Being a bitch about someone on KZfaq reviewing your poorly designed product will make me stay away even if they manage to 100% clone tape digitally.

We don't want you to stay positive... we want you to be real

You should totally review the Harrison Mixbus! I feel like there’s no good honest reviews of that DAW

Just Remeber don't unlist the videos after you upload them. Just keep them up if you get hate so what. If you know you are being 100% then that's all that matter forget the hate because you got those that care about your videos and the time you put into them.

Once again, that was a clear and honest review. (I own almost all Acustica Audio products and I would never hate you, even if I was a little bit sad from your videos about Viridian). Cheers my friend!!

Totally agree, its awesome and i bought it in pre-order in spite of the user interface, thing is for me, i only use the more linear vanilla and just drives it for warmth and glue, subtle but it really adds vibe and subtle "long term" interest in the sounds, more alive sounding

I love Acustica Audio gear, including Taupe. I also really love Acustica Audio interfaces, but maybe that's because I'm old school and like hardware, knobs, dials, switches, meters, paint, metal etc.

You have a personality not a disorder....... We love you for it :) and most of us love your great/helpful reviews too .

Freedom of speech and detailed (honest) reviews is what makes me watch your videos. Keep it up Wytse 😎👍

Me personally loves the Acustica Audio plug-ins. I’ve purchased 6 of them and use them in every project. El Rey on vocals and bass can’t be matched anywhere

“They make proper snake oil” 😂😂😂😂😂😂

I love your honest, praticalit and logical approach dude. don't ever change your videos have been very helpful with an honest approach. Everybody is trying to sell shit all the time and you just say it the way it is. Kepp on rockin!

From the "unofficial list's" description for Taupe "Taupe (13) - The tape collection with some EQs/compressors thrown in the mix. EQ A - MCI JH-500 EQ B - MCI JH-600 EQ C - Studer 900 Compressor/Limiter: Studer 900 The Tape Machines (thank you, Tsykhra) Usage suggestions thanks to Le Man. Group A 0 - Ampex MM1200, 15 IPS mono (great for rock and pop music) 1 - Ampex MM1200, 30 IPS mono (great for rock and pop music) 2 - Ampex 351, 15 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape) 3 - Ampex 351, 30 IPS Stereo (tube pre, no tape) 4 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 15 IPS 5 - EMI TR-50, Dual Mono 15 IPS 6 - EMI TR-50, Stereo 30 IPS 7 - EMI TR-50, dual mono 30 IPS 8 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 15 IPS 9 - MCI JH-110, Stereo 30 IPS Group B 0 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 15 IPS 1 - MCI JH-110, Dual Mono at 30 IPS 2 - MCI JH-24, mono at 15 IPS (useful on rap, dance and club music) 3 - MCI JH-24, mono at 30 IPS (useful on rap, dance and club music) 4 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (NAB) 5 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 15 IPS (IEC) 6 - MCI JH-110 (8 track), mono at 30 IPS (IEC) 7 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 15 IPS (go to for pop and R&B genres) 8 - Otari MTR-90, mono at 30 IPS (go to for pop and R&B genres) 9 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 15 IPS Group C 0 - Otari MTR-100, mono at 30 IPS 1 - Studer A820, stereo at 15 IPS (C1 to C4 are great all around mix down choices) 2 - Studer A820, stereo at 30 IPS 3 - Studer A820, dual mono at 15 IPS 4 - Studer A820, dual mono at 30 IPS 5 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 15 IPS 6 - Soundcraft Saturn 824, mono at 30 IPS 7 - ReVox A77, stereo at 7.5 IPS (IEC) 8 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (IEC) 9 - ReVox A77, dual mono at 7.5 IPS (NAB) (lots of home studio musicians used A77 machines over the years) Group D 0 - ReVox A700, dual mono at 15 IPS (semi pro tape machine of choice) 1 - ReVox PR900, stereo at 15 IPS 2 - Nagra IV, stereo (no speed given) 3 - Aiwa AD-F850, stereo cassette 4 - Aiwa Excelia XK-009, stereo cassette (perhaps the best cassette machine ever made) 5 - TEAC A-860, stereo cassette 6 - Wollensak (3M), stereo cassette deck. (No tape) 7 - AKAI 1710 (reel to reel, no tape) 8 - Sony PCM-7040 (digital, no tape) 9 - Alesis ADAT-XT20 (20-bit digital, no tape) Pro tip: Click the ECONO button to preserve transients. This is very useful on electronic mixes." So it's definitely for gear nerds. :) Keep up the good work. Don't lose your passion for what you do here. It's always good stuff!

