tape saturation shareware VST plug in

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lo-Fi Mike
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Lo-Fi Mike

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i just found this plug in online, as far as i can tell its really cool.
let me know what you guys think, I'm not a mastering engineer by any means, but when i put this thing between an eq and a maximizer it makes my mixes really tight and puts em out there in front.

http://home.versatel.nl/breebaar/downloads/ferox/ferox.zip

ferox.jpg



this is shareware by donation:D

---mike---
 
I haven't tried that plug, or any of the others that guy offers.

I've not been real impressed by what's offered in the way of taple emulation plugs for VST; the only really worthwhile ones out there are ProTools-only (:().

But his resume is interesting enough that I'll have to give a few of his plugs a try just to see whazzup. Hell, it won't cost anything to check them out. :).

G.
 
Not a tape emulation thing, but I've been liking the Screamer module in Guitar Rig2 running in clean mode. If you don't push it hard, it has a great way of solidifying many sounds, whithout obviously distorting them. It seems also it does some HF rolloff, so things end up sounding warmer.
 
I'm gonna try it just to see what the Hysteresis control sounds like. GREAT term for a plugin parameter. Oh, and before anyone starts a dissertation on the term;) ...yeah, I already know what it means.:p
 
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not that it is weird to see it on a tape control plug though, makes sense
 
I don't know about these tape simulators, all they really sound like they do to me is increase the vol.

There's a 99.99% chance I'm wrong.
 
Interesting plugin. The interplay of hysteresis and Saturation is kind of fun. :)
 
So they increase volume and smooth out transients? Anything else?
 
Monkey Allen said:
So they increase volume and smooth out transients? Anything else?
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It's not quite as simple as just "smoothing out transients", it's the model or algorithm they use to "smooth out" (in a manner of speaking) the whole waveform, modeling the distortion of the waveform in a way that mimics the action of magnetic tape.

"Smoothing out" here doesn't necessarily mean "flattening", at least not in the way we're used to thinking around here by way of compression or limiting algorithms. But there are subtle changes made to the overall shaping in a way that not only smooths transients, but affects the way higher frequency fundamentals and mid-order harmonics of lower frequencies are reproduced as well.

Additionally most tape emulators will also push that emulation to the point of emulating tape saturation, which is when it simply doesn't want to magnetize any higher. That adds it's own flavor of distortion to the sound...if desired.

G.
 
Is'nt tape compression (or saturation) different in that individual harmonics are compressed almost instantly as opposed to a standard , envelope following type of compression???


:)
:):)
:):):)
 
If you want tape saturation, just get yourself a casette tape recorder, and drive it, if you wanna go on the cheap. It will still sound more like "tape" than any emulation. If you wanna use the emulation, just because you like the sound of it, because of the way it distorts the sound, then fine. Just don't kid yourself into thinking that it actually sounds like tape saturation.
 
noisewreck said:
If you want tape saturation, just get yourself a casette tape recorder, and drive it, if you wanna go on the cheap. It will still sound more like "tape" than any emulation.
Click to expand...
If wow and flutter doesn't bother you.
 
noisewreck said:
If you wanna use the emulation, just because you like the sound of it, because of the way it distorts the sound, then fine. Just don't kid yourself into thinking that it actually sounds like tape saturation.
Click to expand...


I was going to say it, but noisewreck said it first. :)
 
That's all it is; it's another sound to use when you don't like what you've got already. That's all any plugin or piece of gear is.
 
why couldnt it sound like tape saturation? And the sound of a cassette is WAY WAY WAY different than the sound of a professional width, hi speed recorder

Im a skeptic about the success of modelling , when its done by guys who have never been within ten miles of a recording studio, just hang out in #musicdsp, and copy and paste the same god damn code in again and again and yak about how "yo my new plug is so new yo" when all it is is a new GUI on top of the same old shit

BUT

Its also been proved a few times, how with some actual brainpower and some real testing, VERY complicated transfer functions can be figured out
 
noisewreck said:
If you want tape saturation, just get yourself a casette tape recorder, and drive it, if you wanna go on the cheap.
Click to expand...
That's just substituting one crappy sound for another one. Plus it requires having the DAD I/O, which not everybody has, as well as having to deal with the 12dB differential in gain that's required when going to and from most cassette decks.

None of the above is a major back-breaker, of course, but it certianly means (IMHO) that the cassette option is no better, and in some ways just more of a hassle with it's own problems, than a decent emulator.

Then again, my real answer is, if the music is worth listening to, and therefore actually worth recording, than this whole topic is unnecessary because nobody will give a rat's ass whether it sounds like it was recorded on a Studer or on a Zoom.

G.
 
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Well, nuts, apparently that actually takes you to the same link for the download.

How do you install it? All I get is a readme and .dll file.
 
apl said:
Well, nuts, apparently that actually takes you to the same link for the download.

How do you install it? All I get is a readme and .dll file.
Click to expand...
You just stick the dll in whatever directory you have designated as your VST plugs directory. No further installation required, though some editors (like older AA) requires running a manual update scan for new plugs.

G.
 
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