Bottom Of The Closet Treasures.

[karpathion]

I have moved this box 4 times, without opening it. It always goes in the very bottom, and never gets opened. Hasn't been opened it in every bit of 8 years. I seriously forgot what was in it. 

All the little stuff I found was cool. An old 58, non working SD-1, a few old ass pups, and my old Dunlop Flaming Strap.

The really cool stuff, was hidden under it all. I thought I gave all this stuff away, but I didn't. Kinda glag too. There are a couple little Treasures in here. Nothing fancy or very expensive, but it's half of my recording rig from like 9-10 years ago.

The memories that flew to the front of my head when I saw it all, damn near brought a tear to my eye. I don't believe I've ever been so happy to see a bunch of old junk. I'm reliving my entire teenage years and it is marvelous. Remembering shit I had completely forgotten. Even old songs.



From the top down, Peavey Deltafex, I think we all had one of those at some point. Has great delays and reverbs.

2: Focusrite Voicemaster Pro. That one is newer, but I know I've had it since about 2007-8. Hell of a preamp. 

3: The beast! Vestax MR66. This was the analog alternative to the Roland VS series. While Roland was pushing for digital workstations, Vestax was still pumping out some badass tape stuff. The busses are hard to navigate, and patching took hours, but it sounded soooo good. You push this thing just a hair into clipping levels while recording, and it made magic.

4: Eiko Tube Tester. I believe this was on DiY kit, like the heathkit stuff. It needs to be rewired, and the guage replaced, but it still lets you know if you have a bad tube. Even checks old TV tubes.

I may just try to dust this stuff off and get it all hooked up. Take a nice long drive down memory lane. 

It's really gonna piss me off when it sounds better than my DAW. If I can just dig up a mixer???

Could just use it to master from my DAW. I wonder if that clipping trick would work like that?

[Funkfingers]

The Focusrite unit should be excellent.

The cassette four tracker may have suffered for not being run for years. Rubber parts in the drive mechanism may have perished. Other moving parts made need lubrication.

Intentional tape head overload can be simulated digitally with a plug-in.

[karpathion]

The Focusrite unit should be excellent.

The cassette four tracker may have suffered for not being run for years. Rubber parts in the drive mechanism may have perished. Other moving parts made need lubrication.

Intentional tape head overload can be simulated digitally with a plug-in.

I have one, but it doesn't do the same. It doesn't thicken everything up like the tape does. 

You have a link for a better version?

[Oinkus]

Generally simulating something with a digital plugin does not get you the exact same effect or result. Still a little bit behind that magical veil of analog and digital processing differences.

[Funkfingers]

I have one, but it doesn't do the same. It doesn't thicken everything up like the tape does. 

You have a link for a better version?

Better is subjective - especially when you have not named the product that you currently use.

This year, I have been mostly using AirWindows ToTape4. http://www.airwindows.com/totape4/ http://www.airwindows.com


As has already been pointed out, digital emulations of tape overload never sound exactly like intentional magnetic tape overload. Furthermore, not all tape overload is created equal. A machine that runs the record and playback signals through the same head unit will distort differently from a machine with discreet record and playback heads. The condition of the heads is a factor. In the case of your Vestax cassette four tracker, the built-in noise reduction will also influence how transients turn out.

dbx II is a compansion system. Drum sounds get seriously mangled (if you want them to).

By comparison domestic market Dolby B and C are just means of reducing the tape hiss by assassinating the high frequencies. Much like amputating an arm to fix a broken fingernail.