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[Ged Leitch]

Well im sure by now most of us have heard the CraneSong HEDD unit in work with all these WUMPS.

I'm diggin the Tape and pentode modes that some of the Wumpers have used on occasion.

They do really soften that brittle digital upper mid sound.

But have we a close sontender in the Plugin world?

So far all the ones I've tried have been..uuh...not good.

However, Voxengo TapeBus seems to sound really thick if used sparingly.It does a great job of softening the digititus.

I've found that a hard Curve (@ 60%) setting,
with EM freq @ 1K
and the EM gain @ 14db to 20db worked great on some old stereo mixes I had from a year ago, these were quite brittle.

The higher the EM gain on this plug, the faster the saturation works on the highs.

The curve setting acts like a ratio of sorts, with a higher percentage going into the high ratio territory.
But maybe im overdoing it?
As always i'm using the old lugs to tune it in.

Any views on this subject overall guys?

Cheers,
Ged.

[Greg Youngman]

Well... if that's what they're using (WUMPERS)... they could stand to use a little less of it for me.  Where's Katz when we need him?

[Ronny]

Greg Youngman wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 00:11

Well... if that's what they're using (WUMPERS)... they could stand to use a little less of it for me.  Where's Katz when we need him?

I don't think BK will be popping back into this forum for awhile. I didn't ask him the reason, so no need to ask me why he chose to do so. I don't always agree with Bob, but I miss his input, just the same.  

Regarding the topic. I think most savvy engineers have learned to track and mix quite well to digital these past few years. Converters have improved, there are many more converter manufacturers these days, competition is more fierce and the cost for quality ones has come down, I just don't hear the digititus in material like I did 15 years ago. It was common back than, it's rare now for me and I only see it once in awhile from home recordists using VS 880's and similiar cheapo setups. I typically eq it out on those rare occasions and don't typically use digital tape emulators and those type of plug-ins. Transferring to tape and back doesn't really cut it for me, but going to an analog eq and back can do wonders.  

[Ben F]

I find the 'tube drive' on the Vari-mu can work well at softening very digital mixes.

Plus sometimes I nail the specific frequency with the Weiss DS1, by using the de-esser and notch filter. This can work on vocals that poke through too much in the midrange and cut your head off.

[ericjenson]

ditto as far as Tapebus is concerned, a nice alternative to Magneto, and much more tunable.

[present]

G'day Ged,

Yes I like Tape Bus too. Sometimes the drive on PSP Vintage Warmer, but I'm not really sure about that one anymore. Now, if we could have a nice wow & flutter simulator...
Have you tried convolution? I used to use the Studer IR's that came with SF Acoustic Mirror, but they're 16-bit. Maybe worth investigating further?

BTW your new Avatar - great! Like the personal touch...do I sense a Tommy Cooper-Tim Smith connection there?

Regards
Rogier

Edit--I just realised the Tape Bus actually uses convolution in its design. Well, there ya go!

[Patrik T]

Ronny wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 05:39

Regarding the topic. I think most savvy engineers have learned to track and mix quite well to digital these past few years. Converters have improved, there are many more converter manufacturers these days, competition is more fierce and the cost for quality ones has come down, I just don't hear the digititus in material like I did 15 years ago.

Ronny's on spot.

IMO - in order to make things feel more analogue, some of the best digital eq's will do a better job than most of the mediocre tape- and valve-plugs.

One more thing; how do we define "digititus" year 2006?

Best Regards
Patrik

[carlsaff]

I know that recommending a preset on a cheap plugin is verboten... but... the "soften digititus" preset on the TriTone Digital Colortone Pro is sometimes just right if the mix is classically "thin and digital" or "hard in the upper mids" (tweaked to taste, of course). But I haven't used it more than once or twice.

I find the VintageWarmer gritty in a way that sounds to my ear like a different flavor of bad digital (took a while for me to hear the grit, but once I did, I had to stop using the thing). And while TapeBus has many interesting sounds, I do not think it "sounds like tape." However, it can do transient smearing that can be helpful at times... or a disaster... depending on the source material.

Regardless, I would agree with those who say that sound quality is no longer digital's biggest problem. (It's archival stability.)

[Ged Leitch]

present wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 08:05

G'day Ged, BTW your new Avatar - great! Like the personal touch...do I sense a Tommy Cooper-Tim Smith connection there? Regards Rogier Edit--I just realised the Tape Bus actually uses convolution in its design. Well, there ya go!

Heh heh, a bit of Tommy Cooper I guess...

[cerberus]

Patrik T wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 06:45

One more thing; how do we define "digititus" year 2006?

"a___e l___c p_o"(tm).

jeff dinces

[Ged Leitch]

Patrik T wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 11:45

Ronny wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 05:39 Regarding the topic. I think most savvy engineers have learned to track and mix quite well to digital these past few years. Converters have improved, there are many more converter manufacturers these days, competition is more fierce and the cost for quality ones has come down, I just don't hear the digititus in material like I did 15 years ago. Ronny's on spot. IMO - in order to make things feel more analogue, some of the best digital eq's will do a better job than most of the mediocre tape- and valve-plugs. One more thing; how do we define "digititus" year 2006? Best Regards Patrik

Im not really talking about the almost "subjective" digititus that comes down to the convertors etc...
I mean projects that are mixed itb, with harsh eq's and other processing, it's all cumulative.

One of the give aways for me is when you get too much energy coming off the cymbals and vox sibilants, also just the upper midrange in general.Cheap pre's/mics are partly to blame i guess.

  Whenever im lucky enough to get mixes that were Recorded to tape, they are usually already pretty smooth due to the compression/saturation effect of the medium.
Even if they are mixed itb after being recorded to tape, they generally sound better,
(As long as the sound is good to start with!)

[Bob Boyd]

For any of you who have a PT TDM rig (which is a smaller percentage in the mastering community), Crane Song's Phoenix can't be beat.  It is actually 5 plug-ins with different flavors of tape and machine characteristics.  Like the HEDD unit, it is simple both in look and operation but very powerful in it's results.

It has become my starting point when I'm mixing and can definitely help give you the "tape" feel.

[Ged Leitch]

Bob Boyd wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 18:38

For any of you who have a PT TDM rig (which is a smaller percentage in the mastering community), Crane Song's Phoenix can't be beat.  It is actually 5 plug-ins with different flavors of tape and machine characteristics.  Like the HEDD unit, it is simple both in look and operation but very powerful in it's results.

Hi Bob! hope your good mate,

Yeah that Pheonix really sounds interesting, pity i have no TDM rig though, i really hope they consider going to VST.

[cerberus]

digititus is hash...but not the kind one can smoke.

real tape has greater dynamic range and freq response than cd. so to even start trying to emulate "tape", one must choose a digital format that can span the basic sonic parameters of a tape based system.

some might argue that the bias tone is only to improve coercivity, that it cannot affect audible qualities... i do think you'd want to try and emulate the whole system, not chop anything off, except perhaps wow and flutter.  imo, even some noise is appropriate.

jeff dinces

[Bob Boyd]

Ged Leitch wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 12:40

Hi Bob! hope your good mate, Yeah that Pheonix really sounds interesting, pity i have no TDM rig though, i really hope they consider going to VST.

No doubt if Dave did this, he could retire the next day.