KVR Audio

plexuss · Post by **plexuss** » Sat Oct 31, 2020 2:09 am

This seemed to launch under the radar...

Caelum Audio Tape Pro £29.99 intro sale (regular price £39.99)

https://www.caelumaudio.com/CaelumAudio/?Page=TapePro

rb9srDY.jpg

What they say:
"Tape Pro is a multi-fx tape audio plugin and app that introduces warmth, frequency shaping, modulation, noise and delay. Whether you want to accurately replicate a microcassette tape running at 1.2cm/s, or you want to drive a mastering grade tape machine with strange distortion shapes into a high feedback delay engine, Tape Pro is the plugin for the job.

"Available as: VST3 for Windows, AU + VST3 for MacOS, AUv3 + IAA + standalone app for iOS and iPadOS. Please ensure your DAW supports one of these formats."

What I say:
I am not acquainted with Caelum Audio. I remember their free Tape version 2 plugin which was merely "ok". I got an email from them about this. I didnt see a demo and it seems like their refund policy would be a safe-guard if I didn't ultimately want it. So I picked it up and demoed it for about an hour...

I am going to keep it. There are a lot of lo-fi-ers out there. Some of the things I like about Tape Pro that I don't have in my other tools:

- all the effects are well integrated rather than sounding like discrete modules connected together. this keeps the over-all sound solid and focused.
- 2x-16x oversampling. at 16x my 12-core xeon mac doesn't have any issues with it in Reaper
- the distortion module has a lot of control over the distortion character but stays musical. its a smaller range of distortion but it keeps things sounding good and usable.
- wow and flutter have lfo modulation which is nice
- i love the dynamic IR tape sounds. very realistic with lots of cassette tape sounds to choose from
- over-all nice sound with a nice range from subtle lo-fi to extreme rub-out
- nice, single page UI, well organized and resizable

JerGoertz · Post by **JerGoertz** » Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:21 am

Nice review, plexuss! Thanks for the writeup, I am a "lo-fi-erizer" junkie and this is something I had to get.

Wavesfactory Casette and Softube Tape are two of my favorites; Softube might be surprising, but the sidepanel allows you to get really wonky and old-sounding.

simmo75 · Post by **simmo75** » Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:29 am

How does it compare to Satin Plexuss?

plexuss · Post by **plexuss** » Sat Oct 31, 2020 5:39 am

simmo75 wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:29 am How does it compare to Satin Plexuss?

To me, Satin is more of a "fine tape emuluator" that sounds best when used to emulate high-end decks. It can do lo-fi but it's not Satin's sweet spot. However Satin's tape echo is nice. Also Satin can function as a multi-track deck with each track on a separate instance, controlled by a master. So its a lot "more" than Tape Pro. TP is more better for lo-fi type affectation.

rj0 · Post by **rj0** » Sun Nov 01, 2020 12:22 am

Glad to see cross-talk emulated. That was a key spec back in the days.

fir_sk88 · Post by **fir_sk88** » Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:09 am

Naisss review. Only 2 videos in YT about this plugin. Does it works well for mastering to bring out subtle tape character? There are mini phase IRs that helps during mastering right? Are those *MP IRs for mastering or only for parallel/send? Thanks in advance