Poorly designed product ? Call it CPU-heavy, call it hard to use (not for beginners or lazy people who use presets) but they're not poorly designed. You can dislike their vintage, hardware-like design but, again, surely the GUI is anything but poor.
@@JamesMaximilianJason haha the convenience of such one on one device to screen mapped GUI's sucks, a lot. You make no distinction between how something looks and how it works. Why on earth would you want to fiddle with these tiny nerve wrecking knobs and sliders, layout management is simply absent .
I make more distinction than you between how something looks and how it works, don't worry. I never said this is the best plugin ever. I said it's not poorly designed for sure. I don't fiddle with any knob unless I think they can help my mix and my workflow. If something doesn't, I stay away from it. This is not my fave plugin and I rarely use that but it's not the crap you're talking about anyway. That's my opinion and in this case I disagree with WST.
I agree with this, this is why I watch your snake oil vids. I want to know what is actually.. SNAKE OIL. so many so called reviews are actually just commercials disguised as reviews. keep doing these and being yourself... 'for real'
Yes same here.. I watch snake oil because unlike a lot of the others he's not falling for the hype of some of these plugin companies.. I'd like to hear what it sounds like on individual instruments to see its effect on a mix then.. yes keep it real mr snake oil ✌
Just Remeber don't unlist the videos after you upload them. Just keep them up if you get hate so what. If you know you are being 100% then that's all that matter forget the hate because you got those that care about your videos and the time you put into them.
I think it's pretty shady to shit on the followers and commentators who criticized him for the way he approached his Decapitator review JUST AFTER HE APOLOGIZED to the same people in the community for deleting/unlisting the video!!! Criticism is not "hate" and it also was not a "shitstorm" - we just put him in check! The fact he deleted/unlisted the video just proofs that he was completely wrong trashing that plugin like that.
The issue is, he doesn't know he is being 100% some of the time. Sometimes he gets things wrong. Maybe bases a review on his incorrect use of a plugin, or deems a piece of hardware as useless because it doesn't emulate a compressor revision it wasn't aiming to emulate. No need to remove videos. Maybe just set the record straight.
@@hinkleyhanley1577 That's exactly the charm of these "reviews", that he does them the same way we would try a plugin the first time. For fully informed reviews there are many other channels.
@@heavymetalmixer91 That's fine, until he starts putting "Useless. Don't Buy This" in the title for a perfectly good piece of hardware. You've only to look at the comments for the 76-KT. Multiple followers have been mislead by this inaccurate review. He was 100% WRONG there, and still hasn't even acknowledged this. Regarding the "Snake Oil" reviews, if your going to open a plugin for the first time and "review it" at least make sure you're using it properly, otherwise you might as well give studio monitors a bad review because they don't make good microphones.
From the "unofficial list's" description for Taupe "Taupe (13) - The tape collection with some EQs/compressors thrown in the mix. EQ A - MCI JH-500 EQ B - MCI JH-600 EQ C - Studer 900 Compressor/Limiter: Studer 900 The Tape Machines (thank you, Tsykhra) Usage suggestions thanks to Le Man. Group A 0 - Ampex MM1200, 15 IPS mono (great for rock and pop music) 1 - Ampex MM1200, 30 IPS mono (great for rock and pop music) 2 - Ampex 351, 15 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape) 3 - Ampex 351, 30 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape) 4 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 15 IPS 5 - EMI TR-50, Dual Mono 15 IPS 6 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 30 IPS 7 - EMI TR-50, dual mono 30 IPS 8 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 15 IPS 9 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 30 IPS Group B 0 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 15 IPS 1 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 30 IPS 2 - MCI JH-24, mono at 15 IPS (useful on rap, dance and club music) 3 - MCI JH-24, mono at 30 IPS (useful on rap, dance and club music) 4 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (NAB) 5 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (IEC) 6 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 30 IPS (IEC) 7 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 15 IPS (go to for pop and R&B genres) 8 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 30 IPS (go to for pop and R&B genres) 9 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 15 IPS Group C 0 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 30 IPS 1 - Studer A820, stereo at 15 IPS (C1 to C4 are great all around mix down choices) 2 - Studer A820, stereo at 30 IPS 3 - Studer A820, dual mono at 15 IPS 4 - Studer A820, dual mono at 30 IPS 5 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 15 IPS 6 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 30 IPS 7 - ReVox A77, stereo at 7.5 IPS (IEC) 8 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (IEC) 9 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (NAB) (lots of home studio musicians used A77 machines over the years) Group D 0 - ReVox A700, dual mono at 15 IPS (semi pro tape machine of choice) 1 - ReVox PR900, stereo at 15 IPS 2 - Nagra IV, stereo (no speed given) 3 - Aiwa AD-F850, stereo cassette 4 - Aiwa Excelia XK-009, stereo cassette (perhaps the best cassette machine ever made) 5 - TEAC A-860, stereo cassette 6 - Wollensak (3M), stereo cassette deck. (No tape) 7 - AKAI 1710 (reel to reel, no tape) 8 - Sony PCM-7040 (digital, no tape) 9 - Alesis ADAT-XT20 (20-bit digital, no tape) Pro tip: Click the ECONO button to preserve transients. This is very useful on electronic mixes." So it's definitely for gear nerds. :) Keep up the good work. Don't lose your passion for what you do here. It's always good stuff!
You only get hate because you speak the truth and what you think is right. Keep doing that. Every companies only aim is to take our money. Its nice to have people like you that tell us if the product has any actually value.
he's also advertising them for free, making great reviews, and as a human being has his personal opinion, you dont have to agree him. i still dont know why do brands like this hate on him
I don't think this guy is really the reference you want to follow. Some stuff i heard him say, does not infer much confidence on my part... That being said - ofc there are bad products out there, call them snake oil if you want. But if he spends more time on plugin GUI's and them being "too realistic", then on actual sound (maybe watch him use compressor), then he is snake oil as well.
@@69vrana he just tests plugins and tells HIS Honest opinion. He shouldnt be the only reference but in a worold where everybody just wants to sell you shit, when they test it, its just nice, even thogh if his honest opinion is ridiculous
@@69vrana you should use multiple reference sources to come to a conclusion. I watch a lot of RUclips to learn about music production and its ridiculous the amount of marketing that is involved. Every Company wants you to buy the newest latest must have plugin that will make you a super producer. But its all bullshit most of the time. They just need a new product to SELL you every 6 months. Just take waves for example
@@miss.antidote I agree, they are business after all. I am not disputing the fact that EVERY company is in it for the money, after all, that is what they do. I am just saying that this guy seems like a hobby producer (at best) and makes his living by reviewing (poorly) new gear. Not that he is not right most of the time, but I highly doubt his expertise and experience.
I love Acustica Audio gear, including Taupe. I also really love Acustica Audio interfaces, but maybe that's because I'm old school and like hardware, knobs, dials, switches, meters, paint, metal etc.
This product is ridiculously good as far as tape emulation. A google search will inform the user of which presets accurately represent which tape machine models. Heck, don't like the looks? I can't hear the display....
Me personally loves the Acustica Audio plug-ins. I’ve purchased 6 of them and use them in every project. El Rey on vocals and bass can’t be matched anywhere
Totally agree, its awesome and i bought it in pre-order in spite of the user interface, thing is for me, i only use the more linear vanilla and just drives it for warmth and glue, subtle but it really adds vibe and subtle "long term" interest in the sounds, more alive sounding
Once again, that was a clear and honest review. (I own almost all Acustica Audio products and I would never hate you, even if I was a little bit sad from your videos about Viridian). Cheers my friend!!
If you load the Taupe Tape plugin by itself without the EQ and compressor modules, the preset lists all the different machine names and you are able to just click and choose without using the buttons. When you did the review you opened the full strip and that is why it listed actual presets. I like your reviews but sometimes you jump to conclusions too fast and throw folks off. If you are going to be a source of information at least be accurate. There is enough misleading information surrounding us.
yeh reviewing products without any kind of understanding of how they work is an odd style. If I spend money on something I'll read the manaul. I always take White Sea with a massive pinch of salt. In fact, I'm probably just going to stop watching them.
"Subtle and on spot" is actually the biggest compliment possible. They claim to accurately model the sound of the sampled devices, not so create super flexible plugins.
A bit late to the party, but I love it. The problem is that they can't use the names of the machines they emulated, but online you can find the list. Studers, Ampex etc..
I use Taupe as a clipper : you can easily cut 5 or 6 db in a very musical way and without artifact by pushing that input knob and obtain a kind of fatter crushed transient. My preference goes to A0 + A1 or D0 for the job. One of the best solution for clipping, I was surprised beacause this is finaly a go-to clipper especialy for snare, or vocal peaks. For a more "tape feel" I vastely prefer IK Tapes, it generate some movements and breath I would say. Taupe is totally "static" in comparaison, and don't really sounds like a tape machine.
convolution isn't sample based. it's when you take the recording of how a sound behaves when it's put through a room or component, and then digitally replicate that behavior, for example how the reverb in a room would react to any given noise or how a guitar might sound through a given tube.
