SKNote Roundtone - best value I have ever found!

I'm wondering how many folks are using this.  I decided to down load it as I haven't found another tape sim that did a good job for me other than UAD's Ampex (which I can only use 1 instance on the master most of the time)
 
Kramer Mastertape is an effect more than subtle tape sim and I find it unusable. 
Studer is good but too expensive and hoggs up all my UAD solo. 
Magnetic is a joke
Toneboosters is good but no multitrack capabilities
 
Roundtone for me has been really remarkable.  it does just what the name implies and rounds off all the harsh edges of a track.  It has been amazing on smoothing out Ivory 2 piano tracks and gluing together drum tracks.  My signal path ITB is Satson (supersubtle)--> round tone-->waves ssl channel for about everything as a base.   I link all the drum tracks to one tape machine and other instruments to another and it really seems to diminish the work I need to do on eq and compression with other plugs.    This has been really important because Im not that good at mixing and can often over process a track.  this helps me find what sounds good without going crazy.
 
Just thought I would share.  for $30 it has been the best plugin value I have ever found.

Roundtone has been on my "buy this one of these days" list for a while, but I haven't heard it yet.  I have tried many of the same tape sims as you did (except UAD), and the one that really did it for me was Slate VTM.  Very natural and convincing, to my ears.  Any experience with it?
 
I tend to agree with you about the others, although I found Magnetic to be good for fattening up a track, not necessarily as a true tape effect.
 
If you like Roundtone, you might enjoy StripBus (if you haven't bought it already).  Pretty neat tool, very versatile, cool sounds, although I've found it a little flaky in use (losing settings, etc.).  Another great deal at $30!
 
Cheers,
Eddie

bitflipper


What's the deal with the "multitrack" feature? What does it do, emulate track bleed?

by multi track I mean you can control all the instances of roundtone from any instance.  They are tied together like a single machine.   there are 3 modes in this regard
 
Standalone - each instance is independent of any other
Machine A-D - you can set all your drum tracks to A and control them as a single tape deck, then run your vocals through B and they act as a single deck... etc
Linked - I haven't played with this yet but it is like machine but fewer parameters are linked together
 
I find this really much more useful and realistic than setting every instance of the plugin differently.  it is also a gigantic time saver and mistake avoider.  Like forgetting you really jacked up the controls on one track...
 
They are also bypassable by machine.
 
Satson does something with crosstalk but I havent tried it and it doesnt sound appealing.  I purchased Satson because I have been finding NLS to be a real hog in Sonar and requires I set my buffer too high for tracking.  I can't say I have a strong opinion on Satson yet.  I'm using it on faith because it is really low cpu usage but it is very subtle and I couldn't say for sure what it is imparting.  NLS I like quite a lot but I can't run more than about 10 tracks of it and I'm running a I7 with 12gig of ram.
 
I looked at Stripbus but really dont need another set of eq's or compressors so I opted for Satson.  Its really just the board emulation I was looking for.

Another $30 value is Sausage fattener by Dada Life! Check it out!

That multitrack feature sounds pretty cool. I assume the idea is to use multiple instances, one for each track, which should be a more realistic simulation than just inserting a single instance on the master bus. I don't know that I'd ever use it, but it sounds like a  good idea.

Personally, I'm off tape sims generally. I know there are many who routinely apply them to every project, but for me they just make recordings sound duller. Many of them (actually, every one I've tested) introduce aliasing, hardly a characteristic of real tape. I still throw on an instance of TB ReelBus now and again, but only on individual tracks for a specific effect.

bitflipper


That multitrack feature sounds pretty cool. I assume the idea is to use multiple instances, one for each track, which should be a more realistic simulation than just inserting a single instance on the master bus. I don't know that I'd ever use it, but it sounds like a  good idea.

Personally, I'm off tape sims generally. I know there are many who routinely apply them to every project, but for me they just make recordings sound duller. Many of them (actually, every one I've tested) introduce aliasing, hardly a characteristic of real tape. I still throw on an instance of TB ReelBus now and again, but only on individual tracks for a specific effect.

UAD Studer is the only other tape sim with a multitrack feature.  Your ear may be sensitive enough to hear aliasing but I can't.  I have to admit I have never worked with a real tape deck so I can't judge it if actually sounds like tape.  It just sounds better to me.  It is also sufficiently controllable that you can really tone down the effect. I hear what your saying about the dulling effect.  if you turn speed, action, emphasis, and mix all the way right you definately get a noticably muted sound.  Still it is not an effect like a lot of other sims.  Over all, used properly it dulls the mix the way a nail file dulls a hangnail.
 
I have found no use for wow/flutter/or delayand they seem kind of gimicky to me.

Over all, used properly it dulls the mix the way a nail file dulls a hangnail.

Great analogy! And a great comeback to my complaint that tape sims dull the mix.


Still, I'll stick to my story and keep doing what I can to make those transients stick out rather than shaving them off. I embrace the same philosophy for facial hair.