Companies should take insight on other peoples perspectives instead of just taking it as hate. It helps them and you as a consumer. Nice video. 👌

I'm a doctor. You're fine, you can make more snake-oil videos.

You're doing what we all need to do. We need to stay critical and evaluate products from what they add to our toolboxes, how they fit into our workflows. Very good review yet again!

You only get hate because you speak the truth and what you think is right. Keep doing that. Every companies only aim is to take our money. Its nice to have people like you that tell us if the product has any actually value.

You're totally right about the screws. I mean, it could fall down at any moment.

This product is ridiculously good as far as tape emulation. A google search will inform the user of which presets accurately represent which tape machine models. Heck, don't like the looks? I can't hear the display....

Great video as usual. Thorough and straight to the point. These GUI's always make me think, what are you trying to distract me from or make be 'believe' is happening... when it's not.

For me this is one of my favourite AA plugins ever.Not exatcly like a "real" tape but I really love it. Yes, I can take this special taste and add it to some drum tracks and other instruments. I really love it. Thanks for this review!!!!Have a nice young man!!!

If you load the Taupe Tape plugin by itself without the EQ and compressor modules, the preset lists all the different machine names and you are able to just click and choose without using the buttons. When you did the review you opened the full strip and that is why it listed actual presets. I like your reviews but sometimes you jump to conclusions too fast and throw folks off. If you are going to be a source of information at least be accurate. There is enough misleading information surrounding us.

the taupe compressor is crazy

"Subtle and on spot" is actually the biggest compliment possible. They claim to accurately model the sound of the sampled devices, not so create super flexible plugins.

A bit late to the party, but I love it. The problem is that they can't use the names of the machines they emulated, but online you can find the list. Studers, Ampex etc..

keep doing what you are doing man, you are creating some amazing content! had me hooked for a few weeks.

Hate + personal attacks usually = anger at someone making a good point.

Well done giving an unbiased review Wytse! Thank you!

Cool! I own almost all Acustica Audio plugins and I love most of them. I use their preamps the most, EQ's are great and the compressors are starting to get really good. All their stuff gets better and better. I think Taupe is great for nudging a track a little bit towards where you want to go, it's great with all the different flavours.

Just to tell you, your opinion is the reason behind your channel. Keep at it because your approach to being true to YOUR ears and understanding is unique and not filtered. People can actually come here and get an observational understanding of what you're covering. Whether your opinion matters or not is for everybody else to think for themselves but AT LEAST you have an opinion and you attempt to make an honest critique. Everybody has the intellect (least I hope) to judge the product themselves. Keep at it son!

I use Taupe as a clipper : you can easily cut 5 or 6 db in a very musical way and without artifact by pushing that input knob and obtain a kind of fatter crushed transient. My preference goes to A0 + A1 or D0 for the job. One of the best solution for clipping, I was surprised beacause this is finaly a go-to clipper especialy for snare, or vocal peaks. For a more "tape feel" I vastely prefer IK Tapes, it generate some movements and breath I would say. Taupe is totally "static" in comparaison, and don't really sounds like a tape machine.

Only truth receives hate. That's why hate is good. People that don't get hate have nothing meaningful to say. Keep on giving your opinions with honesty, it's wonderful to watch, no matter what.

I bought this after watching when it was new, it has definitely been useful. I have bought a few of their other plugins since, and some are more useful than others. Sand I love the EQs, Navy not so much. Their products are very unique each. Only thing is, the descriptions are always vague unless you read the manual.

