Tascam 388 Plugin vs Real Tascam // IK MULTIMEDIA
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- Let's compare an actual Tascam 388 against the IK multimedia T-Racks 388 Plugin-in in this shootout! A real tape machine against the plugin version of the same machine. Can you hear the difference?
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0:00 IK Multimedia Tascam 388 Studio 8 Plugin
1:14 Recording to Tape vs Plugins Part 1
2:55 Stems solo'd
4:04 Test #2 (Pushing the overdrive)
5:22 Test #3 (Blind Test)
6:05 Comparing several Tape Plugins
6:40 Pontifications
Desk Build: • Studio Desk Build // R...
How I fixed this bargain 388: • I found a Tascam 388 /...
Are plugins a good investment?: • Analog is BETTER than ...
I tried to level match all the samples as best I could watching the peaks and the RMS and just using my ears on different sources.
Though I have a few tape machines, I prefer recording and mixing in the box, it's simply easier and faster, and the sounds are getting better and better all the time. One thing that I think still needs to be worked on, and can still be purchased more affordably outside the box is overdrives/saturation sounds.
There's a wide variety of samples, stems, and different types of songs. The opinions expressed here are just my own, and I expect you to totally disagree! Thanks for watching!
#tascam388 #ikmultimedia #plugins
Studio Guitarist & Virtual Guitar Teacher
www.TravisRaab.com
/ travisraabguitarlessons 
Видеоклипы
How I fixed a cheap Tascam 388! --> ruclips.net/video/fz9AwJC0YDc/видео.html
I’m REALLY digging your channel. I’ve never wanted to take notes just so I could comment on specific parts and questions. Please keep this stuff going, and thank you!
That's really kind of you to say SFN!
Fascinating, thanks for making and sharing this! Even on cheap speakers I swear I can hear the difference between the real 388 and the plug-ins, there's a very subtle wow/fluttery thing in that distinct 70s thump on the drum tracks on the tape recordings that adds a third dimension that the plug-ins can't quite get.
I hear you!
wow. 4:23 plugin vs 5:00 real. I'm very pleased that the plugin sounds good, like a modern record, i'd take it over the real tape, but whats its doing to the low end is horrible, where the real tape undoubtedly and typically sounds like a wonderful round and soft pillow. I'd like to hear the mix without any of them to hear exactly what each is doing to the mix.
Thanks for uploading this, these hardware vs software comparisons are so helpful to me. I have big decisions to make !
Edit : after adjusting for volume difference, the high end comes back on the tape example, it sounds much better, but the plugin still has that modern upfront and tight sound. The real tape definitely massages out the sounds nice and smooth.
I'm still very pleased that a plugin is good enough !
Bon, I'm glad you found it useful! thanks
I guess a sprinkle of oversampling would help
I love these tape related videos, keep up the good work!
Thanks glad to hear that Mekko. Will do!
Oh this is so great! I had a 388 several years ago that was on loan from a friend who moved out of town for a year. Sadly I had to return it after that year was up, and I haven’t been able to afford to get another one. Pretty excited to hear about this plugin!!
Very cool!
Was looking at this, glad you made a video about it.
Glad I could help, Dan!
Another great video, great song, great performance, thanks Travis!
Max, merci! glad to have you
I agree with you, when the distortion is subtle its subtle. - why the hell pay for something when you can get it for free?? But by god that analog 388 is just sooooo tasty. Be well my friend!
i know man I could just talk about marketing/snake oil all damn day. it's an industry.
Since I discovered most humans like a 'base sound' like hiss I actually add one track with hiss or other background noise to anything I make on purpose.
Hiss, guitar hum, background sounds of a public space, traffic. Smeared out, rolled of in the deep of the mix, unpredictable and fader rides when needed.
Love these video's, keep it up. It's all the gear I dreamed of when I first started. Could afford it now but don't have the time to actually source it, fix it and keep it running let alone make music on it.
nice idea! and thank you, Timo
hi Travis! super comparison content love it
Glad you liked it!
I like the real 388 at the end. Tone was similar but I prefer the way the 388 schmushed it all together.
Would like to have heard the DAW tracks dry too. Maybe next time.
Thank you thank you thank you ! Great video and series !
Thanks, Jean!
Great video. Also great tunes and great playing! Maybe I'm wrong, but the hardware sounds a tiny bit more compressed on the high end, warmer, slightly more glued etc etc etc. All in a good way. I often use IK's Tape Machine 440 on my master bus. I like the color it brings and the way it seems to make the mix feel roomier while also somehow more glued. Anyway, that 338 of yours is pretty. Take care.
that's cool i dont think i've messed with that plugin yet I'll have to check it out. I think for myriad of purposes i'm messing with the idea of only using logic's built in plugins moving forward. but there are some 3rd party plugins not sure i can live without...
Good video. I agree, it's often very hard to tell the difference between plugins particularly in a mix. I will say though that I really like the elysia karacter plugin, it sounds and works a bit different than most saturation plugins.
ill check it out thanks for the tip !
not one Vid I saw addressed the "input record" feature all they wanted to do was hear the sound of pre recorded stuff ...I'm like is this thing A TAPE RECORDER or what ? and you Sir in seconds answered that TY [ subscribed ]
thank you Dave!
Man, thanks, you've got great videos on this old stuff. Listened to A-B on KRK se via RME Babyface - the difference is huge IMHO. Actually after this thinking about getting a TEAC 244 4 track recorder for digging into "vintage low-fi" world
That's cool to hear Vladimir! Thanks for lending your ears. Yeah I think it's useful to have a good cassette machine around for color.
