Soundtoys Decapitator User Manual
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of these channels (and much more!) resides here at the SoundToys lab. We
looked at and listened to a lot, and gave you what we thought were some of
the coolest sounds. Here is a guide to what was modeled*:
A: Modeled after Ampex® 350 tape drive preamp. The Ampex 350 tape
recorder was a studio workhorse in the 1950s, back in the early days of
Elvis and Johnny Cash; Sun, Stax, and Chess Records. Eventually these old
beasts were replaced by newer, better (really?) machines. Often, the
preamp sections were pulled out, rewired, and used as stand alone mic
pres. These things have a
ridiculous
amount of gain, perfect for ribbon mics
AND for an ultra-smooth tube distortion sound. We like this one A LOT!
E: Modeled after Chandler®/EMI® TG® Channel. Wade Goeke at Chandler
Designs has crafted some truly excellent gear based on vintage mixing
consoles from the famous EMI/Abbey Road studios in London. We just love
the sound and the attitude of his gear, especially the TG channel, which is
an excellent mic preamp, DI and EQ, with loads and loads of character. If
you don’t have a good mic pre, you should run out and buy one of these
now.
N: Modeled after Neve® 1057 input channel. Not your mother’s Neve input
channel! The Neve 1057 (and the rest of the 105x series) are built around
Germanium transistors (think vintage FuzzFace), and have a unique and
distinctive sound that sounds great, especially on guitars (big surprise
there!).
T: Modeled after Thermionic Culture® Culture Vulture® triode setting. The
Culture Vulture was the first dedicated
Studio
(meaning not just guitar)
distortion device, and is an amazingly useful tool for adding warmth and
various levels of dirt to drums, vocals, keyboards or just about anything.
This setting models the sound of an overdriven ‘Triode’ tube, which is what
is commonly used as the preamp tube for guitar amplifiers or tube mic
preamps. Triodes typically add loads of
even
harmonic distortion, and that’s