UI's are definetly user preference. I like UA's plugs because they look like the old hardware that I used for so many years. I personally owned most of the UREI and Teletronix hardware devices so the UI may be snake oil but I like it. The cool thing about plugins is you can use so many instances on different tracks and the hardware is one device per track. Wonderful world audio engineers live in today.

9:35 That's it, I'm subscribing.

lmao I randomly found this channel doing my daily learning and you're definitely always on to something, appreciate the critiques

If you want specifically tape you need to use the Taupe Tape plugin and that will make it much easier for you..and that's when tape presets show up try it all bro acoustica audio comes with many plugins in one plugin

So funny! Brilliantly careful with your word choices! Keep it up! I’d love to see you do Diamond and Purple.

Here’s my understanding of how Acustica Audio plugins work overall. They take an impulse response of each incremental setting, of each combination of incremental settings, and every time you change something even a tiny bit a whole new impulse response of the new total combination is loaded. This gets you as close as possible to the real unit modeled/sampled/whatever. Everyone else comes up with a complex formula instead, which allows for smoothly sweeping through parameters with approximations instead of hitting what the unit really does at any specific combination of settings. Changing a setting on an AA plug normally means there is a brief delay while, effectively, a new plugin is loaded (a new impulse response). Combine this with high storage, RAM, and CPU demands and many people reject AA in spite of their superior dead-on analog sound.

Please keep being honest and never change your personality, keep calm man, We Got Your BACKKKKKKK

Keep making videos with integrity!Thanks for the test!

Dude....45k subs! good work my friend!

First couple of videos I thought “this guy is a hater” and thought it was really annoying, but the I understood the logical perspective of the reviews and how objective you are with most of the stuff... shortly after I got hooked on the channel. Keep it up, accent and all, you provide a lot of value.

@5:48 lol, I love this guy! 🤣 Keep up the good work!

I’m not a fan of acustica plugins, I 99% of the time advocate against them... but I can’t lie and say taupe isn’t a great plugin. Maybe shouldn’t be commenting before I watch the video... but just wanted to say I’m a big fan of taupe... now time to watch the video lol.

a comment on 3:28 ; I don't know where this guy was in the 90s, but the studios he's describing indeed had their own sound, recording on tape and all, and it was C.R.A.P . I still have my old demos. They sound like shit compared to what I record now in my home studio. This is just romanticizing the past.

Great review ! Thanks. Continue To be honest with yourself ! :p That's the reason number 1 why I'm following you.

convolution isn't sample based. it's when you take the recording of how a sound behaves when it's put through a room or component, and then digitally replicate that behavior, for example how the reverb in a room would react to any given noise or how a guitar might sound through a given tube.

Good Review, and good for you to not listening to us fanboys! Keep going and being honest. here's what the settings are

This is a honest review with no bs

Keep on being you my man!

Man...Im using this to master my Album...and I can tell you, your off on this one...this is hands down the best tape plugin.....just gota have 32gb of ram with i7 on an SSD......you just change from A, B,C,D and choose different numbers in between and it even has a drop down box....if you wanna search for options the other way...dude...this a very easy plugin to use.....and sound the best in the DAW as far as Tape...that even sounds better than UAD and IK Media tapes......the saturation is smoother and more stable....

Listen I dont care what anyone says, I have watched a lot of your videos and I find you have a discerning ear for sound, and how to massage it to come to life in a mix....you intuitively understand what is there and what is missing and how to get it where it needs to be for an exceptional listening experience. This is not something everyone can learn, its a gift and you have it... Having said that... I am a stickler for UI (user interphase) as an Engineer that builds systems in manufacturing that real people have to use I understand that "user friendly" is not a theory, its a necessity. When I pick something up... I will use something that feels intuitive and fun, and gets the idea thats in my head into my ear the fastest.... in turn I will reject a clunky user experience. Analog equipment is designed for tactile use mostly with fingers and knobs, and for those I like that feel... In the box though I use a mouse and keyboard and a monitor (& perhaps a tactile surface) so having a thing that looks cool as looking like real analog gear at first seems impressive, but then when the workflow begins I get frustrated with nobs and toggles etc. So I think companies like Fabfilter and Izotope are studying this and coming up with really nice UI as a result. Sure there are others but those two stand out. I also like Airwindows plugins for their simple elegance... Your doing great work brother! keep up the great work and the excellent videos ... !!

