all that goes into a tape simulation

[kensuguro]

There are a bunch of tape sim vst out there, a couple of them on our platform as well. Many are tape "saturators", while some are overall tape sims, including some sort of eq / spectral effect, compression, and the saturation.. I wanted to learn about what happens with tape, but don't have one at hand right now.. I'm not talking about mega expensive studio grade tape.. I'm talking about the way the tapes sounded when someone's mix tape went half way around the class, or you got a 5th generation dub of someone's tape..

Are there any good resources that I can read about consumer grade tape decks, its technologies.. But I guess I really need an actual deck to do some A/B comparisons.. If anyone can shed some light on this matter, it'll be great. I'm particularly interested in what degradation occurs in the process of dubbing.

[garyb]

noise.
additive noise.

[kensuguro]

ya.. well, anybody could have guessed that far. I'm wondering what each of the modules should do, as in, has anyone taken stuff apart, do before / after comparisions.. of course, easiest would be to just get an impulst, and just use convolution.

I'll try to find a cheap tape player and see what I can do. They're so hard to find these days..

can everyone with any sort of cheap tape player, and any bad tape record it and put it on here? I have all this stuff in Tokyo, but don't have access to it at the moment. Doesn't have to be a fancy player.

[kensuguro]

actually, going through some audio samples on youtube, I figured what I wanted to do was a VHS simulation, rather than tape. And VHS stuff is easier to find, so I'm working on a VHS simulator. Just wished I could release as a device, and not a mod thing.

[Shroomz~>]

I sent you a PM about this Ken, but on thinking about it further I'm not quite sure that I actually get it. I mean what's the point of a VHS sound sim? Ok, to somehow simulate the sound of VHS quality audio, but why exactly? Also, won't most VHS machines all have completely different sounds depending on their circuitry?

Mark

[astroman]

speaking about circuitry... here's what I was about to post before Mark made his comment
coincidents, anyone ?

Sometimes the obvious is so near you loose your own awareness ...
those machines were built in a specific way and rather different from current stuff
for sure the physical material 'tape' has some influence, but how much really goes to the material and how much is just the different circuit design ?

I have 2 different basses, not exactly top of the line instruments, but solid players - each with a distinct tone and not overlapping at all - and I have a Hoyer 335 lookalike from the 70s.
These are my favourite sound sources recently and I used to play them into Scope with various preamps or pedals etc [snip]...

A couple of days ago I received a high impedance input module from an old German broadcasting console from the 70s
in other words: from the era of tape - as tape usually was the destination path

holy sh*t, what a sound - so much more definition, in particular the low mids where 'warmth' is perceived.
And one feels reminded at the proverbial blanket over the monitors - suddenly a statement like '...well, I don't really like opamps in the audio path... makes sense

this is the technology typically feeding the tape - at least the famous referential stuff (imho)
it's an amazing change the familiar sources go through - food for thought...

cheers, Tom

[next to nothing]

If i remember from my short radio period, backups of each airing was required to be stored for 1 or 2 weeks in case anyone would make an inquiry about things being published.

Cheap, easy, broadcastable platform?

VHS in slowplay!

[kensuguro]

Shroomz -> I guess the point would be track preparation, esp drums etc... Also would be good for preparing samples so it has a beat up feel... It's sort of along the lines of a "record sound" sim.. Also, the one I did is obviously just a generalized model of the VHS sound as a whole... I particularly wanted the earlier models that had very narrow dynamics and just overall, very bad sound, but nostalgic. Justice (in their Cross album) used "that sound" to great effect imho. Not sure if they specifically meant VHS or just bad magnetic tape sound in general but anyway..

in case you missed it, my attempt is up in the mod forum:
http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 15&t=26172