Softube - Tape - Mixing With Mike Plugin of the Week

[@GoodSneakers]

This plugin brings the 70’s sauce. Amazing how much subtle difference can do to the feel of the music.

[@oinkooink]

It's amazing how transparent it is. Unless you max it out...and I mean really max it out, you hear no change.

[@TheA6surdNerdz]

I just subscribed a week ago, but I have to say that this is bar none the best youtube engineering channel I've found. From the in-depth plug-in reviews to the consistency with the uploads, I really appreciate what you do. I probably watch 3 videos a day (I do security, so I have a lot of free time lol)

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers! I look forward to future comments

[@EliteOnTheBeat]

I rarely comment but been enjoying Michael Whites YT channel for almost 5 years now. I HIGHLY recommend The Pro Audio Files and ANY tutorial involving Matthew Weiss. That guy is beyond REMARKABLE. We should all wish to be half as good as him one day.

[@leckel1996]

I love how you always include bits about how the gear used to be used. No other KZbinr is doing that and as someone who is nerdy and enjoys learning about that stuff, it is so cool to hear. Thanks for what you do!

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers Lucas! I love the history, I believe it informs the user more than any manual every will about how to use it.

[@CAMMYSINCLAIR]

^^^^ this

[@Rek-Ignition]

Ain't nobody as informative as you Mike thanks and hope your well :)

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers!

[@Jozelo]

As always, well informative and with a bit of history 👍🏼

[@mixingwithmike]

Thanks Jozelo!

[@metalhead3ecr]

Instant purchase. One insert on the 2buss was pure 3D tape chewiness!

[@mixingwithmike]

Well Said!

[@mixingwithmike]

Rock on!

[@joymattey]

This video is way better than the Softube demonstration video

[@PluginDecisions]

Been so long since I used tape I forgot about track bleed and crosstalk and how you had to organise neighbouring tracks accordingly. Also storing the tape tails out so as not to get print through echoes before the signal. Ah the good old days that we are now able to revisit in digital emulation.

[@mixingwithmike]

Me too! Don't miss the tape hiss, that's for sure

[@revelationsoundstudio]

When people worked with real tape they never wanted cross talk, in fact they hated it. I find it funny that you're adding this feature on a plug-in that no one ever wanted when they use the real thing

[@mixingwithmike]

I'm not adding anything, Softube is! I agree 100%, especially on the multi-track side. I sometimes like crosstalk on a 2-track mix because it gives the center signal a little boost. Maybe with the right song using the multi crosstalk can glue the overall mix a bit by cross-pollinating the processing and effects..

[@raingodmusic]

+Keef Richards. No duh all of the veteran mixers know this. Micheal White falls into that category. He actually has worked with tape.

[@TheRealPistolP]

I have watched all the other reviews of this one and yours was the most detailed and informative .. it's like u knew more about it than the manufacturer... softube should cut you a check

[@mixingwithmike]

Hahaha! Cheers! The Softube people are great and make great plugins. For that reason, I have a good relationship with them.

[@grandg9437]

Forget about the plugin, that track is stellar! :D

[@andreacappuccio58]

This song is MAGIC tho!

[@rufascar9512]

Absolutely perfect…just the review of this plugin I was looking for…very in-depth with clear explanations…this review made me subscribed. Great job man 👍🏼

[@elboogie2324]

I really like this plugin. I'm going to running a side by side with Slate Digital VTM for comparison.

[@mixingwithmike]

Curious to know what your takeaway is. I always have started out liking the VTM when I first put it on a track and in the end take it of most of the time. It always sounds oversaturated to me.

[@owlmuso]

Thanks Mike for another great review. Of all the tape emulation plugins I own this the only one I actually use. It does what it advertises and sounds great

[@mixingwithmike]

This has been a favorite of mine as well. Rarely do a mix without it somewhere in there

[@CarlosGunX]

Agree with your tape speed observation. Mr White.. The only time I ran 15ips was for House and 808 bass tracks.. (Ampex 456, +5/180nwebs).. Thumbs up!

[@mixingwithmike]

Right On! I sometimes think I'm reliving an old acid trip and somehow missed out on what everyone else was doing. Hahaha!

[@86crush]

Any recommendations on using this in tandem with the (full) Softube Saturation plugin?

[@firewerk66]

Hey great channel...I was wondering if you had any info/opinion on aliasing with this plugin. Im usually skeptical of plugins that provide harmonic content without an oversampling option. On its face this tape emulation sounds fantastic. Thanks in advance :)

[@YT-zq8nv]

Hoped, you will test this! And here it is! Awesome, thank you! :D

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers!

[@spicetbedhead]

I love this plug in!!

[@diyez5bemol9]

What is this song? This is so good. I think the recording was really great.

[@RetropUk]

Thanks for the video and beautiful demo music. Subscribed.

