Reel Tape Saturation Plugin

[napoleon]

Hi, i want to know, how do you use the Tape Saturation plugin?...
individual, submixes??... and do you use it AFTER aplying all the effects, or before? ...

[DrFord]

Napolean-
Think about it like an old analog studio. If you recorded an old jazz band, you would probably go through your board, 24 mono tracks to a 2" Tape (24 tracks.)

You are going to get some tape compression and saturation on each channel.

Then you would playback from the tape, through your board again for the mix stage, (lets pretend you are using an SSL 4000 series board) getting a little stereo bus compression from that famous compressor (waves makes a fantastic plug of this) and would record the summed mix onto a 1/2" tape.

So you would again see some tape compression and saturation for your mix.

Then depending on if you stored the tape correctly (if memory serves it's tails out - haven't worked on tape since college) you would get a print through delay, but that's not your question.

My point is that you can apply tape saturation on each individual channel, and on the master bus. Or you can do either. When I am just tracking, and I want the old school sound sometimes I throw tape saturation on the master bus just to get a vibe.

Use your ears... if it sounds good do it, if it doesn't don't use it just because you think you are supposed to.

[daeron80]

I use them on individual tracks, usually as the first insert. Mostly on drum and percussion tracks, sometimes bass. Once in a great while, I might decide to put it after the compressor, which is like tracking through a compressor to tape, something we used to do a lot back in the analog days.

Occasionally, I'll use one on an electric guitar if it sounds too harsh or has wild transients that need to be tamed. (But often a tube sat or vinyl sim plug does a better job of that.) I never put it on the master. Not to say you shouldn't. But I haven't yet heard one good enough to sound like a Studer 1/4 track.

[DrFord]

Ain't nothin' like the reel thing baby?

[barismanco123]

For me using real tape is a feel good factor, because I know it's a real tape machine.
For the 97% of the rest of the world they have either forgotten or dont know the difference between a plug and the real deal.

I have had my eye on the plug in question as all my personal tastes in music almost all were 100% analogue.

In general, and please excuse me for diverting the general direction of the discussion, what is the plug like for you guy's who own it, in fact the whole suite.
Right now I only have the $ for the saturation but was gonna post a question on what it's like.

I have recently been to a studio with various, 2 inch and 1/2 inch tape machines and they rarely use it anymore.

Tape is a pain in the bumda if this plug works nice..............

Also another question.

The whole Charles Dye McDsp on the first insert and the master buss at a later point?

I was thinking after reading various reviews saying the Reel Tape is this that and the other, that this could provide some refreshingly new results.

What is the general consensus on using it in the similar style as the whole Charles Dye concept?

I heard the Sony Oxford Inflator is a good one too for that, any ideas?

Sorry for the diversity of the thread, regard, Baris.

[tonepad]

Although I'm glad to be rid of the beast, I owned an Ampex MM1200 for about 10 years back in the '80's...that thing cost me almost $30K IIRC, and it did sound great on the 3rd tuesday, 4th and 5th Wednesdays, almost every FRiday...you get the idea. A lot of you guys who want that sound may have never had the opportunity to work with that old tech, does anybody know what a Tentelometer is?. For me I'm glad that technology has been pushed to the background, Though I love reading Tape-Op and SOS for stories about folks still using tape, I have to laugh that the PITA aspect is never discussed. However the idea of having the option to create that vibe with something like a Tape-Sat plug is yet another color that we have in our palettes these days. Like DrFord is saying use your ears to see if it's a better sound or not!

One carry over from my old school analog days is I still like to print with a bit of compression...and I use a complement of SS, tube, hybrid and vintage devices that give me some color to choose from. One thing I love about Digital is that I can print and really hear the subtleties of all these great different circuits. This is something that tape can't always do. It sounds one way going in and another coming back...a negative of tape compression and noise. So for me that's a big "good riddance". I can now consider using some great pieces of outboard gear and feel confident that the sound it imparts can be captured accurately, and that I can make creative decisions that will carry thru to the final mix.

Wilson