I love your honest, praticalit and logical approach dude. don't ever change your videos have been very helpful with an honest approach. Everybody is trying to sell shit all the time and you just say it the way it is. Kepp on rockin!
I’m not a fan of acustica plugins, I 99% of the time advocate against them... but I can’t lie and say taupe isn’t a great plugin. Maybe shouldn’t be commenting before I watch the video... but just wanted to say I’m a big fan of taupe... now time to watch the video lol.
Only truth receives hate. That's why hate is good. People that don't get hate have nothing meaningful to say. Keep on giving your opinions with honesty, it's wonderful to watch, no matter what.
Here’s my understanding of how Acustica Audio plugins work overall. They take an impulse response of each incremental setting, of each combination of incremental settings, and every time you change something even a tiny bit a whole new impulse response of the new total combination is loaded. This gets you as close as possible to the real unit modeled/sampled/whatever. Everyone else comes up with a complex formula instead, which allows for smoothly sweeping through parameters with approximations instead of hitting what the unit really does at any specific combination of settings. Changing a setting on an AA plug normally means there is a brief delay while, effectively, a new plugin is loaded (a new impulse response). Combine this with high storage, RAM, and CPU demands and many people reject AA in spite of their superior dead-on analog sound.
If you don’t know how to freeze tracks, or just know what you are doing and bounce after treating a track, then you have no use for highest end virtual instruments or plugin effects. I use Acustica plugins all the time without the slightest issue because unlike some I know what I am doing.
Yes they were meant to use like the real analog gear like use buses and send because you can't take the real thing and put in your daw you have to use patchbays and interface routings
a comment on 3:28 ; I don't know where this guy was in the 90s, but the studios he's describing indeed had their own sound, recording on tape and all, and it was C.R.A.P . I still have my old demos. They sound like shit compared to what I record now in my home studio. This is just romanticizing the past.
@dirty Harry very interst8ng comment! I agree with you on the studios hav8ng their own sound. You say crap, that's what is 8nteresting to me. I've been recording since 80s. I can listen to recordings and hear the 'sound of the era" in the sound quality. That said, when I'm working on a particular piece I can go for the 'sound character' of that era. That is what I love about the acustica audio stuff. I love taupe for what it is but I do not use it the way it is used in this video. First of all, I would not record an entire composition onto 1 track and expect drastic changes in the sound or unless, for instance, I wanted that. Composition to sound as if I recorded it on cassette tape for effect. The secret to using the acustica audio stuff is to go old school and do a tracking session for each individual instrument. Example, rock drums have been recorded. Bass drum track through API (pink) preamp through API mixer channel (pink) then to Taupe, print that track and now I have that drum TRACKED and ready for mixing. Do all the drums and final drum performance sounds like it was recorded through API. to tape. Now go mix with sand (ssl). Lol, a lot of the old records were TRACKED at 1 place and mixed in another on different equipment. It takes l9nger to do it this way but the old school sessions took a long. time too. The results are amazing. Acustica has lots of options for achieving sounds of eras. Once I've done my "tracking sessions" and printed my results, I have all my cup back and can use soundtoys and all my "plugin sounding" plugins and start mixing with better sounding source files. Try it! With the acustica stuff, it's a matter of knowing what to use where if you already know, their stuff is not very 'experiment friendly'. Lol good luck.
@John penguin the roughness of the 90s hip hop is part of the character of the music and the context of the vibe, it is supposed to sound rough. A friend of mine introduced me to brutal death metal and I thought it sounded like total trash. I did NOT like the sound quality and I could not stand all that grunting and growling. He gave me a lyric sheet to a particular sound. It was about fighting to the last breath against a hypocritical, evil, very powerful entity. Then he said "ok, now imagine if the band played nicely and the singer used a pretty voice". We both cracked the F up! Lol, it's part of the character.
@@letssee9 I will assume in this post that you don't have any affiliation with Acustica Audio. If you have, it's not a problem, but it should be disclosed so that we have an honest conversation. I tested many MANY of their stuff and tbh never had great success with them. Another thing: they're really expensive, some of them EXTREMELY so! Once they sold a compressor plug-in for... wait for it... 349 if I remember correctly. But there's a misunderstanding: when I was talking about romanticizing the past, I didn't mean the studios or the consoles of CLA or Bob Clearmountain, I meant things in the exact same context described in the video: poor studios for small productions which barely used any computers. When I listen to those productions nowadays the only think to envy is sometimes, not always, the absence of the loudness-wars effect, i.e. dynamics.
@dirty harry 1881 no man, i dont have any affiliation with acustica audio other than having some of their stuff. I started with nebula. I've been a noise junky and a plugin chaser for many years. What i noticed a while back was a lot of my ither plugins function like the gear they emulate but didn't 'sound' like the gear. For me, the nebula stuff sounded like the gear but didn't function like it. So now I'm at the acua stuff and I'm getting hood results. I DO have to add steps to my process and freeze or bouncr tracks. But i like a lot of their stuff, not all but pink, amber, sand and lime are good for me as well as a few others.
UI's are definetly user preference. I like UA's plugs because they look like the old hardware that I used for so many years. I personally owned most of the UREI and Teletronix hardware devices so the UI may be snake oil but I like it. The cool thing about plugins is you can use so many instances on different tracks and the hardware is one device per track. Wonderful world audio engineers live in today.
If you want specifically tape you need to use the Taupe Tape plugin and that will make it much easier for you..and that's when tape presets show up try it all bro acoustica audio comes with many plugins in one plugin
For me this is one of my favourite AA plugins ever.Not exatcly like a "real" tape but I really love it. Yes, I can take this special taste and add it to some drum tracks and other instruments. I really love it. Thanks for this review!!!!Have a nice young man!!!
You're doing what we all need to do. We need to stay critical and evaluate products from what they add to our toolboxes, how they fit into our workflows. Very good review yet again!
I love my Acustica plugs but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna hate on anyone who doesn’t like them. Always interested to hear what you have to say. I don’t have taupe by the way.
Usefulness of plugins tends to be inversely correlated to how much was spent on the graphic design. Same principle holds true for movies vs movie titles.
I confess I've bought quite a lot of Acustica software, but I remain puzzled by the brand. I think the interfaces are impressive but very difficult to use unless you have broad experience with the related analog gear, which I don't. About three quarters of the time when I try to dial in something with one of their plugins I just can't hear any difference at all in the sound. I started a thread in the Reaper forum about Acustica software, and got a very wide mix of replies. Some people have come to the same conclusion as White Sea, and others tell me that Acustica is all they ever use. I find myself doing things like null experiments with some of their products to see if anything is happening at all. And I have to ask myself, "If I have to do that, is this really the product I want to use." I'm sort of hoping that some day the scales will dramatically fall from my eyes, and I will just love all the Acustica stuff. But not yet.
People want a GUI that looks like analog stuff because they do not have analog hardware and they desire it so much. Which is the opposite of your case. Marketing responds to this desire, to believe that they will have the sound of the best studios, without having to go in those studios, without even needing the help of an engineer. People are dreaming, you are in the reality of a professional worker.
If everything looked like Reaper stock plugins or even wrose like ZBrush UI. It's hard to remember where all stuff is located in ZBrush after not used it for a while, because everything look same and not in logical places. If I use channel strip a lot I can reemember easier where all stuff is located. Color codes and location is useful, because I don't have to read labels every time to make sure I tweak required parameter. It's mistaken for marketing, but it's UI usability.
Totally agree! Acustica does a great job pushing the IR-sampling of gear, but they should make their UIs easier to use. I'm using some of their plug-ins and everytime I open them, I can't remember what button did what ;)
VVKT is what Acustica uses to sample the gear. Diagonal Volterra series, Volterra kernel, etc. technology is evidently more completely able to represent gear than more common methods of convolution.
If I was after the "flavor" of a tape machine, I would know where I wanted to go - which characteristics I wanted to have, and hence which models. An interface with a set of anonymous switch banks says it all as far as I am concerned. Who has the time to flick through 40 options, and then try to remember that you liked C3, C5 and D4? You hit the nail on the head with the comments about options. Young engineers need to start with that, and consider RESTRICTING their options to become better engineers. Use your ears first and your plugins second!
Man...Im using this to master my Album...and I can tell you, your off on this one...this is hands down the best tape plugin.....just gota have 32gb of ram with i7 on an SSD......you just change from A, B,C,D and choose different numbers in between and it even has a drop down box....if you wanna search for options the other way...dude...this a very easy plugin to use.....and sound the best in the DAW as far as Tape...that even sounds better than UAD and IK Media tapes......the saturation is smoother and more stable....
Egg cartons do burn, but I started studying acoustics around 1980 and the first thing I learned is that egg cartons destroy your rooms frequency response by throwing it out of balance absorbing only a narrow band in the high end so every thing sounds too bass-mid and there is no air at all. Just thought you might want to know that. And yes, your insurance company would have an out if you used them and your studio burned to the ground, you would get zip for it. Their private motto is "we insure against accidents, not stupidity." I actually heard a few insurance adjusters say that to customers. And thanks for the information, it's good to see someone use this gear live during a review so we can actually hear it. And even though you use Sand Storm most of the time, that only gives me a reference I can relate to so good job. And wash your hands, and stay inside!
