Can I throw away my old tape deck now? Wave Alchemy Tapewave is here

[@graublau733]

Nice demo. Purchased. I've been looking for a great cassette tape effect. The compressor in this tape plugin sounds great. The real tape deck will always have some magic and that hands-on feel , but out of all the plugins I’ve tried, this one nails the cassette sound best.

[@stefanmarinescu5086]

Quite amazing how we use digital simulations for everything analogic we absolutely hated 40 years ago … nice track as well. Suits very nice the plug in.

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@wave-alchemy]

Indeed, many studios were throwing - now sought-after - analogue gear in the garbage or using them as doorstops when things first moved towards digital. It's interesting how things come back around. People love imperfections :)

[@EgoShredder]

I did not hate the sounds back in the 1970s-90s, but it could be inconvenient at times for sure. However the sound has always appealed to me in many ways. I guess because it takes on a life of its own by being variable / not constant and predictable like digital is.

[@screamingswifts]

»Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature.« - Brian Eno

[@RegebroRepairs]

Finally a tape plugin that actually does sound like a cassette tape.

[@wave-alchemy]

Thanks! Enjoy.

[@RegebroRepairs]

@kakalito-r5n Could be that I have been unlucky.

[@mikekern8531]

I love the sound of the tape mechanics. Espen, I listen to your tape on my many tape machines and it sounds great every time. Haven't wore it out yet. Waiting for that fabulous flutter.

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks man! It'll be there in about 30 years. ;-)

[@TMSBRANDA]

The drive direction of tapewave is in reverse mode...!?

[@StargateMax]

This is REALLY cool! :D I just got myself a real Sony deck with Dolby-S included, and now this plugin came out... I gotta try that too. :D

[@McTroyd]

I have a father in law who uses a Denon deck at his home studio, which is also equipped with Dolby-S. He is convinced, had CDs not been so successful as they had been, Dolby-S was the next big thing in home audio.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@McTroyd lost future where DAT and Dolby-S fought it out

[@Nenko_Music]

it does what expected, but i kinda like the drive sound ...another nice one and free (because bankrupcy not because lazy work) is from Spectral Plugins, the OCS-45

[@SrNutritivo]

I use sketch cassette from aberrant dsp. Amazing sounding plugin! Also very affordable!!

[@wave-alchemy]

It's a cool plugin, but with Tapewave we wanted to create something much closer to the sound of real tape, and hence didn't use standard waveshaping / soft-clipping for the saturation design, but instead detailed physical modeling for a much truer, responsive tape effect :)

[@Rio-uv1gs]

​@@wave-alchemyWhich tape plugin would be similar to this plugin?

[@Nenko_Music]

@@wave-alchemy Good drive sound indeed

[@kabongpope]

Very cool effects from the plugin! The LoFi reminds me of getting normal bias tapes from friends when i was a 'Chrome or bust' snob :D

[@kabongpope]

@@EspenKraft Auto tune?!

[@kaitlyn__L]

my dad was dubbing my tapes off his records in type-2 long before I knew what that was, so I also thought everyone else’s tapes sounded awful but had no idea why 😅

[@kropjesla01]

this was a great video, thank you again for all your efforts!

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@ErenLight]

The real tape hardware sounded 100% better. No question. Instant vibes

[@MrArpSolina]

Great MKS-20 by the way!

[@McTroyd]

Tapes have made such a comeback in the US, I can actually find a (cheap, bad) player at the local big-box retail store. Considering good quality tape decks have seemingly moved from "junk in the closet" to "prized possession" at long last, I doubt either of us will be getting rid of it soon. Even so, this is a pretty cool plugin, and as someone who doesn't really use tapes in the normal production workflow anymore, I might actually use that. Also: Your grandfather had excellent taste in tapes. That thing aged well, for as old as it is! 👍

[@carstenaltena]

Same in Europe, I just bought something similar to Espen’s Technics, a Pioneer CT 447 for about €30 😊

[@rthyhmmemory11]

It is really good...

[@mrdali67]

My old tapedeck sadly broke years ago. This plugin sounds very interesting tho 😃

[@Somebody_Different]

Very cool piece of software, but as a tape collector, I wouldn't say it would be up for the job for an authentic sounding effect. Most notably it's missing the hiss, and the treble cut off it called "age" wasn't very close to how tapes sound like. Another thing missing would be drop outs, something that just belongs to badly aged tapes. I will stand by the opinion that the tape is just so imperfect, that it's perfect in its own way, non-replicatable by any computer!

