T racks 5 review manual#
T racks 5 review professional#

Still, the T-RackS Tape Machine Collection delivers an interesting selection of tape machines, typical tape formulations and plenty of opportunity to modify and fine tune individual settings. Also, we did notice the CPU usage stacking up when we tried the plugin across multiple tracks.

T racks 5 review manual#

ThereвЂ™s also no way to group and link multiple instances of the plugin, which really helps when emulating multitrack tape, such as a multi-miked drum kit, for example, across many DAW tracks.ДЇor us, a couple of further useful inclusions would be reverse linking for input and output levels, and manual resizing of the windows. One thing the machines donвЂ™t do is model tape noise, and this is clearly a design choice. Nevertheless, for the most part, the end-to-end frequency responses in Repro mode seem to match our observations above. Also, the balance between odd and even harmonics shifts as the record level changes. The harmonics generated are greater with the 250 and 456 tape types, and also at the slower tape speeds. To gain a bit more insight, we did some bench tests and discovered that all four models exhibit 3rd and 5th harmonic distortions in Repro mode, but, as you would expect, no noticeable distortions in Input mode. Although based on a 1/4' format, it worked really well for us across a multitracked drum kit, adding both punch and high frequency lift. This delivers a wonderfully bright, enhanced sound at its higher speed.

T racks 5 review professional#

Our professional analogue tape expectations were best met by Machine 80, though. In terms of overall fidelity, we think Machine 24 wins hands-down, working well across multiple tracks for adding subtle sheen and harmonic richness.

Similarly, Machine 99 is coloured at 7.5IPS, but less so than the 440, and overall, Machine 99 is pleasingly hi-fi sounding. This is particularly true of Machine 440, which, at 7.5IPS, sounds quite dark, although the overall sound is certainly quite smooth. Even so, these T-RackS models do cover quite a range of machine types and tape speeds, and perhaps unsurprisingly, itвЂ™s the slower 1/4' models that sound the most coloured. Testing tape machine emulations can be a pretty subjective process, as the best machines only create quite subtle changes that build up over multiple tracks.

(Image credit: Future) Performance and verdict Tape speeds are specific to the emulated hardware, with 15 and 30IPS for Tape Machine 24 and 80, and 7.5 and 15IPS for Tape Machine 99 and 440. There are four tape types - 250, 456, 499 and GP9 - based on the Scotch, Ampex and Quantegy formulations, covering a decent spread of the popular tapes used over the last 40 years. You can also plump for Repro mode, which includes all of the tape processing mentioned above, or choose Input mode, which only activates the input and output stages of the selected machine. The general feature set is largely standardised across all of them and includes the choice of Tape Formula, Tape Speed, calibration settings such as record Bias and record Level, and overall Input and Output level (+/-15dB). Visually, each plugin is uniquely styled and clearly inspired by the original hardware. The source machines are the MCI JH24 2' 24-track, Studer A80 1/4' stereo, Revox PR99 MkII 1/4' stereo and Ampex 440B 1/4' stereo, and the corresponding plugins are name Tape Machine 24, 80, 99 and 440.

T-racks 5 review