I'm working with magnetic tape since the 70s... The perfect "01100101000" digital world can't reproduce the unique 3-dimensional space with all it's unique imperfections, the saturation and the warmth. Anyone who's saying "tape plugins sound GREAT!" they never heard the real sound of magnetic tape. End of Story.
ToTape5, IronOxide5/Classic and FromTape are all the tape simulators i'll ever need... - fair play for remaining honest, a rare thing among such channels -
hi! big airwindows fan here! btw, there's a very cool "snake oil" review from totape5 (thats how I discover this channel). and, GUESS WHAT?!?! no bad things/comments AT ALL!!! hope you enjoy!!! ruclips.net/video/5F38l_j2vPY/видео.html
The interfaces are all 3d renders made in Octane, this has been up in the group, they told the users a little bit about it. I dont think so much it is the program, but the guy who makes them. He has some pretty good skills. But yeah, this one is not the best, but Pink3 and Gold2 looks awesome, imo.
Just to tell you, your opinion is the reason behind your channel. Keep at it because your approach to being true to YOUR ears and understanding is unique and not filtered. People can actually come here and get an observational understanding of what you're covering. Whether your opinion matters or not is for everybody else to think for themselves but AT LEAST you have an opinion and you attempt to make an honest critique. Everybody has the intellect (least I hope) to judge the product themselves. Keep at it son!
I'm not sure if I agree on your opinion of convolution being better than modeling. The thing with convolution, as I understand it, is that it can only capture certain aspects of a thing, mostly time and changes in pitch. This makes it great for, for instance, reverb. But I don't think it can really capture dynamics. What's nice about analog gear is how the signal is altered when you choose to really drive it (or not). A good modeling of analog gear would capture this where convolution would not. Of course doing modeling well is much harder as like you said, there's more influence than just the circuits that needs to be programmed in. Point is, both are good at certain things, but neither is necessarily better.
For "subtle", we don't pronounce the b in english. It's like this : [sʌɾɫ̩] or [sʌˈtɫ̩]. [ɾ] being a 'tap' like a British person saying the /t/ in /water/. It almost sounds like a /d/. The /l/ becomes syllabic and the vowel is deleted [ʌ] is like the /u/ in /butt/. Nice video.
YO, RIGHT??? I'm stressing right now haha - are they only letting 1,000 coupons be used??? What is the sale exactly? I just bought El Rey - but this is the other one I would buy, but I'm so broke... haha - what are your thoughts??
@@Boissinova It seems nice, there's a lot going on with this plugin, I need to really test it out when I have time. I don't know what the sale is about, just got an email from them announcing it and I believe it's been extended
@@Boissinova One thing I've noticed already with Taupe, and I'm agreeing with Wytse, is it sounds great when you drive it a bit! Taupe should buy him a beer, as I wouldn't have bought it without his 'quite positive really' review. And he's right, the GUI is a bit 'whimsical' but what I've found already is 6 great tape sounds, so it's liveable with and actually a bit decorative, if you like that kind of thing ;-)
I tested Taupe on a drum bus a couple of nights ago and was blown away by how easy it was to get the exact warmth and punch I was looking for. I also love the lofi effects. The preset management is kind of terrible and I completely agree with what you said about the interface. It is too clunky and non intuitive. The tape sounds overall are amazing and I will use it just for that.
Unfortunate that you didn't try the EQ. It's excellent. Agree that the interface could always be better. It's one of the main drawbacks of their plugins. They are extremely stubborn in this regard.
I wouldnt worry about it man. If a company is going to say that you have a personality disorder because you don't like what they make, they have a personality disorder (the inability to accept constructive criticism) and it isnt any fault of yours. Gibson USA recently got checked and these guys aren't above an ass kicking either.
Acustica Audio...hands down...best plugins out there for people who dont have $50,000 to spend on a studio....I've got analog gear...but...Acustica Audio and Nebula with my Analog Gear, as for as Hybrid Mixing and Mastering has taken me up on a whole new level.......Spend $300-$400 upgrading your computer or labtop so you can use AA...its worth it.....
First couple of videos I thought “this guy is a hater” and thought it was really annoying, but the I understood the logical perspective of the reviews and how objective you are with most of the stuff... shortly after I got hooked on the channel. Keep it up, accent and all, you provide a lot of value.
The owners are pretty nice, but yeah, bit mad, very passionate. I thought the pink eq was really very good, apart from that, no comments. it's more advanced version of convolution.
FYI: Sound on Sound did an article about the method Acustica uses to sample hardware back in 2014 www.soundonsound.com/techniques/sample-your-gear-acustica-audio-nebula On the Acustica site, they go into details about what each "Core technology" builds on. Kind of a rabbit hole, but if you're interested, it's there.
You will be hated for exposing these products cause the marketing industry sales a lot of smoke (shows up but not obtainable a lot of times)just keep doing what you do, you are the truth through data and experimenting!
let me tell you that I tested Acustica plugins now they have been cracked, and they really delivered. It provides a proper way for mastering ITB for once.
You are doing fine honesty is what it is supposed to be if a company has to defend it self or even lash out that doesn't say much about customer service it sounds more like arrogance
Cool! I own almost all Acustica Audio plugins and I love most of them. I use their preamps the most, EQ's are great and the compressors are starting to get really good. All their stuff gets better and better. I think Taupe is great for nudging a track a little bit towards where you want to go, it's great with all the different flavours.
Stay true!!! A lot of Acoustica plugins sound good. I ´d rather use an algo plugin anyday that sounds 90% like the hardware than these nearly unusable cpu hogs that might get me 95% of the hardware sound.
to studio one users.... you can make your own custom presets and save them like plugin presets. so just click on each of those little buttons and save each one as its own preset with the name the plugin calls it.
Convolution is just the operation you use for FIR (linear phase) filters. In this case I suppose they actually say: we use linear phase equalizers. There is other stuff you can do but one thing you can't: model any kind of non-linearities like tape saturation.
They use the Volterra sequence which I believe is a form of Dynamic convolution.. which I think means they can model non linearities .. I think ?? Anyway feel free to correct me..
I have used them and they are great, just too CPU hungry . the highs are lovely and their impulse response idea works really well its just a shame that if you have a channel strip or the new ELRay compressor over 6 instances your processor will leap out of the box and run away ..
@@shane775 I ussually do like a quick sort of "stem master" (kinda wouldn't consider it that because I don't do alot) for my mixes and I throw it on different tracks during that and freeze them. Sounds fantastic. During the meat of the mixing process if I use it at all during that I just freeze and commit at the beginning and never look back.
Great video as usual. Thorough and straight to the point. These GUI's always make me think, what are you trying to distract me from or make be 'believe' is happening... when it's not.
Hi, I appreciate your hard work first of all. You keep saying that you don’t care for the plug GUI but you have to try and look at it from a different perspective. Remember we are heading to doing everything in the box? How else can you get a virtual mixing experience without making it look like the real hardware? As for as Acoustica audio? I feel they are one the best plugin developers on the market period! Can their plugins deliver? Yes! That being said, for me nothing in the digital world can truly sound like analog, the day I accepted that I was able to appreciate mixing in the box. Acoustica audio is wonderful company and I don’t even own any of their products but I’ve done extensive research on them over the years and everything has been positive. As soon as my studio is ready I will be purchasing their products!!!!
there is no one alhorythm in acustica audio products. all AA stuff (includes compressors, eqs etc..) based on convolution technology only. try Nebula4, especially Tim Petherick libraries
Hey.. good to get confirmation about the sound. Assuming it is possible to switch off the moody sunset photos (wtf - only the Italians could dream this up!!).. then I'd buy into it aswell.
Listen I dont care what anyone says, I have watched a lot of your videos and I find you have a discerning ear for sound, and how to massage it to come to life in a mix....you intuitively understand what is there and what is missing and how to get it where it needs to be for an exceptional listening experience. This is not something everyone can learn, its a gift and you have it... Having said that... I am a stickler for UI (user interphase) as an Engineer that builds systems in manufacturing that real people have to use I understand that "user friendly" is not a theory, its a necessity. When I pick something up... I will use something that feels intuitive and fun, and gets the idea thats in my head into my ear the fastest.... in turn I will reject a clunky user experience. Analog equipment is designed for tactile use mostly with fingers and knobs, and for those I like that feel... In the box though I use a mouse and keyboard and a monitor (& perhaps a tactile surface) so having a thing that looks cool as looking like real analog gear at first seems impressive, but then when the workflow begins I get frustrated with nobs and toggles etc. So I think companies like Fabfilter and Izotope are studying this and coming up with really nice UI as a result. Sure there are others but those two stand out. I also like Airwindows plugins for their simple elegance... Your doing great work brother! keep up the great work and the excellent videos ... !!
