McDSP’s analogue plug‑in platform can now replicate the complex dynamic behaviour of tape.
The Analog Processing Box (APB) from McDSP is perhaps the ultimate hybrid device. It processes audio in the analogue domain, but its processing is presented within your DAW in exactly the same way as conventional digital plug‑ins are. The upshot is that you get true analogue processing with full recall, automation and the other ergonomic positives of software.
Most of the APB’s capabilities centre on dynamics processing, and the initial suite of plug‑ins included several compressors and limiters. Since launch McDSP have added such treats as a valve‑style mixer, a multiband compressor, a mastering EQ and a dedicated saturation processor, all of which are free to APB owners. The latest addition to the range is a tape emulator.
APB Tape has a straightforward but comprehensive parameter set. The amount of saturation or dynamic processing is adjusted using input and output gain controls, plus a dial labelled Comp, which seems to act as a ratio setting. You can switch between two emulated tape formulations, and there are controls for mimicking the low‑frequency ‘head bump’ and associated sub‑bass roll‑off that are characteristic of tape machines. When used in stereo, you also have the option of operating APB Tape in L‑R or M‑S modes, and there are two well thought‑out control linking schema that help to make setting these up easier. There’s also a nice seleciton of presets categorised by instrument or application.
If the tape emulation plug‑ins in my folder are anything to go by, no‑one can quite agree what the good qualities of tape actually were!
Talking Tape
Some of the sonic artefacts of tape recording were undesirable, such as wow and flutter, high‑end loss and hiss, but others are remembered more fondly. Most of these relate to the complex dynamic changes introduced by saturating the medium, and there have been many previous attempts to replicate these in the analogue domain as well as in digital plug‑ins. However, if the tape emulation plug‑ins in my folder are anything to go by, no‑one can quite agree what the good qualities of tape actually were!
APB Tape adds another colour to the palette. It doesn’t introduce noise, pitch instability or other unwanted side‑effects of tape recording, and unless pushed hard, it doesn’t drastically alter the timbre of the source. With the input gain backed off, in fact, it rivals Softube’s Tape in the “is it actually on?” levels of subtlety. As you raise the input level, though, you’ll encounter a wide range of variations on the ‘mix glue’ theme; and the hotter things get, the more the differences between the two emulated tape formulations become apparent. GP9 is, for want of a better word, quite ‘stiff’. As you pile on the signal, the upper midrange fills out nicely and there’s a noticeable bite to the sound, but you have to really cane it before obvious compression occurs. The 456 formulation, by contrast, is a lot more spongy and soft.
Either way, if you get the gain‑reduction needle moving, the dynamic effect is very cool. It’s a little reminiscent of parallel compression, and is capable of bringing real excitement to drum‑led mixes. Slate Digital’s VTM will do something of the sort when pushed, but APB Tape goes much further. I doubt you’d want to use the most extreme settings across an entire mix, but for something like a drum room mic or DI’ed funk guitar, they could be just the ticket. As you’d expect, the various elements of the processing are interactive, so whereas the ‘head bump’ sounds like a straightforward EQ curve at low gain levels, it responds to the dynamic changes at higher gain levels in quite a complex and interesting way.
Conclusion
I suspect that the sound of tape is a moving target, and I wouldn’t like to say whether APB Tape gets closer to it than other plug‑ins. But it certainly stands out from the crowd, with an ability to inject energy into a mix and make everything ‘bounce’ that I haven’t heard in any purely digital tape emulation — or indeed in conventional compressor plug‑ins. APB Tape further demonstrates the versatility and sonic potential of McDSP’s unique APB processing platform.
Summary
McDSP’s analogue tape emulation plug‑in produces exciting and distinctive dynamic effects.
Information
Free to APB-8/16 hardware owners.