Brightest ½ -inch Mastering Sound: normal bias, 30 inches per second, FG9 tape, ½ ” 2 track machine type.
Darkest 2-inch Mixing Sound: low bias, 15 inches per second, FG456 tape, 2” 16 track machine type.Brightest 2-inch Mixing Sound: normal bias, 30 inches per second, FG9 tape, 2” 16 track machine type.If you want to start off by getting a sense of the extremes for each machine, I’d suggest creating the following presets. The plug-in did a great job of handling signals at a variety of levels, so I was able to throw it into the midst of sessions that weren’t setup for traditional gain-staging without running into any problems – something that often is not the case with other coloration plug-ins. After that the output knob can be used to set the output level as desired without affecting the saturation and tape compression characteristics. There are input and output knobs (which can be operated independently or linked to move opposite each other), making it easy to increase saturation by increasing the input or get a more transparent sound by decreasing it. Two types of tape stock are emulated: Ampex 456 (labeled FG456 and the darker of the two) and Quantegy GP9 (labeled FG9 and the brighter of two tape stocks).There are three choices for the tape bias (low, normal and high) with the most transparent sound at “normal”, a little more receded high end at “high” and the most obvious saturation at “low”. Options are given to run each at 15-inches-per-second (which among other things has a more pronounced roll-off of the high-end that makes it the first setting I normally try) and the more transparent 30-inches-per-second (which has a wider dynamic range, somewhat less pronounced bass and preserves more high frequencies, among other things).
The plug-in emulates two different Studer reel-to-reel tape decks, going between them with the flick of a switch: the Studer A827 16-track 2-inch multi-channel tape recorder and the Studer A80 2-track ½-inch mastering deck. We’ll come back to that in a minute, but let’s take a look at exactly what’s on offer. It’s just one example of the way that the user interface is tailored to try to accommodate different ways of working and preferences. For starters, the graphical user interface is configurable, so that those that enjoy seeing reel-to-reel tape go by at different speeds can leave the plug-in an “expanded” state while those (like me) that are trying to save CPU and screen real estate can collapse the GUI to only include the controls. Virtual Tape Machines does a lot of things really right, straight out of the gate.
The biggest selling points for Slate plug-ins are the character of the sound, ease of use, productivity features, and graphical user interfaces … so I that pretty much means it’s time to talk about everything. Of course, if you rent the company’s Everything Bundle (which includes timed licenses for all the Slate plug-ins, including newly released ones, for $14.99 to $24.99 USD per month) you get an iLok 2 or iLok 3 for free. The plug-in works across a wide variety of platforms, with the main requirement being having an iLok 2 (or the newer iLok 3). Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines (currently available for $149 USD or $169 USD when bundled with an iLok 2) is a plug-in for mixing and mastering that works extremely well to quickly change the character of your sound with various forms of Studer tape emulations. Virtual Tape Machines is one of the easiest ways to make your mix sound big and up-front, with usability features that let you work quickly.