If Acustica made quick user interfaces I think the plugin would break. They're basically loading a ton of convolutions as far as I understand, and if you were to really quickly toggle between settings I think it would just collapse.
I have to say, when I see plugins with fancy 3d buttons, switchable skins (this one is green, that one is blue, and the other one is red or something like that) that have absolutely nothing to do with sound processing. My first opinion is "more thought went into eye candy and marketing, than into actual signal processing". Now as an old school (1970,s) sound tech, I am familiar with old hardware and can relate to the plug in when it resembles the hardware I am used to using. But, if it doesn't come anywhere close to the sound or the function of the hardware it is suppose to immolate, then it's just a cool picture on my screen I can look at. It has been three years now since I said to myself "What the hell? I have always wanted a recording studio and all of this is now affordable so let's do it". So I researched, studied, and researched some more. I put my money into the what I felt was most important, "computer, interface, and monitors" and I did very well, got some really good home studio equipment (excluding computer) for around $800 bucks. A DAW came with my interface, I immediately upgraded to the mid version for another $200 bucks. So what cost me about $1000 bucks, in 1970 would have cost $500,000 to $1,000,000. I was happy as hell and started recording,,,,,,,,, Tried to mix my recordings but was getting shit. My first thought was, These plugins that came with my DAW suck, and I fell into the trap of "I need to buy this plugin and that plug in, this plugin bundle so on and so forth". So I spent a few more $$$$$$ on software I really didn't need.(Some of these third party plugins are GREAT, others are SNAKE OIL)!So why did my recordings suck????? That's just it, my "RECORDINGS" sucked. In the 70's we pushed our equipment "BALLS TO THE WALLS" then backed off a few db. Sounded great,,, You can't do this with digital, you just can't!!!! Three years into the digital domain of recording I am now making very good recordings and mixes using the STOCK PLUGINS that came with my DAW. Yes I do have a few third party plugin that I always go to and, some of those are "free plugins". Advice to the bedroom singer, song writer, producer. Set a goal, commit to that goal, don't second guess yourself, most likely your first idea is your best idea. Make the best recording you possibly can while tracking. KEEP IT SIMPLE, FOCASED and DELIBERATE. If you don't enjoy doing it, then you are doing it wrong! Love your music and ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!
DW . There are some of us here that like and appreciate your reviews..Just smile and keep up the good work.On this world there are too much petty idiots to worry about them!
As usual, this is a disastrous conflation of what’s objective and subjective. The plug-in has a sound, and it has a user interface, Objectively. This IS what the plug-in does, this IS how it works. Subjectively, you personally either Like how it sounds or not. You either Like how it looks and functions or not. For me personally, if a box has inputs and outputs, and I Like what comes out more than what went in, how much I like it will determine what I’m willing to do to use it. There are pain points and preferences everywhere. Knobs vs Faders, Encoders vs Potentiometers, Buttons vs Switches, or Screen real estate, and layout, etc. How much does it cost? What’s the CPU usage? Tons of cost/benefit factors. But how much do I want what the box does is the only real question. I’m a Mac guy, have and use a bunch of DAWs, for decades now. I’ve recently been using, and falling in love with Studio One. The button to close screens so on the top right like a Windows machine. It pisses me off every time I mouse to the top left. I have to deal with it, if I wanna use Studio One. But that Objective reality does not mean that Studio One is snake oil or Presonus is a Shit company. There’s a bunch of PC guys, for some reason, that probably have the exact opposite problem using every other DAW. Now in the Analog world, when we like something, but wish it did something else, we “Mod” it. In the world of code, we “Hack” it. For my Studio One problem, now that I’m writing this and super focused on the annoyance, I’ll look into either programming shortcuts or macros to close windows a different way. Problem will be solved. With Acoustica plugins in particular (well Nebula, not sure about Taupe) they have “Skins”. And in Reaper, which I also use and love, you can A) press the UI button on any plug-in and get to the sliders, and B) re-map damn near anything. While there are plugins that have functions or problems you can’t easily work around, side-chains in UAD plugins for example, those are objective realities that can make or break the usefulness of the product itself. But saying something is shit, because you don’t like how it looks, or worse are too fucking lazy to figure it out, and then if you don’t like something, figure out a workaround, that makes me question your philosophical approach to mixing itself. Fixing shit is kinda what we do. Whining on RUclips isn’t really part of the job description. Now, I do appreciate the time you spend on these review videos. They provide a quick way to see what’s new and what’s out there that might not be on my radar screen. But all too often, it’s all too apparent that you’re just rushing through the process to get more content on the channel, and recklessly discrediting one product after another, possibly discouraging someone from trying the product for themselves. And yes, I do know I’m wasting my time and cyber-breath right now. But then why would someone knowingly do that.
I still don’t know whether I should watch your reviews or not, whether we have the same hearing and taste and concept of music or not. But I know one thing for sure. What they called a "personality disorder" is that you look like a person who speaks his mind. The only reason it could be considered a "disorder" is that when I say maybe one person of a thousand people has this trait, I’m super optimistic. You have power. Keep it like that.
Wasn't in the mood for one of these videos, but the title made me bite. Glad to see you're trying to be positive in the middle of a sandstorm. On the other hand, when it comes to reviews, check your biases at the door and review from the perspective of what these things can do for your audience. You are the knowledgable one, so teach.
The world adores fake people like the Kardashians but anyone who is honest and authentic gets slated!! Keep up the good work bro!! Be honest , be real , be YOU and FUCK their feelings.
It actually sounds surprisingly good! My solution for a simple tape-like effect, that works very quickly & can go on every channel and the master buss... Airwindows FromTape, and then one of his buss/console/channel systems... maybe Desk after the console decoder (on master buss or group busses) & FromTape again, after that. Subtle, and pretty much always sounds good, within seconds.
Keep keeping it reel!!! F em... Much respect for not taking the attack personal unlike how personal and emotionally they took your opinion and experience of their product.
Being a bitch about someone on RUclips reviewing your poorly designed product will make me stay away even if they manage to 100% clone tape digitally.
Poorly designed product ? Call it CPU-heavy, call it hard to use (not for beginners or lazy people who use presets) but they're not poorly designed. You can dislike their vintage, hardware-like design but, again, surely the GUI is anything but poor.
@Vinyl Eye cancer really ? You're arguably too sensitive ;)
@@JamesMaximilianJason haha the convenience of such one on one device to screen mapped GUI's sucks, a lot. You make no distinction between how something looks and how it works. Why on earth would you want to fiddle with these tiny nerve wrecking knobs and sliders, layout management is simply absent .
I make more distinction than you between how something looks and how it works, don't worry. I never said this is the best plugin ever. I said it's not poorly designed for sure. I don't fiddle with any knob unless I think they can help my mix and my workflow. If something doesn't, I stay away from it. This is not my fave plugin and I rarely use that but it's not the crap you're talking about anyway. That's my opinion and in this case I disagree with WST.
@Vinyl Yep, the GUI is ugly as HELL !!!!
We don't want you to stay positive... we want you to be real
It's real ;-)
I agree with this, this is why I watch your snake oil vids. I want to know what is actually.. SNAKE OIL. so many so called reviews are actually just commercials disguised as reviews. keep doing these and being yourself... 'for real'
Willie's Sandwhich I agree. It’s just an opinion anyways, people get too butthurt about opinions that are different than their’s these days.
Yes same here.. I watch snake oil because unlike a lot of the others he's not falling for the hype of some of these plugin companies.. I'd like to hear what it sounds like on individual instruments to see its effect on a mix then.. yes keep it real mr snake oil ✌
@@Whiteseastudio Done become coward because they troll you don't review them again don't be afraid.
Just Remeber don't unlist the videos after you upload them. Just keep them up if you get hate so what. If you know you are being 100% then that's all that matter forget the hate because you got those that care about your videos and the time you put into them.
I think it's pretty shady to shit on the followers and commentators who criticized him for the way he approached his Decapitator review JUST AFTER HE APOLOGIZED to the same people in the community for deleting/unlisting the video!!! Criticism is not "hate" and it also was not a "shitstorm" - we just put him in check! The fact he deleted/unlisted the video just proofs that he was completely wrong trashing that plugin like that.
@@stansteez No, it doesn't prove anything, it just means that you people are really annoying.
The issue is, he doesn't know he is being 100% some of the time. Sometimes he gets things wrong. Maybe bases a review on his incorrect use of a plugin, or deems a piece of hardware as useless because it doesn't emulate a compressor revision it wasn't aiming to emulate. No need to remove videos. Maybe just set the record straight.
@@hinkleyhanley1577 That's exactly the charm of these "reviews", that he does them the same way we would try a plugin the first time. For fully informed reviews there are many other channels.
@@heavymetalmixer91 That's fine, until he starts putting "Useless. Don't Buy This" in the title for a perfectly good piece of hardware. You've only to look at the comments for the 76-KT. Multiple followers have been mislead by this inaccurate review. He was 100% WRONG there, and still hasn't even acknowledged this.
