IK Multimedia T-racks Tape Machine Collection

[dionenoid]

AAX all go into one folder. I don't have pro tools... I just delete the whole folder.
Ik is no way in comparison. You have to remember which ones you have bought etc etc etc.
rsp

Yep, i keep a folder on an external drive with "IK i don't own". So everytime there's an update i check that for what to thrash. Stupid and unnecessary really. Luckily they don't update that often.

Altho an update to Tapes would be nice. Linked in/output would be handy. And ofcourse further optimization of cpu useage.

[simon.a.billington]

I try not to waste my time being upset about these things anymore, I just take my money elsewhere. There is no question that installing all plugins is a customer hostile setup. IK and Roland Cloud are a couple of examples of software management systems that are so annoying that I have resisted buying software I really wanted. I regret buying D50 even though it is wonderful, because I'm strapped to their horrible cloud crap. I would have bought Hammond B-3X and Mixbox in a flash, but I promised myself to not get in deeper with IK. I think it is strange when companies don't want their customers to "love" them. U-he, GForce, Synapse are examples of companies I have a warm fuzzy feeling about. They always seem to do what feels good to the customer - they keep things nice and simple...and in turn I sometimes buy things from them I'm not sure about just to support them!

Not waisting time by allowing this to upset you is a good attitude to have. It's not constructive, it wont make music for you and may even just make you unbearable to be around. Nothing good comes un from holding onto negative "vibes"

If it weren't for the piracy and those who steal information or hack systems we wouldn't have to put up with all these extra security steps that developers are forced into. Downloading, installing and maintaining software will be much more streamlined and less painful.

Unfortunately, because people can't be trusted we now have to tolerate various licensing and security systems.

[synzh]

Wanted to try out new IK Tape Machines; just for fun I wrote down what I had to do in order to accomplish this:
Note I already own T-Racks Vintage Compressors from few versions back;
Opened IK Custom Shop already on my PC, after updating it, searched for "tape" and I see each of the 4 tape machines has its own "try" button so I chose Tape Machine 80 and click "Try".
App shows Tape Machine 80 is now in "trial mode".
I don't see any way to install Tape Machine 80 so I go to IK account online; there it tells me to install IK Product Manager.
Download/install IK Product Manager (updating my existing version) and open it.
In IK Product Manager, I see T-Racks5 shows already installed; don't see "Tape Machines" anywhere (even after a refresh).
Verified Tape Machines is part of T-Racks 5.
After some research figured out will probably have to deinstall T-Racks 5 and reinstall (which puts ALL its products back on my hard drive).
Eventually found T-Racks5 uninstaller in C:\Program Files\IK Multimedia\T-RackS 5\unins000.exe and ran it.
Went back to IK Product Manager and clicked on "Install" for T-Racks5; took a while and eventually shows "Installation - 3rd attempt" so I look around and see there is a popup behind asking me to click thru rest of install which went fine.
Now (again) I have to go into the IK Tracks5 plugin location and determine/remove unnecessary plugins, and finally refresh the plugin list from my DAW.
I also noticed there are presets available for my products but I don't even want to bother at this point.
When I open the plugin in my DAW it automatically opens Custom Shop app again as well, which I close.
Now I can try this tape plugin a little.
Also just found out there is periodic white noise which seems odd for a trial product that gives you only 14 days to trial it.

Do I look forward to doing this kind of thing again for another IK product? You bet I don't. Makes me not want to bother with IK at all, frankly, given all the competition. Many times, when some plugins I own have updates, I'll be able to update multiple plugins from multiple companies fairly quickly/easily, but always have to do this separately for IK products (and try to recall their process again which is not intuitive.)
I can see why folks might just give up partway through all this, just to trial something (I believe I have at times in the past also with IK), and I'd wager that loses IK customers. These same folks (like myself) most likely have installed many other trial plugins from other companies and have grown accustomed to it being a pretty straightforward process, so IK's way becomes frustrating.

[plexuss]

Wanted to try out new IK Tape Machines; just for fun I wrote down what I had to do in order to accomplish this:
[snip...]

Yes, IK is a slog. To me, having some corporate dev experience, it seems like they commited to some tech solutions back in the day and instead of a re-design, have just compounded on them with less than ideal solutions. Their whole licensing infrastructure would then be a giant ball of wax based on legacy. When this happens the only way out is a complete re-design. That costs $$. If there is one thing corporations hate is spending $$ espeically on something that essentially works. Also, because of 1919 Dodge v. Ford and the subsequent corporate take over of life, customers are not a priority. So any good sociopathic exec will say "We are not spending that kind of money on something that essentially works. Our customers are used to putting up with it so let them continue! I want my bonus!"

