Free plugins: two tape sims and a BL-44 reverse delay
Tape emulation gets two very different treatments in this week's free plugins, and a third release revives a reverse pedal that is no longer made. Gearnews rounded up all three on Sunday.
Platforms and formats
The Machine and DigiTape both run on macOS and Windows. The Machine ships as VST3, AU and AAX, while DigiTape adds plain VST to those three.
Timetravel is the only one of the trio listed for Linux as well. Gearnews does not give its plugin formats.
The Machine: a tube-driven tape deck
Analog Obsession, whose free releases the round-up calls a string of high-quality plugins, has added The Machine. It models a vintage tape machine with a tube preamp.
The signal path is simple. Set the input level first, then raise the Drive knob to push the sound into saturation.
Tape speed is a choice of 7.5 or 15 IPS, meaning inches per second. Wow and flutter, the slight speed wobble of a real transport, and noise can be switched on for a lo-fi result.
DigiTape: old digital algorithms on purpose
Pulsar Audio went another way. DigiTape does not copy a machine. It reproduces two digital tape-simulation algorithms from the early 2000s.
Gearnews ties the idea to the VST standard turning 30. After three decades of plugins, some have become classics despite, or maybe because of, their digital flaws.
Pulsar Audio's own argument is about limits. CPU power was scarce back then, so developers had to be extra clever to get a good sound from modest resources.
Controls are two modes, Colour and Grain, and five types: Halo, Gasoline, Flare, Sheen and Shade. Drive is joined by Brightness and Mix.
Timetravel: a reverse echo with fixed memory
Born Second modeled Timetravel on the BL-44 from Old Blood Noise Endeavors, a pedal now out of production. Whatever is played gets captured, reversed and played back.
The Clock knob does most of the work. It changes the sample rate, and since the memory size is fixed, it also changes how far back the effect reaches.
Because time is set through the sample rate, each setting also shifts the character, from bright and clean to dark and gritty. A separate Speed knob adjusts the speed and pitch of the reversed signal across plus or minus one octave.
Our view
Two tape plugins released together give producers an easy comparison between an early digital approach and a tube-and-tape model. The round-up says nothing about how they sound next to each other or how heavy they are on the CPU, so that test is left to the user.
Timetravel raises a similar question. Only a side-by-side listen against a real BL-44 would show how close it gets.
Source: Gearnews.com