[@TrevorTheTechnicianMckenzie]

Great presentation... Trev

[@NathanBrown-dk5wh]

Hey mike, can you do something on your mix template please I follow all of your tutorials but I have never seen a mixing template tutorial from you. Thanks

[@ivanstegachev2870]

+1 Great idea. Also it will be great to see it in the deconstructing the mix format : )

[@mixingwithmike]

Hi Nathan, Have to think about that one for a bit. I used to use templates but found myself wasting too much time setting them up. I mix a bit more organically than that. I usually listen first and decide what approach to take from there. I have goto gear and settings like everyone else but it doesn't take long to set up a mix and I store presets for complicated plugin setups. I will consider this though. If I can visualize how to do it I will do it. Cheers! Mike

[@markkirschenmann3925]

Great review, thank you!

hey, lovely vid

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers!

[@eddavenport1970]

Great video, great plug-in. When I first heard this one.....out of all the others....this one nailed it. Had to have it. Your spot on with all your info Michael. I also love that track your using to demo this. By chance can you post the title or where I can get that trk. Thanks again -Rick

[@craigerwin4007]

Hi Mike, for the purpose of putting on every channel (summing effect), do you prefer the Softube or Kramer tape? Thanks!

[@sevchyk]

Nice question, I always wanted to know that.

[@igorsenayoutube]

Really nice tutorial. Thanks for sharing! Beautiful music as well. Where can i listen to the full track?

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers!

[@mixingwithmike]

facebook.com/pedrorafaneves/videos/vl.325852047858677/1939504762937318/?type=1

[@igorsenayoutube]

@@mixingwithmike Thank you very much, Michael =) Funny thing, the singer seems to be brazilian and i am portuguese.

[@mixingwithmike]

@@igorsenayoutube Yes, Brazilian. My heritage is Portuguese as well

[@igorsenayoutube]

@@mixingwithmike Really? That´s awesome, my portuguese/half portuguese brother hehe

[@rowanabrey8204]

Hey mike, how do you feel about printing eq and compression. I feel like a reason I take ages to mix is because I'm constantly changing my mind about things, but if i get an apollo interface I'll need to do this, due to lack of dsp. Just wondering what your experience is with this. Thanks for the gold mine of information as always.

[@mixingwithmike]

I have always tried to get the best possible sound from the source and work from there. I use compression for vocals, bass and guitars when recording but try to keep it as transparent (low ratio) as possible. EQ is only if I know exactly what I want and am not able to get the exact sound from the source. If you are not sure, there is almost no reason with the dynamic range of digital, to EQ or Compress.

[@voyagehearth323]

Sounds like a good plugin bro.

[@GODenWord]

Anybody can tell for sure what tape machines are there?!!

[@mixingwithmike]

Great question. Softube cannot say, but I am 99% sure that A is a Studer A800 and B is an ATR 102. C is the only one I cannot verify.

[@eds4754]

great stuff Mike!

[@mixingwithmike]

Thanks Ed

[@charlesbonkley]

Fantastic video. Thanks for creating and uploading. You are an experienced expert with tape in general, therefore I would like to ask you a question regarding this plugin, Softube Tape. Can you please load an instance of Tape and route some pink noise into it. Using MNoiseGenerator, for example, set the noise level to be something like -6dB peak. Now set everything in Tape to be zero/null, i.e. I/O at 0.0, Amount at 0.0, Flat frequency boost, no crosstalk, and tape speed at 30IPS. Note the VU meter and the LED meters by the faders. Looks appropriate, right? Now change the Tape Speed to 15. Notice the LED meters by the faders max out/peg to full-scale and the VU meters jump about +6-8dB. What just happened and why? Is this something that occurs with real tape machines? I don't understand this at all, especially the LED input meter. The input meter should be independent regardless of what the tape machine is doing. Keep in mind the Amount dial is still at 0.0. Now something else to try: fiddle with the various controls. When doing so, is Tape still performing as you would expect it to perform, comparing it to a real tape machine? To me--and I have NO experience with real reel-to-real machines--it seems finiky and not at all expected behavior. Color Amount (saturation) seems non-existent until 6-10 on the dial...no matter what. Tape Types is understood and in line with how one would expect it to behave, but Tape Speed seems really goofy! The lower tape speeds just sound terrible. Even a cassette tape deck sounded better! Again, limited experience here...but would you mind giving me, and the community, your thoughts on this behavior? Thank you in advance.

[@mixingwithmike]

The first issue is the level of the noise generator which should be at -14 since that was the reference level they used for the emulation. Start with a 1K tone and bring up the level until the input level is at 0VU and you will find yourself at -14dbfs. If you then sweep through the frequency spectrum, you will notice different level changes with each tape speed and formulation. This is true to the original hardware machines which was never flat 20hz-20K. There are too many variables including physical wear of the heads, the electronics, Bias settings, tape formulation, etc... Most tape machine calibrations were done with 3 tones. 1K for Level, 100hz or 60hz for low freqs and 10K for high freqs. The rest is whatever the condition of the machine is. I'm sure Softube captured these machines accurately, even though the metering may seem a but crazy... Cheers! Mike

[@charlesbonkley]

​@@mixingwithmike Top notch, Michael! Thank you for this fine assessment and write up. I want to fully love this plugin...I really do...but I just can't seem to do it. I think it's best features are the High Freq Trim and Crosstalk knobs, with the latter being the shining star. IMO, if it wasn't for these, then this plugin would be a complete flop. Curious, where did you get the information that -14dBfs was the reference Softube used for the emulation?

