Members Geoff Grace Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 Slate Digital's highly anticipated Virtual Tape Machines plug-in was released yesterday. The early reviews by forum members over at Gearslutz are glowing, generally liking it as much as Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Huh? Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I have their Virtual Console plug in and I like it a lot. It is something you put on at the final mix only and it goes on every audio track. I wonder if this is the same or if you can put it on a stereo mix? Ryst (?) works for Slate I think. Hopefully he will pipe up about it. I think I have that right....that it's Ryst......sorry if it isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BushmasterM4 Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I've read of people putting it on individual tracks, stems, and/or on the main bus. I would think one instance on the main bus would be enough. But experimenting is the way to go. I have all of Steven Slates plugins and they are nice sounding. All the reviews so far are good, so I will probably jump on it. Have till the third week of July to get it at a VCC user discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 Slate Digital's highly anticipated Virtual Tape Machines plug-in was released yesterday. The early reviews by forum members over at Gearslutz are glowing, generally liking it as much as Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Huh? Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 Have till the third week of July to get it at a VCC user discount. I downloaded my coupon today. I thought it was non-expiring? Where does it say July Bushmaster? I'd hate to screw up and lose that $50 off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BushmasterM4 Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I downloaded my coupon today. I thought it was non-expiring? Where does it say July Bushmaster? I'd hate to screw up and lose that $50 off. I received an email a few days ago with the $50 off price and a time linit. I just got the coupon today with no expiration date. Now I can hold off for further reviews and updates. Well maybe, I might bite the bullet and order it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I downloaded my coupon today. I thought it was non-expiring? Where does it say July Bushmaster? I'd hate to screw up and lose that $50 off. I read the GS thread last evening, Steven Slate specifically said there was no time limit on the coupon. [Page 11, Post #304] However, it looks like you have to own some previous Slate Digital products or a competitors... if you click on the link he provided in that post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted June 29, 2012 CMS Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 I just wish they would quit calling these things tape deck simulators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryst Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 Ryst (?) works for Slate I think. Hopefully he will pipe up about it. I think I have that right....that it's Ryst......sorry if it isn't. Yes, Huh?. You have it right that my forum name is "Ryst". But I left Slate Digital last September for bigger and better things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 iLok for a demo? I couldn't do business with them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I just wish they would quit calling these things tape deck simulators. Well, they could always program the plug-in to stop working at a random time, flash a message on the screen saying "capstan motor fail," and you have to send them $400 before it will work again. That would come closer to emulating the experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 Or simulate the sound of drop-outs or your tape being eaten. Thankfully, thankfully, I rarely had the latter. I had a few drop-outs, but am grateful for very few instances of tapes being eaten, a horrifying sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted June 29, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I just wish they would quit calling these things tape deck simulators. Why? What would you recommend they be called? Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 Oh, that's simple. A "Two tape formulations, two tape speeds calibration, bass alignment, wow & flutter, constant gain I/O, grouping, noise reduction Ferric Oxide Tape Approximator". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bookumdano2 Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 hissywow spinulators StuderInDisquise (with glasses) Killer bunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 hissywow spinulators Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beck Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 I just wish they would quit calling these things tape deck simulators. Yes I agree completely. Not sure if it's for the same reasons you object to the term, but I wish they'd stop misleading people. This is no more credible than boner pill commercials on late night TV. Tape simulation plugs do something to alter the sound of course, but that's all one can say. Characterizing the effect as tape-like is totally subjective. And all this nonsense about simulating specific machines and tape formulations is utterly ridiculous. These claims and sales pitches are not written for people that understand magnetic recording, but rather they Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 hissywow spinulatorsStuderInDisquise (with glasses)Killer bunny I think you have a lucrative career awaiting you as a namer of bands! I expect to see Killer Bunny appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show any day now. I see the band members looking something like the cast of Sucker Punch, or the generic equivalent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BushmasterM4 Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 Yes I agree completely. Not sure if it's for the same reasons you object to the term, but I wish they'd stop misleading people. This is no more credible than boner pill commercials on late night TV. Tape simulation plugs do something to alter the sound of course, but that's all one can say. Characterizing the effect as tape-like is totally subjective. And all this nonsense about simulating specific machines and tape formulations is utterly ridiculous. These claims and sales pitches are not written for people that understand magnetic recording, but rather they Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BushmasterM4 Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 