IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Machine 99 Virtual Tape Machine Plug-in - Electronic Delivery

Product Description

When it comes to the character of analog tape machines, most of us think of the massive units found in recording studios throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. But companies like Studer also produced smaller units, which became staples in broadcast and location recording. The IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Machine 99 Virtual Tape Machine Plug-in re-creates the Revox PR99 Mk II, a compact, rack-mount stereo recorder produced by Studer in the 1980s under their Revox brand. Engineered around a hybrid design that takes the best of discrete and op-amp topologies, it offers an un-hyped, elegant sound with an extremely smooth frequency response. The PR99 has almost no trace of the typical “head bump” effect, reducing the bass boost caused by the heads gap and making the overall response extremely linear. This unit quickly became popular in broadcasting and for on-location professional recording because of its impressive sonic performance. It also was a reference for audiophiles wanting to dub their beloved LPs on tape, without sacrificing the sound quality to those inadequate-sounding cassettes. Using a mix of dynamic convolution and physical modeling, the Tape Machine 99 re-creates the complex interplay of effects taking place in the audio tape recording process, down to the smallest details of this machine. You won’t believe how much character a clean and smooth analog tape recorder can add until you’ve tried mixing down a track through the PR99 Mk II.

RE-CREATING THE MAGIC

Analog tape audio recorders are complex systems. They impart magic to the audio material, lifting the art within the music to a higher level. They add musicality to music. What a tape machine adds to the audio is the result of a number of interactions amongst several interdependent factors. More than just saturation, compression, or EQ alone, these factors work together, one affecting each other with the dynamics of music, adding a “movement” that goes into the soul of what you perceive. Decades of music produced on these pieces of artful human engineering have tailored the way music should sound. Trying to recreate this magic in the digital domain has been attempted since the early days of real-time audio plug-ins, with various degrees of success.

4 MAGIC FORMULAS

Choose from 4 different tape formulations, each with its own unique tone:

• 250: Modelled after the 3M/Scotch 250 formula, it is the most colored of the four formulas. It went in production around 1974 and delivers a warm tone with slightly more distortion and saturation than the other formulas included in the package.
• 456: Modelled after the Ampex 456 formula, this model went into production around 1974. Perhaps the most widely used tape, it contributed the most to what is considered “the” tape sound. It offers a warm, round tone with a slight touch of saturation that greatly responds to the recording level.
• GP9: Modelled after the Quantegy GP9 formula, this tape accepts higher levels of signal with minimal distortion and compression. It’s very punchy and perfect for modern, high quality analog recordings.
• 499: Modelled after the Ampex 499 formula, this tape is designed to handle a great amount of level with minimal distortion and compression. It also exhibits added high frequency definition that makes it perfect for printing “digital-like” recordings, while still maintaining an analog sound.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Mac

• Minimum requirements: Apple M1 or Intel Core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, macOS 10.15 or newer
• Requires a graphics adapter compatible with OpenGL 2
• Supported Plug-in formats (64-bit): Audio Units, VST 3, AAX

Windows

• Minimum requirements: Core i5 -RAM processor or equivalent, 8 GB of RAM, Windows 10 (64 bit) or newer
• ASIO-compatible sound card necessary
• OpenGL 2 compatible graphics adapter required
• Supported Plug-in formats (64-bit): VST 3, AAX