Voxengo CRTIV Tape Bus

Slick GUI, variety of settings, great sound, competitive price.  I honestly couldn't have asked for more.  Here's a quick review.

- What I like:

All Voxengo plugins have signature GUI which is very convenient and modern-looking, plus it allows me to quickly and easily find and adjust settings on different Voxengo plugins without the need to readapt to another GUI.  I consider it a huge advantage over many other developers who simply copy hardware interface with rust and screws and all, without adapting it to "modern world".

Sound-wise it's also great and flexible, nothing to add here.

- What I'd add to this plugin:

Visual representation of tape EQs which are available in this plugin.  It can be like a floating window when you scroll between impulse modes, just to get a basic idea of what different modes do (I know it's displayed in the manual, but it would still be a nice addition, I think).

After a phase of trying other plugins, mostly analog emulations, by other makers, I once again have to commend Voxengo for the quality of their plugins.

If you want a compressor that can tame the peaks of a vocal while giving it a polished sheen, I highly recommend Deft Compressor.

For giving warmth to vocals?  Or a bass compressor that (in my opinion) works much better than most LA2A emulations?  Use Crunchessor.  I use the 2A preset to keep the levels of bass tracks consistent without sounding squeezed (something I often hear from LA2A plugins).

Deft Compressor going into Crunchessor is my preferred version of "1176 to LA2A", that is, a fast attack compressor going into a smoother attack compressor.

I still highly prefer CRTIV Tape Bus compared to other tape plugins I have if I want to keep an open high-end sound to the track.  It's really good at keeping the punch and transients on the master bus while improving the crest factor (push the record gain).

I have to say that Warmifier is great since unlike other saturation plugins, it's not easy to overdo the amount of saturation.  It's super subtle, and these days I find that using too much saturation has a blurring effect on tracks.

Sobor is just unbelievably good.  You have to try it.

Voxengo is just really good DSP - high quality digital - without the mask or crutch of trying to emulate old, classic analog gear.  There are a handful of small devs like that, and just like Voxengo I highly suggest you try them out.

I just want to say thank you for making amazing plugins.  All of your plugins sound great, are easy to use, and offer so many features providing ease of use, but also provide deep customization.  This is no small feat..especially coming from one person!

Thank you for your dedication to providing great sounding plugins.