Creating a tape saturation effect like the Strymon Deco

Back when I ran analog, I had a Strymon Deco pedal as an always-on pedal at the very end of my chain. The 'Deco recreates the compression and third-order harmonic saturation effects that happen when a signal is recorded to tape. I play a lot of classic rock, and that effect suited my tone well.

I'm looking for a way to simulate this on the AXE-FX II. Think of classic rock like Stones' recordings (Keef loved tape saturation), or Yes' Starship Trooper as classic examples. Thanks
 
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Back when I ran analog I had a Strymon Deco as an always-on pedal at the very end of my chain. The 'Deco recreates the compression and third-order harmonic saturation effects that happen when a signal is recorded to tape. I'm looking for a way to simulate this on the AXE-FX II. Note this is not the same thing as the tape distortion effect which is usually placed before the amp to act as a preamp boost/EQ filter. Think of classic rock like Stones' recordings (Keef loved tape saturation), or Yes' Starship Trooper as classic examples. Thanks
I don't have experience with the Deco but did you try the preamp section in the cab block?
 
The Tape Dist model in the Drive block is just the right tool for this. Try setting the clip type to HV Tube or Germanium and play with low cut/high cut.
 
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The Tape Dist model in the Drive block is just the right tool for this. Try setting the clip type to HV Tube or Germanium and play with low cut/high cut.

From what I've read, what you refer to is not the same thing. The Tape Dist model is supposed to emulate the preamp circuit that was part of old reel to reel tape decks... like the Akai that Ritchie Blackmoore used to use in his rig before his amp. The 'Deco is more to do with a light kind of compression/increased fatness that occurs during the recording to analog tape process.
 
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what about the stuff in the cab block? seems like the tape algos would be just the ticket

if you want it right at the end of the chain, you could load a null IR
 
btw, i ran some synth block signal through the tape drive block and had a look at it in an analyser. with drive set to about 3, all it does is add a little saturation.
 
Hmmmnn ... seems like a combo of bocks might get you there. As mentioned in the video you posted, there are two sides to that fx pedal; one side deals with saturation (i.e. distortion and compression) and the other side deals with thru 0 flange, chorus, delay ... all time based effects (with modulation as warranted/desired).

I’d approach the build (reverse engineer) the same way. Compressor (analog?) and tape distortion then, maybe multidelay for chorus (or chorus block and through-zero flange blocks) with tape delay (with modulation).

Lastly, IIRC @Mat had posted an echorec preset he made which also added tape hiss for the AxeFx 3. You might break that down or translate with Fractool.
 
Hmmmnn ... seems like a combo of bocks might get you there. As mentioned in the video you posted, there are two sides to that fx pedal; one side deals with saturation (i.e. distortion and compression) and the other side deals with thru 0 flange, chorus, delay ... all time based effects (with modulation as warranted/desired).

I’d approach the build (reverse engineer) the same way. Compressor (analog?) and tape distortion then, maybe multidelay for chorus (or chorus block and through-zero flange blocks) with tape delay (with modulation).

Good ideas to try. I think the multi-block approach is probably the way to go. I'm mostly concerned with emulating the tape saturation side of the Deco which was my "always-on" effect. Looks like the drive blocks can be set to do soft clipping, so maybe I will try playing around with those with a low gain setting. An octave divider set to a very light output including a low pass filter will increase the odd order harmonics. Addition of analog tape delay set to provide LFO/micro pitch shifting. Is there also a limiter or clipping block that can do a soft clip?

Quoting one of the founders of Strymon on the Deco: "The tape saturation effect is characterized by the addition of odd-order harmonics that create a nice fattening up of the signal, dynamic compression which helps to tame the peaks, and then additionally dynamic band limiting which is very effective in creating a sense of dynamics in the frequency response where high sharp transients are not only limited by compression, but also band limiting through the interaction of the pre-emphasis and de-emphasis equalization in the tape process."
 
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Good ideas to try. I think the multi-block approach is probably the way to go. I'm mostly concerned with emulating the tape saturation side of the Deco which was my "always-on" effect. Looks like the drive blocks can be set to do soft clipping, so maybe I will try playing around with those with a low gain setting. An octave divider set to a very light output and high pass will increase the odd order harmonics. Addition of analog tape delay set to provide LFO/micro pitch shifting. Is there also a limiter or clipping block that can do a soft clip?