Loving your videos!
I'm glad you like them Roger! thanks
The mix of the REAL 388 is why tape is sought after IMO . Real tape compression/saturation is hard to mimic with digital . Especially a whole mix . Real tape , everything sits well . Digital , some instruments sound separated . Tape rounds the edges while digital has had edge , hence their waveforms .
i hear you jesse!
The kick definitely was punching more with the 388 plugin and the snare was thicker sounding during the separated tests. I was using my Apple Max headphones. All I know is that it makes a better difference on my kicks, snares and mix buss. I couldn’t tell the plugin to plugin difference. I could tell the distortion difference during those crank tests.
I instantly could tell the difference when using the plugins without adjusting parameters on my beats vs. no plugins while listening through Beyerdynamics DT 1990 Pros and Sonarworks calibration.
Enjoy it all either way!
I totally feel you! glad to have another set of ears thank you
Thank's for this comparaison. I'm using TASCAM 388 as final mixing devis in an hybrid analog/digital/analog home studio setup. Personally I do that because of the preamp of the Studio8 which give very efficient parametric correction, and high headroom. Also the analog mixing is incomparable than digital for Rock and Pop vintage results. All my instrument are able to cross through the mixe without messing the other one. I have also noticed difference from channels of the equalizer performance. Track 7 and Track 8 are amazing because each bell does creat 2 or 3 harmonic more.
whoa very interesting James! the harmonics. So you start in the box and then dump everything into 8 stems?
Thank you for your perspective !
My pleasure, fernando
Cool shoot out Travis! The difference is much more subtle than I expected on most settings but I think the real 388 is the winner when pushed.
i tried to show the plugin in a flattering light cause i figured people would think i'm gonna try to make the actual 388 sound better. i never pushed the plugin too hard. maybe i should do a deeper dive
@@travisraab makes sense. Would be interesting to see if it starts having loads of weird digital artefacts when pushed. BTW very impressive amount of views for one day on this video!👌
@@wehappyfewmusic thanks dawg 🙏
To me the sound quality does not matter it’s the work flow of recording to tape that makes the difference
you mean you prefer being out of dAW or in it?
@@travisraab I definitely prefer being out of my DAW, however working with tape has changed my approach to digital recording.
@@OwenFilmsOfficial gotcha!
I love the honesty of this review/comparison, and also the lack of hype from someone that actually owns that magnificent monster! Some of the value of IK's Tascam 388 plugin is in the EQ settings, which I assume are based on the real unit. That adds to the feel of using it. I just wish the plugin wasn't so CPU intensive, and it also has a lot of PDC latency. It's not something you can really use during composition unfortunately.
Valuable vid. Thanks
you're welcome!
I used the 3340 back when I first started recording in Brixton, London. We were a demo studio with occasional masters and how I used the machine was to fill the four tracks then mix down onto a Revox, take the whole tape back onto the 3340 and delete two quieter channels, making it a six track effectively. We also had a connection to Pete Townsend who leant me his 8 track Tascam before we took the plunge when the 16 track one inch came out. The first test I would do on this software might be to see how it plays back a drum machine bass drum, because none of the original tape recorders could handle the sharp snap of the transient and always replayed dull, like mud. Easy enough to re-EQ but this software should also recreate that to be accurate!!!
Very cool story thanks for sharing! Nice idea. So you prefer the sound of a kick onto digital recording vs tape?
Thanks Travis and yes it comes off the digital recording as it goes on compared to the much duller sound off a quarter inch tape. The Tascam 8 track half inch and the one inch 16 track Tascam had the same issues but were a bit better, possibly because of built in DBX. The 3340 we had also had attached a Dolby system, I think it was AN300 or similar. The four track was definitely an innovation that led to major changes in the future creation of music along with other fundamental shifts that followed.
It is funny to think the 3340 was designed for hifi home use and quad sound but picked up by doped up musicians and small demo studios like ours. And the Roland CR78 drum machine was designed for home organists and spawned the iconic TR808!
@@robdoran1156 very cool
Totally agree with the digital tape distortion sounds weird. However, using UHE satin on group setting, if u put all the drums on there it squeezes it and can create a really good crunch. Thanks man you just saved me a download. 😉
I'll have to check out UHE!
@@travisraab Satin is amazing.. i haven't tried this IK yet.
@@0e0 sweet
Good and practical video!! I had 2 Portastudios and really should have gotten that 388, back in the day. :)
I like the sound of the 388 in this video, definitely 'analog'!! If you have room for a 388 and can do/afford the maintenance cost, it's worth it; sounds very good indeed!!
These days I have an arsenal of plugins, to tweak sound in ways that extract/refine the artistic 'mojo' I'm searching for. I agree there is no perfect emulation of a purely analog signal path... but with some 'creativity', today's plugins can definitely do the job very well. One can literally think "outside-the-box", and get 96.6% to that goal. Digital is not analog, but it's definitely a set of amazingly potent tools. 🙂
Thanks cefshah! I appreciate your opinion
@@travisraab No problem!! 🙂
I know everything takes time to check out or review, so I value the kind of work you put into making the video.
I purchased the IK Multimedia T-RackS TASCAM Tape Collection recently (just before watching your video). After I decided the 388 (emulation) was close enough for me (thanks to your tests), I decided to try out the TEAC A-3340S emulation, and it's quite nice what it does to the music. I never owned the hardware, but the music I tested it on, picked up some qualities that I think many would like to explore. 👍
These emulations sound awesome, yet they truly consume some CPU power... so, users beware!! (Still, one instance can go a long way. And of course... there's rendering as an option.) 🙂
This is very interesting, Travis. I owned a 388 in the 1980s, it was the centre of my studio. I always knew it was a very capable and versatile machine. I haven't heard one for many years now. It's good to see yours and hear it.