Regarding the "Snake Oil" reviews, if your going to open a plugin for the first time and "review it" at least make sure you're using it properly, otherwise you might as well give studio monitors a bad review because they don't make good microphones.
From the "unofficial list's" description for Taupe
"Taupe (13) - The tape collection with some EQs/compressors thrown in the mix.
EQ A - MCI JH-500
EQ B - MCI JH-600
EQ C - Studer 900
Compressor/Limiter: Studer 900
The Tape Machines (thank you, Tsykhra) Usage suggestions thanks to Le Man.
Group A
0 - Ampex MM1200, 15 IPS mono (great for rock and pop music)
1 - Ampex MM1200, 30 IPS mono (great for rock and pop music)
2 - Ampex 351, 15 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape)
3 - Ampex 351, 30 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape)
4 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 15 IPS
5 - EMI TR-50, Dual Mono 15 IPS
6 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 30 IPS
7 - EMI TR-50, dual mono 30 IPS
8 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 15 IPS
9 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 30 IPS
Group B
0 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 15 IPS
1 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 30 IPS
2 - MCI JH-24, mono at 15 IPS (useful on rap, dance and club music)
3 - MCI JH-24, mono at 30 IPS (useful on rap, dance and club music)
4 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (NAB)
5 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (IEC)
6 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 30 IPS (IEC)
7 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 15 IPS (go to for pop and R&B genres)
8 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 30 IPS (go to for pop and R&B genres)
9 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 15 IPS
Group C
0 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 30 IPS
1 - Studer A820, stereo at 15 IPS (C1 to C4 are great all around mix down choices)
2 - Studer A820, stereo at 30 IPS
3 - Studer A820, dual mono at 15 IPS
4 - Studer A820, dual mono at 30 IPS
5 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 15 IPS
6 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 30 IPS
7 - ReVox A77, stereo at 7.5 IPS (IEC)
8 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (IEC)
9 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (NAB) (lots of home studio musicians used A77 machines over the years)
Group D
0 - ReVox A700, dual mono at 15 IPS (semi pro tape machine of choice)
1 - ReVox PR900, stereo at 15 IPS
2 - Nagra IV, stereo (no speed given)
3 - Aiwa AD-F850, stereo cassette
4 - Aiwa Excelia XK-009, stereo cassette (perhaps the best cassette machine ever made)
5 - TEAC A-860, stereo cassette
6 - Wollensak (3M), stereo cassette deck. (No tape)
7 - AKAI 1710 (reel to reel, no tape)
8 - Sony PCM-7040 (digital, no tape)
9 - Alesis ADAT-XT20 (20-bit digital, no tape)
Pro tip: Click the ECONO button to preserve transients. This is very useful on electronic mixes."
So it's definitely for gear nerds. :)
Keep up the good work. Don't lose your passion for what you do here. It's always good stuff!
sound matters, even with one knob
You should totally review the Harrison Mixbus! I feel like there’s no good honest reviews of that DAW
check out MG the future channel on Harrison Mixbus
Yes, be a man! Review Mixbus 32C
Glenn Fricker did a really good one
It has a great sound but the functionality sucks and makes it unusable to me. If they add a freeze option it would save it..
32c is killer.
But I don't like the DAW part.
I just use it for mixing really.
“They make proper snake oil”
😂😂😂😂😂😂
You only get hate because you speak the truth and what you think is right. Keep doing that. Every companies only aim is to take our money. Its nice to have people like you that tell us if the product has any actually value.
he's also advertising them for free, making great reviews, and as a human being has his personal opinion, you dont have to agree him. i still dont know why do brands like this hate on him
I don't think this guy is really the reference you want to follow. Some stuff i heard him say, does not infer much confidence on my part...
That being said - ofc there are bad products out there, call them snake oil if you want.
But if he spends more time on plugin GUI's and them being "too realistic", then on actual sound (maybe watch him use compressor), then he is snake oil as well.
@@69vrana he just tests plugins
and tells HIS Honest opinion. He shouldnt be the only reference but in a worold where everybody just wants to sell you shit, when they test it, its just nice, even thogh if his honest opinion is ridiculous
@@69vrana you should use multiple reference sources to come to a conclusion. I watch a lot of RUclips to learn about music production and its ridiculous the amount of marketing that is involved. Every Company wants you to buy the newest latest must have plugin that will make you a super producer. But its all bullshit most of the time. They just need a new product to SELL you every 6 months. Just take waves for example
@@miss.antidote I agree, they are business after all. I am not disputing the fact that EVERY company is in it for the money, after all, that is what they do. I am just saying that this guy seems like a hobby producer (at best) and makes his living by reviewing (poorly) new gear. Not that he is not right most of the time, but I highly doubt his expertise and experience.
I love Acustica Audio gear, including Taupe. I also really love Acustica Audio interfaces, but maybe that's because I'm old school and like hardware, knobs, dials, switches, meters, paint, metal etc.
have you tried sky-blue, brown, clown, sh1t color names?
Freedom of speech and detailed (honest) reviews is what makes me watch your videos. Keep it up Wytse 😎👍
This product is ridiculously good as far as tape emulation. A google search will inform the user of which presets accurately represent which tape machine models. Heck, don't like the looks? I can't hear the display....
Me personally loves the Acustica Audio plug-ins. I’ve purchased 6 of them and use them in every project. El Rey on vocals and bass can’t be matched anywhere
PharaohLawLess1 - plus 1 on El Rey. I love it.
Sand let me forget about ssl real gears and just stay in the box
Nothing will ever replace the plugins I have on e-bass and it's not AA, it's Waves
@@najinelson6742 who cares cool I have both and they are both amazing plugins
Totally agree, its awesome and i bought it in pre-order in spite of the user interface, thing is for me, i only use the more linear vanilla and just drives it for warmth and glue, subtle but it really adds vibe and subtle "long term" interest in the sounds, more alive sounding
Once again, that was a clear and honest review.
(I own almost all Acustica Audio products and I would never hate you, even if I was a little bit sad from your videos about Viridian).
Cheers my friend!!
Veridian is awesome. Hard to believe someone would accuse that of sounding bad. One of my favorites (for a certain flavor).
Companies should take insight on other peoples perspectives instead of just taking it as hate. It helps them and you as a consumer. Nice video. 👌
Depends how reliable the consumer is.
Right? Lashing out with personal attacks don't really display professionalism ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you load the Taupe Tape plugin by itself without the EQ and compressor modules, the preset lists all the different machine names and you are able to just click and choose without using the buttons. When you did the review you opened the full strip and that is why it listed actual presets. I like your reviews but sometimes you jump to conclusions too fast and throw folks off. If you are going to be a source of information at least be accurate. There is enough misleading information surrounding us.
yeh reviewing products without any kind of understanding of how they work is an odd style. If I spend money on something I'll read the manaul. I always take White Sea with a massive pinch of salt. In fact, I'm probably just going to stop watching them.
I'm a doctor. You're fine, you can make more snake-oil videos.
Are you actually a doctor?
@@KeepTheGates are you actually Benjamin Haworth ?
You have a personality not a disorder.......
We love you for it :) and most of us love your great/helpful reviews too
.
"Subtle and on spot" is actually the biggest compliment possible. They claim to accurately model the sound of the sampled devices, not so create super flexible plugins.
A bit late to the party, but I love it. The problem is that they can't use the names of the machines they emulated, but online you can find the list. Studers, Ampex etc..
You're totally right about the screws. I mean, it could fall down at any moment.
the taupe compressor is crazy
I use Taupe as a clipper : you can easily cut 5 or 6 db in a very musical way and without artifact by pushing that input knob and obtain a kind of fatter crushed transient. My preference goes to A0 + A1 or D0 for the job. One of the best solution for clipping, I was surprised beacause this is finaly a go-to clipper especialy for snare, or vocal peaks. For a more "tape feel" I vastely prefer IK Tapes, it generate some movements and breath I would say. Taupe is totally "static" in comparaison, and don't really sounds like a tape machine.
convolution isn't sample based. it's when you take the recording of how a sound behaves when it's put through a room or component, and then digitally replicate that behavior, for example how the reverb in a room would react to any given noise or how a guitar might sound through a given tube.
I love your honest, praticalit and logical approach dude. don't ever change your videos have been very helpful with an honest approach. Everybody is trying to sell shit all the time and you just say it the way it is. Kepp on rockin!
Hate + personal attacks usually = anger at someone making a good point.
Please keep being honest and never change your personality, keep calm man, We Got Your BACKKKKKKK
I’m not a fan of acustica plugins, I 99% of the time advocate against them... but I can’t lie and say taupe isn’t a great plugin. Maybe shouldn’t be commenting before I watch the video... but just wanted to say I’m a big fan of taupe... now time to watch the video lol.
Only truth receives hate. That's why hate is good. People that don't get hate have nothing meaningful to say. Keep on giving your opinions with honesty, it's wonderful to watch, no matter what.
