couple tweaks to help improve stability in other ways...
2. The latest Chow tape plugin allows users to pick which type of ODE solver to use for running the tape hysteresis simulation. In the VCV module, I've fixed this to use a Newton-Raphson solver, since it is most robust to potential instabilities.
3. Finally, in both versions, I use an Alpha Transform for digitizing the hysteresis equation. This transform has a parameter alpha, that is typically chosen between 0 and 1. In general, lower values introduce high frequency damping, but also make the system more robust to potential instabilities. In the plugin algorithm, I have alpha fixed to 0.85, while for VCV I've set this to 0.25. While I do notice a slight audible difference at lower sample rates, I think this trade-off is worth it for the improved stability.

Hope this answers your question!

Thanks,
Jatin

Hey

Thanks.

I see you rely heavily on the hysteresis mechanism... maybe call CHOW Tape just "HYSTERIA!"

Cheers !

[chowdsp]

Hey all,

Just finished version 2.5 of CHOW Tape, as always, you can download the latest builds from GitHub.

Along with a few bug fixes, I've made some improvements to the wow/flutter processing, as well as improving the performance of the Newton-Raphson modes. I've also adjusted the signal flow regarding the dry/wet processing, so the input and output gain controls only apply to the wet signal. Finally, I've set up the plugin to automatically alert users when a new update is available. As a plugin user myself, I find constant update alerts kind of annoying, so I've tried to do this in a way that is fairly unobtrusive. That said, if it seems that people don't like the update alerts, I'm happy to remove this feature.

Finally, I noticed this morning that CHOW Tape has been downloaded over 5,000 times! As someone who still primarily makes plugins for my own personal use and enjoyment, I never imagined anywhere near this level of interest (especially since I've done basically zero "marketing"). Thanks to all of you for continually providing encouragement, inspiration, and indispensible feedback. I'm expecting to be a bit busier with my day job in the coming weeks so I'm not sure when the next updates will come, but I'm excited to keep working on this plugin and more!

Thanks,
Jatin

[Spitfire31]

Wow (and flutter)! This is now a pro quality plug-in and app!

The GUI should shame plenty of commercial devs and the audio kneading potential is awesome!

Where's the Donate button?

[kingocounty]

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

Wow (and flutter)! This is now a pro quality plug-in and app!

The GUI should shame plenty of commercial devs and the audio kneading potential is awesome!

Where's the Donate button?

I found it on his Github page (and used it. Thanks Jatin!):
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?c ... source=url (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=93S67ZSKMBG68&source=url)

[bftucker]

(k.lukasik)

[tungee]

Thank you chow!
I like the V1 Hysterisis model most.

[onerob]

Great freebie - thanks!

If I was nitpicking, I'd say I'm finding in the Loss section that the Thickness control ramps up way too quickly. Also, the Chew frequency could do with more randomness.

[dubguy99]

Chow has been ALL over my busses and tracks lately! Just adds that je ne sais quoi and polish (99% of the time, when people say that about a plugin, it's not actually doing that and just adding a bit of saturation, but here it's really true).

[thecontrolcentre]

I've made some improvements

Thanks

[Michey]

Wow (and flutter)!

Jatin, i'd like to say "WOW !" and Flatter (you)

[sinkmusic]

Nice new GUI and update, thank you

[s28]

Whatever you did in the new version it fixed the GUI issue for me, now I can use it properly, nice one!

[sengoku]

hi, sorry to slightly hijack this thread, but is there any chance of release builds of your other projects mr jatin? especially https://github.com/jatinchowdhury18/modal-waterbottles which looks awesome

thank you please

[chowdsp]

Hi all, thanks for the kind words!

If I was nitpicking, I'd say I'm finding in the Loss section that the Thickness control ramps up way too quickly. Also, the Chew frequency could do with more randomness.

Still putting together a feature list for the next release, but I can probably get these in!

Whatever you did in the new version it fixed the GUI issue for me, now I can use it properly, nice one!

Awesome! Wonderful to hear.

hi, sorry to slightly hijack this thread, but is there any chance of release builds of your other projects mr jatin? especially https://github.com/jatinchowdhury18/modal-waterbottles which looks awesome

Yes, builds for the water bottles project are coming soon! Most of my other projects have builds available, but if there are others that you want builds for, just let me know.

Speaking of the water bottles project, some colleagues and I will be presenting our work on water bottle modelling at the 2020 DAFx conference next week. This year the DAFx conference will be all online and free for anyone to attend, so for anyone interested in some of the latest audio DSP research, this is a great resource. I'll also be presenting a more technical paper on nonlinear filters, and there's a ton of other presentations that look super interesting. A full list of presentations is currently on the DAFx website.

Thanks,
Jatin