I can tell differences
In all of your comparisons, I prefer the sound of the 388. DAWs and plugins are amazingly capable, but.... Analogue rocks!
Hi Paul! yeah the price tag is out of control but must admit it sounds great.
Thanks for posting
No problem!
They both sound awesome just a different flavors the sonics are good. I like the dirty push on them.
Interesting!
Hey Travis, just found your channel and I’m a big fan. This video may have helped me solve a question I had while looking for a vintage tascam mixer of my own. I’ve been eyeing up a tascam m 308 and saw it has two stereo outputs but 4 PGM outputs. I haven’t heard of PGM but I was curious if it would be a way to run more than 2 outputs into my 4 channel interface (probably in a 4 mic drum scenario). Can you run 4 individual channels of audio out of the PGM outputs or can they only run out of the two stereo outputs? Let me know if my ramblings make any sense and any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hi! I'd have to take a look but typically each channel has a direct out (and usually that bypasses the eq section) and then PGM out permits the eq section but sends individual channels out. On my 388 it has 8 channels and 8 pgm outs.
@@travisraab ok this definitely answers my question, all 8 channels do have direct outs but there’s 4 PGM channels. Thanks for the help!
I definitly hear the different when you A/B the song you produced. The plugin have more highs, the real (Reel :D ) 388 have a more warm / darker tone to it. I do like the real deal the best! :)
thanks for sharing your thoughts !
Another one bites the dust by Queen. that's A good reference tune.
Whats the name of the song in the second test? Its beautiful.
Thanks cedon! It's linked in description of this video actually ruclips.net/video/FoqYgE_aVBY/видео.html
Hey Travis ! I was just on a Black Friday trek, and i was giving the tape comparison another listen, and this song hit me 4:07 - i understand you produced it but i can't find it in your credits. Who is the artist and title please good sir !? Something in that song is good for my inspiration :)
open.spotify.com/track/5I3n0gaKhX2HnA7JN32XXf?si=0d83e4199b2940b1
Thanks so much man here it is!
@@travisraab that's the one ! 🙌 thank you so much for taking the time, much appreciated.
I have a friend who I gig with and play in a cover project with who is all about Kemper, using in-ears live, and having everything in the can so that sound guys can just do everything, it all sounds fine, but not great to me. I love a pushed, real tube/speaker, and I love slightly pushed/distorted analog tape, just nothing like it. But, that said, I've heard amazing sounding final products that people do on laptops with all plugins and a midi controller. I think it comes down to what you like working with, and I like something real, that is going to last. no right or wrong to it. Thanks for the great videos!
thanks rob! i think there is a psychological component for me. It's like having an electrical vehicle or an engine. Some people like an engine and doing things the old school way. theres no wrong! (unless you use analog, and then you're right 😂)
@@travisraab haha! 100%
I loved your studio
🙏 thanks
When you drove things hard the hardware to me always sounded better. Much more open, rich and “real” sounding.
there are certain parts of the real 388 that I prefer when it comes to imaging. also feel like the real 388 has a low freq boost that occurs lower than the boost of the plugin. you should get your hands on a handsome audio Zulu, ive heard that comes really close to tape.
I remember seeing this machine a long time ago. It looks interesting! thanks for sharing
I dream about having a Tascam 388 some day. Beautiful
The hardware is softer around the edges than the software. But my how far we have come!!!
yeah!
The old Tqscam stuff seems to sound nice and round and the EQ can be interesting when compared to slightly newer gear. I'm from Los Angeles born and raised.... I live in a suburb called Glendale and somebody threw out literally wrapped in plastic and put it on the floor in our downstairs parking a tascam 244. It really does sound different from a studio master that I have that I thought sounded pretty good. It's a nosier mixer releasing its current state but it sounds good I haven't hit the tape yet because the bands and the tape machine are no good and I'm not exactly sure why he threw it away unless there are other transport issues with the machine.
You can really hear the analog summing and the punch from the tape, in your examples.....
even with a cheap denon 2o track cassette tape deck with a source coming from CD you can hear a signature of tape.....
Crazy. Great find i hope you enjoy that nice piece of gear 👍
This video is a bit old but I'll add a bit into the conversation. A lot of these conversations center around mixing but I don't think many realize the implications of saturation in a tracking/recording environment. The instant ability of analog to get a sound you like is amazing. its sad but true that non-linearities in plugins do cause latency which can hamper an performance because the delay sounds unnatural in the headphones. Its much better now, but can still be a bit of an issue. I hope for a day that plugins do it better btw LOL because it'd be way cheaper. But, the ability to get a song where it needs to be from the tracking stage with analog is great. BUT lets say you can't afford a tascam 388 (its going for 1.5k to 3k USD on reverb from I see) the other idea is to record clean into an interface then mix with the plugins. I know some guys don't like latency in mixing but honestly it doesn't affect your ability to mix. I hate the analog vs digital debate because I think tools are tools and I just laid out how you can do it without spending thousands. NOW there is something to be said that if you are trying to be a commercial studio, project studio, home studio that makes money, etc. that having these pieces can be to your advantage for resale, marketing, and hands on work.
I think I'm rambling now so I'll end it there. Great video! definitely subscribing, especially for the home made studio furniture! lol
Thanks for watching !
Well Said
whats pgm?
