Tube simulators, tape simulators, tube warmth? What in the world is this all about anyway? Our fearless editor has commisioned me to write a report on these plugins, but I don't think it should be done without a little background info. First of all, I would like to stress that overdriven tubes (and overdriven tape) add distortion! If it's very light, they call it "warmth", if it's really heavy they call it "Marshall stack turned up to 11!" Regardless of what you call it, it is distortion. Maybe it's pleasant distortion, but it's still distortion. The only reason I mention this at all is because ever since the dawn of digital audio, them good ol' boys and girls in the marketing department of damn near every audio-oriented company on the planet have been throwing tubes into anything they can get their hands on, running up and down the banks of the river and screaming "warmth" to the top of their lungs! What this really amounts to is an attempt to cash in on the fear of the unknown. The unknown in this...

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