Echotapper

Even in 2022 still a really versatile and good sounding tape / magnetic disc echo plugin. Even more as it is / has been freeware.

Perfect for tweakers, who not only look for some usual but also for some more unusual echoes. The echoes sound very natural to me, individual selection of up to 6 heads also allow the creation of some dense vintage reverb tones but also decent simple slapback sounds and almost everything in between.
Some presets even offer an individually adjustable bmp control, which changes the otherwise fixed delay times of the heads. Most of the presets are based on some Italian vintage tape or magnetic disc echoes, like Binson or Meazzi but also some Copicat, Roland and Vox based presets are included.

As far as I can see, this plugin was the digital predecessor of the real, digital Blue Nebula echo / delay pedal from this company.

Could deserve a 64-bit update, I think. A lot of contemporary delay / echo plugins sound much less convincing to me than this "digital vintage" gem.

Highly recommended if you still find a source to download it.

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I originally tried out eTAP alongside a series of other delay plugins, both commercial and free, in an attempt to find a nice tape delay emulation. In terms of usefulness and quality, I'd say that the eTAP is the equal of the Tape Echo GS-201 and some other commercial plugins, which is a strongly positive recommendation. It doesn't really have that very unique sound of the GS-201, but it has its own flavor that is quite distinctive and musical.

The best feature of the eTAP is the number of excellent presets for approximating a variety of vintage tape machines. Most of the presets are low feedback and help to increase the density of a drum loop or add a nice tape slapback sort of sound to guitar. However, it's easy enough to midi learn the feedback knob for more extreme effects and play with those in real time.

The sound of the delays is free of digital artifacts even when changing settings; the knobs are smooth and could be manipulated in real time. It sounds convincing in a mix with physical instruments (e.g., live drums, guitars, etc.). Because the saturation and tape wow can be controlled by the user, it's quite useful for nice clean delays or for grittier broken down tape machine effects.Read Review