[@pabloaldunatecardenas6880]

Super nice mix! What reverb are you using on the snare and guitar?

[@mixingwithmike]

EMT Plate on the snare and AKG BX20 on the guitar

[@pabloaldunatecardenas6880]

Michael White Would you care to recommend a good spring reverb that's not from UAD?

[@mixingwithmike]

Not sure who else has a BX20 emulation. Before the UA emulation I was using IR1 from Waves. I'm sure Altiverb has a good IR of it as well.

[@yanguimedia]

Hi Michael, just a personal question: do you work with the plugins all by yourself to make these videos or do you talk with developers to get some more infos from them?

[@mixingwithmike]

Mostly by myself, but if I have questions most developers are very helpful. Some of the info, like with the Tape plugin, of what specific hardware is emulated is harder to get. That's where a bit of experience and following the clues that are given in the documentation help to confirm what I am hearing. Emulations of hardware are the easiest for me, especially if I have real world experience with them. Cheers!

[@yanguimedia]

It's amazing what you can squeeze from those plugins compared to all other reviews on internet. You are an audio geek ... and a bible to us!

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers!

[@AutoclaveBeats]

Great review as always...would you use a tape plugin like this on electronic based music like hip hop and trap music?

[@EliteOnTheBeat]

Quick question and PLEASE answer. Whats your favorite tape emulation plugin?

[@mixingwithmike]

That's a tough one! The plugins I use the most are (not necessarily in this order) Softube Tape, UA ATR 102, Kramer Tape, UA Studer A800, Waves J37 for Tape Delay, and Crane Song Pheonix II . They are all very different sounding and I have yet to find one that fits every situation.

[@chaddonal4331]

@@mixingwithmike How would you compare the ATR (#2) setting on the Softube Tape to the UAD ATR 102?

[@marceloribeirosimoes8959]

Great plugin BUT, still so funny when tape emulations try to simulate tape distortion. Talking about tape emulations, I like this one, Waves ones and the Tone Boosters one. There's a couple of Studer models from UAD and an AMPEX, I think. Maybe I'm not saying the most accurate thing but it seems to me that they are all different and the way we apply them and the music genre, or even the track or the instrument, everything can make them great or a problem...

[@alekp6822]

Wonder how heavy on CPU this plug is ?

[@mixingwithmike]

Reasonable on the CPU.

[@g.h6871]

What a great review... Definitely want to get this plugin. That song is beautiful!! Can you please post an updated link or website to this song?? The one below doesn't work any longer.

[@Achase4u]

Always enjoy your well informed videos, Michael. So the manual states that "type A is an emulation of a Swiss machine that gained popularity in the 60's". To me, that sounds like they are describing the Studer J37. If you look at the reel graphic they use when selecting type A, it does look like the old reel flanges that were used back then. However, I thought the J37 had a much more colored sound than what type A sounds like. They probably just meant Studer in general by their description perhaps? It does the more modern sound, I think. Probably just reading way too much into it.

[@mixingwithmike]

If you go to the Softube website and look at the webpage for the Tape plugin, you will see a video that very clearly shows the Studer A800 and an ATR 102. I could not make out a 3rd tape machine. If I recall correctly, Will Studer worked for EMI at the time he made the J37. Not sure if that makes it technically "British" but it's possible that the J37 is the 'C' tape machine. The J37 also had tubes at the input and output stages.

[@Achase4u]

Michael White ohhhhhhhh interesting! C does make me think of an older machine.... the manual seemed a bit confusing. this makes more sense.

[@Achase4u]

You are one cool dude, Michael White.

[@BigMuff75]

Great Vid but I guess the song isn't particularly helpful for this very demonstration.

[@mixingwithmike]

Did you have a particular style in mind? I liked the openness of this track for demonstrating the tape characteristics. Alway open to good suggestions... Cheers! Mike

[@mixingwithmike]

Maybe. Will wait to see what he says...

[@mixingwithmike]

Nice!

[@BigMuff75]

Hi, thanks for getting back at me. You were using that funk song on the Zener Limiter Demonstration. With a constant beat going on, big drums, big arrangement. So you could hear on a wider scale what the plugin was doing. That tune here has many "gaps" (arrangement-wise) so sometimes switching the plugin off/on or chancing parameters is happening in quieter parts making it harder to tell what the changes sound like. But this is a humble suggestion. Please excuse my snappy first posting.

[@mixingwithmike]

makes sense! No worries, snap away!

[@oinkooink]

Air in a box. That's all this is. $$$ for air in a box.