Baby Audio TAIP AI Powered Tape Saturation Plugin User Manual
- June 3, 2024
- Baby Audio
Table of Contents
TAIP AI Powered Tape Saturation Plugin
User Manual
INTRODUCTION
MEET TAIP
Tape recordings have a musical quality that digital tracks often lack. TAIP
brings you closer to that holy grail. It will add some authentic analog heat
to your mixes, without the need to route any audio outside the box.
Tape plugins are not a new concept. However, our emulation method is. Instead
of using traditional DSP, we’ve developed TAIP around an AI algorithm designed
to decipher the invisible nuances of complex analog circuits.
The result is a unique, truly faithful, tape emulation – with some new
features to accomodate a modern workflow. Use TAIP to add a touch of warmth
and glue, or ‘drive it like you hate it’ as an alternative to your distortion
plugins.
HIGHLIGHTS
- AI-powered algorithm, giving you the true behavior of analog tape
- Flexible feature set, allowing you to create your own ‘tape flavor’ for any need
- Use TAIP to add heat and glue to drums, instruments, vocals and beyond
- Read more about our AI emulation approach on the next page
IN USE
PUTTING THE ‘AI’ IN TAIP
‘AI’ is an overused – and often misused – term. But we believe it’s the future
of music technology. It just needs to be used genuinely and with a legitimate
purpose.
For a hardware emulation project like TAIP, AI offers an alternative – and in
our opinion more faithful – approach over the traditional DSP method. Where a
normal DSP emulation would entail ‘guesstimating’ the effect of various analog
components and their mutual dependencies, we can use AI / neural networks to
accurately decipher the sonic qualities that make a tape machine sound and
behave in the way it does. This happens by feeding an algorithm various
training data of dry vs. processed audio and working with it to identify the
exact characteristics that make up the difference. Once these differences have
been learned by the AI, we can apply them to new audio.
This process may sound overly digital for a plugin that brings an analog
sound. But the reality is that ‘analog’ and ‘digital’ are two fundamentally
different domains, and to get a computer to behave (or sound!) in a certain
way, it helps to think like it does. Re-creating an ‘analog-style’ signal path
in DSP is thinking about the problem like a human. The AI approach helps us
solve the problem like a machine would – for a more faithful emulation.
TAIP is our attempt at creating the ideal ‘Tape Machine’ for the DAW-era,
combining a vintage sound with a modern feature set. Its parameters will let
you customize the right tape flavor for almost any need.
FEATURES
- DRIVE: Traditionally, tape machines were designed to color the sound as little as possible. TAIP is not. You can use the DRIVE knob to add just as much color as you need – from a subtle touch of heat to heavy distortion.
- MIX: Lets you run your tape in parallel. If WEAR is engaged, you can use MIX to get a classic ‘tape flanging’ effect. This is caused by the wow and flutter of WEAR running in parallel with the dry track when MIX is below 100.
- MODEL: While SINGLE is a regular tape emulation, DUAL creates a series of two tape emulations chained together under the hood, each applying half of the DRIVE value. This willadd slightly more weight to your signal.
- LO-SHAPE / HI-SHAPE: These sliders let you saturate the low/high end more or less than the rest of the frequency spectrum. ( Example: you want to warm up a drum buss without adding too much distortion to the low frequencies).
- GLUE: Tape machines are known to introduce a pleasing compression-like effect due to their low dynamic range. TAIP lets you add this effect – or even exaggerate it. Use GLUE for subtle cohesion or as an actual compressor.
- NOISE: Lets you add tape noise to taste – or avoid it altogether.
- WEAR: Combines wow, flutter and an altered frequency response curve to emulate a malfunctioning tape machine.
- PRESENCE: Part of the tape warmth comes from an attenuated high-end. PRESENCE allows you to decide how much of that attenuation you want. It can bring back the sharpness and brightness that is sometimes lost on tape.
- INPUT: Choose between NORMAL or HOT (more distorted) input levels without affecting the output volume.
- AUTO GAIN: Allows you to add more DRIVE while keeping a consistent plugin output level.
PRESET CREATORS:
TAIP comes loaded with 135 presets created by BABY Audio and some friends of
the house.
We want to give a special thanks to all preset creators for their
contribution.
Presets 001-018: Created by BABY Audio
Presets 019-021: Created by Mark Needham
Presets 022-028: Created by Eestbound
Presets 029-031: Created by Eric J Dubowsky
Presets 032-037: Created by Cesar Sogbe
Presets 038-041: Created by Neenah
Presets 042-048: Created by Maximilian Jaeger
Presets 049-050: Created by Preston Reid
Presets 051-054: Created by John Nathaniel
Presets 055-057: Created by Dacota G
Presets 058-062: Created by Richie Beretta
Preset 063: Created by Ah Kosmos
Presets 064-075: Created by Rob Kleiner
Presets 076-078: Created by Anthony Saffery
Presets 079-088: Created by Skyler Gibbons
Presets 089-091: Created by Sam Sherbin
Presets 092-098: Created by Zardonic
Presets 099-118: Created by Venush Theory
Presets 119-125: Created by Eryck Bry
Presets 126-129: Created by Van Boied
Presets 130-135: Created by CJ Beatz
INSTALLATION
COMPATIBILIY
Plugin formats: VST, VST3, AU, AAX.
Platforms supported: Mac OS 10.7 and up including Catalina, Big Sur and Native
Mac M1 compatibility. PC Windows 7 and up.
DAWs supported: Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Nuendo,
Reaper, Reason and any other major DAW software on the market.
INSTALLATION
A software download is supplied with your purchase, however you can always go
to babyaud.io/downloads for the latest software
updates.
After downloading, unzip the file and select either Mac or PC depending on
your system. ( Warning: don’t run the PC file on a Mac and vice-versa).
- MAC: Double click on the PKG installer and follow the instructions
- PC/WINDOWS: Double click on the setup file and follow the instructions
EULA
Please read our End User License Agreement here:
babyaud.io/eula
ACTIVATION
Activate your software by entering the serial key that was emailed to you when
you bought the product. Serial keys are entered in the ‘trial mode’ open
screen.
If you have any problems activating, please email
[email protected]
TRIAL VERSION
The Spaced Out trial version will output 5 seconds of silence every 60
seconds.
To buy the full version, go to babyaud.io
UNINSTALL LOCATIONS
MAC OS
AU: /Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components/
VST: /Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST/
VST3: /Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/
AAX: /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/
WINDOWS
VST: The file will be in the custom path selected during installation
VST3: \Program Files\Common Files\VST3\
AAX: \Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\
HAVE FUN USING TAIP!
[email protected]
References
- BABY Audio - Music Production Software - VST, AU, AAX Plugins
- BABY Audio - BABY Audio Downloads
- BABY Audio - EULA