388 over the plugins any day for me. Yeah plugs can get fairly close, but that overall richness shines through when you "plug it in". Great options though, if you didn't have the real thing. Keep em coming.
Yep I hear you!!
I used to own a 388 and regretfully had to sell it due to financial stuff. God I miss that machine!!
Difference is subtle, plug-in seems to have more overall volume and higher eq frequency volume. However compressed youtube audio won’t let us figure the real difference, though by judging for what I hear here is very similar, however I prefer the real deal
yeah it's not exactly ideal circumstances for critical listening
Plugin won all of the blind tests for me.
Sounds great. Pushes the mix upfront and gives it a nice tight focus.
interesting thanks Brady!
totally agree hands down far better
"There are no bad sounds, only bad songs"
-Sun Tzu
I only write hits , so
I think the warmer the sweater the warmer the tone
😂 they'll have the plugin version of this sweater for sale soon
so what's the answer to the blind test? My guess is A is Logic's overdrive and B is the 388 plugin. Is that it?
Okay I agree with this video way more then the other one. Because the question shouldn't be which one to get because obviously if all things equal then go analog but the real question is how close is digital getting to replicating analog.
Also agree that at subtle settings they basically all sound the same but at same time they all do have a slightly different profile which is what youre after when mixing down.
Also the main thing I usually hear in digital is that is smears the transients more than analog.
cool man!
I think the Logic plug-in has the most transparent sound - it sound the most realistic, with some bollocks on top. The 388 plug-in and the real one have a great sound, but with less clarity. I too come from an age of tape and use a Fostex R-8 and 2 Fostex 280 four tracks ( I started on a Fostex XR-7 in 1998), I have had a wobbly TEAC 80-8 and a Fostex E-16 in the past - but for “tape duties” these are my babies. However, with the amazing clarity and dynamics available in digital today, the plugins for the most part will be indistinguishable from the original in a mix (just like an analogue synth). And with a good mic preamp, I care less and less about signal chain and even mics because with modern dynamic and eq plugins you are able to control harmonics etc. to such a precise degree, it’s more about reigning-in your directionless mind! For me tape (or old digital multitracks for that matter),the beauty lies in the recording process itself - which lends itself to a whole different philosophy, and when (like an analogue synth) you are recording something atmospheric for that very reason. ❤🙏🏼
love your input!
I real difference I hear is (its so hard to explain) but the real 388 has a more squeezed together sound, where the high and low frequencies are cohesively put together if you will, and just on any tape it gets pushed backward into the stereo field. It has further back depth to it. If that makes sense. And on the plug in the whole thing just sound more separated a lot closer to your face and a way sharper transient. That's what I hear and love about analog stuff. and yeah UAD stuff is the best and closest I've heard and used. and I invested in an Apollo. So expensive but for me it was worth it. I just love it
i hear you brandon
My bad was vibing too hard to that beginning groove and forgot to try and listen to the difference hahaha
😂😂😂 pedro
I've owned 4 x 388s, and have used one as the main multitrack tape machine in my commercial recording studio for 15+ years. Yep, as you said, the differences between the plugin and the real 388 were subtle at low levels of saturation. I could definitely record using the plugin, and none would be the wiser. It higher levels, the real 388 won, in my opinion. But still usable. The Logic distortion added a large amount of boxiness to the snare, which was off-putting and strange. Probably would've sounded fine on 60s guitar for a honking early Kinks sound. $200 seems quite a lot to me (cheapskate..), knowing how cheaply I managed to pick up each of my 388s, but if you can't deal with the hassle of having to learn how to maintain and keep a narrow format analog(ue) tape machine going, it's a pretty good option I reckon.
thanks for commenting you are an expert on 388s! i agree. no contest. i just randomly picked that logic plugin cause it's included and i imagine it's rarely considered a viable option. if the 388 were more reliable, this all would be a different story. i'll gladly pay for a reliable guitar amp over any amp emulator.
@@travisraab When I'm recording digitally, rather than on the 388, I ALWAYS use the FerricTDS plugin on every channel. It's no 388, but it really helps calm down the top and bottom end (like tape does), and does decent tape-ish saturation and compression. Whether or not it sounds the same as tape, it goes a good part of the way there, to the degree that noone can tell which of my recordings were done on tape, and which were done digitally. But, you have the 388 plugin now, so you're pretty much sorted with that suite. I may even buy it myself.
@@jasontsh i won't buy this 388 plugin. i don't like how it sounds. i'll have to check out the ferric thanks!
Love your opinions,...i have used a AKAI MG-614 for some years but now it has gone broken beyond salvation 😧,..and i am so sad for that, I just found a vintage TEAC 3340s 4Ch on my local electronics shop In a original box in mint condition for $600 and got exited,:::But ! the question is should i go for it or should i buy the $250 plugin bundle and record in my PC, I got a contol suface so it has a taktile kinda feel,.....Since the vintage machines break and the parts are hard to find, what´s your opinion, should i go for The real deal or the Plugin ?,....For shure the real deal is much better if one like the suttle drive sound, but there is a free tape sim that is called Cana San Maartin that seems to do it,...so what do you think ? Thank´s a lot for inspiration and much joy Love cheers from Sweden 😃🧡🙏🎸
Hey thanks for the question. I would stick to the computer and NOT buy the plugin. There are plenty of free tape plugins that sound better than the paid tape plugins, to my ears. I've tried most of the paid stuff.