Here’s my understanding of how Acustica Audio plugins work overall. They take an impulse response of each incremental setting, of each combination of incremental settings, and every time you change something even a tiny bit a whole new impulse response of the new total combination is loaded. This gets you as close as possible to the real unit modeled/sampled/whatever. Everyone else comes up with a complex formula instead, which allows for smoothly sweeping through parameters with approximations instead of hitting what the unit really does at any specific combination of settings. Changing a setting on an AA plug normally means there is a brief delay while, effectively, a new plugin is loaded (a new impulse response). Combine this with high storage, RAM, and CPU demands and many people reject AA in spite of their superior dead-on analog sound.
So basically there borderline unusable as a result of Sucking the life out the computers CPU
If you don’t know how to freeze tracks, or just know what you are doing and bounce after treating a track, then you have no use for highest end virtual instruments or plugin effects. I use Acustica plugins all the time without the slightest issue because unlike some I know what I am doing.
Yes they were meant to use like the real analog gear like use buses and send because you can't take the real thing and put in your daw you have to use patchbays and interface routings
@@sideast So basically they actually sound very close to analog gear
a comment on 3:28 ; I don't know where this guy was in the 90s, but the studios he's describing indeed had their own sound, recording on tape and all, and it was C.R.A.P . I still have my old demos. They sound like shit compared to what I record now in my home studio. This is just romanticizing the past.
dirty harry1881 just listen to most early 90s hip-hop, it’s rough.
@dirty Harry very interst8ng comment! I agree with you on the studios hav8ng their own sound. You say crap, that's what is 8nteresting to me. I've been recording since 80s. I can listen to recordings and hear the 'sound of the era" in the sound quality. That said, when I'm working on a particular piece I can go for the 'sound character' of that era. That is what I love about the acustica audio stuff. I love taupe for what it is but I do not use it the way it is used in this video. First of all, I would not record an entire composition onto 1 track and expect drastic changes in the sound or unless, for instance, I wanted that. Composition to sound as if I recorded it on cassette tape for effect. The secret to using the acustica audio stuff is to go old school and do a tracking session for each individual instrument. Example, rock drums have been recorded. Bass drum track through API (pink) preamp through API mixer channel (pink) then to Taupe, print that track and now I have that drum TRACKED and ready for mixing. Do all the drums and final drum performance sounds like it was recorded through API. to tape. Now go mix with sand (ssl). Lol, a lot of the old records were TRACKED at 1 place and mixed in another on different equipment. It takes l9nger to do it this way but the old school sessions took a long. time too. The results are amazing. Acustica has lots of options for achieving sounds of eras. Once I've done my "tracking sessions" and printed my results, I have all my cup back and can use soundtoys and all my "plugin sounding" plugins and start mixing with better sounding source files. Try it! With the acustica stuff, it's a matter of knowing what to use where if you already know, their stuff is not very 'experiment friendly'. Lol good luck.
@John penguin the roughness of the 90s hip hop is part of the character of the music and the context of the vibe, it is supposed to sound rough. A friend of mine introduced me to brutal death metal and I thought it sounded like total trash. I did NOT like the sound quality and I could not stand all that grunting and growling. He gave me a lyric sheet to a particular sound. It was about fighting to the last breath against a hypocritical, evil, very powerful entity. Then he said "ok, now imagine if the band played nicely and the singer used a pretty voice". We both cracked the F up! Lol, it's part of the character.
@@letssee9 I will assume in this post that you don't have any affiliation with Acustica Audio. If you have, it's not a problem, but it should be disclosed so that we have an honest conversation.
I tested many MANY of their stuff and tbh never had great success with them. Another thing: they're really expensive, some of them EXTREMELY so! Once they sold a compressor plug-in for... wait for it... 349 if I remember correctly.
But there's a misunderstanding: when I was talking about romanticizing the past, I didn't mean the studios or the consoles of CLA or Bob Clearmountain, I meant things in the exact same context described in the video: poor studios for small productions which barely used any computers. When I listen to those productions nowadays the only think to envy is sometimes, not always, the absence of the loudness-wars effect, i.e. dynamics.
@dirty harry 1881 no man, i dont have any affiliation with acustica audio other than having some of their stuff. I started with nebula. I've been a noise junky and a plugin chaser for many years. What i noticed a while back was a lot of my ither plugins function like the gear they emulate but didn't 'sound' like the gear. For me, the nebula stuff sounded like the gear but didn't function like it. So now I'm at the acua stuff and I'm getting hood results. I DO have to add steps to my process and freeze or bouncr tracks. But i like a lot of their stuff, not all but pink, amber, sand and lime are good for me as well as a few others.
UI's are definetly user preference. I like UA's plugs because they look like the old hardware that I used for so many years. I personally owned most of the UREI and Teletronix hardware devices so the UI may be snake oil but I like it. The cool thing about plugins is you can use so many instances on different tracks and the hardware is one device per track. Wonderful world audio engineers live in today.
If you want specifically tape you need to use the Taupe Tape plugin and that will make it much easier for you..and that's when tape presets show up try it all bro acoustica audio comes with many plugins in one plugin
For me this is one of my favourite AA plugins ever.Not exatcly like a "real" tape but I really love it. Yes, I can take this special taste and add it to some drum tracks and other instruments. I really love it. Thanks for this review!!!!Have a nice young man!!!
"Have a nice young man!” Kinky :-D
Good Review, and good for you to not listening to us fanboys! Keep going and being honest.
here's what the settings are
9:35 That's it, I'm subscribing.
You're doing what we all need to do. We need to stay critical and evaluate products from what they add to our toolboxes, how they fit into our workflows. Very good review yet again!
Btw - I don't think it's an either/or thing with modeling or profiling. They can be combined for the best of both worlds...
I love my Acustica plugs but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna hate on anyone who doesn’t like them. Always interested to hear what you have to say. I don’t have taupe by the way.
I wish Acustica used that gain compensation in every product they make.
Usefulness of plugins tends to be inversely correlated to how much was spent on the graphic design. Same principle holds true for movies vs movie titles.
I confess I've bought quite a lot of Acustica software, but I remain puzzled by the brand. I think the interfaces are impressive but very difficult to use unless you have broad experience with the related analog gear, which I don't. About three quarters of the time when I try to dial in something with one of their plugins I just can't hear any difference at all in the sound. I started a thread in the Reaper forum about Acustica software, and got a very wide mix of replies. Some people have come to the same conclusion as White Sea, and others tell me that Acustica is all they ever use. I find myself doing things like null experiments with some of their products to see if anything is happening at all. And I have to ask myself, "If I have to do that, is this really the product I want to use." I'm sort of hoping that some day the scales will dramatically fall from my eyes, and I will just love all the Acustica stuff. But not yet.
People want a GUI that looks like analog stuff because they do not have analog hardware and they desire it so much. Which is the opposite of your case. Marketing responds to this desire, to believe that they will have the sound of the best studios, without having to go in those studios, without even needing the help of an engineer. People are dreaming, you are in the reality of a professional worker.
If everything looked like Reaper stock plugins or even wrose like ZBrush UI.
It's hard to remember where all stuff is located in ZBrush after not used it for a while, because everything look same and not in logical places. If I use channel strip a lot I can reemember easier where all stuff is located.
Color codes and location is useful, because I don't have to read labels every time to make sure I tweak required parameter.
It's mistaken for marketing, but it's UI usability.
Totally agree! Acustica does a great job pushing the IR-sampling of gear, but they should make their UIs easier to use. I'm using some of their plug-ins and everytime I open them, I can't remember what button did what ;)
That sigh in the end :D
VVKT is what Acustica uses to sample the gear. Diagonal Volterra series, Volterra kernel, etc. technology is evidently more completely able to represent gear than more common methods of convolution.
If I was after the "flavor" of a tape machine, I would know where I wanted to go - which characteristics I wanted to have, and hence which models. An interface with a set of anonymous switch banks says it all as far as I am concerned. Who has the time to flick through 40 options, and then try to remember that you liked C3, C5 and D4? You hit the nail on the head with the comments about options. Young engineers need to start with that, and consider RESTRICTING their options to become better engineers.
Use your ears first and your plugins second!
Man...Im using this to master my Album...and I can tell you, your off on this one...this is hands down the best tape plugin.....just gota have 32gb of ram with i7 on an SSD......you just change from A, B,C,D and choose different numbers in between and it even has a drop down box....if you wanna search for options the other way...dude...this a very easy plugin to use.....and sound the best in the DAW as far as Tape...that even sounds better than UAD and IK Media tapes......the saturation is smoother and more stable....
yay a new video
Egg cartons do burn, but I started studying acoustics around 1980 and the first thing I learned is that egg cartons destroy your rooms frequency response by throwing it out of balance absorbing only a narrow band in the high end so every thing sounds too bass-mid and there is no air at all. Just thought you might want to know that. And yes, your insurance company would have an out if you used them and your studio burned to the ground, you would get zip for it. Their private motto is "we insure against accidents, not stupidity." I actually heard a few insurance adjusters say that to customers.
