satin - Tape simulation

Tape simulation

129 €

Please be aware the Linux versions of our plug-ins are still considered beta. While the plug-ins are stable, we are not able to provide the same level of support for these products as we do for the macOS and Windows versions. Support is provided via the Linux and u-he communities on our forum.


Satin: Luscious tape machine

Nothing else quite sounds like tape. Satin puts the legacy of tape recording in your hands: from top-of-the-line multi-track consoles to humble cassette decks. All the good (saturation, transient smoothing, compression) as well as the bad (noise modulation, flutter, hiss) qualities are under your control. Construct your (im)perfect tape machine.


Satin in the spotlight…

Hover over the dots Dot to learn about Satin’s features

Satin UI UI
  • Lush analogue tape sound
  • Includes historical developments in tape technology
  • Control up to 8 instances of Satin at once using the Group panel
  • 5 popular noise reduction encoder / decoder models
  • Service panel: Controls for hiss, wow and flutter, bias, head gap, azimuth, saturation, high frequency compression and more
  • Modern or vintage tape material
  • Internal sample rate up to 384kHz
  • 5 circuit models for recording and reproduction EQs
  • Stereo delay mode (2 or 4 heads) with multiple-mono, cross or ping-pong routing
  • Tape flange mode with classic through-zero flanging
  • Adjustable tape speed from 1.87 to 30ips
  • Pre-emphasis and soft clipping options
  • Preset browser with search functions
  • NKS FX compatible
  • Resizable UI from 70% to 200%
  • Skinnable UI
  • 120+ factory presets

At the time we released our current plugin versions, Avid could not provide an AAX SDK that would let us build Universal Binary AAX plugins. For this reason, we currently cannot support Pro Tools for Mac. Pro Tools for Windows is still supported.

For the time being, macOS Pro Tools users who are not running the native Silicon version should use the previous versions of our plugins, available from the Release Archive.

We hope to start work on native Silicon AAX support this year, as soon as our tight schedule allows. No ETA can be quoted yet.

Sights and sounds

Once reserved for major studios, digital recording has become widespread. It offers pristine sound and comfortable editing at a fraction of the cost of multitrack tape. Despite all the advantages, however, digital audio can easily sound too clean and impersonal. So musicians, producers and audio engineers have turned to traditional analogue tools to bring some life back into overly clinical recordings. A world of non-linear behaviours, distortion, saturation and much more arises during tape recording and playback. Bringing these coveted characteristics of magnetic tape into the digital realm, in unprecedented quality—this is what Satin is all about.



Features

The sound

That tape sound depends on interaction between the various parts of a tape machine. Each contributes in one way or another—enhancing, reducing, combining—to generate the final sound.

Satin models individual components and lets them interact in the same way. For maximum flexibility in sound shaping, Satin is a toolkit of alternative parts, not an emulation of a single machine. Build your own custom tape unit. The perfect final sheen for your mixdown, or “glue” multiple drum tracks together, decode old NR-encoded cassette tape, or misuse Satin for extreme effects.

Satin's VU meters

Satin's VU meters

Delay and flange

After developing the components for a tape machine toolkit, our minds turned other popular tape-based machines. Delay and flange immediately jumped to mind.

In service

Imagine opening up a tape machine, peeking “under the hood” and tinkering with the parts. That is what service technicians used to do, and it is what the Service Panel in Satin is for. It gives you detailed control over some of the more esoteric and characterful elements.

In the Tape section are perhaps the more readily identifiable attributes of tape recording: hiss, asperity, wow & flutter, crosstalk and bias. Dial in a little of each for a retro vibe or “glue”. Dial in the extreme settings and you can end up with the sound of poor quality tape left in someone’s basement far too long.

Satin's Service panel

Service Panel

The Repro Head(s) parameters control the physical attributes of the tape heads. With Gap Width and Bump you can cut or boost certain frequencies and introduce resonances and fluctuations. Azimuth pushes the audio off-centre for interesting spatial effects, mimicking a skewed tape head.

Finally the Circuit section lets you change the inner EQ circuitry. Included are various industry standard EQ curves, should you want to mimic specific machines. But Satin goes a step further by allowing independent selection of the recording and reproduction EQ curves. Which you can abuse for weird processing effects, or to correct EQ errors in old recordings (see below).


 

Decoding

Selectable Compander and Circuit settings make Satin useful as a format converter.

If you have a tape recording with an unsuitable EQ, using Circuit’s independent RecEQ and ReproEQ selectors you can set a new target EQ curve and make changes. Similarly, Compander can handle audio recorded with specific noise reduction (NR) encodings. Just run it through Satin with Decoder set to match the known NR encoding type.


Configuration

  • Resizable GUI from 70% to 200%
  • MIDI learn page and editable list
  • Global preferences page

Modes

  • Studio mode: Control up to 8 instances of Satin at once using the Group panel
  • Stereo delay mode (2 or 4 heads) with multiple-mono, cross or ping-pong routing
  • Tape flange mode with classic through-zero flanging

Service Panel

Controls for hiss, wow and flutter, bias, head gap, azimuth, saturation, high frequency compression and more

Circuit

5 circuit models for recording and reproduction EQs (separately selectable): Flat, IEC 7.5ips, IEC 15ips, NAB, AES 30ips

Tape Speed

Adjustable tape speed from 1.87 to 30ips

Noise Reduction

5 popular noise reduction encoder / decoder models

Tape Type

Modern or vintage tape material

129 €

Download the demo and enter your serial number to unlock the full version. The demo version emits crackling sound at irregular intervals.

Satin 1.3.2 (revision 12092)
Released August 10, 2021
Release notes

* About Linux: Before purchasing, please be aware the Linux versions of our plug-ins are still considered beta. While the plug-ins are stable, we are not able to provide the same level of support for these products as we do for the macOS and Windows versions. Support is provided via the Linux and u-he communities on our forum Link.  

Requirements

Apple logo Mac OS X 10.10 or newer
or
Windows logo Windows 7 or newer
or
Linux logo Linux


  • Host software / DAW
  • 1GB RAM, more recommended
  • 1000 × 600 or larger display
  • 35-95 MB free disk space
  • Modern CPU required:
    Windows/Linux: Intel Nehalem or newer, AMD Bulldozer or newer
    Mac: Intel Nehalem or newer, Apple M1
  • Linux: glibc version 2.28 or newer

Formats

Satin is not a standalone product, it requires host software. Satin is compatible with nearly all DAWs.

macOS:
AUv2, VST2, VST3, 64-bit only
temporarily no AAX (read more)

Windows:
VST2, VST3, AAX*
32-/64-bit

* AAX requires Pro Tools 10.3.7 or later

NKS-ready
This product is Native Instruments NKS-ready and compatible with Maschine and Komplete Kontrol hardware.

VST compatible
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, registered in Europe and other countries.

User Guides


Satin user guide

Downloads for Satin

Try the latest builds of Satin, which include improvements and bug fixes. Note: these are stable, but still beta versions.

Older Satin installers are in our release archive (for legacy systems).

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