Wavesfactory goes retro with Cassette plug-in

Audio tools manufacturer Wavesfactory has released a brand new plug-in called Cassette. As the name suggests, it emulates the sound of vintage cassette tapes and decks. The plug-in was the result of extensive analysis of a large number of sound signals recorded into real tapes. Aspects of the medium such as frequency response, frequency-dependent saturation, high-frequency compression, hiss and asperity noise were all captured and are recreated with Cassette.

Going back in time

Compared to digital mediums, cassette tape carries an unmistakably quirky flavour due to its random fluctuations. It espouses playfulness over perfection and imparts a signature character to a recorded track.

The plug-in comes with four different cassette emulations based on different tape formulations used over the years:

• I: Features a ferric-oxide coating that first appeared in the 1960s.
• II: A chromium dioxide formulation that yields an increase in high-frequency response.
• III: Short-lived example that existed between the mid-70s and early 80s.
• IV: Firmer bass frequencies and louder treble frequencies are the result of the metal formulation.

Meticulous modelling

As with analogue tape recordings, things like wow, flutter, random high-frequency loss, crosstalk between channels, stereo unbalances are also reproduced with these tape models. However, such randomness can be manipulated via the Stability and Artifacts settings on the digital panel. Cassette also uses oversampling to eliminate aliasing and works at a 192KHz sampling rate, internally.

Wavefactory Cassette is available at a special introductory price of €29 (reg. €59). Find out more at wavesfactory.com.