Softube Tape. Time to get reel! Softube’s Tape plug-in adds cohesion and weight to your mixes. But Tape goes far beyond your average tape machine emulation. It includes three distinctly different tape machine types, and it offers the ease of use and low CPU strain th.
Lots of people are obsessed with the ‘warmth’ of analog studio gear. Sure—it sounds fuller, more human, more present.
But these days, modeling technology has become really good at simulating the effects of analog circuitry. Our computers and DAW apps are powerful enough to handle these VST workhorses.
So forget about spending tons of money on analog gear.
Here’s 7 VSTs (for both PC and Mac) that will give you that sweet analog warmth.
- SGA1566 Tube Preamp
- TDR Slick EQ
- Ace Amp
- Molot Compressor
- Voxengo Tube Amp
- MJUC jr. Compressor
- Softube Saturation Knob
What’s all the analog fuss about?
Ok, so what does analog circuitry do to your sound? What’s everyone so obsessed about?
What people like about analog sound are the quirks and imperfections.
So when people talk about ‘warm analog sound’ they’re referring to:
- Subtle distortion and drive
- Harmonic distortion
- Tape Saturation
- Vacuum tubes
- Preamps
What these processes do to your sound is often hardly noticeable. That’s what the magic’s about—you won’t hear them, but they’ll make a huge difference in how your track sounds and feels.
The cumulative effect of analog processes is what people are gushing about.
1. SGA1566 Tube Preamp
Shattered Glass Audio’s SGA 1566 gives you a single channel vintage tube preamp. The whole circuit is simulated in real time to get you that authentic analog sound.
Use the SGA 1566 as a saturation compressor to boost the warmth of your track. Or add a bit of grit with the tube overdrive.
The newest version is also lighter on your CPU––so no computer freak outs!!
Download the SGA 1566 for free here.
2. TDR Slick EQ
“This little guy sounds amazing” –Dave Pensado
The TDR Slick EQ is a sleek easy-to-use three-band EQ that gives you amazing sound—like all Tokyo Dawn Records plugins.
Warm up your sound by choosing a non-linear option under Output Stage. That’ll add subtle harmonic distortion and texture.
Download the TDR SlickEQ for free here.
3. Ace Amp
Ace Amp—another Shattered Glass Audio creation—is based on classic 1950s style tube amps.
Control the input, volume, feedback, output. Choose between three resampling options.
This amp plugin has simple controls and doesn’t eat up your CPU.
Hot Tip: Try it on vocals for a cool aesthetic effect.
Download the Ace for free here.
4. Molot Compressor
Vladg’s Molot is a compressor with character. Even the vintage Soviet look is on point.
Molot will give your sound interesting color. I recommend reading the manual to learn how to tune it properly—it’s worth the read.
Download Molot for free here.
5. Voxengo Tube Amp
Voxengo’s Tube Amp gives you warm overdrive, fuzzy distortion and everything in between.
It imitates tube overdrive in the style of single-tube mic preamps.
Hot Tip: Use the low-pass filter to imitate the texture of lower-quality tubes.
Download Voxengo’s Tube Amp for free here.
6. MJUC jr. Compressor
Klanghelm’s MJUC jr. compressor is simple and elegant.
Use it for smooth compression or a heavier pumping effect. MJUC jr. is based on vintage compressors of the 1960s––it even looks like one.
Flip the ‘Time Constants’ switch to choose between slow, fast and auto. This changes the attack and release time. It affects other parts of the circuitry too, giving you interesting analog-style saturation.
Download the MJUC jr. for free here.
7. Softube Saturation Knob
This Saturation Knob is one the best free analog emulation plugins out there. Even Dave Pensado gives it two thumbs up!
Use it anywhere to add some character and distortion. Drag it on your vocal track to add shimmer.
The great thing about this one is how simple it is: literally one knob and a switch. Change the switch setting to choose between the kind of distortion you’ll get.
Download the Softube Saturation Knob for free here.
Fake It Till Ya Make It
These effects are the missing ingredient in your digital sound.
The key with analog emulation is to avoid overdoing it. Bring in the effect until you hear it, then dial it back a notch. It’ll still make a huge difference. Your sound will be fuller and warmer.
Use these plugins and people will be asking for your studio secrets in no time.
Make sure to grab the whole LANDR-approved free VST plugin collection:
Saturation is an essential tool for achieving professional-level sonics—indeed, entire careers have been made through the creative development of unique techniques and approaches to harmonic coloration.
Since the beginning of the modern recording industry, the sounds of tape, tubes, and transistors being pushed past their limits have been an integral part of the music emanating from your speakers. This type of harmonic distortion is the very essence of what makes analog hardware sound so musical and pleasing to the ears.
![Tape Tape](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126380407/520568365.jpg)
While there are many ways to add such harmonics to any signal chain, using analog tape equipment isn't always feasible for artists making music today. Thankfully, there are many digital plugins that emulate analog saturation. Today, we're highlighting tape saturation plugins—emulations of the specific type of saturation that occurs when the incoming audio signal has exceeded the limits of analog tape, creating an often pleasing, subtle, and warm distortion effect.
Below, we'll hear how a set of tracks take on different characteristics as they're run through 10 different tape saturation plugins.