@@travisraab I thank you dear Travis for clearing up my view on what to do, I got the whole Analog Obsession plugs and the Cana San Maartin Tape Machine already for free, and today i tweaked a real good tape ish sound with these, Once again Thank you from my heart for your answer and lovely energy. Love cheers 😃💚
Sketch cassette is a great 20 buck plugin. Does the same thing as Taip & IK MM. Also Analogue Obsession has some great free "warm" plug-ins. (Copies of famous compressors & preamps.)
I've messed with one analog obsession plugin I want to check them out more and compare more plugins to my machines
@@travisraab Yeah, Analog Obsession is good. That RUclips guy "Snake Oil" or "White Sea Studios?". He likes their stuff. Runs it through his thing-a-ma-ghig and says they do the analog thing right. I agree with you that the real thing is always better. But some of us live in small NY apartments and don't have a nice barn for a bunch of retro equipment. Ha! (I'm just jealous). Insta subscribe though. Keep up the good work.
@@barneymiller5488 thanks so much Barney! Stay in touch
Are there any plugins that do Tascam tape better at the moment? Seems like if you want to work in the DAW, this is all you got.
nope. i heard sketch cassette and it actually sounded decent but I haven't experimented with it yet
@@travisraab I played with the demo for Sketch and it is pretty fun. It’s this or the reel to reel sims that I like throwing on the master for that blanket vintage vibe.
Man, you should really check out the Lisciel Franco channel. He is a brazilian guy who built his own studio and his own eletronic equipments by hand. All vintage style, like the good olds days.
i will check it out thank you!
What setting did you use on the Logic distortion?
i just set them way low felton. super subtle. I think I used one instance on tracks and one more on the master
@@travisraab There’s a knob for adjusting the frequency. Do you remember the frequency you used?
@@feltonpilate4829 no sorry
@@travisraab I use that plugin occasionally. On your video it sounded darker than the 388 and the 388 plug-in. The frequency knob serves as a pseudo low pass filter and I suspect that it was not set in the full clockwise position. If you do further experimentation I’d live to hear *your* findings :)
@@feltonpilate4829 interesting yeah I hardly ever use that plugin. I was trying to point out that an included plugin that nobody seems to use can actually yield decent results, or comparable results. But it's actually a decent little plugin
388 is one of the greatest creative tools ever. No joke!
yeah and anyone who doesn't own one is unworthy 😂
Hi Travis, in my humble opinion the real 388 sounds way better by far. I guess I'm just too old fashioned. But when you drive the preamps on analogue I find it sounds way sweeter. Thanks for sharing. Kind regards. Paul.
I agree 100% I think the plugin sounds bad lol.
@@travisraab yeah your spot on my friend. I have the MK1 Tascam488mk1 cassette recorder and it sounds sooooo great. I find that using the various techniques that I have amassed over the years. And to be quite honest I never ever hear anything in the way of tape hiss. I know that we live in a rapidly developing world by way of technology, but I just love the charm that tape has, and the connection of man and machine. My gear is minimal but all vintage. Kind regards. Paul. Ps, Merry Christmas and all the best for 2022.
In your examples I actually preferred the real thing by a long shot (on every example). Even on more subtler settings. In the Blindtest I liked A better than B, B sounded disproportionate to my ears, which is why I am guessing this is logics overdrive, since it also really changed the drumsound in the first example. Having said that I think.. and that's just me thinking.. that you have more experience how to get a sound with your hardware, than with the plugin. I also think since every hardware-unit is unique there was bound to be differences and I think I probably would have mixed them differently instead of trying to match the plugin to the hardware (making both sound as good as possible on their own instead) - reasoning: if you first tried to get the best sound with the hardware, of course you can't make something that is different sound better in the way that works best for the first thing. If the Plugin was a copy of exactly your individual unit - it would've been more like fair play I guess.
When it comes to the distortion thing: Yes in your example the plugin really sounds bad when driving hard, while the hardware doesn't. Now to my ears that's because you didn't drive the hardware anywhere as hard - but I can't judge it. I don't own the hardware, you know best and either we trust this is a fair comparison, or we don't. I think it's not a perfect comparison, but I realize it can't be. You can't be impartial, you have a bias and that will manifest in the way you play and mix. And that's okay and to be expected - we're all human. If I would have repaired something I surely would have another bond to it than to a plugin too! (I don't know the first thing about repairing such things though) Personally I like to use the Tascam collection more for sounddesign than mastering or mixing. For instance I use the Portable to get more of a LOFI-sound. When it comes to tape-emulations for mastering the Tape-Machine-Collection is far better than the Tascam-collection - in my humble opinion.
But that's just me. Of course we should all just mix with the stock-plugins that come with the DAW from a price-performance ratio point of view. But we don't. We don't because we are suckers for marketing and we all like to have new toys that sound a little bit different every now and then. And of course some plugins are actually worth purchasing - but you never know until you know.
PS: In case this sounds too critical, it's not meant to be. I'm just one honest german and always speaking my mind. I appreciate the effort and I enjoyed the music and the examples! cheers
Gerhard. I hear you!
If my goal is not to try to match this plugin to the hardware, then in fact, I'm not forced to use this plugin at all. In that case, my goal would probably be to make the best mix possible, and then I still would avoid this plugin. And I wouldn't try to do analog emulations that never really work to my ears.
I agree with you about the marketing. Have you seen my video about plugins and value? ruclips.net/video/puXzZ7_p4NQ/видео.html
@@travisraab I assure you that software emulations of analog units work quite often. Check out Paul Third, he has a couple of analog vs digital shootouts with blindtest and in some cases the software actually sounds similar but better (in some cases the analog sounds better and in some they just sound different). That's the reality. Soundwise neither hardware nor software is superior in any way. It depends on the unit and on the plugin. He also criticizes false marketing regularly. If we're talking bang for buck hardware is done.. there's no discussion about it amongst reasonable people.