[@wave-alchemy]

Hi, a lot of these things are in fact included already. Age is actually very close to the effect of worn tape from the detailed analysis we did and in our testing. You just need to use it quite sparingly - we have purposefully given that control a very wide range for those who are looking for very lo-fi style effects. His is included too, as are dropouts in some of the modes - they will be introduced subtly on some of the modes such as the 'Lofi' cassette style. There are lots of things going on under the hood in this plugin in fact :) In case you didn't notice by the name, the 'Loc' mode compressor is a very close emulation of the compressor / limiter circuitry of the classic Level Loc limiter, which we felt works as a an excellent companion with the saturation for this type of effect. The non 'Loc' mode, is a completely different, much cleaner compressor model. Espen didn't show it in the video, but you can also change the Wow / Flutter modulation to a custom random curve, which we modelled using a custom Perlin noise signal - which makes that pitch fluctuations more unstable. We wanted to create this plugin because we weren't happy with the sound of other cassette based plugins on the market. They all appear to use rather basic waveshaping / soft clipping for the saturation, which just completely flattens transients, which is not how real tape reacts. The DSP is Tapewave is using physical modeling. I hope this helps :)

[@EspenKraft]

I'm a tape collector myself and I've been using tapes at home for over 40 years and I've also been using tape in all forms in the studio for 30 years. This plugin definitely sound like a real tape. Never heard a plugin better at it than this. It's more than up for the job.

[@TheDavidPoole]

I'd have the tape compression all over the drum buss. It's nice and punchy.

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

Agreed I have an old jvc unit from 1970 something and boy does it saturate better then my modern nad unit.

[@TheDavidPoole]

@@AdamTheAd-vanc3dSadly, I don't have a cassette recorder anymore, but I still have an old Akai 4000 DS Mk-2 ¼ inch open reel tape machine that makes a nice sound. Interesting if you feed it old, crinkly tapes 🙂

[@UnfaithfulJourney]

Why is the tape playing backwards? How did they miss that detail? Sounds pretty nice though. Really like the drive, and the compressor/limiter sounds very close to one on a real deck that has one of those.

[@davelordy]

"Why is the tape playing backwards? How did they miss that detail?" The animator working on the UI was probably someone in their 20s who'd never seen an actual cassette in his life - it's moving the right way on the final release version of the plugin.

[@EspenKraft]

To me, this was more of a "trigger" for exposure. I don't know the reason behind it, but I've seen a lot of people talking about it and that makes it even more genius.

[@UnfaithfulJourney]

​@@EspenKraft Hey, if you're interested, there's a solo developer called Sheaf Audio Plugins, working on a TG-77/SY-77 plugin that should be out pretty soon? (Website says 2nd half of 2024..). Plugin is called the Sway. There's some demos on the website and the developers twitter and it sounds pretty good.

[@EnervatedSociety]

@@UnfaithfulJourney I've been keeping my eye on that webpage, got it bookmarked. The demos seem right on.

[@Substance242]

Wait, the tape is going in the wrong direction... :-) Guess it's expensive "both directions" auto-reverse deck. :-)

[@rhkavli]

Well spotted, mate!

[@MrArpSolina]

Devil is in the details ;-)

[@wave-alchemy]

Espen is using an older pre-release beta version of the plugin. The release version has the reel moving in the correct (right to left) motion :)

[@SamiJumppanen]

​​@@wave-alchemy this is a very cool way to mark the pre-release! Food for thought (for software development).

[@klinkske]

Sorry Espen but i m so glad the 80’s did not had autotune all over the vocals. I love vocoder but autotune is such a horror

[@brianmorton4127]

I can't remember if you had reviewed SketchCassette II. It is very similar.

[@EspenKraft]

They know where to find me if they want me to do it.

[@Mattyuk1]

I feel a waterfront dining track coming.

[@bubuAudio]

@Espen Kraft listening to "Settle the Score" on bandcamp right now sound amazing 💓 one of your best tracks, imho

[@infolla6769]

Is it JX8P I am hearing or the Alpha Juno-2?

[@EspenKraft]

Neither, it's the Korg DW-8000.

[@infolla6769]

@@EspenKraft I'm really surprised!

[@leepshin]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[@Gerald_Daniel]

I likee the vibe of the song & heard it twice in a row. Whiat synths/soft synths/drum machine(s) did you take on that one?

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! I go through some of it in the video and you can see the tracks appear on screen. Custom samples for drums. Synth is Korg DW-8000.

[@ottam]

How great would a mix knob be?

[@EspenKraft]

To me not necessary at all for a plug like this.

[@davelordy]

Yeah, I had the very same thought, with a mix knob along with heavy wow and flutter you can create some great chorus effects.

[@JuanManuel-il5qf]

Bias option? Metal, Chrome...?

[@mimoochodom2684]

Great plugin in. I think Waves have something similar. More the merrier.

[@HectorsDolphin1977]

This plugin sounds great. But will it replace the pleasure of interacting with my Denon drm-800a? I don't think so.

[@Dystopian84]

I think it will easily surpass it

[@sventothem]

I'll buy your old tape deck!

