Mastering Plug-ins

[VCM] Vintage Open Deck

Vintage Open Deck emulates the analog circuitry and tape characteristics of a legendary open reel tape recorder.
This plug-in consists of a recording deck and a reproduction deck, and there are four variations available for each.

Vintage Open Deck is a stereo effect. When it is added to a mono rack, only the left channel of the plug-in is used.

Selecting a Deck

The pop-up menus at the top of the plug-in panel allow you to specify the type of recording tape deck or reproduction tape deck to use. You can use the switch between the pop-up menus to select the source of the signal to monitor with the deck’s peak and VU meters.

Recording Deck Controls

The recording deck controls are on the left side of the plug-in.

RECORD: Adjusts the input level of the recording deck. Increasing the input level will increase the tape compression, narrowing the dynamic range and distorting the sound.
AUTO MAKEUP: When this is on, the [REPRODUCE] control settings are set to match the [RECORD] controls. This ensures that the overall output level is the same when you increase the input level of the recording deck. Therefore, you can control the distortion level without changing the output level.

ADJUST-HIGH: Adjusts the high-frequency gain of the recording deck.
BIAS: Adjusts the bias of the recording deck. This allows you to control the distortion level. Turning this control to the [LESS] side raises the signal level and boosts the high frequencies. Turning it to the [OVER] side narrows the dynamic range and causes high-frequency saturation.

Reproduction Deck Controls

The reproduction deck controls are on the right side of the plug-in panel.

REPRODUCE: Adjusts the output level of the reproduction deck.
ADJUST-HIGH: Adjusts the high-frequency gain of the reproduction deck.
ADJUST-LOW: Adjusts the low-frequency gain of the reproduction deck.

Deck Meters

Depending on the setting of the [RECORD/REPRO] switch, the meters in the center of the plug-in panel show the signal input to the recording deck or the signal output from the reproduction deck.
If this plug-in is added to a mono rack, only the top meter is used.

Adjusting the VU Meter Level

You can adjust the level assigned to 0VU on the meter. This is useful for more accurately monitoring very low level signals. Use the following procedure.
. Turn on the [VU ADJUST] button at the bottom left of the plug-in panel.
. In the meter section, use the [VU ADJUST] control to set the 0VU level.

Tape Parameters

The tape parameter controls are at the bottom of the plug-in.

SPEED: Allows you to set the tape speed. This parameter changes the sound characteristics of the tape head saturation. 30 ips (inches per second) provides better high-frequency response compared to 15 ips. 15 ips provides a rich low-frequency response.
TAPE KIND: This allows you to change the sound characteristics of the tape saturation.