Virtual Tape Machines : Tape without tape

When I first started working with audio, I was a complete digital audio lover. Don't get me wrong - I still am! - but at some point in time I began to wonder if there was something missing in my recordings wholly produced in the digital realm.

Most likely anyone can tell tape machines have their own wacky kind of EQ and hiss but that's not close to all there is to it; in short, the way tape saturates the audio is what gives it its character. That is what I love about the Slate Digital VTM: I can achieve that lovely saturation without ever taking my project out of the box.

There are multiple combinations of choices and each provides you with a beautiful but individual sound. There are other controls for making the sound even "more analog," and really the only complaint I have with the product is you can't fully remove the hiss the plugin generates; you can only take it down by 40 dB, which means the noise will stack with multiple instances of the plugin and when compressing or limiting tracks. Thus, I've found the best way to use the plugin is to use it the same way tape was used back in the old days: use it on auxes and last in your signal chain.

The noise isn't really an issue if you know what you're doing and the audio enhancement the VTM gives is something you - or at least I - can't simply gain with simple processing. The VTM in conjunction with the Slate Digital VCC is the best value for the money I've ever spent.