The interfaces are all 3d renders made in Octane, this has been up in the group, they told the users a little bit about it. I dont think so much it is the program, but the guy who makes them. He has some pretty good skills. But yeah, this one is not the best, but Pink3 and Gold2 looks awesome, imo.

yay a new video

That sigh in the end :D

I love your personality, you are very passionate about what you do

DW . There are some of us here that like and appreciate your reviews..Just smile and keep up the good work.On this world there are too much petty idiots to worry about them!

Stay true to your feelings. Thats why I love this channel.

Egg cartons do burn, but I started studying acoustics around 1980 and the first thing I learned is that egg cartons destroy your rooms frequency response by throwing it out of balance absorbing only a narrow band in the high end so every thing sounds too bass-mid and there is no air at all. Just thought you might want to know that. And yes, your insurance company would have an out if you used them and your studio burned to the ground, you would get zip for it. Their private motto is "we insure against accidents, not stupidity." I actually heard a few insurance adjusters say that to customers. And thanks for the information, it's good to see someone use this gear live during a review so we can actually hear it. And even though you use Sand Storm most of the time, that only gives me a reference I can relate to so good job. And wash your hands, and stay inside!

I’ve never used that plug-in but I agree with you 100%. As soon as I saw the user interface I was immediately turned off to it, because it just looks like hours of tweaking to even get familiar with it, and I just want something simple and easy so I can go about being creative. That’s why I love the True Iron plug-in. Simple interface, and it sounds great immediately.

ToTape5, IronOxide5/Classic and FromTape are all the tape simulators i'll ever need... - fair play for remaining honest, a rare thing among such channels -

Acustica Audio...hands down...best plugins out there for people who dont have $50,000 to spend on a studio....I've got analog gear...but...Acustica Audio and Nebula with my Analog Gear, as for as Hybrid Mixing and Mastering has taken me up on a whole new level.......Spend $300-$400 upgrading your computer or labtop so you can use AA...its worth it.....

can you say something about "pro vla II compressor ? rack mounted hardware by "ART"? THANKS

I tested Taupe on a drum bus a couple of nights ago and was blown away by how easy it was to get the exact warmth and punch I was looking for. I also love the lofi effects. The preset management is kind of terrible and I completely agree with what you said about the interface. It is too clunky and non intuitive. The tape sounds overall are amazing and I will use it just for that.

You are doing fine honesty is what it is supposed to be if a company has to defend it self or even lash out that doesn't say much about customer service it sounds more like arrogance

Would you consider this to work the same as Reasons Audiomatic Retro Transformer?

Haters are gonna hate. That's what they do, so just let them hate. ...and honesty is definitely the best personality disorder. Keep doing what you do.

Finally reviewing this!! Lol Thanks.. Didnt watch it yet but I always respect opinions, good or bad..

Thanks Wytse great review and saved us some money. I Love your channel.

Love your Snake Oil vids - bloody excellent that someone is out there cutting through some of the bullshit and hyperbole. I'd love to see a list of all the plugs that you DON'T consider to be Snake Oil - I think it would be a great resource for potential buyers to check out. Keep up the good work Wytse!

Excellent video

What tape/vinyl saturation plugins do people recommend? I've used Waves Abbey Road Vinyl, Abbey Road J37 Tape and Kramer Master Tape recently and I liked them.

Bro, you just asked for a Decapitator. Thumbs up

I confess I've bought quite a lot of Acustica software, but I remain puzzled by the brand. I think the interfaces are impressive but very difficult to use unless you have broad experience with the related analog gear, which I don't. About three quarters of the time when I try to dial in something with one of their plugins I just can't hear any difference at all in the sound. I started a thread in the Reaper forum about Acustica software, and got a very wide mix of replies. Some people have come to the same conclusion as White Sea, and others tell me that Acustica is all they ever use. I find myself doing things like null experiments with some of their products to see if anything is happening at all. And I have to ask myself, "If I have to do that, is this really the product I want to use." I'm sort of hoping that some day the scales will dramatically fall from my eyes, and I will just love all the Acustica stuff. But not yet.

