Strange default settings in J37

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I’m a big fan of Kramer Master Tape, but tonight I decided to go deep with J37 and really get to know it.

I find the default settings to be strange, though. For example, the “Abbey Road Default” has the Wow Rate/Depth and Flutter Rate/Depth set to 0/0db.

I would assume that’s what they modeled based on the machine and everything else is a deviation from there, either more or less from how the machine they measured was calibrated.

However, if you listen to the delta solo — the oscillation is unusually rapid. So I measured it:

At 15 IPS, the Wow Rate of 0 is 19 oscillations per second.

The Flutter Rate of 0 is 10 oscillations per 2.29 seconds, so about 5.145 oscillations per second.

That’s really fast, isn’t it? This setting is built into the “Mastering” presets as well. All but about two of Michael Brauer’s presets had about the same setting, too.

Granted, it’s subtle at 0dB. (0dB doesn’t mean ‘off’, by the way, it is audible especially with a sine wave if you’re curious to test it.)

I’ve never heard a tape emulation default to such a rapid wow or flutter. Is it possible a mistake was made somewhere? Or could it be a problem on my end somehow? Does yours default to such a fast wow/flutter?

I checked 7.5 ips and it slows down by half, as you would expect, which is good.

If I dial the rate down closer to the minimal setting it’s fine, and more in the ballpark of every other tape emulation plugin I ever tried… So this isn’t the end of the world, it just makes me wonder if the machine is supposed to have such a fast wow and flutter.

That rapid default — was the original machine really like that? For comparison, it’s similar in speed to cranking Kramer Master Tape’s Wow/Flutter setting up to like 100 (although the effect is more subtle with the separate depth amount set to 0.) But still, it’s a rapid pulse effect that seems unusual for a tape.

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Interesting. I would definitely expect that this the machine’s modelled behaviour.

It is an older machine compared to most, so perhaps that has something to do with it. I’m sure it’s directly related not just with the speed (IPS) but also the tension arm and pinch rollers, and perhaps the capstan shaft and the way the rather abrasive tape passes the heads. There are quite a few elements that would have been improved upon and refined over the decades.

But, maybe there is an error in there somewhere. You could always compare it with Arturia’s J37. I do know they sound very much alike, but the Wave’s model sounds a little more vintage. It’s as if the machine Arturia modelled had just undergone a bit of maintenance.

That does happen at times. Probably the perfect moment to peek under the hood, and analyse the components for a component based modelling process.

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