And thanks for the information, it's good to see someone use this gear live during a review so we can actually hear it. And even though you use Sand Storm most of the time, that only gives me a reference I can relate to so good job. And wash your hands, and stay inside!
I'm working with magnetic tape since the 70s... The perfect "01100101000" digital world can't reproduce the unique 3-dimensional space with all it's unique imperfections, the saturation and the warmth. Anyone who's saying "tape plugins sound GREAT!" they never heard the real sound of magnetic tape. End of Story.
Haters are gonna hate. That's what they do, so just let them hate.
...and honesty is definitely the best personality disorder. Keep doing what you do.
ToTape5, IronOxide5/Classic and FromTape are all the tape simulators i'll ever need...
- fair play for remaining honest, a rare thing among such channels -
hi! big airwindows fan here! btw, there's a very cool "snake oil" review from totape5 (thats how I discover this channel). and, GUESS WHAT?!?! no bad things/comments AT ALL!!! hope you enjoy!!!
ruclips.net/video/5F38l_j2vPY/видео.html
The interfaces are all 3d renders made in Octane, this has been up in the group, they told the users a little bit about it. I dont think so much it is the program, but the guy who makes them. He has some pretty good skills.
But yeah, this one is not the best, but Pink3 and Gold2 looks awesome, imo.
Just to tell you, your opinion is the reason behind your channel. Keep at it because your approach to being true to YOUR ears and understanding is unique and not filtered. People can actually come here and get an observational understanding of what you're covering. Whether your opinion matters or not is for everybody else to think for themselves but AT LEAST you have an opinion and you attempt to make an honest critique. Everybody has the intellect (least I hope) to judge the product themselves. Keep at it son!
I'm not sure if I agree on your opinion of convolution being better than modeling. The thing with convolution, as I understand it, is that it can only capture certain aspects of a thing, mostly time and changes in pitch. This makes it great for, for instance, reverb.
But I don't think it can really capture dynamics. What's nice about analog gear is how the signal is altered when you choose to really drive it (or not). A good modeling of analog gear would capture this where convolution would not.
Of course doing modeling well is much harder as like you said, there's more influence than just the circuits that needs to be programmed in.
Point is, both are good at certain things, but neither is necessarily better.
For "subtle", we don't pronounce the b in english. It's like this : [sʌɾɫ̩] or [sʌˈtɫ̩].
[ɾ] being a 'tap' like a British person saying the /t/ in /water/. It almost sounds like a /d/.
The /l/ becomes syllabic and the vowel is deleted
[ʌ] is like the /u/ in /butt/.
Nice video.
Just got Taupe in a %70 off sale, downloading now! The genuine oil of the snake, looking forward to it ;-) The clean tape sound for my stereo out
YO, RIGHT??? I'm stressing right now haha - are they only letting 1,000 coupons be used???
What is the sale exactly?
I just bought El Rey - but this is the other one I would buy, but I'm so broke... haha - what are your thoughts??
@@Boissinova It seems nice, there's a lot going on with this plugin, I need to really test it out when I have time. I don't know what the sale is about, just got an email from them announcing it and I believe it's been extended
@@Boissinova strangercode100 (the coupon code)
@@Boissinova One thing I've noticed already with Taupe, and I'm agreeing with Wytse, is it sounds great when you drive it a bit! Taupe should buy him a beer, as I wouldn't have bought it without his 'quite positive really' review. And he's right, the GUI is a bit 'whimsical' but what I've found already is 6 great tape sounds, so it's liveable with and actually a bit decorative, if you like that kind of thing ;-)
I tested Taupe on a drum bus a couple of nights ago and was blown away by how easy it was to get the exact warmth and punch I was looking for. I also love the lofi effects. The preset management is kind of terrible and I completely agree with what you said about the interface. It is too clunky and non intuitive. The tape sounds overall are amazing and I will use it just for that.
Unfortunate that you didn't try the EQ. It's excellent. Agree that the interface could always be better. It's one of the main drawbacks of their plugins. They are extremely stubborn in this regard.
Yeah i like the new Philips desk one but the interface is flashy. And terrible.
I wouldnt worry about it man. If a company is going to say that you have a personality disorder because you don't like what they make, they have a personality disorder (the inability to accept constructive criticism) and it isnt any fault of yours. Gibson USA recently got checked and these guys aren't above an ass kicking either.
Dude....45k subs! good work my friend!
Acustica Audio...hands down...best plugins out there for people who dont have $50,000 to spend on a studio....I've got analog gear...but...Acustica Audio and Nebula with my Analog Gear, as for as Hybrid Mixing and Mastering has taken me up on a whole new level.......Spend $300-$400 upgrading your computer or labtop so you can use AA...its worth it.....
First couple of videos I thought “this guy is a hater” and thought it was really annoying, but the I understood the logical perspective of the reviews and how objective you are with most of the stuff... shortly after I got hooked on the channel. Keep it up, accent and all, you provide a lot of value.
The owners are pretty nice, but yeah, bit mad, very passionate. I thought the pink eq was really very good, apart from that, no comments.
it's more advanced version of convolution.
Group A
0 - Ampex 1200, 15 IPS Multitrack
1 - Ampex 1200, 30 IPS Multitrack
2 - Ampex 351, 15 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape)
3 - Ampex 351, 30 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape)
4 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 15 IPS
5 - EMI TR-50, Dual Mono 15 IPS
6 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 30 IPS
7 - EMI TR-50, dual mono 30 IPS
8 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 15 IPS
9 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 30 IPS
Group B
0 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 15 IPS
1 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 30 IPS
2 - MCI JH-24, mono at 15 IPS
3 - MCI JH-24, mono at 30 IPS
4 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (NAB)
5 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (IEC)
6 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 30 IPS (IEC)
7 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 15 IPS
8 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 30 IPS
9 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 15 IPS
Group C
0 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 30 IPS
1 - Studer A820, stereo at 15 IPS
2 - Studer A820, stereo at 30 IPS
3 - Studer A820, dual mono at 15 IPS
4 - Studer A820, dual mono at 30 IPS
5 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 15 IPS
6 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 30 IPS
7 - ReVox A77, stereo at 7.5 IPS (IEC)
8 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (IEC)
9 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (NAB)
Group D
0 - ReVox A700, dual mono at 15 IPS
1 - ReVox PR900, stereo at 15 IPS
2 - Nagra IV, stereo (no speed given)
3 - Aiwa AD-F850, stereo cassette
4 - Aiwa Excelia XK-009, stereo cassette
5 - TEAC A-860, stereo cassette
6 - Wollensak (3M), stereo cassette deck. (No tape)
7 - AKAI 1710 (reel to reel, no tape)
8 - Sony PCM-7040 (digital, no tape)
9 - Alesis ADAT-XT20 (20-bit digital, no tape
FYI: Sound on Sound did an article about the method Acustica uses to sample hardware back in 2014
www.soundonsound.com/techniques/sample-your-gear-acustica-audio-nebula
On the Acustica site, they go into details about what each "Core technology" builds on.
Kind of a rabbit hole, but if you're interested, it's there.
You will be hated for exposing these products cause the marketing industry sales a lot of smoke (shows up but not obtainable a lot of times)just keep doing what you do, you are the truth through data and experimenting!
let me tell you that I tested Acustica plugins now they have been cracked, and they really delivered. It provides a proper way for mastering ITB for once.
You are doing fine honesty is what it is supposed to be if a company has to defend it self or even lash out that doesn't say much about customer service it sounds more like arrogance
Cool! I own almost all Acustica Audio plugins and I love most of them. I use their preamps the most, EQ's are great and the compressors are starting to get really good. All their stuff gets better and better. I think Taupe is great for nudging a track a little bit towards where you want to go, it's great with all the different flavours.
@5:48 lol, I love this guy! 🤣 Keep up the good work!
You can load the TAPE module on its own with its own presets.
Stay true!!!
A lot of Acoustica plugins sound good. I ´d rather use an algo plugin anyday that sounds 90% like the hardware than these nearly unusable cpu hogs that might get me 95% of the hardware sound.
to studio one users.... you can make your own custom presets and save them like plugin presets. so just click on each of those little buttons and save each one as its own preset with the name the plugin calls it.
Convolution is just the operation you use for FIR (linear phase) filters. In this case I suppose they actually say: we use linear phase equalizers. There is other stuff you can do but one thing you can't: model any kind of non-linearities like tape saturation.
They use the Volterra sequence which I believe is a form of Dynamic convolution.. which I think means they can model non linearities .. I think ?? Anyway feel free to correct me..
I have used them and they are great, just too CPU hungry . the highs are lovely and their impulse response idea works really well its just a shame that if you have a channel strip or the new ELRay compressor over 6 instances your processor will leap out of the box and run away ..
Just freeze the track and keep the orginal in case you change your mind. That's what I do.
@@francismcfadden3305 Yeh thats how i was using them in the end. Just interrupts the work flow a bit .. probably worth it though ..