Wish I found you a while ago bro! Love your opinions

I love my Acustica plugs but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna hate on anyone who doesn’t like them. Always interested to hear what you have to say. I don’t have taupe by the way.

Good work. Stay positive!

the eq on taupe is really good

I don't always agree with you, but I love your honesty. Subscribed :)

It actually sounds surprisingly good! My solution for a simple tape-like effect, that works very quickly & can go on every channel and the master buss... Airwindows FromTape, and then one of his buss/console/channel systems... maybe Desk after the console decoder (on master buss or group busses) & FromTape again, after that. Subtle, and pretty much always sounds good, within seconds.

let me tell you that I tested Acustica plugins now they have been cracked, and they really delivered. It provides a proper way for mastering ITB for once.

Usefulness of plugins tends to be inversely correlated to how much was spent on the graphic design. Same principle holds true for movies vs movie titles.

Totally agree! Acustica does a great job pushing the IR-sampling of gear, but they should make their UIs easier to use. I'm using some of their plug-ins and everytime I open them, I can't remember what button did what ;)

If I was after the "flavor" of a tape machine, I would know where I wanted to go - which characteristics I wanted to have, and hence which models. An interface with a set of anonymous switch banks says it all as far as I am concerned. Who has the time to flick through 40 options, and then try to remember that you liked C3, C5 and D4? You hit the nail on the head with the comments about options. Young engineers need to start with that, and consider RESTRICTING their options to become better engineers. Use your ears first and your plugins second!

Love your snake oil videos, do you plan to review Arturia's compressors and preamps ? They do a really good job on modeling vintage synths, so it might be a good experience

I’d check out their new snow plugin. It looks beautiful in terms of aesthetic but at least from what I’ve heard, it’s a interesting take on Neve I believe

yes..their plugins are processor hogs. they do preform very well in my hybrid mastering setup. great product..

Just got Taupe in a %70 off sale, downloading now! The genuine oil of the snake, looking forward to it ;-) The clean tape sound for my stereo out

For "subtle", we don't pronounce the b in english. It's like this : [sʌɾɫ̩] or [sʌˈtɫ̩]. [ɾ] being a 'tap' like a British person saying the /t/ in /water/. It almost sounds like a /d/. The /l/ becomes syllabic and the vowel is deleted [ʌ] is like the /u/ in /butt/. Nice video.

For a guy with a “ Personality Disorder” you’re pretty damn good. Thanks for another helpful video!

Keep keeping it reel!!! F em... Much respect for not taking the attack personal unlike how personal and emotionally they took your opinion and experience of their product.

Unfortunate that you didn't try the EQ. It's excellent. Agree that the interface could always be better. It's one of the main drawbacks of their plugins. They are extremely stubborn in this regard.

It would be really awesome if you could do a video of all your tops plugins with A/B comparisons on audio. I know you recommend the FabFilter bundle but I would be interested to see what plugins you have actually bought and use everyday (if any, lol)

VVKT is what Acustica uses to sample the gear. Diagonal Volterra series, Volterra kernel, etc. technology is evidently more completely able to represent gear than more common methods of convolution.

Review the FL studio plugins, lmao I'd love to see what you think of those like the fruity Compressor, Maximus and the EQ

The owners are pretty nice, but yeah, bit mad, very passionate. I thought the pink eq was really very good, apart from that, no comments. it's more advanced version of convolution.

Taupe is amazing, I love the sound of the emulations, use it in every mix. However, I must agree that the user interface sucks. I hate the presets buttons the way they are. It could've been so much better. What I did is search on forums for the correspondent models for each letter-number combination, and then saved my favourite ones. A PITA, but it works.

smart honest guy. I'm looking at the Acustica Audio Nebula 4 plugin, what's your take brother ?

I love their Ceil plugin that was free this February. I put it on most channels before consolidating for some final eq-ing and flavor