[@EspenKraft]

It's not for sale. ;-)

[@bontempo1271]

It seems that no matter what the process is (in this case tape recording), hardware feels like a different presentation completely to digital. No doubt that digital and plugins is the modern sound. It's clean, 'perfect', focused, better distinction for the listener, but i still have the same complaints about it and that is the soundstage is shrunken and 2D. The phantom centre is really compacted and narrow, plus you don't have the sense of full soundstage being used vertically and diagonally. The hardware tape machine doesn't have that, instead there is a sense of being in a 3D space, with subtle movement. Full soundstage, no compacted centre. I'm not knocking plugins, that is the modern sound and the mainstream is use to it now, but we have certainly lost the 3rd dimension and to me there is a bit deeper and pleasing connection to the music with it. Anyway, another great vid Espen, ty mate ! I won't be giving up my tapes anytime soon, but btw AI development is sounding promising. It will do better than these IR captures at obtaining the '3rd dimension'

[@EspenKraft]

I think you have some very good points here. I feel the same in many ways. As a working producer with constant needs to change projects at the drop of a hat I need tools that are capable of doing the job fast and with quality/closeness to hardware. For personal projects where time isn't an issue it will often be more enjoyable and authentic to use the real deal, hence I won't either give up my tape machines, or tapes either. ;-) Cheers

[@bontempo1271]

@@EspenKraft Yes that is the reality now :)

[@NamelessSmile]

Audiophile nonsense

[@bontempo1271]

@@NamelessSmile Keep your ideas to yourself, a place where you believe what you say is reality, thank you 👍

[@NamelessSmile]

@@bontempo1271 likewise!

[@chloedevereaux1801]

the tape on the plugin goes the wrong way.........

[@MrMissingReel]

Not a good sign...

[@wave-alchemy]

@@MrMissingReel As mentioned in a previous comment, Espen was using a pre-release beta version of the plugin when creating the video. This is of course not the case in the released version 👍

[@wave-alchemy]

@@skippertunes Nothing that would come across over a video on here with KZbin's compression, but we changed a couple of very minor things with the 'Age' control before release.

[@AnalogFlava]

Wow although the plugin is dope the sound on the tape you recorded sounds so much better. Hope this aint a trick recording 😂

[@mitchelstephen7536]

Sorry Espen, I spent my entire early 20's trying to move beyond the sound of cassette tapes. I don't want to go back.

[@EspenKraft]

Of course, it's not for everyone. For me, the home cassette sound is even more lovely than the sound of vinyl. ;-)

[@mitchelstephen7536]

@@EspenKraft Oh god I hated that too. I had to press versions of my remixes to vinyl just to get some DJs to play it. Now we all have to all deal with MP3 compression... totally shitty.

[@EspenKraft]

320kbs MP3 is good as gold.

[@CraigScottFrost]

Cool but I was never fond of how cassettes sounded. Especially after a hot day on the car dash board. The high end reminds me of when I first heard mp3 compression. Just ewww. At any rate it’s a good effects plugin.

[@EspenKraft]

You're hearing the KZbin compression. THAT is what sounds like MP3.

[@CraigScottFrost]

@@EspenKraft I was referring to what I remember tape sounding like back in the day. Not your song through this plugin.

[@EspenKraft]

Ah, ok. Not everyone enjoy the sound of tape. Fair enough. ;-)

[@-thetapestream-channel1808]

no plug in can reply your deck , and the tape is spinning reverse ^_^

[@davelordy]

It was coded below the equator.

[@j8577798yt]

Shortly, keep using your old analog gear. The plugin is still not there...

[@mesasavage]

Cubase? In 2024? Dude, you're SO German.

[@EspenKraft]

You're not the brightest are you? I'm not German.

[@mesasavage]

@@EspenKraft You are if you still use Cubase.

[@EspenKraft]

I'll let you live with that belief. That's on me. I like to be kind to morons around this time of the year.

[@mesasavage]

@@EspenKraft Calling me a Moron is kind? I could call you names too, but I was just joking that you hadn't changed your DAW in 30 years. Geez. Thanks for the kindness!

[@EspenKraft]

You're welcome.

[@jojomomo3069]

Not better than ampex atr from uad but interresting

[@Mr.1.i]

Tapes..........were made because they were cheap..................... They sound muffled. ⅓ of the clarirty is gone A graphic equaliser is needed to boost its treble = more hiss

[@EspenKraft]

A lovely thing.

[@NosebergEatzbugsVonShekelstein]

Noooooo don't throw out your tape deck just because some fly-by-night company paid you to endorse their terrible product!

[@EspenKraft]

No one can pay me to endorse something I don't like. I say no to a lot of requests from manufacturers.

[@julianmorrisco]

My god. That’s an abomination. I love the sound of analogue tape on drums, bass and vocals. But that’s using pro reel to reel setups. Minimum of 1/4 inch (for stereo), preferably 1/2 inch. Cassette is just awful. I spent years, before I was able to work in ‘proper’ studios, fighting this awful sound. Top end? Gone. Flutter (high frequency warbling)? All over your music. Wow (slower pitch changes)? Making everything out of tune. Hiss out the whazoo. Sure, cassettes did a nice compression thing, (often over compressed) but all the other stuff was, and is, horrible. This plugin (and ones like it) might have a use here and there. But on the whole mix! Shudder.

[@davelordy]

I agree that this is something people spent decades fighting, but tastes change, and the 'kids' using these sorts of plugins have probably only ever heard pristine digital recording, so to them (given they're not carrying the mental baggage of years of studio sessions with tape) it probably just sounds cool, interesting, 'nostalgic' even.