There are plenty of tape emulation plugins out there. So how do you choose? For me it's most important that it sound great. And the new Magnetite plug-in from Black Rooster Audio's got it where it counts. Magnetite is an easy-to-use tape emulation inspired by the sought-after Studer tape machine. Choose from three different types of tape, tape speed, analog noise on or off, and even add a little wow and flutter if you like. Here's what I love about it. It just sounds great Every Black Rooster Audio plug-in I've ever used is superb quality - it's one of the things they're really known for. And Magnetite is no exception. Personally, I love the black tape setting at 7.5 ips. It adds just the right amount of grit that makes the snare pop. But I also found the red and blue settings bring out some of the body and ring - both in slightly different ways - which may be the sound you're looking for. I also like a little tape saturation on my master buss and found the red setting at 15 ips seems to be my favorite so far. It's just the right amount of that warm, retro tape sound. It's super easy to use You really can't go wrong with Magnetite. The default settings sound great without any tweaking. But here's how I like to set it up. I loop the loudest part of my track, then set the left meter to input and leave the right meter at the default, output setting. That way I can monitor how much I'm driving the tape sound on the left, and make sure I'm not getting too loud on the output with the right meter. Pro tip: you can right click as you adjust the input knob and it will automatically compensate the output knob when you want to add tape drive without adding volume (see below). Nice! Then I just turn the input up until I'm hearing the right amount of saturation for the track.
Streamlined I've seen tape emulations that think more buttons and knobs are better. They're not. I appreciate that Magnetite focuses strictly on being a great sounding tape emulation - pick your type of tape, speed, analog noise and you're done. If you're looking for a special effect (other than the cool, super saturation sound) you can add a little wow and flutter that simulates the sound of a tape machine not working properly. It's cool if that's the effect you're going for. And if Magnetite isn't already streamlined enough for you, you can even collapse the tape-reel graphic so all you're looking at is the control panel. Just click the Magnetite label beneath the meters. So far I've used it primarily on snare drum, vocals and my mix buss. I'm pretty happy with it. Try it out and let me know what you think. |
Jeff ThomasThis is the story of an average Joe learning to record like a pro. Archives
July 2017
|