All user reviews for the Massey Plugins TapeHead Saturator

After purchasing this plug-in from the Massey website, I have had no problem using it. I haven't had any issues with compatibility on this computer or with the plug-in. The manual can be downloaded from the website and has not been necessary at this point, but also is informative for somebody who, for whatever reason, didn't know how to use the plug-in. The setup of this plug-in only took a few minutes of time and had no hiccups or problems. The functions of this plug-in are easy as any I've seen.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

This software works fine with my setup. I have a Macbook Pro with 4 GB of RAM. I've never had this plug-in slow down my system, or mess up the session I was working with. I haven't had much of a problem with the performance, so I'd say the performance has been stellar. I've been using it for a few months now but I use it quite a bit.

OVERALL OPINION

I think that this plug-in is a god-send to people who tend to prefer the sound of analog tape, but don't like working in that medium, as digital is a much easier format to work in. It is a great plug-in to give everything a warmer sound overall. If you can't use tube mics, tube mic pres, or ribbon mics in the studio, and you need to capture that warmth, this application is a great choice. It is really easy to use, just has two knobs, drive and trim, and a switch to go from normal, to medium, to bright, which will change the quality of the effect. It overall works mostly as a compressor or saturator, and it is a great thing to apply to everything from drums to guitars to vocals if they are feeling a little cold to you. It can control the amount of compression and saturation you can control easily, all while using only two knobs and a switch. Highly recommended for all engineers, it's very useful.

The whole process of installing the Massey Plugins Tapehead Saturation plug-in was quick and pain free.  While I don't own the full version of this plug-in, there is an almost full functional plug-in available on their website which I have.  The only limitations are that you cannot save your settings and they will reset each time you open a session.  You also can't use automation or anything like that, but you can print with the effect and use it for an unlimited amount of time.  After downloading the plug-in from their site, it only took a few minutes to get everything going and I was using the plug-in in Pro Tools in no time.  I didn't have any compatibility issues or any other problems really - while installing it or after.  The interface of the software couldn't be any easier to use as it simply has two knobs - one for drive and one for trim and a switch to choose between normal and bright tone.  On the full version of the plug-in there is also a setting for medium on this switch.  Everything is really easy to follow with this plug-in (like all Massey plugs) and for this reason a manual isn't necessary.


SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I am currently running the Massey Plugins Tapehead Saturation plug-in on a Mac Book Pro that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM.  I run the plug-in in Pro Tools LE 7.4, but have also run it on a Pro Tools HD system.  It doesn't seem to matter which system I run it on as it seems to work great on both the Pro Tools LE and HD systems.  I am able to run a few of them at a time if I want, and I'm sure you could have a ton of them up at once but I've never had a need to try that.  It won't take up too much processing power at all, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to run a lot of them at a time if needed.

OVERALL OPINION

I've only be using the Massey Plugins Tapehead Saturation plug-in for a short while, but I feel I've been using it a lot in that time because I really like the way this plug-in sounds!  I don't use it all of the time or on everything, but whenever I feel that I need to warm up a sound and there is nothing else I can do outside of the box, I turn to this plug-in for inside the box tape saturation.  I've used the plug-in on vocals, drums, and bass guitar and it seems to work great on all of them.  I would suggest not expecting this plug to transform your dry digital signal into a warm analog one, but it will indeed help if you need to bulk up a tone a bit.  The best part about this plug-in is that you can try the whole thing for free and that the price for the full version is incredibly cheap!  Overall, the Massey Plugins Tapehead Saturation plug-in is a great plug-in that I would highly recommend all home studio owners to look into as a cheap but great sounding plug-in.