Oh, that's simple. A "Two tape formulations, two tape speeds calibration, bass alignment, wow & flutter, constant gain I/O, grouping, noise reduction Ferric Oxide Tape Approximator". The plug ins controls are based on the VCC plugin layout. Not that hard to grasp once you start using it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 And all this nonsense about simulating specific machines and tape formulations is utterly ridiculous. You're perhaps right in the sense that a plug-in can't completely capture the full continuum of sound that you get with the one zillion variables involved with tape recording, but they are great at taking enough snapshots that you can approximate specific sounds. It's like saying a convolution reverb can't emulate acoustic spaces. It can't, but it can emulate an acoustic space. If you include enough impulses of enough acoustic spaces, it starts to appear that the convolution reverb can indeed emulate acoustic spaces. I spent 30 years of my life recording exclusively with analog tape, including different formulations and machines - from cheapo TEACs to top-of- the-line Studers, Ampexes and MCIs. Also during that time, I aligned the bias and EQ, did head azimuth adjustments, and pretty much maintained everything (except I never did re-lap heads; even certifiable geeks have their limits). As a result, certain sounds are burned into my brain - the 15 IPS head bump, the what-happens-when-you-overbias-456, the effects of different reference levels, etc. etc. I think some of these plug-ins (particularly the UA ATR two-track, haven't tried the Slate) do a very credible job of giving a "greatest hits" of the sounds you can get with tape. You can't do all possible permutations and combinations, of course, but when you switch virtual tape formulations or reference levels, you hear the same kind of change you get from "the real thing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 Well....I don't know for certain whether this credibly approximates tape machines, largely because I haven't done a comparison and am unfamiliar with this plugin. My gut is closer to what Beck says. However, I can't help but think:1. If these things make a DAW sound better, this is a good thing.2. If it can give some of the benefits of analog even though it doesn't sound exactly like it, this might be a good thing as well. I record digitally and have done so for several years. And I'm not nostalgic for analog tape. I like many features that a DAW offers. But I can tell you - and a lot of people can hear this - that the sense of depth and space is quite different from a DAW, and is something that I particularly love. I'm not prone to snake oil, but I can hear it easily in my old mixes compared to my new ones, and that's saying something because I'm much better now than I was back then as a mixer and recording engineer. I've sort of come in this interesting zone that lies between your two beliefs, I suppose, or perhaps not. Maybe this is what Craig kinda thinks too, I don't know. I'm wary of much of this stuff because I can't help but think that it keeps imitating something that is real. Amp modeling, AutoTune, drum replacement, tape machine emulations, vacuum tube emulations. So far, none of this stuff sounds like the real thing. Sometimes it's close. Sometimes it can fool me or you. But when you use this many emulations, you don't get what it was emulating, and after a while, the ear knows better. I just hope that as this progresses, even though it may not be real, it will advance the sound of computer-based recording. Computer-based recording is still in its infancy, and let's hope that someday these things really make the medium sound as fantastic as analog, or if we're really lucky, even more so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 hissywow spinulatorsStuderInDisquise (with glasses)Killer bunny Now, back to a more serious topic. Is there any way we can get this guy to do marketing? This is great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 The plug ins controls are based on the VCC plugin layout. Not that hard to grasp once you start using it. Sorry, not sure what you mean. You do realize that I was naming the plugin as a joke, though, right? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted June 30, 2012 Members Share Posted June 30, 2012 I record digitally and have done so for several years. And I'm not nostalgic for analog tape. I like many features that a DAW offers. But I can tell you - and a lot of people can hear this - that the sense of depth and space is quite different from a DAW, and is something that I particularly love. I'm not prone to snake oil, but I can hear it easily in my old mixes compared to my new ones, and that's saying something because I'm much better now than I was back then as a mixer and recording engineer. For your purposes, I think the Slate VCC is more appropriate to giving "that analog sound" than a tape emulator. I think the console is a major factor in giving a sense of depth and space, not because it's more accurate than digital, but because it has more interesting non-linearities. Because those non-linearities are different in different individual channels and master channels, there are more inconsistencies that create more differences between channels, thus creating a perceived sense of more separation. VCC emulates these non-linearities, and when you enable/disable it, although subtle you can definitely hear there's more of a defined soundstage with it enabled. Normally I don't really put much stock in those kind of plug-ins, nor do they give me sounds I actually want, but the VCC surprised me. But also, you've been using Pro Tools, right? Don't recall if you're using TDM or not, but remember, every time a signal goes on the TDM bus it's dithered to 24 bits. This adds up over time. Maybe this is what Craig kinda thinks too, I don't know. I take these things on a case-by-case basis I'm wary of much of this stuff because I can't help but think that it keeps imitating something that is real. Amp modeling, AutoTune, drum replacement, tape machine emulations, vacuum tube emulations. So far, none of this stuff sounds like the real thing. I'm much more interested in using emulation technology to create sounds that don't exist in the real world. If I want the sound of a tube amp, I have a DT25 sitting right next to me But if I want the sound of a tube amp that doesn't exist, I can do that with emulation. By definition, it can't be compared to reality because there is no corresponding reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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