While other tape sims in our arsenal can produce marked changes in the frequency content of processed material, it’s not always easy to tweak this with one parameter as it is here - and as with everything Softube makes, we found the high frequency adjustments to be top notch quality wise. The HF Trim module - which Softube describes as a ‘mastering grade filter that regulates the amount of high-frequency compensation’ - is outstanding at giving sounds a natural sounding boost or cut, depending on your needs. Second, Softube appears to have taken great care to make Tape a genuinely unique plugin with some very cool advanced features. Tape is capable of giving your sounds some serious punch, and we found it to be far more capable in this regard than other tape sims we regularly turn to in our DAW. And this, to me, was where Tape is unmatched by other plugins it simply sounds spectacular the more you drive it, compressing sources with a natural sound that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else in the digital realm. First, since the Tape models saturate differently dependent on input level, you can get some really aggressive tones just by driving the input with a hot signal, much as you can a real tape machine. While the tape models were impressive on their own, Softube Tape really separates itself from the competition once you begin to get aggressive with the plugin and tap into some of it’s more advanced features. We found these extra controls to greatly enhance the Softube Tape offering and push this plugin in some genuinely novel directions, which is not easy with so many tape emulations already on the market. When you need more advanced controls, simply click the right side panel and a host of options open up: input & output trims, as well as rotary controls for Crosstalk, High Frequency Trim, Speed/Stability, Dry/Wet, as well as a switchable noise control. The front panel of the tape machine keeps controls to a minimum, with the aforementioned buttons, VU/THD meters, and IPS (Tape Speed) controls taking up the entire screen - we were in favor of this design choice, as some alternative tape plugins suffer from convoluted and overly complex interfaces. The plugin features a large virtual tape reel, with buttons to choose between the three distinct modeled tape machines A, which is modeled off a ‘classic Swiss high-end’ tape unit, B, modeled off a transformer based tape machine, and C, a British tape deck with a ‘distinctly vintage vibe’. Once we had the plugin downloaded and authorized via iLok, everything was a breeze.
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