TB ReelBus - thoughts?

[beingmf]

Naah I don't think you are missing anything. Like it was said earlier it's just a taste thing. You either like it or not. There's nothing wrong with you not liking the sound of it.

You just killed KVR

Hahaha!!

[3ee]

The new version sounds awesome!
The new features (and tape modes added after it's 1st release) are great!

With the new version, no more cheap and "plastiky" sound!

CPU is significantly reduced, can and will use this on more buses now.

Now I can say: I am very satisfied with this plugin and recommend it to all who are searching for a good and affordable tape saturation plug!

+ I can do my favorite hysterisis-saturation thanks to the pre/post tone emphasis and the new smoother saturation.
(some modes work better than others for this i.e. soft and smooth, glue I and glue II)

hysterical shaker loops:
https://app.box.com/files/0/f/0/1/f_12031610184

[sergiofrias]

I think i found a mistake on tb reelbus, from my understanding "BIAS" is a high frequency "tone" mixed in with the audio around 100KHz, it energizes the tape oxide so that the audio is more easily implanted on the oxide, since the bias frequency is so high, it is not stored on the tape after being recorded ,it creates more overall flux resulting in high frequency loss and less distortion.
When there is little bias, it results in a brighter sound (more high frequencies) but have increased distortion.

so based on those facts,why does the bias control on reelbus works in a inverse way? as you can see in the image the distortion is correct(over bias=less distortion) but there is more high frequency response,it should be less high frequency instead...

[bbaggins]

I think he got it right. Increasing the amplitude of the bias oscillator does slightly increase high-frequency response, at the expense of more distortion. High-end tape has relatively high coercivity, meaning it requires higher bias levels. And yields better HF response.

Increasing bias on low-coercivity tape (e.g. standard cassette tape) might improve HF, but would also probably increase harmonic distortion. So if anything, the frequency response is correct but the harmonic distortion might be the one that's reversed. Depends on the tape, though.

[sergiofrias]

I think he got it right. Increasing the amplitude of the bias oscillator does slightly increase high-frequency response, at the expense of more distortion.

No,it's incorrect...it's well documented that increasing bias reduces high frequency response,and reduces distortion.

High-end tape has relatively high coercivity, meaning it requires higher bias levels. And yields better HF response.

yes,you are right about this one.

Increasing bias on low-coercivity tape (e.g. standard cassette tape) might improve HF, but would also probably increase harmonic distortion. So if anything, the frequency response is correct but the harmonic distortion might be the one that's reversed. Depends on the tape, though.

To help clarify here is a talk i had with Sasha (u-he Satin developer) about similar issues on waves J37:

"Overbias creates more overall flux, since the bias signal is typically a multiple of the input signal (often 4 to 5x the amplitude). This increased flux - when overdone - leads to high-frequency saturation and self-erasure on the tape. One usually wouldn't want to go that far, but the tendency remains.
When biasing a tape, one wants to linearize the process, which is: get the least distortion for the entire dynamic range, and hopefully: independent of frequency. In reality, there is a 'sweet spot': underbias has the most HF content but creates crossover distortion, since the operational curve (within the hysteresis loop) isn't linearised, especially not in the central region. Overbias manages to linearize the curve, resulting in low overall THD figures, but at the expense of reduced treble. Most machine manufacturers go for a compromise and set it somewhere in the middle, with a minimum tolerable level of THD (especially the 5th harmonic, as a function of crossover distortion) and good treble response. The reason why some people prefer slightly more bias often results from the 'warmer' overall tone; less 5th harmonic, less overall treble, and often fatter low end. "



http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5527348

[bbaggins]

...it's well documented that increasing bias reduces high frequency response,and reduces distortion.

Well, I don't know about "well documented" - it took some patient googling to verify that you're correct. Here's a pdf from Ampex that shows some bias-vs-frequency response charts:
http://home.comcast.net/~mrltapes/mcknight_biasing.pdf

[Mario-C.]

I have not read all the posts but in many cases I miss the sound of ReelBus 2.91 in version 3.05, yes the new version sounds smoother and it fits some material really well but with punchy acoustic (as in real drums, not samples) rock drums version 2.91 has a lot more punch, snap and attack than V 3.0.5 even in legacy mode on ... in my perfect world I'd love to have both sounds in one plug in because the new sound works great for individual track but when you want the drums to sound really "in your face" V 2.91 is still the one, it rocks.

[sergiofrias]

I think i found a mistake on tb reelbus, from my understanding "BIAS" is a high frequency "tone" mixed in with the audio around 100KHz, it energizes the tape oxide so that the audio is more easily implanted on the oxide, since the bias frequency is so high, it is not stored on the tape after being recorded ,it creates more overall flux resulting in high frequency loss and less distortion.
When there is little bias, it results in a brighter sound (more high frequencies) but have increased distortion.

so based on those facts,why does the bias control on reelbus works in a inverse way? as you can see in the image the distortion is correct(over bias=less distortion) but there is more high frequency response,it should be less high frequency instead...

Hello,I'm pleased to see that the "inverted" bias/frequency response problem it's finally corrected in the current version ,so now if you control the bias knob(to overbias) not only the harmonic distortion is reduced as the high frequency response is reduced as well.So now the emulation it's even more realistic.

[sokoleski]

Still using ReelBus 3 and still (re) discovering how versatile it is AND how good it sounds

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

Love it