Hardware is nostalgic and it's impressive for clients and peers - it can be fun or laborious to use - depending on the preferences of the engineer. But there's an emulation for everything, you just have to pick the right one! I can tell you have a strong bias - actually I can even see it. And that's fine, I'm not here to bust your bubble. Just making you aware that there IS a bias. And while I neither avoid hardware nor software, I do avoid bias just as much as marketing, because it's tendentious and lacks objectivity.
Tape just sounds better. The hiss is integral to the shape of the transients. It does something to the mix too, making it feel softer and more pillowy, yet more present if that makes any sense. The plugins sound so clinical.
what. i literally was going to use every term you just said, but it got edited out. 'integral hiss' 'transient' 'pillow'. wow. thats exactly what the tape does, and it until you've worked with it, it's hard to articulate it. you read my mind colin!
@@travisraab I LOVE tape, even cassette. I mastered the mix on my full length album on a 1970's Scully 2 track master deck. It made the music feel "real" to me, like it could have been on the radio.
IK makes great stuff but why they didn’t include real tape hiss and slight wow and flutter is beyond me
@@jasonsteakums6067 yeah it's part of the sound
On the produced track with the girl singing, the tape sounded so much better. The plugin didn't seem to handle the input getting slammed where as the tape did for sure.
I agree , Paul!
The overdrive you get from the old tascam preamps is pure magic! Cant live without my 246 portastudio and my mx80. Digital distortion is still a nono in my world, Even though the plugin sounds really impressive on sublte settings. Just discovered the mx4 (late 80s)online , preamp mixer with some interesting features, do anybody know anything about them? Cant find much info on them✌️
i just found a 246 for cheap... think i got burned lol
@@travisraab all right!, dont Get burned dude. do you know if the preamps in the different devices from that era are the same? 106, 208, 388, 244, mx80 etc
@@kh4009 in my testing m30 preamps sounded identical to tascam 388 preamps (m30 more hiss though). Beyond that I don't know if they are even made the same I can only go by looks and what I heard
Very interesting indeed..
I think the real 388 has more tape hiss than the plugin which I find desireble.
I think I want to buy the plugin (not totally sure) but I will never let my 388 go. The plugin is a bit too clean compared to real 388.
I can’t hear any difference beteeen the plugins.
I also wonder how youtube algorithms affect the sounds?
the plugin has zero tapehiss. none. no crosstalk. no fuzzy dbx. wait you own a 388 and want to buy the plugin? ik multimedia will love to hear that!
@@travisraab No, heavens NOOO, I would never replace my 388 no way!!! I said ”not sure”. It was more from a flexibility point of view. I might use it as a complementary to my 388 nothing else. It’s hard to move around the real 388. 😅
Btw, I think the LR output has more ’body’ to the sound, maybe because the different input sounds affect each other more mixed inside 388 compared to PGM outputs.
hell yeah, dude
between the two mixes, I don't have preference. both are good cuz your original mix is good 🤘
great song!
thanks Chris!
Where in the f#%* can i get the song used as a demo at 4:58
open.spotify.com/track/5I3n0gaKhX2HnA7JN32XXf?si=34GVImNxTlyNjoU1AHL1TQ
Lots of pleasing low end on that track you produced with the 388. Hell, I woulda kept that shit in the actual track lol
thanks james! haha i shouldve
I prefer the real thing. Have you ever tried the Free Magma Lil Tubes from Waves. Will be good to hear your opinion about this plugin, whether the drive it offers is really good or not.
No Ive never even heard of it. I should get it
@@travisraab I like it, but certainly you have more knowledge about analog gear than me, then you could give a better opinion too.
i listen on adam a7x in not really good room and ears not good ... but difference is huge and clear between real/plugin/overdrive, and i prefer plugin, it have nicer high end. Some of those tape ones are really close, difference there is subtle.
cool!
It was hard for me to hear the differences, except for the isolated (L) guitar track. But I don't know if I can explain what that difference actually is.
what are you listening on?
@@travisraab Bose computer speakers c. 2008. I'll try headphones.
Listening on laptop or phone really brings out the high end. You can hear the hiss like crazy too
@@travisraab I listened again (sennheiser headphones), but hard to choose a preference. I noticed the attacks were different (less/more percussive) in some samples, but not always consistently in one direction (i.e. analog didn't seem to have consistently MORE or LESS percussive attack). Anyway, I suggest you at least pretend to love digital so our future robot overlords will consider letting you live.
@@bonemasterj 😂. i mean it's like a direct guitar. whenever i record direct guitar in the box, and then try to make it sound like a mic'd up guitar amp, it sounds like a direct guitar with a bunch of crap added to it. you're right. it's the attack. like the transient of the drums. to my ears i'm hearing more of a pillow cushion type compression on the kick especially. it like focuses the kic sound with that combo of eq and compression but i also hear way less of the room. i dont know how that's possible. i could also be hearing things. i like tried really hard to make the 388 plugin sound good and sound like the machine, instead of just indiscriminately turning the knobs ya know? maybe i should have driven everything way more cause it was all pretty mild
Very interesting video. I am actually using Logic trying to have a sound that can mix together different sources (analog and digital synths, guitars, vintage effects), but I am very attracted to Tascam consolles. They sound really warm and musical.
