EQ Magazine - July 2008 - (Page 60)

MASSEY PLUGINS TAPE-HEAD We ran a full review by Garrett Haines in the 09/07 issue, so we won’t repeat ourselves here. But to give the highlights, Tape-Head is simple (Drive and Trim controls, with a Normal/Bright switch), CPU-efficient, and effective. As Garrett said, “Just because [tape sims] never sound exactly like tape doesn’t mean that you can’t color your sound in a subjectively pleasing way. It’s all about learning how to use them right, and the Tape-Head is good. Very good.” Although you won’t find a plethora of modeling options, the advantage of this approach is you just tweak the Drive knob until you have the desired amount of crunch, decide whether you want it a little brighter or not, then set the Trim control to compensate. Tape-Head isn’t all things to all people, but download the demo and try it on individual tracks and program material. You might be surprised at what $69 can do. Massey’s TapeHead’s interface is truly idiot-proof. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Windows XP/Mac OSX 10.3.9 or later, Universal Binary FORMATS: Windows/Mac TDM/ RTAS (free, “lite” AU version) LIST PRICE: $69 CONTACT: www.masseyplugins.com CONCLUSIONS If you need to do general purpose tone-shaping, tweaking, saturation, and distortion, it’s hard to beat PSP’s MixPack2. I could even see these plugins being used by adventurous mastering engineers, and the price is right: At $40 per plug-in, with no filler, you’re getting a great deal that’s pretty much compatible with everything. It has a more impressionistic than literal interpretation of “tape sound,” but for some, that will be an advantage rather than a drawback. The VirSyn VTape suite, on the other hand, is all about a literal interpretation of tape sound. While the Saturator is cool, to me the stars of this suite are the Flanger and Delay, both of which incorporate the Saturator element. (Having used the same Record Plant flanging setup that was used for Electric Ladyland, I know what tape flanging is supposed to sound like . . . and apparently, so does someone at VirSyn.) Voxengo’s AnalogFlux suite is somewhere between PSP and VirSyn. It perhaps doesn’t do pure tape as authentically as VirSyn, but is more effects-oriented than PSP’s offering. The price is hard to beat, as it’s less than half of MixPack2 and a third of VTape, so if you want some solid tonebending and effects, this does a commendable job without the level of specialization of the other suites. This is definitely an over-achiever. If you like simple, good, and inexpensive, you can’t go wrong with Massey’s Tape-Head. It has no bells and whistles, but gives good crunch and accomplishes its stated task efficiently. Although Voxengo’s suite gives you more bang for the buck, Tape-Head has its own character . . . download the demos for both, and make up your own mind. Digidesign’s Reel Tape Saturation is the most literal attempt to emulate tape: It emulates well-known machines, specifies particular speeds, and models tape the same way that, say, their Velvet models an electric piano. If you want the most literal tape emulator, this is a good one (Pro Tools only, of course). But speaking of Pro Toolsonly, there’s McDSP’s AC-2. This is sort of like Reel Tape Saturation, but gives more machines, a wider control range (especially bias), and thoughtful features like automatic output leveling. The bottom line is if you stay within the proper boundaries, you can get convincing, beefy tape sounds—but you can also go beyond those boundaries, achieving sounds that use tape as a point of reference but not a final destination. This is a pretty addictive plug-in, and the AC-1 (which is the other part of the bundle) is also extremely desirable. I suspect that for a lot of people, DUY’s DaD Tape will be an almost “setand-forget” type of plug-in where they find particular settings they like for particular instruments (or program material), save it as a preset, and use it a lot. The effect is subtle enough, yet pleasing enough, that you won’t need to hit the bypass switch much. If you want to go nuts with science-fiction head bump options, add in flutter, and the like, this isn’t the plug-in for you. But if you like subtle enhancements—and don’t mind the “exchange rate surcharge”—this is a refined, intelligent plug-in. The ColorTone is the maverick of the bunch, with its convolution-based design that does a lot more than just tape emulation. It offers serious value, especially given its versatility, but it’s also the most difficult to use of the lot— not because of any design or interface flaw, but because it really does take an original approach that requires some acclimation. This plug-in is for those to whom tape saturation is another color in the palette, not the main focus. And finally, URS. Granted, their Strip Pro is by no means the ultimate tape simulator, yet it incorporates tape simulation in strategic ways that really bring this plug-in into a class of its own. If you’re looking for a hardcore tape sim, this probably won’t do it for you. But it amply proves there’s more to tape emulation than just cranking up the virtual record gain, and watching the meters pin. It’s almost like this reproduces the spirit of tape, rather than its body. And yes, that’s a major compliment. When I started this article, I had no idea what lay ahead. I was expecting a bunch of me-too products, but boy, was I wrong: Each program has its own way of expressing a high degree of ingenuity. They all have very different personalities; what I’ve tried to do is describe those personalities the best I can, to help you understand where they’re coming from. Whether you just want a couple dials for crunching, or a sophisticated suite that takes tape simulation beyond where their mechanical forebears ever went, these are some pretty amazing programs. They’ll definitely become an important part of my musical toolkit in the years ahead—which is something I wasn’t expecting at all. 60 EQ JULY 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.masseyplugins.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - July 2008

EQ Magazine - July 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Louis XIV, Four TET and Steve Reid, Can Your Record Go Gold in the Digital Age Tool Box Death Cab For Cutie Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Propellerhead Reason 4 Sony Acid Pro 6 EDAX Audio Labs VTP-100 M-Audio Profire 2626 Tape Simulator Shootout Tape Simulators Sounds Room With a VU: Infrasonic Sound Recording Company, Los Angeles, CA.

EQ Magazine - July 2008

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