June 27, 2012

Slate Digital has released the Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines Plug-In. Perhaps one of the most complex audio plugins ever coded, the Slate Digital VIRTUAL TAPE MACHINE (VTM) replicates the sound of TWO industry standard tape decks including NRG RECORDING's 16track 2inch machine and Howie Weinberg's 2track 1/2" mastering deck.  Using the VTM, your music will have added life, depth, punch, and dimension.  The digital "high end" will be replaced by lush and smooth analog highs.  Your low end will have more depth, punch, and harmonic 'bigness'.  Your mids will have added clarity and vibe.

Digital recording is now the standard for professional music production. But many engineers and musicians long for the days of analog recording, and for good reason. Analog Tape Machines have a SOUND. Big, fat, warm, deep, rich, and exciting are just some of the terms used to describe what recording onto a piece of magnetic tape sounds like. Most of all, tape is more musical.

To capture the sound of tape is to capture a living, breathing sound that dynamically reacts to the music going on to it. Slate Digital Chief Technology Officer Fabrice Gabriel utilized his electrical engineering degree as a foundation for his comprehensive study of the physical processes that occur when recording to analog tape through a tape machine. What began with science led to Fabrice’s discovery of the seemingly magical properties of tape and inspired him to create his most advanced, dynamic algorithms yet. Two industry-standard machines were precisely modeled. What followed was a year of critical listening and algorithm tweaking, with some help from the expert ears of Slate Digital CEO, Steven Slate.

The result is the Virtual Tape Machines plugin. With models of both a 2 inch 16 track from NRG Recording, and a ½ inch 2 track machine from Howie Weinberg Mastering, the VTM will give your mixes an absolutely authentic analog vibe that will take your mixes to the next level. With added dimension, fatness, depth, and warmth, you’ll wonder how you ever mixed without it!

The Slate Digital VTM is the second plug-in in the Virtual Analog Series - the first being the Virtual Console Collection.