Ciao Simone! tascam consoles sound wicked! grazie per vedere
@@travisraab yes! I have used some old cassette free sk multitracks and an old Tascam mixer M. Are your ancestors from Italy?
Let's say the plugin can achieve more subtle things than the real deal .
With the real 388 you have to go "full send" with the sound characteristics it has .
I could hear a big difference on a full production , that's where the plugin shined while the real 388 was squashing too much (to my taste) but it can all be because of the machine being not calibrated exactly like the one they used to develop the plugin .
Apart all that , both sound very similar with differences that can easily be eq'd.
I'd say the plugin is a really great placeholder if someone wants that warmth on a limited budget (and wants to keep a healthy backbone lol) .
By the way thanks for the video , I was waiting to hear some honest tests of that plugin .
I'm so happy that you enjoyed the review, and it was useful, and I encourage you to try out the demo so you can make sure you like it! I really appreciate you sharing your opinion as well. Just want to kindly reiterate my feeling that, after days of testing, I had the opposite experience/opinion with each of the statements you've made. ymmv
@@travisraab Oh there's a demo ! I'm going to try this out asap !
I think it's all personal tastes and perception of what makes our ears go "aawww yeah boi" .
After all I'm more of a high-end of the spectrum oriented person and the plugin seems to let more high-end pass through and create more harmonic distortion up there .
(from what I've heard on my monitors)
But I'm going to try it myself :)
4:38 the kick drum reminds me of Radioactive by Imagine Dragons
my biggest influence
The plug in is indeed close, but I preferred the actual 388 to it. dbx was a nice analog technology, but quick sounding stuff could make it really excessively breathe or pump. I'm an old school (and older) engineer and I used a competing 8 track, the Fostex A-80, which used Dolby C, which I think had a better tradeoff between hiss and artifacts.
Is Dolby C the fanciest high end version?
Actually, Dolby SR was the ultimate noise reduction. On a 24 track two inch machine, I had this, and I could get the S/N ratio to 105 db. The slightly reduced version was Dolby S, which they actually introduced on cassettes first, but which didn't take off. They finally made an analog one inch 24 track machine with Dolby S that supposedly sounded pretty good.@@travisraab
To me, the real 388 sounds more "beefy" than the plugin - thicker/richer in the low mid range of the frequency spectrum. Perhaps more compression (or at least a different kind of compression curve) is going on in that frequency band. The plugin doesn't sound bad, but it is a bit different than the real thing.
I think you're right Rock master! Good ears
Sometimes clicking a mouse at my age is just boring and lazy.. I love that I’ve decided to cross over to the analog world.. I can get to the point much faster.. Most engineers have hundreds of plugins and only use 10, sounds like a waste which I was part of that.. Analog world is amazing and I’m sold on a vintage Tascam lol, so thanks!!
I think when it comes to distortion Saturn is fantastic and amp sims is TH from overloud incredible.
oh cool I'll have to check them out thanks for the tip!
I must say I like the "presence" of the plugin a bit more than the real unit - everything feels a little more upfront in my monitors. Overall the sound of the real machine may be the right choice for the sound of the song, but I think the plugin is close enough and not having to deal with the hassle of owning and maintaining the machine is a serious plus
thanks for sharing your thoughts Tumi!
@@travisraab thanks for putting together all the great content around these tape machines! I’ve thought heavily about investing in one given how much of my music uses plug-in emulations, but I think I need to wait until I can afford not just the unit but the maintenance and consumables costs 😅
@@tumi6ocdn you can get a cheap cassette machine for a couple hundred bucks. depends on what you're recording and mixing and what you're interested in to determine if it's worth it. lots of great mixers are 100% in the box. but i think about it like guitar...incredible guitarists can use any guitar and any amp and sound great. the rest of us need help by using higher quality gear to assist. sometimes it can be nice to just send a lead vocal to tape and back into the computer. thanks for watching Tumi!
Actual 388 all the way on the full mix around 5:00. The plug in doesn't sound bad though.
that was the exact moment that did it for me too
Clearer on the plugin, but not in a bad way.
Thanks for chiming in Barney!
Real tascam is so much nicer when pushed all the way, but I agree using the pluggins to model how you would normally record there's no difference. I've recorded drums to a digital portastudio for years and always disliked how it sounded, no matter what I did. Using a 424 and a 3 mic set up the drums sounded great. Long story short the built in compression on the digital recorder was crappy and any clipping made the take unusable. Basically, a f**king cassette sounded better which is ridiculous thinking about it.
very informative John! those 424s sound pretty nice for drums as well
388 hardware sounds more glued and better on the ears. The plug-in gives a more dynamic of frequency ranges but the physical 388 sounds more like what a professional recording would sound like vs home studio. Still a bargain for the digital. I can’t decide if I should get it or not. Been using the slate digital tape machine. Considering this or the waves factory cassette plug-in.
