Analog Tape Series

TapeZoo

A passive tape emulator. Depth, glue and harmonic warmth — with the electronics taken out of the signal path.

VST3AUAAXmacOSWindows
incl. 3 activations
Loved by producers — read reviews
TapeZoo plugin interface — cream vintage faceplate with VU meter, Bias, Spatial, Ceiling and Enhance controls

See it in action

Walkthrough & demos

Overview & walkthrough

In-session demo

Sound examples

“Very cool! Love what it does for bass!”

John Wilkinson

“I have so many tape simulators, but this does something noticeably different.”

Charlie

“Sounds good and can go from subtle to quite colored. Sounds excellent!”

Analog & Olaf T.

Why passive

Tape didn’t sound good because of extra circuitry. It sounded good because of what the medium itself did to your signal.

TapeZoo models the passive behavior of magnetic tape — saturation, compression and head-bump — without emulating the active electronics around it. The result is rich harmonic texture and dynamic depth that stays natural at any drive level.

Transients smooth out organically. Kick, bass and subs glue together. Digital top-end softens — without ever sounding processed.

Vintage reel-to-reel tape deck

Hear the difference

Before and after, on real material

Full playlist of A/B examples — drums, vocals, bass and mix bus.

What's inside

Four machines. Four tones.
One honest sound.

Tape machine and mixing console in a dark studio

Tape models & tone profiles

Four tape characters crossed with four tone voicings — sixteen starting points, from mastering-grade polish to full cassette nostalgia.

CleanWarmRichDark FlatMasterStudioCassette
Hand adjusting faders on a recording console

Spatial processing

Crosstalk bleeds a touch of each channel into the other, the way real tape heads do. Aura adds the subtle spatial bloom of playback in a room.

DAW session on dual monitors in a dark control room

Ultra-X 192kHz models

A second set of models captured at 192kHz for mix bus, stems and mastering — higher resolution, lower aliasing, the same passive character.

TapeZoo control panel detail — Spatial, Ceiling, Enhance and Tone controls

Complete control

Bias shifts the saturation sweet-spot, Ceiling sets how hard the tape pushes back, Enhance restores presence — with trims and filters to finish.

BiasCeilingEnhanceI/O TrimHP / LP Filters
Engineer working at a vintage console with outboard gear

In session

Set it, and mix into it

Producers run TapeZoo where a tape machine used to sit: across the drum bus, on the 2-bus, or on anything that arrived too clean. Pick a tape, nudge the bias, and the mix starts sounding finished.

Laptop running Tone Empire plugins in a DAW session

Everywhere you work

VST3 · AU · AAX,
Apple Silicon native

Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, FL Studio, Reaper, Bitwig — macOS Mojave and up, Windows 10 and up. One license, three activations, so your laptop and studio rig are both covered.

Where it shines

Built for every source

Vocalist recording in a booth

Vocals

Presence and body without sibilant harshness.

Drummer playing in warm club light

Drums & percussion

Rounded transients, punch that sits in the pocket.

Hands playing bass guitar

Bass & synths

Low-end weight and harmonic thickness.

Keyboardist playing stacked keyboards

Guitars & keys

Vintage tonal balance on any DI or amp.

Warm wooden control room with console

Mix bus

The glue pass that makes a mix feel like a record.

Vintage outboard rack with VU meters

Mastering — Ultra-X

192kHz models for critical, low-aliasing work.

Specifications

The fine print

FormatsVST3, AU, AAX — 64-bit
macOSMojave 10.14 and later · Apple Silicon & Intel
WindowsWindows 10 and later · Intel i5+ / AMD Athlon 64+
Memory2 GB RAM · 300 MB disk space
DAWsLogic Pro, Pro Tools 12+, Ableton Live 11+, Cubase, Studio One, FL Studio, Reaper, Bitwig
License3 activations per license
Trial15-day full version, no feature limits
UpdatesFree updates for the life of the product

Try before you buy

The demo is the full plugin for 15 days — mix with it, bounce with it, decide with your ears.

Three activations

Studio, laptop and one to spare. No dongles, no subscriptions.

Instant delivery

License and installers arrive by email the moment checkout completes.

TapeZoo gorilla mascot

Put tape back in the chain