Last year, audio engineer and record producer Slade Templeton wrote 'How to Use Saturation to Bring Warmth to Your Mixes.' In that article, he details what type of saturation works best for which use-case and how to set up these different techniques directly in your digital audio workstation.
Today, for this decidedly more demonstrative tape saturation showdown, I pulled some multitracks from a recent project I produced for two Chicago artists, Brazill and Cheri Soul. I processed the audio from the guitar, drums, vocals, keys/synths, and the master two-track mixes through 10 of my favorite tape saturation plugins on Reverb. (Along this path, I crafted custom Reverb Exclusive presets for each processor, which are available for free here.) Listen to the individual instrument and master mixes here to start:
Featuring companies from all over the globe, the following plugin manufacturers all have a different takes on what they wanted in a tape saturator tool—from the product design concepts and digital signal processing to the settings, interfaces, and more. Each one adds a different harmonic coloration and character to the audio.
I've run the same tracks from Brazill and Cheri Soul through each of these plugins—check out the embedded playlists below to hear these processors in action.
Kicking things off, we have a brand-new release from one of my favorite brands making unique, thoughtful processors, AudioThing. From Ireland, by way of Italy, Carlo Castellano has developed a stunning line of character-driven sound design tools. This new tape machine emulation plugin, AudioThing Reels, is no exception. A tape saturation and tape delay plugin, this thing recreates the unique sound of a consumer-grade mini tape recorder.
The AudioThing Type A Vintage Enhancer is a plugin inspired the Dolby A-Type Model 361 tape encoder. The original unit was designed to be a noise reduction system for tape recording and playback. This processor from AudioThing emulates the encode stage, dynamically increasing the top-end of a signal like a dynamic EQ, without introducing artifacts or altering the harmonic content. Although not technically a direct tape emulation, this plugin emulates the encoding saturation tone of certain tape recordings and was worth inclusion for this very familiar sound.
This Swedish company, Softube, is always at the top of their game, and the Softube Tape plugin is right on target. Tape includes three different tape machine types in one plugin. Type A is based on a classic Swiss high-end reel-to-reel machine, known and loved for its precision and linearity. Type B is much more colorful—it's a transformer-based machine, which adds extra weight and cream to the low-end. Lastly, Type C is based on a British tape machine with a distinct vintage vibe.
A classic remakes another classic with this Eddie Kramer-endorsed Waves plugin. The Waves Kramer Master Tape is modeled on a rare vintage 1/4' reel-to-reel machine used in London's famed Olympic Studios. With adjustable tape speed, bias, flux, wow and flutter, and noise parameters, the Kramer Master Tape provides comprehensive control over the contours of your sound.
From top-of-the-line multi-track consoles to humble cassette decks, this tape machine emulation from the German mainstays u-he gives almost infinite flexibility with its feature offerings. A harmonic coloration device that celebrates all of the historical developments in tape technology, the u-he Satin Tape Emulation includes saturation, transient smoothing, compression, noise modulation, flutter, and hiss. It also gives you controls over delay and flange.
This very simple yet effective tape machine emulation from German outfit Black Rooster Audio, is straightforward for someone just getting into the world of saturation emulations. The Black Rooster Audio Magnetite Tape Saturator keeps it simple with just the necessary controls, such as recording and playback amplifier gain, tape response, and saturation, NAB pre-and de-emphasis EQs, different tape speeds, bias levels, hiss, and hum. Loud harmonics at the twist of a knob.
Inspired by the innovative Studer A810 tape machine, known for excellent frequency response even at the critical high- and low-frequency range limits, Boston-based iZotope makes a great module for analog tape sound inside of their already brilliant iZotope Ozone 8 Advanced mastering suite. I think that this module is really slept on because it's implanted in a much larger software offering. However, I use this often, as it sounds really good when you push input drive almost to the max, and then just walk it back until you get that desired distortion.
A precision model of the very machine used to record many of the greatest masterpieces in modern music, Waves modeled the Studer J37 tape machine used at Abbey Road Studios with their Waves J37 Tape Saturator plugin. With a variety of user-adjustable controls including tape speed, bias, noise, saturation, and wow and flutter, this is a faithful recreation of the sonic signature of the original machine—with an added tape delay feature throw in, just for kicks.
Produced by the Dutch masters FabFilter, this multi-saturation modeler aims to quench all of your harmonic distortion thirsts. The FabFilter Saturn Saturation and Distortion offers a range of different high-quality distortion models, inspired by the vintage sound of tubes, tape, and guitar amps. In addition, you also get three creative distortion styles, with which you can smudge, stretch, crush, rectify, and clip your sounds in weird and unexpected ways.
This saturation tool comes directly from the Los Angeles via India company BeatSkillz. The REELight Tape Saturation is a tape saturation plugin with many features for getting an authentic tape sound. Using their proprietary RTT technology, which they also used in their fantastic Valvesque, their tube version of this harmonic coloration device, like the Magnetite plugin mentioned earlier, is a very straightforward tape machine emulation. Turn a few knobs and get a nice and easy-to-use saturation sound for any use case.
Have a favorite? Not seeing a tape emulation plugin you already know and love? Let us know in the comments.
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