Kramer Master Tape

Classic American analog tape saturation

Add Texture with the Sound
of Early Analog Tape

Early analog tape was the sound of rock’n’roll. Recording engineers pushed analog tape ever-further into distortion, creating a type of tape compression that made the music powerful and compelling. The tube electronics of that era also added warmth and character.

To this day, early 1/4" analog tape recorders are coveted—and extremely rare. Whether used on individual tracks or masters, these machines exemplify the sound of classic tracks, from Hendrix and Led Zeppelin onward. Now, Kramer Master Tape brings this sound to digital recording.

Developed with studio legend Eddie Kramer (Zeppelin, Hendrix)
Customize the sound with speed, bias, and flux controls
Models the American tube recorder used in Olympic Studios
Tape delay (up to 500 ms) includes time, feedback, and filter controls
Add wow, flutter, and hiss for extra authenticity
Tube saturation helps warm up harsh-sounding instruments

Watch It in Action

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What Top Pros Are Saying

[{"itemID":2949,"itemGUID":"58631b11-6d15-4205-bfbd-64c2f93dc757","artistName":"Jazz Singh","artistTitle":"Music Producer/Composer, Artist, Sound Designer","credits":"Drake, T.I., MGK, Young Thug","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/jazz-singh.png","quote":"My go-to tape plugin for producing old-school hip hop or anything that needs that nostalgic feel and texture. I add it to pianos and pads, and also for automated transitions to a pre-chorus or bridge.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":1},{"itemID":2267,"itemGUID":"aa772600-1fa6-417c-a704-ffdd344ba9af","artistName":"Mick Guzauski","artistTitle":"Mixing Engineer","credits":"Daft Punk, Eric Clapton, Janelle Mon\u00E1e, Mariah Carey","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/mick-guzauski.png","quote":"The Kramer Tape has excellent definition and top end that doesn\u2019t get harsh. ","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":2},{"itemID":260,"itemGUID":"1cd41d93-fd6c-4d7c-85c6-b0f694f25faf","artistName":"Gil Norton","artistTitle":"Producer","credits":"Foo Fighters, Pixies, Stornoway","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/gil-norton.png","quote":"I am a huge fan of the sound of analog tape, and I love the width and openness generated by Waves\u2019 Kramer Master Tape. A classic, must-have plugin!","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":3},{"itemID":261,"itemGUID":"40dfc5db-096a-4ea9-a8cb-04d5b081c1fe","artistName":"Ross Hogarth","artistTitle":"Producer \u0026 Engineer","credits":"Van Halen, REM, Ziggy Marley, Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/ross-hogarth.png","quote":"I enjoy using the Kramer Master Tape plugin on my mixes as a dedicated tape slap effect. Great for automatic double-tracking effects.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":4},{"itemID":2946,"itemGUID":"3da42bbf-58c4-4151-ac07-3ac440a81949","artistName":"Zale","artistTitle":"Producer, Writer","credits":"Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Casanova ft. Jeremih","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/zale.png","quote":"It\u0027s almost indescribable how essential Kramer Master Tape is for both producers and engineers; I use it on pretty much every session. It\u0027s great as a creative tool and is a vital utility to add warmth to your tracks.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":5},{"itemID":2568,"itemGUID":"2504bb8e-18f3-4489-afc1-154a3c8ac65a","artistName":"Scott Chesak","artistTitle":"Producer, Songwriter, Musician","credits":"Panic! at the Disco, Weezer, The All-American Rejects","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/scott-chesak.png","quote":"Kramer Master Tape is one of the best tape emulations out there. I love the crunch you can get by overdriving it, and the delay function is killer.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":6},{"itemID":3219,"itemGUID":"2de666cd-9742-41aa-b81a-e36ac9274846","artistName":"Travis Harrington","artistTitle":"Producer, Mixer, Creative Production Engineer","credits":"Rod Wave","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/travis-harrington.png","quote":"You can very easily warm up an entire mix with Kramer Tape.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":7},{"itemID":2230,"itemGUID":"e5c0e419-5195-464d-89ad-476ca95c2c1b","artistName":"Frank Filipetti","artistTitle":"Music Producer, Engineer, Mixer","credits":"Foreigner, James Taylor, Korn, Frank Zappa","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/frank-filipetti.png","quote":"I love the Kramer Tape plugin. For a quick slap setup, it can\u2019t be beat. The interface is intuitive, and it just sounds right.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":8},{"itemID":2166,"itemGUID":"1f11713d-e107-4771-acba-bb71c793e985","artistName":"Alan Meyerson","artistTitle":"Scoring \u0026 Mixing Engineer ","credits":"Dunkirk, Wonder Woman, Jumanji, Thor: Ragnarok","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/alan-meyerson.png","quote":"For adding subtle warmth and harmonic definition, I love the Kramer Tape plugin!","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":9},{"itemID":2413,"itemGUID":"5dc61806-47b9-429a-b0e0-25df79b950a4","artistName":"Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL)","artistTitle":"Composer, Musician, Producer","credits":"Mortal Engines, Tomb Raider, Deadpool, Mad Max: Fury Road","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/tom-holkenborg.png","quote":"My go-to tape saturation plugin. I use it on all drum subgroups, bass subgroups and individual percussive sounds, to give them great warmth and punch.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":10},{"itemID":2214,"itemGUID":"aa7bc694-150b-4be4-b314-0ba37f6480d5","artistName":"Darude (Ville Virtanen)","artistTitle":"Artist, Producer, Remixer, DJ","credits":"","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/darude.png","quote":"I love Kramer Tape on my master buss with very mild settings, but using enough to get that roundness and fullness on the low end, and that analog widening, ear-pleasing magic it does on the whole sound!","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":12},{"itemID":1657,"itemGUID":"eb2f8e03-6096-4ba5-b4fb-41f0f2c790f2","artistName":"Lamps Lampadinha","artistTitle":"Producer, Mixer, Studio \u0026 FOH Engineer","credits":"Charlie Brown Jr., Titas, NX Zero, Scalene","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/lamps-lampadinha.png","quote":"Kramer Master Tape is one of my most important tools when mixing. Its incredible \u2018Glue Everything\u2019 characteristic gives me that final polish I need.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":13},{"itemID":2776,"itemGUID":"28cf19b1-2e62-45d9-9eed-afe1a251b55e","artistName":"Carey Willetts","artistTitle":"Songwriter, Producer, Mixer","credits":"Dermot Kennedy, Freya Ridings, Athlete, Lila Vargen","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/carey-willetts.png","quote":"Kramer Tape always brings warmth and character to any track. The ability to add slap delay and saturation gives whatever you are recording a vintage feel.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":14},{"itemID":3033,"itemGUID":"490e2d20-af63-4526-b6ee-3b667730fd1a","artistName":"Leon Turner","artistTitle":"Producer, Musical Director, Show Programmer","credits":"Gladys Knight, BET, CMT, PBS","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/leon-turner.png","quote":"Waves Kramer Master Tape plugin adds serious analog warmth to my final mix chain.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":15},{"itemID":3570,"itemGUID":"e4e3d2ca-2187-4f73-842a-40182b969953","artistName":"Linden Jay","artistTitle":"Producer, Songwriter and Artist","credits":"Doja Cat, Joji, Erick The Architect, Loyle Carner ","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/linden-jay.jpg","quote":"Kramer Master Tape finds its way onto every session I\u2019m working on. I most often use it on the kick mic when I\u2019m recording live drums \u2013 it knocks!","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":9999}]

