Ampex® ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder
Customer Reviews
Ampex® ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder
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S. Hiestand
Mind-blowing analog heaven!
I recently purchased an Apollo Twin Quad and for one of my discounted plug-ins I picked the ATR-102. Being an old-school analog guy, it was an obvious choice. But...I'm always more than a bit skeptical with advertising, and after watching the promo video I said to myself "It can't be that good".
Well, it IS that good.
I've never been fortunate enough to use or see first-hand an ATR-102 in a studio, but I think I do know how to recognize "that sound" of music recorded with analog tape. I was frankly blown away and amazed at the difference once I threw this plug-in on my stereo out channel as I was finishing up my latest mix. Just wow! Grittier but "smoother", you'd never know your music was really just a bunch of 1's and 0's with this thing activated. As advertised, it really "glues" your mix together. I also purchased the Studer A800 so obviously that only adds to the overall improvement in sound. I cant speak to using the ATR-102 in "isolation" (I was too lazy to shut off all my Studer instances and listen) but I'll bet it's still awesome. Playing with the different tape speeds, tape types, bias etc. really gives you some nice variety of textures. The tough part is deciding which to finally pick, because they all have some great qualities.
If you value that old tape/analog sound, RUN, do not walk, and purchas this plug-in. It's worth every penny!
H. Cabrera
Siempre presente en mi sonido!
te da ese pegamento o no se que ,que nadie sabe explicar en el sonido de un tema, definitivamente lo uso y usare en cada mezcla, se volvio un basico de mi sonido, lo recomiendo ampliamente
A. Gasper
Superb
Absolutely amazing. It adds an indescribable character to any mix of any genre. Warm and beautiful with total control. Get it!
M. Buracchi
Ampex 102
fantastic, ampex sounds and brings you back to feel the analogue dough
W. Paluk
ATR-102 is awesome!!!
Have used other tape machine emulations but the minute I heard the UAD ATR I had to buy it. It’s now my go to tape plug-in on the 2 buss.
K. Smith
Indispensable!
I use this a lot. Tape flanging, delay, but most importantly on the mix buss. It really does sound like an ATR 102, the best sounding 2 track ever produced. The sound is so legit I check it to see if it ran out of tape yet (it never does).
D. Kuvalin
Best mix bus plug-in
This tape machine is the best sounding for finalise my mixes. It's a first UAD plug that I bought absolutely without a doubts. You just put it on mix bus and it's already rise my mix to a new level. Make some small settings and you done! Awesome analog sound with tape character! Just Awesome!
e. nedd
wooowwwwwww
this just adds the final touch to your mixes,...I really love it
R. DIAMOND
Magic
A very simple plugin to use yet makes a mix come alive.Adds some magic mojo that opens up a mix that eq or compression can not do,another winner
D. Wilson
Ampex Sound
The Ampex ATR-102 plugin is great for mastering. I really like the analog sound of the tape and the ease of use. I have been using the Ampex plugin on all my mixes since I got it.
J. GIBELY
excellent !!!
la meilleure émulation a bande sur le marché avec le studer a 800
H. Zimmerman
By far the best tape emulator
I have a huge range of tape emulation plugins, but this one is definitely at the number one position. Instant success when I use it to warm up an entire mix. So great to be able to run such an intricate plugin on a DSP. And I have yet to explore the gazillion possibilities of this baby.
P. Alves
Colorfull sounding emulation
One of the best tape emulations on the market!
Wide variety of vintage tones for buses, channels or mastering.
L. Colan
Take the time to experiment ... and use more than one ....!
I wasn't going to write a review, but now that I've owned this plugin for a few months I thought I'd reach out to those that don't own it and say this ... If you decide to demo this plugin with a view to buying it you'll only have 14 days to demo it (pleading phone calls aside etc etc). I would suggest lining up a bunch of tracks and then doing the following:
Check your levels - Don't send the tracks too hot to the Ampex .. leave yourself some headroom and this may mean that the defaults are running too hot to for your tunes to begin with. Working out where in your compression chain to place the Ampex is a matter of taste and program material. The manual suggests at the very end of the chain - I disagree.
Read the manual - understand that there are shades of colour all over the place on the GUI of this plugin .. from input gain to transformer, from EQ types to Bias settings .. don't write off what things like crosstalk etc can actually do .. the results are subtle BUT cumulative.
Spend a few days going back and forth between mixes - the different vibes that the Ampex can impart to your tunes is subtle BUT massive. It takes time to work out where the Ampex can take your tunes and those enhancements further.
Don't get too wound up by the Bias controls GUI when using a mouse etc etc .. THEY ARE DREADFUL ... BUT ... with a little practice zoning in on the control you'll be glad your not using a screw driver whilst crouched on the floor behind the machine in a different room from the Monitors ... you could almost forgive UAD for inflicting just a little of that pain.
It's a STUNNING piece of software and a massive achievement.
ENJOY.
D. Rouge
Amazing sound
Nice edge to bass and punchy saturation. Perfect on the mix bus!
D. Schoenfeld
Amazing
How did I do before buying this plugin? And why I bought only this only now. Coloring and warming the track in such a nice way and smooth way. Definitely my go to plugin for my mastering process. Congrats UA
P. Kostov
Mastering master
Using it on the whole mix or when i'm in mastering session it makes every sound to fit in place with specific contour - just what i needed! Especially extending the lowend!
J. McCormack
Personal favourite
Effects, mask, time travel, master, glue, buff, crush, destroy. Love it all
F. Blue
yea it's amazing...
well, i do have the waves abbey road one.. and a few others.. but.. it's just better. A lot better lol.
A. Martinez del Rio
That tape sound...
Everything just sounds better through the Ampex ...