Rupert Neve Designs 542 Tape Emulator

TAPE INPUT
Sends the signal through the “True Tape” circuit, which is influenced by the controls for saturation, crossfade and 15 / 30 IPS.

TRIM
Enables a level adjustment of +/- 12 dB for the input signal before the tape circuit.

SATURATION
Controls the signal level sent to the “tape head” circuit. As the saturation level increases, the level at the “record” head increases and the playback gain is reduced so that the overall output signal level remains more or less constant. On a real tape recorder you would set the record and playback gain controls separately – but on the 542 the record and playback gain controls are linked so that the overall signal level varies only as a function of the saturation level of the “tape”. As you approach the maximum saturation setting, the output signal level drops due to the effect of extreme saturation and the soft clip.

In addition, to compensate for the loss of low frequencies at low levels of the “recording head”, the saturation control controls a low frequency compensation circuit that boosts low frequencies more at low saturation levels and attenuates them at higher levels. This feature can be useful with many sources such as bass and kick drum to find the balance between a clean, boosted low end (low saturation) and a denser, saturated low end (high saturation).

15/30 IPS
Selects the pre-emphasis/de-emphasis, recording/playback band characteristics. The 15-IPS mode has a distinct “head bump” in the low frequencies around 60 Hz and a more pronounced roll of in the high frequencies. The 30-IPS mode is generally a flatter frequency response in the high frequency range with a head bump around 120 Hz.

BLEND
Controls the mix of pre- and post-tape signals. This allows the engineer to adjust a subtle amount of the tape effect to better control the amount of saturation, tone and soft clipping in the post-blend signal. If the signal is more saturated, dialing back the fade can be a good way to convey the feel of tape while maintaining a similar level of detail and transparency. NOTE: The Blend control has no effect on the Silk and Texture controls, as these circuits are located at the physical output of the device.

SOFT CLIP
A soft clip is activated in the “True Tape” circuit when the drive display reaches the value 5 (first yellow LED) and becomes clearer at higher levels. The soft clip can be used to tame overly transient material such as drums and can be further controlled with the blend control.

LEVEL/DRIVE METER
The 542 is equipped with two eight-segment LED bar graphs for the output level and the drive display. The level meter shows the output level of the 542 before the Silk circuit, and the drive meter shows the level at the “recording head” when the tape effect is activated. The soft clip circuit is present at drive levels above 5.