Most emulations of the `tape sound´ focus on the saturation characteristic alone and underestimate the effect of a subtle amount of `flutter´ - high frequency fluctuations of the tape speed. This adds something which is probably the most important part of the special sound: The harmonic lines are "widened" by the effect of frequency modulation due to flutter which causes a 'thickening' of the audio signal contributing to the fat sound of analog,
Flutter is not a good thing. It's a red herring. It's not what we like about tape.
b3organ 1 week ago
Most emulations of the `tape sound´ focus on the saturation characteristic alone and underestimate the effect of a subtle amount of `flutter´ - high frequency fluctuations of the tape speed. This adds something which is probably the most important part of the special sound: The harmonic lines are "widened" by the effect of frequency modulation due to flutter which causes a 'thickening' of the audio signal contributing to the fat sound of analog,
bbuteo 1 year ago