I’m on a 3, and we got an update to drives which includes clipping types and I suspect they are different vs the 2. Apologies.

Good luck though ... Sounds like you’re on the right path.
 
The dynamic band limiting quote from the Strymon engineer seems important so I did more research. In order to improve the signal to noise ratio on analog tape recording, they use the same pre-emphasis/de-emphasis scheme employed by FM radio and vinyl LP systems. The upper frequencies are boosted during recording and then reduced by the same amount during playback. Pre-emphasis makes the harmonics and higher stuff get more of the distortion, and prevents the bass from getting too muddy. The de-emphasis take the brittle higher transients off the top, so it works out fatter and warmer overall. This process could easily be done in the Axe-FX II with EQ blocks or other means... the theoretical formula for the whole tape saturation sound as I see it right now is:

1. pre-emphasis EQ block to add frequency boost as per diagram below
2. Increase harmonic distortion/add low frequency odd harmonic transients... possible be a preamp or an octave divider, lightly applied with added LPF to accentuate the lows
3. analog tape delay block, modulated LFO to add micro pitch shifting artifacts
4. dynamic compressor
5. drive block w/ soft clipping
6. de-emphasis EQ to counter the pre-emphasis boost in 1.

These blocks would go at the end of the signal chain but before reverb, and the order of the above block scheme will need to be experimented with.
161206_nab_eq.jpg
 
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Here's a first stab at saturation boost.. I chose a preset that I use for a lot of Beatles tunes. I posted a before and after preset for comparison. It still needs a bit of tweaking but I'm definitely on the right track. I've a few new ideas to try.
 
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I was looking for ways to boost the third-order harmonic saturation in the signal, but I now believe this is accomplished automatically by the soft clipping and compression that's already present in the block chain. The soft clipping of the Tape Dist block reduces primary peaks in the audio signal, namely the even order harmonics. With the added compression, this provides a defacto boost to the other more subtle odd harmonics in the signal. So that's done.

Where I'm running into trouble is trying to simulate the random wow and flutter of an audio tape machine. Going to attempt to configure this block tonight. Thoughts?
 
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I haven't figured out how to set it to do that without introducing an actual echo in the signal. Thoughts?
Delay time all the way down, mix all the way up and feedback at 0.

PS: you could also use the tape chorus block, result would probably be very similar and could save a bit of cpu
 
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New improved version. The levels were adjusted so gain is at parity with the original patch, drive and comp blocks swapped, delay block was moved and modded to simulate tape wow and flutter, Scene 1 is now with saturation engaged and Scene 2 without. Note: To boost the amount of saturation, increase the gain setting on the drive block.
 
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Just a suggestion.... you might try inserting your "multi-block Strymon Deco emulation" before the cab block, because in reality, your cab is going come after that pedal anyway. And that change would (I think) alter your tone significantly. Just a thought.
 
Just a suggestion.... you might try inserting your "multi-block Strymon Deco emulation" before the cab block, because in reality, your cab is going come after that pedal anyway. And that change would (I think) alter your tone significantly. Just a thought.

Interesting idea, and it's definitely worth a try. Since we're trying to emulate the kind of saturation/compression that happens while recording the final guitar signal onto to audio tape, the blocks should in theory be very last in the chain, even after the reverb. The fact that the Strymon Deco comes before the amp (or cab if using an effect loop) is strictly a limitation of the form factor of the device. I'm more interested in trying to reproduce tape saturation in general, not just the Deco.
 
Here's V1.2. I changed the soft clipping drive from 'tape dist' to 'micro boost'. It's a toss-up which is better, but the 'micro boost' is slightly warmer, tweaked the compression, changed amp model to Fender Deluxe Reverb, moved the reverb position, and a few other tweaks to the preset. I changed the scenes as follows:

Scene 1. Clean with tape saturation
Scene 2. OD with tape saturation
Scene 3. OD boost/lead with tape saturation
Scene 4. Clean without tape saturation
Scene 5. OD without tape saturation
Scene 6. OD boost/lead without tape saturation
 
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