I wouldn't use it myself. check out this guy as well ruclips.net/video/HFNgHg2LNx0/видео.html
It's all very subtle stuff...there is a difference for sure...which one is better...who knows
I know. The actual 388 sounds better. Lol
@@travisraab haha fair play its important as an artist to know what you like and what you dont...nice studio setup....ps...its very subtle
hi that deck is very heavy mate payed 126 for the 388 20 years ago
it still working i have a teac 44 80-8 tascam 38 are not great decks i have 4 that need little work the out put audio button pcb has the same thing that
is bad on it they will record and play back
the deck runs at 7 1/2 ips
i have a reel to reel to record my 8 track tapes at 3 3/4 8 tracks i have a jazzed up fostex a8
You are a legend
Man, you're really getting everything one level higher. I think both the Tape plugin as the Overdrive suck. Some strange things are happening, in some cases the punch disappeares and in others the mid response is too emphasized. In the GTR L part, around 404, a plugin adds some tickly annoying afternotes. Just keep using the original units, you have proven to be able to get the best out of it so far, kudos for that. As pure and honest your music is your devices should be. The only thing I can think of that could really add something is using more mics for the drums to allow for more control (and more work).
basroos! good to hear from you. i'm pretty ear fatigued at this point, but I'll listen for that stuff you mentioned. but yeah i noticed just weird artifacts in the high end as well on any itb distortion. yeah i'm lazy i should use more mics lol
@@travisraab Don't bother listening it again for two reasons. One: you're lazy and two: you've heard the difference and that's all you need to know. Now get some rest, pour epoxy resin in your ears, one at a time for practical considerations, and enjoy your inner sounds. That will make for a surprising next video.
For some more serious input: I don't think you are lazy and I am convinced in your situation an additional compact, decent quality, 8 channel mixing console would be very useful for a drums premix. You can just make a standard drums mix and take the two channel output to record onto tape. That way you can keep your setup as it is, plug and play without additional hassle.
@@basroos_snafu on the hunt for resin
I think they sound pretty close but the actual act of using a 388 or any tape machine is the real magic behind it for me.
i think cause i grew up using daw i feel the opposite. I think tape sounds so much damn better than this plugin but the using of a tape machine slows down my process. if there was zero computer in the room that would be interesting for creativity
@@travisraab I grew up using daws as well, im 21. But i think slowing things down makes for a better session. Being more deliberate in your playing and thinking more about the actual song. Ive got a teac 3340 and i record everything guitar/bass i have with it. working on getting a nice drum sound but its just so much fun to work with.
It’s that kind of world, right? Live by your ears, trust your heart, watch your wallet. The UAD plug-ins are amazing-so much so that you can hear the difference on many totally flat versus bypassed. They changed my game-but they are pricey. As a famous engineer buddy of mine said, “It ain’t the plane, it’s the person flying it.” Best outboard gear ever? Healthy ears! 😃
great points, Lou!
The plug ins are clever marketing. Once you put the animated GUI in front of your eyes, you begin to imagine what’s not really there. The real 388 has a character that’s more than adding a touch of tape hiss. It’s the sum of its parts. I produce better results with my analog/digital hybrid studio setup than I do with a computer. The reason I believe is that you don’t have the infinite tools and fixes with analog gear. You focus way more on getting a great take instead of fixing a mediocre take in Logic. I know the demands of producing really ambitious music really does benefit from a total software session. But the human essence of those productions done 100% digital are often missing. Myself being a gadget-freak, love the mechanics of traditional tracking. I don’t track to tape, but rather a pair of VSR880’s but I use them as I would a traditional 16 track tape deck. Going direct to “digital tape,” I don’t have the buzzkill of a screen and mouse clicks. Just toying with mic placement and making a ton of test passes to get it right is the rewarding part of the old method. An awful lot of young musicians/producers are buying up four tracks like crazy. They begin to see that like a sturdy chair, if your great songs can’t support themselves in the limited realm of a 4-track then you begin to realize that all the ‘awesome’ songs you produced on your laptop were just over-produced, self indulgent ear worms. Love your vids and playing/production 👍🏼
mm. mm. preach. 🙌 btw dammit you sent me on a rabbit hole for vsr880
1. Is a matter of taste, pick the one who sound best according to you.
2. The listener doesn’t care what you used and will make no difference
interesting!
Thanks for doing this. I haven’t yet hooked my 388 into my patchbay (I have a lot of cables to build first!) I couldn’t tell the difference, but I’m listening on my phone. Will listen later on monitors.
Question: if I want to track through the 388 straight into my interface and not to tape, I need to use the PGM outs, right?
Andrew , yes, that's correct, although the 388 has a variety of connections that you could choose to use instead.
@@paulgrooveside2803 yes, I noticed! lol! Trying to figure out what approach is best before I start making cables. I have a few use cases I want to experiment with: 1) tracking through the 388 XLR ins using the preamps, going straight into my interface/DAW (skipping tape) via PGM outs, 2) bringing tracks out of my DAW and onto the 388 mixing desk for EQ (skipping the pres) and back into the DAW via PGM outs, and 3) using the 388 as an analog summing box going into the 1/4" line ins and out via the stereo XLR outs. I do have some old reels of years-old sessions I think I'll dump off the reels and into the DAW... via tape outs I assume.
ah the joys of the 388. I've been running a bunch of tests with line out / pgm out/ stereo out to compare sonics and noise. Line out from tape seems to be noisier than LR out or PGM out for some reason (not just my machine). Let us know if it's the same with yours.
Andrew, If you just want to use the mixer section and bypass tape completely you can use the sends for each channel on the Access Send and Receive
@@tylereat Thanks, I will give this a test drive, and may help me avoid having to build 8 RCA to TRS cables. :)
I actually can’t tell the difference between any of them … does that mean I should not become an audio engineer?
i feel that way in most youtube audio shoot outs. are you listening with headphones?
I miss my 388’s, but not that much.
not to mention I"ve never seen one sell for 5k. but that's what it says on IK's website. And.... now that I google it I see one for sale for 5k. that was fast.
@@travisraab I went thru 2 of them. then on to adats... ugh.
@@morbidmanmusic how are adats?
To be honest, between plugins and the desk, i prefer the song u produced
thank you Dany! I appreciate that
stop confirming my beliefs ahh haha
😂