Arturia Tape J-37

[sQeetz]

Demoe'd it, liked it, bought it... it sounds pleasant and umm.. "fulling"

[Choikdoi]

Cobwebs are sticky. They help to glue your mix.

[Freaqpeak]

It's fun when they name drop albums from some of the biggest artists ever to prove it's a good unit. BUT those original albums sounds really bad today sound wise - and NO ONE would release something sounding that bad today......

I would!

Good for you! I highly doubt that you would release music that can't be played at high volume because it hurts the ears. Instant reaction from listeners is to LOWER the volume..

There ARE some really incredible good and dynamic recordings from the 60's, but they are rare.
A lot of the original pop recordings are hard to listen to in a good system, no subs, flat, no presence, unpleasant noises and no realistic sound staging. And a lot of razor cutting frequencies.. It takes focus from how amazing the actual music, compositions and lyrics can be. But people back then listened on crappy radio receivers, sounding even worse than todays mobile phones speakers..

[davidka]

I have a brief experience with this plugin, and it was quite positive, too.
One question - I also have the Audiothing Reels, which I believe should have some overlap. Did not have the chance yet to thoroughly compare them. Does anyone have experience with both - how do they stand next to each other?

[sinkmusic]

I have a brief experience with this plugin, and it was quite positive, too.
One question - I also have the Audiothing Reels, which I believe should have some overlap. Did not have the chance yet to thoroughly compare them. Does anyone have experience with both - how do they stand next to each other?

They are very, very different : AudioThing Reels is an emulation of a very cheap, entry-level tape machine designed for domestic use.
The Arturia Tape is the model of a very rare, expensive and sought-after 4 tracks tape machine designed for studio use.
I like both, but Reels is definitively for lofi stuff and I would never put it on the master buss!
It's a bit like comparing a Casio keyboard and a Minimoog

[concealed identity]

Cobwebs are sticky. They help to glue your mix.

People here talk all the time about trying to make their music sound organic and natural, and then complain about cobwebs? I just don't get it...

[midi_transmission]

Does someone know when their FX suite update is released usually?

[Igro]

How do you think what would be better. This or UAD offerings?

[sQeetz]

I wouldn't have bought it, if I didn't think it would give me any new flavor. And I have quite a few Tape emulators...

Screenshot 2024-12-21 at 17.02.27.png

Can't say anything about UAD specifically, though...

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

How do you think what would be better. This or UAD offerings?

I don't rate the UA Studer very highly. I think it sounds harsh and shows its age. The UA Ampex plugin is pretty nice though.

This sounds way more colorful. Much more like "an early 60s tape machine" sound, warts and all. The UA Ampex is, by comparison, a high-end machine and much more hifi sounding.

[Igro]

How do you think what would be better. This or UAD offerings?

I don't rate the UA Studer very highly. I think it sounds harsh and shows its age. The UA Ampex plugin is pretty nice though.

This sounds way more colorful. Much more like "an early 60s tape machine" sound, warts and all. The UA Ampex is, by comparison, a high-end machine and much more hifi sounding.

Thanks. I guess Ampex was more like a mastering tape machine then. Which Aruria isn't.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Thanks. I guess Ampex was more like a mastering tape machine then. Which Aruria isn't.

It's not just a "mastering" thing. Tape machine technology "improved" dramatically from the early 60's, to late 60's, to 70's, to 80's. The machines got more tracks, ran at faster speeds, but the circuits got cleaner. Not to mention improvements in tape formulations. Now, there was no way NOT to impart some tape saturation as it's baked into the medium, but the circuits of the machines got more and more hifi as they were refined over time.

The same thing happened with consoles and other recording gear. It's a bit of cliche but listen to the difference between Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. The latter has way more fidelity. The two biggest differences: different consoles and different tape machines.

And note: the J-37 was the Sgt. Pepper tape machine.

[dumbledog]

Does someone know when their FX suite update is released usually?

I bought collections 2, 3, and 4 in June of their respective years. Waited on 5 but YouTube says its release trailer was also in June.

[davidka]

I have a brief experience with this plugin, and it was quite positive, too.
One question - I also have the Audiothing Reels, which I believe should have some overlap. Did not have the chance yet to thoroughly compare them. Does anyone have experience with both - how do they stand next to each other?

They are very, very different : AudioThing Reels is an emulation of a very cheap, entry-level tape machine designed for domestic use.
The Arturia Tape is the model of a very rare, expensive and sought-after 4 tracks tape machine designed for studio use.
I like both, but Reels is definitively for lofi stuff and I would never put it on the master buss!
It's a bit like comparing a Casio keyboard and a Minimoog

Got you Can't wait to try it more during the holidays, thanks for the reply!

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Someone asked via PM so I figured I might as well post here as others may be curious.

For J-37, Reaper reports 247 samples of PDC, which is 5.6ms at 44.1khz. For comparison, the IK Tapes report 595 samples of PDC, which is 13.5ms at 44.1khz.

Conclusion: the Arturia has a decent bit of latency, but 58.5% lower latency than the IK tapes. Or to flip it around: the IK tapes have more than double the latency of the J-37.

Obviously, the higher the sampling rate, the lower the latency in ms.