SuperflyDSP offers Lost-Tapes, a lofi tape emulation plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Although Lost-Tapes is based on tape emulation, the developer clarifies that it’s not intended to replicate any specific hardware model.
We see a lot of tape emulation and lofi plugins, and I can imagine it’s overkill for some people. I don’t get tired of seeing new ones appear and tend to have favorites for particular instruments or sounds.
Lost-Tapes has a real retro look to match the old-school sound it delivers.
It features four tape types, Broken, Lost-Tape, Old-Tape, and New.
The resizable GUI has just a few simple controls starting with the Depth and Rate knobs. Between Depth and Rate, you’ll find the Noise slider and Crunch button.
The Depth knob sets the amount of the tape effect, and the Rate knob increases the flutter frequency. These two controls provide a wide range of tape effects, from the most subtle vintage feel to a completely wonky sound. Engaging the Crunch button will add more harmonic distortion, and the Noise slider increases the noise volume.
The bottom half of the interface has Mix and Artifact sliders that can fine-tune the effect further.
Pushing the Artifact slider will add a glitchy character to the sound and increase distortion. The Mix slider is a simple balance between the dry and wet signal, but it’s great when you want to keep more of the dry signal’s accurate pitch. The right mix will produce a chorus-like effect.
The last function to mention is Stereo Mode, which is ideal for any sound you want to give extra width.
Lost-Tapes comes with some factory presets suitable for various instruments.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned in previous articles that one of my favorite lofi plugins is FLAW by Tritik, but I’ll repeat it for anyone who hasn’t tried it yet. You can also check out the BPB Saturator for some more tube/tape sounds.
Lost-Tapes is available in AU and VST3 formats for macOS (Intel only), Windows (7/8/10/11), and Linux (64-bit).
Download: Lost-Tapes
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