Is there a cheap/free tape wear plugin available?

[Lotuz2019]

What I find is really missing from most these plugins is volume fluctuation and dropouts.

Hence this topic.

RC-20 does this but unfortunately not very well in my opinion.

Reelbus 4 and RC-20 both do this, but each sounds different and useful imo. I like Reels a lot too. It caused my whole tape wear 'quest'. But I'm especially curious what Chris (AirWindows) will create as he usually comes up with a twist.

[Lotuz2019]

Ehm guys, what are jsfx files? Do they work in Reaper only? So Bad Connection is not a VST plugin?

Combined with tape noise it certainly could sound like tape wear.

https://youtu.be/pmjLZKVoBLo

[heavymetalmixer]

Ehm guys, what are jsfx files? Do they work in Reaper only? So Bad Connection is not a VST plugin?

Combined with tape noise it certainly could sound like tape wear.

https://youtu.be/pmjLZKVoBLo

JSFX AKA Jesus FX are Reaper-only plugins. But you can install the ReaPlug pack in Reaper's site for free so other Windows DAWs (VST compatible) can use them too.

[Lotuz2019]

https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/

[Mathematics]

I posted a couple examples before and well, I did it in a pinch but didn't put any love into it. So, I made some time to do it again but this time, I used a break and level matched each bounce. I left each bounce with its own sonic character, again, based on a random preset. I gain matched all the files, then, put an L2 on the master and bounced it.

My point is that a basic LoFi, to the unknowing individual, is just a noise induced, saturated sample with the hi's and low's cut off with a steep slope. That is...effectively, "good enough" IMHO. I guess I have low standards? Needless to say, to all of us, it's more a modulated sound with Wow and Fluttler and possibly the aliasing above 1.5k, but honestly, who really actually cares if the music is good, right? I mean, do you look to see if the tires on a Corvette ZR1 are Michelin or Pirelli? That's my point.

So...here's is an 8 measure break comparing, Izotope's Vinyl, Audiothing's Reel, XLN's RC-20, and the stock Ableton Overdrive with EQ8 cutting the hi's and low's.

Original Break
https://soundcloud.com/user-401942083/1 ... al/s-cbFW5

Vinyl with steep hi and lo-cut EQ
https://soundcloud.com/user-401942083/1 ... eq/s-ge10h

Reels
https://soundcloud.com/user-401942083/1 ... ls/s-APfMQ

RC-20 with steep lo-cut
https://soundcloud.com/user-401942083/1 ... 20/s-j4JMN

Stock Overdrive with EQ8
https://soundcloud.com/user-401942083/1 ... eq/s-tqfc3

I'm really trying to sell you on free, not the other plugins. Yes...they're nice toys and they DO provide way more creative results, but at the end of the day, they all kind of sound the same...or rather, they all relay the same context. So, no need to spend money on something if you're on the fence between paying rent or getting a plugin.

[Obsolete236871]

Doesn't really do wow + flutter, but TesslaPRO mkII by Variety of Sound has nice tape saturation colour, especially when combined with FerricTDS for the tape compression part. Those are some of the 32bit plugins that I miss in the 64bit world.

[Mathematics]

So, I purposely didn't put any record crackle because, that's not really what defines LoFi as much as the frequency cuts and tube sound. Anyway, here's the project file so you can see exactly how simple each chain was:

https://mega.nz/#!O4s0WQgJ!3NeOhlDOv5wn ... Vl5XyHAtG8

I replaced the L2 with the stock Ableton Limiter because for this project, they sound the same and it's one less plugin you need for the project. It's almost a shame that people spend so much money on this stuff. I'm just as guilty. Knowing better now, I don't buy any more LoFi stuff because everything compared to RC-20, to me, is redundant. Whoa, let's put those pitchforks down for a second, I'm not speaking on behalf of you guys, I speak for myself. I, find everything else redundant after using RC-20. It's like, after I got that...I was always using that to gauge the necessity for an additional plug that could do something that was impossible to do with RC-20 or a combination of that with stock plugins.

[NAD]

NAD:
I googled for Bad Connection. not found:(
can you post a good link to it?
thanks.

I messed up the link .... Fixed!

Reelbus 4 and RC-20 both do this, but each sounds different and useful imo.

Ah guess I haven't checked out v4 yet, thanks for the catch!

Ehm guys, what are jsfx files? Do they work in Reaper only? So Bad Connection is not a VST plugin?

You need to load it into this unfortunate looking yet free plugin.

[Mathematics]

Hmm, you're talking about Tape, I'm talking about general LoFi. I guess when people ask for cheap tape wear, they're seeking a LoFi sound? I don't know.

[Mathematics]

I'll be honest, I can't think of a free plugin that does wow and flutter well. I'm always trying to challenge the mainstream by trying to do things with free plugins before throwing in the towel and paying for it. Lol.

[Mathematics]

Doesn't really do wow + flutter, but TesslaPRO mkII by Variety of Sound has nice tape saturation colour, especially when combined with FerricTDS for the tape compression part. Those are some of the 32bit plugins that I miss in the 64bit world.

I think I'm the one who's getting side-tracked now. Lol. I guess when people ask for Tape Emu, I'm assuming they're looking for LoFi. Like I mentioned above somewhere, I can't think of a free plugin that does the wow and flutter well.

[BerryLaCroix]

Toneboosters ReelBus 4. Not free but cheap, and can do tape wear quite convincingly as well as high-quality tape sim.

[Obsolete236871]

I'll be honest, I can't think of a free plugin that does wow and flutter well. I'm always trying to challenge the mainstream by trying to do things with free plugins before throwing in the towel and paying for it. Lol.

The free plugin Flutterbird takes care of Wow and Flutter like fluctuations in pitch and volume. It was one of the better plugins in KVR Developer Challenge 2018:

viewtopic.php?t=510803

[Mathematics]

I tried it out but it seems more effective as a phasing alignment plugin to mimic phasers and chorusing. For wow and flutter, it's a hard sell. Still, for free, it does add something but just doesn't sell it completely. What it does do really well is modulate the volume. That, is does really well. Thanks for that suggestion.

[Obsolete236871]

I tried it out but it seems more effective as a phasing alignment plugin to mimic phasers and chorusing. For wow and flutter, it's a hard sell. Still, for free, it does add something but just doesn't sell it completely. What it does do really well is modulate the volume. That, is does really well. Thanks for that suggestion.

I think you are confusing "phase alignment" and "phasing" here. Maybe you have an unusual definition of "Wow and Flutter", but usually those terms refer to fluctuations in the pitch and volume of the audio material (due to instability in the motor of a tape recorder or a vinyl player), which the Flutterbird plugin is well suited for. What you would want to achieve is a random sounding effect, hence you combine multiple modulations to create a rather non-repetitive overall effect, since one modulation has an effect on the previous modulation and so on and then you can also set the total amount.