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The Essence of Classic Analog Tape

Tape and Tubes
Kramer Master Tape is a dual-purpose plugin—it models the tube’s harmonic distortion and mic preamp saturation separately from the tape compression and distortion, so you can also use it solely for adding tube warmth.
Vary Tape Textures with the Flux Control
The Flux control simultaneously alters tape saturation, tape compression, and harmonic distortion. Turn it up for aggressive grit and punch, or pull back to clean up the sound for just a hint of tape and tube coloration.
Saturation or Tape Emulation? Yes.
Although designed primarily for modeling tape, Kramer Master Tape is ideal for adding saturation based on tape’s sound quality. Help bass stand out in the mix, clip drums for more power, and add overdrive to keyboards.
Add Ambience with Analog Tape Delay
The built-in tape delay features delay times up to 500 ms, with feedback and lowpass filtering. It’s ideal for slapback echo on vocals or rhythm guitar, hardcore dub on drums, or adding ambience to keyboard and string pads.
All the Original Detail
We flew in virgin 3M Scotch 207 tape from Australia for the modeling process, because studios liked the tape’s extended high frequency response for reproducing the sparkle of acoustic instruments and voice.
Combine with HLS & PIE for That Hendrix/Zeppelin Signal Chain
Combine Kramer Master Tape with Kramer HLS Channel and Kramer PIE Compressor, to model the complete Olympic Studios signal chain used for recording tracks by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones.