The king of sample-based analog tape plug-ins.

"I have so many good memories of the early 90s. Back in the day, I was an Italian electronic music producer. I had a small recording studio, in a small apartment acoustically treated with just polystyrene and egg cartons. The whole studio, with crappy acoustics and a pair of cheap monitors, was built around samplers and synthesizers, all driven by a simple computer with a midi interface. It took me almost thirty years to realize my dream to have the best possible instruments at my fingertips, and even though Acustica has become an ever-growing company and our creations are used at every level of audio production by some of the best producers on the planet, I felt the production process was incomplete, there was something missing, the most important piece of the puzzle.

At that time we had to fight with noise, limited editing possibilities and the disadvantages of using low-quality instruments, and yet the results sounded incredible! So musical! Why? Because tape machines were at the center of everything! Since then, I made it my mission to someday reproduce them in the digital domain, and to a standard that is now become typical of our products, using our exclusive sampling approach that has made our products popular with so many pros around the world.

With this plugin we have spared no expense, we spent sleepless nights striving for the best results, and we traveled thousands of miles to get our hands on the most beautiful devices on the planet.

Now I feel that my dream is completely and finally realized".

Giancarlo Del Sordo - CEO, Acustica Audio

Details

21 analog and digital tape machines - carefully sampled all around Europe - 40 finely crafted programs, 3 consoles, 2 compressors, a dedicated MIX control, authentic dynamic compression, real harmonic saturation, and more. It took us over 10,000 minutes of sampling time to craft Taupe. This is not just the regular analog tape emulation plugin. It goes above and beyond that, giving you the world's most powerful tool to finally embed the sonic signature of iconic, rare, and expensive stereo and multitrack tape machines into your creative workflow. Simply put, Taupe will take your whole conception of analog mixing and turn it ...upside down.

The past, present, and future of tape plug-ins.

We meticulously sampled machines from the late 50s up to the early 90s. All wonderfully maintained and calibrated. On top of this, we included the EQ section of 3 iconic American consoles from the 70s and 80s, plus 2 switchable compressors, all available as standalone modules too. Taupe has been developed from the ground up to put an end to your endless quest to find the best sounding tape plugin emulation.

MIX control. Dream Control!

This magic knob has nothing to do with the regular dry/wet knob found on most plugins.

It allows you to adjust the desired amount of ‘tape coloration’ - from 0 (preamp input signal) to 100% (tape signal) effectively blending the tonal characteristics of the machine's circuitry with or without the tape component. This is something totally new, never implemented in any other plugin before. Not only does this feature give you the same response of the sampled machines, but it allows you to explore new sonic territories not possible with hardware.

With Acustica, you are not just mixing in the box. You are mixing 'beyond the box', which is a new dimension we want you to continue exploring with us.

Real dynamic compression, harmonic saturation, and instant limiting

We get it. You want to ride the input-horse into saturation-ville. No worries. Just hit the tape hard and you will get the original compression and harmonic distortion as delivered by the original machines. The resulting effect can be as subtle as 0.5dBs of gentle compression or you can reach up to 6dBs of instant limiting! Transients will be gently rounded-out, beefed up, almost stretched, as only real machines can do. Well...and Taupe.

Don’t need the compression effect? The ECONO function disables the compression component of the tape, saving CPU resources for more obvious effects.

Taupe suite consists of 4 different plugins:

TAUPE Channel-strip (massive dreamware 6U rack unit channel-strip)

TAUPE TAPE (3U tape rack unit)

TAUPE EQ (3U rack juicy EQ section)

TAUPE COMP (Single rack unit compressor/limiter)

Each plug-in included in the Taupe suite comes in a “Standard” version and an alternative “ZL*” version which operates at *zero latency and is thus suitable for use when tracking, at the cost of extra processing resources.

Taupe is also currently available as an M4 Channel Strip for Quantica Audio's Modula system.





For details about the installation/authorization process please refer to this page

Technical Specs