Magnetismus 2 - Tape saturation without tape?
- 02.06.2023
- Gabriel Maceu Faria
- Magnetismus 2
Espen Kraft, sound designer and self-declared 80s wizard, put the Magnetismus 2 through an extensive video test. He runs through all three Flux modes side by side, processes synthesizer tracks into warm 80s timbres, and chases the question the article is named after: tape saturation without tape. How close does the Magnetismus 2's saturation actually get to real analog tape?
Tape saturation without tape: what the comparison shows
In the video, Kraft switches between the three Flux modes, Iron, Cobalt and Nickel, and lines the result up directly against real tape. He works mostly with synthesizer material, the classic territory for 80s production: stabs, pads, basslines. This kind of hands-on test is exactly what shows what the Magnetismus 2 is actually good for, and where its limits are, without a sales page having to spell it out.
How the Magnetismus 2 generates saturation
The Magnetismus 2 is not a tape machine in a rack case. It works in two stages: the signal first passes through a VCA compressor with Threshold, Timing, Ratio and Makeup Gain, then through the actual transient shaper. That stage rounds off the transients instead of simply making them louder or quieter, the way a conventional transient designer would. The Flux switch sets the time window for this processing: Iron catches wide transient ranges, Nickel narrow ones. Despite what the name suggests, this stage does not run through a transformer that emulates a tape machine. There is exactly one output transformer in the whole unit, and how hard it is driven is set with the Output control.
The result is a sound that resembles tape without being tape. Other users hear the same thing, among them Paolo from SynthMania, who ran the Magnetismus 2 against classic drum machines like the Roland 909, Roland 808, Emu Drumulator and Linn LinnDrum:
"The Magnetimus 2 sounds really phantastic. It's got very punchy sound and it sounds like you're passing through tape compression." – Paolo, SynthMania, in his Magnetismus 2 test with classic drum machines
What it can do, and what it isn't
This is exactly where the guiding principle for this unit applies: promise less. The Magnetismus 2 sounds like a tape machine without replacing one outright. It's a transient shaper with its own VCA compressor, not a tape emulator. If you want powerful, audible density, rounded transients, more loudness without losing dynamics, that's exactly what it delivers. If you're expecting an exact tape machine simulation, leave that expectation at the door. Espen Kraft's video makes that distinction audible instead of glossing over it, and that's exactly what makes the comparison worth watching.
Worth watching, especially if you're always looking for new ways to polish your sound:
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