ABSTRACT
Tape simulators and guitar amp simulators usually take the form of digital plug-ins that
can be added to tracks or a bus in DAW software. There are also hardware guitar amp
simulators that use either digital processing or analog circuits to sound like natural
amplifier distortion when overdriven. Even hardware tape simulators are available, though
the vast majority are plug-ins. The main difference between a tape-sim and an amp-sim is
the amount and character (spectrum) of the distortion that’s added and the labeling on the
controls. Guitar players often require huge amounts of distortion, where distortion
expected from an analog tape recorder is usually subtle.
