Made to Order Sound Skulptor TS500 500 series Tape Simulator

We are offering the sale of brand new units hand built and calibrated by us from Sound Skulptor's TS500 kits.

The Sound Skulptor TS500 is one of the best technological advances in tape simulation technology at a truly affordable price. It is a fully analog unit. That means no hiss, no moving parts, no tape wear/replacement, no maintenance. It is a no-hassle introduction to (and will prove to be a mainstay in) the world of the sonics and effects of vintage magnetic tape recorders.

Looking at the circuit board, it is evident by the sheer amount of componentry that Sound Skulptor has managed to achieve something that nobody has done before. They built a tape machine; complete with input transformer, variable gain input stage, pre-emphasis stage, recording amplifier, constant current driven tape head section, playback amplifier, NAB de-emphasis stage AND a pure class A output stage driven output transformer into a single slot 500 series unit! (oh and don't forget the input meter!)

With so many components in the circuit board it is only natural that they had to make a few sacrifices such as the lack of stereo control between two units, but with only two knobs and four toggle switches, matching between two units is a breeze.

The TS500 offers a wide range of effect from a silky smooth touch to a ragingly compressed stampede all with the twist of two knobs. The “Drive” control sets the amount of signal running into the input while the “Output” control attenuates any excess volume that builds up from driving the front.

The tape speed switch toggles between three settings: 7.5, 15, and 30 ips (inches per second). 7.5” exhibits a rise in lows with a dip in highs, a nod in the lo-fi direction. 15” is a standard recording tape speed and provides a pleasant low end with extended highs. 30” flattens the bottom from 15” and maintains the high end, it is the most neutral of the three options in case you want to run a full mix through the TS500.

Next is the “Tape Sat” control which offers three different tape formulations, all exhibiting different saturation characteristics ranging from less (-), to medium (~) to heavy (+) levels. The more saturation tends to translate to less lows.

Further down the line is the “Bias/EQ” toggle switch. This control chooses which style of corrective EQ and Bias settings different machines have featured over the years. The leftmost position is the “Vintage” setting and exhibits no correction which leaves the head bump simulation and high frequency rolloff. Middle position removes the high frequency roll off but leaves the head bump in place. The rightmost or “Modern” position removes both head bump and HF rolloff

The final switch is simple:

“Off” means that the effect is bypassed, but the signal still goes through the transformers so it is not a true hard wire.

“Mute” should be self explanatory. 

and “On” means you’re saturating and tape effecting away!

Last but not least is the 16 segment LED high resolution VU peaking meter. It measures the input signal so you’ll know just how hot you’re pushing the front end for repeatable results.

The features are truly rich on these robust little units. I have tried them on full mixes and have been astonished by the results. While I do not own my own pair yet, I will have one that will remain permanently on my mix bus.

For a peek into the sound and effects of these units that you can hear for yourself please watch the in-depth youtube video provided by DM Kahn attached above.

I will leave the “Make an Offer” option available for those who are looking to order more than one at a slight bulk discount.

These units are ordered from France, so please allow an average of 3-4 weeks to order, receive, and finish. Our build schedule fluctuates in activity, so if you have a tight timeline then shoot us a message and we’ll see if we can make it work. Just keep in mind that these kits have to arrive from overseas.

Once the unit is ordered from Sound Skulptor, there will be no returns accepted.  We will be dedicated to providing you a working unit just in case anything arrives out of sorts, but there will be no refunds provided once Sound Skulptor gets paid for the kit(s).

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions at all.