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32-bit / 64-bit

Saturation by Softube

'Softube Tape is my new favourite saturation plug in. Parallel it with your kick or bass and drive it hard—thick and fat.'
Howard Willing. Producer, engieer and mixer for Smashing Pumpkins, Sheryl Crow and Kris Kristofferson.
'I love the Softube Tape plug-in. It's great for just adding a touch of analog tape simulation to a final mix, but more impressively it's great for adding character to vocals and guitars. It provides instant glue for harsh or overly transient sounds in a mix.'
Joe Chiccarelli. Mixer/Engineer/Producer for Beck, U2, The Strokes, Elton John
'Tape is a fantastic addition to my master bus! The subtle nuance, drive and natural sounding tape compression make this a great way to warm up any digital 'in-the-box' mix.'
Kevin Kadish. Grammy nominated songwriter and producer for artists such as Meghan Trainor and Jason Mraz.

Time to get reel! Softube's Tape plug-in adds cohesion and weight to your mixes. But Tape goes far beyond your average tape machine emulation. It includes three distinctly different tape machine types, and it offers the ease of use and low CPU strain that today's music creators rightfully expect.

Even in this day and age, it's common practice for computer based professional studios to run their mixes through at least one generation of analog tape. Why? Because even when used subtly, analog tape has a smoothing effect and adds cohesion and weight to a mix—it takes the recording from a collection of individual tracks into a song where everything is connected and works together. With Softube's Tape plug-in, you can have all that and more.

Three Machines in One

Tape includes three different tape machine types in one plug-in. Type A is based on a classic Swiss high end reel-to-reel machine, known and loved for its precision and linearity. Type B is much more colorful—it's a transformer based machine which adds extra weight and cream to the low end. Lastly, Type C is based on a British tape machine with a distinct vintage vibe.

Ease of Use

Select your favorite tape machine Type, and adjust the Amount knob to taste. In most cases, that's all you need to do to soak your tracks in analog tape sweetness. Easier still, load up one of the included presets, made by award winning engineers such as Joe Chiccarelli (Beck, U2, Strokes) and Howard Willing (Smashing Pumpkins, Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson).

Feeling tweaky? Why not start by trying the different tape speed settings—you'll find that the slower the tape speed, the more pronounced is the so-called tape head bump, which adds low end to the mix. Or open the Remote Control panel where you can control the selected tape machine's speed stability, crosstalk amount and several other tape-a-liscious features.

Dense Sound, Light on CPU

Ultraman fighting games. Add a single instance of Tape on your master bus to emulate what most computer based studios do today—mix in the computer, then mix down to a stereo tape machine—or go vintage style by adding Tape to every single track in your mix. Yes, your computer will be able to handle it. As most Softube plug-ins, Tape is uniquely light on your computer's processor.

Extras for Studio One Users

If you run Presonus Studio One, you can not only use Tape as a standard plug-in. Adding Tape to your MixFX slot gives you Tape Multitrack. Tape Multitrack includes all the goodies of Tape, but in addition, you get selectable crosstalk between each individual track—and you can easily control the Tape Multitrack settings from a single interface. The Tape and Tape Multitrack license is one and the same. This means that if you're not a Studio One user but at some future point decide to switch to that DAW, you will already have Tape Multitrack installed, licensed and ready to go.

In Short

  • Realistic analog tape sound
  • Three tape machine types included
  • Easy to use
  • Low CPU usage
  • Includes Tape Multitrack which can be used in the MixFX slot of Presonus Studio One—adding individual channel crosstalk and single interface control of all tracks

System Requirements:

Version 2.0 of the Softube plug-ins have the following minimum requirements:

All Native Versions:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 or newer
  • Windows 64-bit, versions 8 or 10
  • Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 X2 or newer
  • Screen resolution larger than 1280x800
  • 1 GB RAM or more, and at least 6 GB hard disk space for installation (individual plug-ins take less space)
  • Any VST, VST3, AU, or AAX (Pro Tools 10.3.7, 11.0.2 or higher) compatible host application
  • Softube/Gobbler account
  • Gobbler application to manage license activation and plug-in downloads
  • Please make sure that you always use the latest iLok License Manager. It is not included in the Softube installer, but can be downloaded from www.ilok.com
  • Broadband internet access for downloading installer and register licenses​

Please Note:

  • Windows XP and Vista are no longer officially supported
  • All Softube plug-ins support both 32- and 64-bit hosts, although a 64-bit OS is required. Supported sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192 kHz, in both mono and stereo

Any references to any brands on this site/page, including reference to brands and instruments, are provided for description purposes only. For example references to instrument brands are provided to describe the sound of the instrument and/or the instrument used in the sample. Plugin Boutique do not have (nor do they claim) any association with or endorsement by these brands. Any goodwill attached to those brands rest with the brand owner. Plugin Boutique or its Suppliers do not accept any liability in relation to the content of the product or the accuracy of the description. 'RHODES' is a registered trademark of Joseph A Brandstetter.

Product Reviews

  • Softube Tape Review at Audio Plugin Guy

    Softube recently released their contribution to the tape emulation plugin market. And it’s a great contribution. Named simply,..

  • Softube Tape review by Logic Pro Expert

    Apple Logic Pro’s plugins are, for the most part, fantastic. But one conspicuous omission is the lack of a tape saturation plugin. Glue and..

  • Softube Tape review by ProducerSpot

    Softube from Sweden offers a fine array of quality plugins for recording. Their latest endeavor is TAPE, a reel to reel emulation plugin meant to..

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