Louder Than Liftoff introduces TAPE•C Colour Module

Brad let me test one of these, it's really amazing! To my ears way better than the 15ips, more versatile while also being integrated with the music.

The one labeled LF Head Bump turns on the low frequency head bump. The second one labeled HF Flat sets the high frequency reponse. When set to “off” you have a slightly rising high frequency response. When set “on” the high frequency response is flatter. So if you want to emulate a Studer 2-track I’d setting LF to ON and HF to OFF.

Brad

The design is proprietary so, unfortunately, I can’t really divulge the inner workings of the circuits.  

All gear has phase shift of some sort, which is typically frequency dependent.  When one uses an EQ you are changing phase relationships.  I think one of the underrated hallmarks of the tape sound is the way that the phase responses changes.  It’s hard to describe that sound, but if you have a history of working with tape then it kind of imprints upon your brain.  I think you will find that tracks mixed in a multi-mic scenario will be just fine.  

Brad

My $0.02 as relayed to another interested party on the other thread. These are from my personal perspectives, experience with tape, and listening sessions with the LTL Tape•79 / C modules. Might be helpful for what to expect - and what NOT to expect.





I'll give my perspective, and let Brad give his - and I probably won't be able to answer your question for you even though I own a ton of "saturation" devices. For ME - growing up on real tape machines and consoles in recording studios - for me - "tape" is not an effect - it’s just the medium we recorded and mixed too. A medium that left its mark on the music of that era. A medium that is much sought after - and often a medium that is sometimes misunderstood.

The era of "tape" as an "effect" came along after digital had wiped out recording with tape, and relegated it to the dinosaur era of recording. IMO, the era of saturation, distortion, drive, clipping, etc. is most decidedly the stepchild of digital recording - not of the tape era of recording - as something was lost when we transitioned to digital.

Back in the analog tape days, if we recorded something that had saturation, distortion, clipped transients, etc. on it we would have been slapped as a sloppy, ignorant or tone-deaf intern/assistant. :cool: (Haha!! Been there, done that, got the participation trophy! :heh: ) Those artifacts that we now seek were all things we were taught to fight AGAINST back in the day. Still, due to the medium of tape itself, they were things that inevitably crept in to the recordings - to one extent or another.

Now....don't get me wrong - those things are cool. And there are a TON of boxes that do just that - including a bunch from LTL - the Silver Bullet mk2, Chroma, Mr.Focus, etc. along with a bunch of colour modules and Mojo modules that I dearly love and use daily. Many were designed to do exactly what you are looking for. (I'd suggest a SBmk2 for you - probably with the HM4000 in the C slot)

But Tape C is/was designed to simulate tape by folks who worked years (decades) on tape machines and understand their strengths and quirks. It was designed to give those glorious sonic layers of varnish - not to jack up the signal — there are other tools for that - many of which would would wonderfully hand in hand with Tape C / Tape•79.

IMO, I would have given most anything 25 years ago for what LTL is putting out for ridiculously inexpensive amounts today. And to be up front and 100% transparent, that's why I teamed up with Brad for the Silver Bullet, and a following era of products. Again to be transparent - I had pretty much nothing to do with the Tape C conception and design.

Hope that helps define what Tape C IS and what it ISN'T.

Thats what I'm thinking but with my Colour Duo so you can have them in series in the same unit. I really like the hitmaker in the plugin. Makes me want to get an MKII all by itself. And Aspect Ratio. 

That seemed like the magic combo to me as well.

www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/1sbc73774u9ot9f0ou8rv/APlCPNAnF7kSwlyblLXFj-w?rlkey=ho91t0trkfnd6blzavhc696y2&dl=0

I have a more elaborate test planned for this weekend but for now here's a quick test on an SD3 loop. Normal, +6, +12, and a loopback through the chain with Tape-C disengaged. LF Head Bump on, HF Flat off.

In the same link is now added a full song bricejchandler let me use from June And The Kids In Red called Box Of Dreams.  Same as before, Tape-C pass and a loopback pass.

They're really great. Just used them in conjunction with a pair of Pentode 2's while mastering a rock record yesterday. Ate up a lot of the harsh stuff I didn't like but never choked the punch.

Yes, in Mr Focus hosts. I run my Tape-C in the bottom slot, Pentode 2 in the top. My reason is that if I want less tube or less of the EQ curve I dialed in I can use the wet/dry.