So we suffer.

The only way out is to a) stop buying IK products and b) email them and let them know and why. Once they sense their profit margins are in danger that money and effort will instantly become prioritized.

[acousticglue]

I myself have never had issue with installer. I did, however, the other day have part of A5 come up,missing and had to restore gear again. That is once in 18 years

[Lotuz2019]

Well done IK, the Tape Machine collection is superb.
Feature request: The option to hide the reels (like VTM).
I have no desire to see spinning reels.
I find them a distraction and imagine that having them visible/spinning adds to cpu/graphics load.

Has anyone actually sent this request to IK Tech Support? It could make these tape machines a litlle lighter to run.

Another example is Black Rooster Audio Magnetite.

» Tape Head (reels animation mode)

Clicking on the tape head brigs up a menu that lets you select the
reels animation mode between synchronized (with host transport),
continuous and disabled. This feature is only available in expanded
view. This is a global setting that affects all running Magnetite instances.

» Magnetite Badge (collapse/expand view)

Click on the Magnetite badge to hide or show upper tape reel and
recording head area, which allows for putting the GUI into collapsed
or expanded mode. This is a global setting that affects all running
Magnetite instances.

[simon.a.billington]

Just acquired these sexy plugins by crossgrading to Total Studio Max. I ran them up just to have a look-see, while I was expecting a heavy CPU hit I must say my jaw almost literally dropped Wile E Coyote style when I saw just how big a hit it actually was!!

O. M. G.

Anyway, I won't let that stop me. I'll either work with it and freeze or I'll just work with something lighter like Abbey Road J37 or Kramer Master Tape if I need to keep the plugin "live". It's a tiny bit annoying, but hey, it is what it is. No point getting all stressed about it. I'm sure there's a very good reason to why it is as CPU taxing as it is.

Looking forward to using them.

[MogwaiBoy]

Yeah IK Tapes hit like Acustica Audio plugins!

People beg them to "optimise", but I wouldn't want them to compromise on quality one little bit. However, some kind of "eco" mode would be welcome - maybe even just an option for offline oversampling (no oversampling in realtime, reducing CPU).

[pixel85]

Yeah IK Tapes hit like Acustica Audio plugins!

People beg them to "optimise", but I wouldn't want them to compromise on quality one little bit. However, some kind of "eco" mode would be welcome - maybe even just an option for offline oversampling (no oversampling in realtime, reducing CPU).

The thing is that Tapes are initially developed at a high sample rate natively (384kHz + downsampling). It's not like it's a typical 44.1kHz + (optional) oversampling plugin. So they would have to cripple it somehow.
I don't know if the crippled version would have the same sonic imprints and if not then using such version + full version for rendering would be quite unpredictable. The user would have to render a track, listen and then eventually adjust the mix again and again, which is counterproductive.
Of course, I can be completely wrong and the 'eco' version has the possibility to sound very similar and IKM simply doesn't want to 'waste' resources on 'eco' version

[jens]

Just for the record: you can install newer versions of T-Racks without having to first uninstall the one that is already on your machine. This will still (re-)install all the plugins, but on the positive side of things it makes it easier to demo the stuff.

[simon.a.billington]

Yeah IK Tapes hit like Acustica Audio plugins!

People beg them to "optimise", but I wouldn't want them to compromise on quality one little bit. However, some kind of "eco" mode would be welcome - maybe even just an option for offline oversampling (no oversampling in realtime, reducing CPU).

Any optimisations would have to be user optional, that way you could turn the efficiency mode on and off whenever it suits you.

[scott_free]

Late to the party for Tape Collection. Been demoing them against the usual suspects and I am very impressed.

If I buy them, will I need to have the custom shop opened and connected to the internet in order to use Tape Machines?

Edit: Thanks for the quick answers below. Appreciate it.

[plexuss]

Late to the party for Tape Collection. Been demoing them against the usual suspects and I am very impressed.

If I buy them, will I need to have the custom shop opened and connected to the internet in order to use Tape Machines?

Not if you own licenses for it and it's authorized on the computer.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Late to the party for Tape Collection. Been demoing them against the usual suspects and I am very impressed.

If I buy them, will I need to have the custom shop opened and connected to the internet in order to use Tape Machines?

No you will not need to have Custom Shop open and connected to the internet. That would be only during the demo.

[MogwaiBoy]

Feature Requests:

- Input/Output linking
- Realtime "Eco" mode with no oversampling etc
- In addition to above, High Qual offline render setttings with "Set for all instances" option