"Warm"... the four-letter word.
Have you ever tried to make your digital audio workstation sound like a two-inch tape to console mix? I am guilty of trying to coax a tape sound out of a digital recording. I’ve tried with various plugins to put an analog feel on a digital sound and it can be a multiple plugin process with EQ, compression, aural enhancers and even an amp simulator.
The Magneto plugin from Steinberg is a one-step plugin that comes in VST and DX formats. It adds an analog vibe to digital recordings. The word, "magneto," caught my attention from my days of living in Montreal. "Magneto" is quite common in the French language. "Magnetophone" is what they call an analog tape machine. Is that where the name comes from?
There are five parameters for altering sounds on Magneto. First, for adjusting "Input" volume to respective levels on the VU meter, I usually aim for seeing some energy between three to 10dB on the input of the VU meters. This is a nice feature for something you may have already low in the mix.
Next is "Drive", which adds some tape saturation and compression. The "Drive" parameter generally brings out some pleasant and not so pleasant frequencies, so beware of its use and abuse. The "Drive" seems to really bring out the lower end as well as putting more bite into the attack. "HF - Adjust" seems to roll off or accentuate certain high frequencies. When reducing the "HF - Adjust," it seems to simulate the reduction of some odd harmonics or high frequency harshness. Traditional tape machines and tape saturation have a way of reducing odd harmonics or enhancing even harmonics.
The next parameter is the "Output" level adjustment. It gives you the ability to place an effected track at a desired spot in the mix. I found this to be the first weak spot of the plugin. "Output" is simply attenuation. I would have preferred the option of the "Output" level to be muted from the entire mix and left completely off. The final parameter and the second weak spot is "Tape Speed." This parameter had the least effect to my ears. Besides, if I had an unlimited supply of Ampex 456 tape, I’d leave any machine’s tape speed button glued to 30 inches per second.
What is good about this plugin is that it has a sound: Its own sound. Magneto does not in any way sound exactly like a Studer analog machine or a classic Scully either, but the Studer and Scully do not sound like each other anyway.
The Bottom Line: Uniqueness of sound, helps digital tracks gain an air of analog. Recommended.
Link relating to this review: Steinberg
Marc Gosselin is a member of The Butterfly Effect and is a recording engineer from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
