Tapewave by Wave Alchemy is a cassette tape emulation plug-in with 6 tape models of cassette tapes and cassette machines. Now 57% off at $25.

  

Tapewave by Wave Alchemy is a cassette tape emulation plug-in with  6 tape models of  cassette tapes and cassette machines. Now 57% off at $25.

Introducing Tapewave - a versatile tape plug-in that effortlessly blends the crisp tones of analog tape with the nostalgic charm of old lo-fi cassettes.

Six unique tape styles with authentic wow and flutter modulation, lush tape saturation, vibey analog compression, and adjustable tape aging control deliver the perfect balance of warmth and grit to take your mixes on a journey through time.

Cassette Character

Cassette tapes have a unique character that sets them apart from the high-fidelity studio machines made famous by Studer and Ampex. For decades, countless records (and many still do) have used cassettes for their unique saturation, modulation, compression, and EQ effects.

With Tapewave, Wave Alchemy meticulously analyzed your favorite cassette machine to faithfully recreate its unique sound and character. Rather than relying on simple saturation and basic pitch modulation like many other plugins, we dug deeper to capture the true, complex nuances of real cassette tapes.

With just a few intuitive controls, you can easily tweak anything from subtle warmth to a lo-fi, degraded tape texture, delivering an authentic cassette experience right inside your DAW.

Have fun playing

Tapewave makes it easy, fast, and fun to recreate the authentic sound of cassette tapes. Each of the six different tape styles features an animated visual aesthetic to match.

The clean, streamlined interface makes it easy to shape your own sound, letting you be creative without distractions.

Six different tape styles

Tape switching is one of the easiest ways to achieve different sounds when recording to cassette. Some tapes sound darker, some grittier, some cleaner, or completely lo-fi.

Tapewave delivers on this experience by offering six different tape styles, each with an instantly recognizable character. Plus, the Age control lets you push each tape style even further, varying the sound from pristine to completely worn, capturing the full range of cassette degradation.

Squash like a cassette tape

Many cassette recorders had built-in compressors that were ruthlessly aggressive and easily compressed transients. Tapewave takes inspiration from this, offering two powerful compression modes, one of which is Loc Mode, a detailed emulation of the legendary Shure Level Loc.

Whether you want to compress drums vigorously or subtly tame transients, you can easily dial in the perfect amount. Plus, you can instantly audition the compression before or after tape processing for maximum flexibility.

Wow & Flutter

Anyone who has used a real cassette tape knows the magic of the unpredictable and fascinating pitch fluctuations known as wow and flutter. In the past, manufacturers worked hard to eliminate these irregularities; otherwise, they were very difficult to work with, as you would experience peak pitch modulation just before your equipment broke down and needed repairs.

Most plugins that claim to emulate wow and flutter rely on simple LFOs, but some go a step further by recreating random fluctuations that mimic the way analog tape really works. Best of all, unlike a real tape deck, you can control exactly how much wow and flutter you want, without the risk of your machine suddenly breaking down.

Dial in the Drive

One of the best things about using a cassette recorder is the unique, characteristic saturation that overdrive gives you.

Our advanced saturation circuit recreates the warm analog drive you love while eliminating digital artifacts like aliasing. With 16x oversampling, Tapewave delivers a smooth, analog-like sound in your final mix. Plus, you can easily switch between Standard and Efficiency modes to save CPU without sacrificing quality.

Unlike other plugins that rely on basic waveform shaping and soft clipping, Tapewave's tape saturation is faithfully modeled after real tape machines for an authentic sound experience.

Features

Experience the authentic sound of cassette tapes with a simple, easy-to-use plugin

Add life, soul, and warmth to your digital mix

Six unique tape styles, each with their own unique characteristics. From clean and punchy to dark and gritty to lo-fi.

Tapeage captures a wide range of tape aging, seamlessly controlling any tape style from new to worn.

Meticulously modeled analog tape saturation circuitry

Two analog-style compression modes (including a vibrating Shure Level Loc emulation) let you squash transients and tame dynamics with ease.

Faithfully recreates the erratic pitch behavior typical of old analog tape

Creative wow and flutter engine for realistic pitch fluctuations. Features stable cosine curve modulation and a custom-tuned Perlin noise generator for authentic pitch wobble.

Ingenious drift control for even more erratic wow and flutter

Switchable tape hiss circuit

Punchy output maximizer for extra volume

Up to 16x oversampling for smooth, alias-free operation

Internal preset browser with search, tags and favorites

100 ready-to-produce presets

Resizable high-resolution UI

Undo and redo parameter changes

Available as VST3, AU, AAX on macOS and Windows

Apple Silicon native on macOS

System requirements

VST/AU/AAX plug-in for macOS and Windows (both 64-bit)

Apple Silicon native for VST3, AU, AAX on macOS

Until 31th July.

Tapewave