@@shane775 I ussually do like a quick sort of "stem master" (kinda wouldn't consider it that because I don't do alot) for my mixes and I throw it on different tracks during that and freeze them. Sounds fantastic. During the meat of the mixing process if I use it at all during that I just freeze and commit at the beginning and never look back.
Great video as usual. Thorough and straight to the point. These GUI's always make me think, what are you trying to distract me from or make be 'believe' is happening... when it's not.
Hi, I appreciate your hard work first of all. You keep saying that you don’t care for the plug GUI but you have to try and look at it from a different perspective. Remember we are heading to doing everything in the box? How else can you get a virtual mixing experience without making it look like the real hardware? As for as Acoustica audio? I feel they are one the best plugin developers on the market period! Can their plugins deliver? Yes! That being said, for me nothing in the digital world can truly sound like analog, the day I accepted that I was able to appreciate mixing in the box. Acoustica audio is wonderful company and I don’t even own any of their products but I’ve done extensive research on them over the years and everything has been positive. As soon as my studio is ready I will be purchasing their products!!!!
there is no one alhorythm in acustica audio products. all AA stuff (includes compressors, eqs etc..) based on convolution technology only. try Nebula4, especially Tim Petherick libraries
There is complete preset list... Just press preset button. It’s under Taupe name.
I mean, this is basic, right?
Hey.. good to get confirmation about the sound.
Assuming it is possible to switch off the moody sunset photos (wtf - only the Italians could dream this up!!).. then I'd buy into it aswell.
Listen I dont care what anyone says, I have watched a lot of your videos and I find you have a discerning ear for sound, and how to massage it to come to life in a mix....you intuitively understand what is there and what is missing and how to get it where it needs to be for an exceptional listening experience. This is not something everyone can learn, its a gift and you have it...
Having said that... I am a stickler for UI (user interphase) as an Engineer that builds systems in manufacturing that real people have to use I understand that "user friendly" is not a theory, its a necessity. When I pick something up... I will use something that feels intuitive and fun, and gets the idea thats in my head into my ear the fastest.... in turn I will reject a clunky user experience. Analog equipment is designed for tactile use mostly with fingers and knobs, and for those I like that feel... In the box though I use a mouse and keyboard and a monitor (& perhaps a tactile surface) so having a thing that looks cool as looking like real analog gear at first seems impressive, but then when the workflow begins I get frustrated with nobs and toggles etc. So I think companies like Fabfilter and Izotope are studying this and coming up with really nice UI as a result. Sure there are others but those two stand out.
I also like Airwindows plugins for their simple elegance...
Your doing great work brother! keep up the great work and the excellent videos ... !!
If Acustica made quick user interfaces I think the plugin would break. They're basically loading a ton of convolutions as far as I understand, and if you were to really quickly toggle between settings I think it would just collapse.
I have to say, when I see plugins with fancy 3d buttons, switchable skins (this one is green, that one is blue, and the other one is red or something like that) that have absolutely nothing to do with sound processing. My first opinion is "more thought went into eye candy and marketing, than into actual signal processing". Now as an old school (1970,s) sound tech, I am familiar with old hardware and can relate to the plug in when it resembles the hardware I am used to using. But, if it doesn't come anywhere close to the sound or the function of the hardware it is suppose to immolate, then it's just a cool picture on my screen I can look at. It has been three years now since I said to myself "What the hell? I have always wanted a recording studio and all of this is now affordable so let's do it". So I researched, studied, and researched some more. I put my money into the what I felt was most important, "computer, interface, and monitors" and I did very well, got some really good home studio equipment (excluding computer) for around $800 bucks. A DAW came with my interface, I immediately upgraded to the mid version for another $200 bucks. So what cost me about $1000 bucks, in 1970 would have cost $500,000 to $1,000,000. I was happy as hell and started recording,,,,,,,,, Tried to mix my recordings but was getting shit. My first thought was, These plugins that came with my DAW suck, and I fell into the trap of "I need to buy this plugin and that plug in, this plugin bundle so on and so forth". So I spent a few more $$$$$$ on software I really didn't need.(Some of these third party plugins are GREAT, others are SNAKE OIL)!So why did my recordings suck????? That's just it, my "RECORDINGS" sucked. In the 70's we pushed our equipment "BALLS TO THE WALLS" then backed off a few db. Sounded great,,, You can't do this with digital, you just can't!!!! Three years into the digital domain of recording I am now making very good recordings and mixes using the STOCK PLUGINS that came with my DAW. Yes I do have a few third party plugin that I always go to and, some of those are "free plugins". Advice to the bedroom singer, song writer, producer. Set a goal, commit to that goal, don't second guess yourself, most likely your first idea is your best idea. Make the best recording you possibly can while tracking. KEEP IT SIMPLE, FOCASED and DELIBERATE. If you don't enjoy doing it, then you are doing it wrong! Love your music and ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!
DW . There are some of us here that like and appreciate your reviews..Just smile and keep up the good work.On this world there are too much petty idiots to worry about them!
man, hate means love :)
As usual, this is a disastrous conflation of what’s objective and subjective.
The plug-in has a sound, and it has a user interface, Objectively. This IS what the plug-in does, this IS how it works.
Subjectively, you personally either Like how it sounds or not. You either Like how it looks and functions or not.
For me personally, if a box has inputs and outputs, and I Like what comes out more than what went in, how much I like it will determine what I’m willing to do to use it. There are pain points and preferences everywhere. Knobs vs Faders, Encoders vs Potentiometers, Buttons vs Switches, or Screen real estate, and layout, etc. How much does it cost? What’s the CPU usage? Tons of cost/benefit factors. But how much do I want what the box does is the only real question.
I’m a Mac guy, have and use a bunch of DAWs, for decades now. I’ve recently been using, and falling in love with Studio One. The button to close screens so on the top right like a Windows machine. It pisses me off every time I mouse to the top left. I have to deal with it, if I wanna use Studio One. But that Objective reality does not mean that Studio One is snake oil or Presonus is a Shit company. There’s a bunch of PC guys, for some reason, that probably have the exact opposite problem using every other DAW.
Now in the Analog world, when we like something, but wish it did something else, we “Mod” it.
In the world of code, we “Hack” it.
For my Studio One problem, now that I’m writing this and super focused on the annoyance, I’ll look into either programming shortcuts or macros to close windows a different way. Problem will be solved.
With Acoustica plugins in particular (well Nebula, not sure about Taupe) they have “Skins”. And in Reaper, which I also use and love, you can A) press the UI button on any plug-in and get to the sliders, and B) re-map damn near anything.
While there are plugins that have functions or problems you can’t easily work around, side-chains in UAD plugins for example, those are objective realities that can make or break the usefulness of the product itself.
But saying something is shit, because you don’t like how it looks, or worse are too fucking lazy to figure it out, and then if you don’t like something, figure out a workaround, that makes me question your philosophical approach to mixing itself. Fixing shit is kinda what we do. Whining on RUclips isn’t really part of the job description.
Now, I do appreciate the time you spend on these review videos. They provide a quick way to see what’s new and what’s out there that might not be on my radar screen. But all too often, it’s all too apparent that you’re just rushing through the process to get more content on the channel, and recklessly discrediting one product after another, possibly discouraging someone from trying the product for themselves.
And yes, I do know I’m wasting my time and cyber-breath right now.
But then why would someone knowingly do that.
Wow u said it all! 100% agree with you
I still don’t know whether I should watch your reviews or not, whether we have the same hearing and taste and concept of music or not. But I know one thing for sure. What they called a "personality disorder" is that you look like a person who speaks his mind. The only reason it could be considered a "disorder" is that when I say maybe one person of a thousand people has this trait, I’m super optimistic. You have power. Keep it like that.
Wasn't in the mood for one of these videos, but the title made me bite. Glad to see you're trying to be positive in the middle of a sandstorm. On the other hand, when it comes to reviews, check your biases at the door and review from the perspective of what these things can do for your audience. You are the knowledgable one, so teach.
FabFilter is one of very few companies that understand how do design audio plugin GUI
I think Fabfilter is the only one
Egg cartons is the worst way to soundtreat a room
keep doing what you are doing man, you are creating some amazing content! had me hooked for a few weeks.
Taupe Eq has a real 3d effect. It´s stunniinnngggg
This is a really good tape emulation I’m buying it!!
Darude must be getting a fortune in royalties from your videos!
The world adores fake people like the Kardashians but anyone who is honest and authentic gets slated!! Keep up the good work bro!! Be honest , be real , be YOU and FUCK their feelings.
This is a honest review with no bs
It actually sounds surprisingly good! My solution for a simple tape-like effect, that works very quickly & can go on every channel and the master buss... Airwindows FromTape, and then one of his buss/console/channel systems... maybe Desk after the console decoder (on master buss or group busses) & FromTape again, after that. Subtle, and pretty much always sounds good, within seconds.
Keep keeping it reel!!! F em... Much respect for not taking the attack personal unlike how personal and emotionally they took your opinion and experience of their product.
I love their Ceil plugin that was free this February. I put it on most channels before consolidating for some final eq-ing and flavor