VHS3R  /  VHS Tape Emulator

Instant retro
video tape sound!

Realistic VHS sound.

A free VHS tape emulator. Make your tracks sound as if they were recorded on VHS. Choose from 2 styles of tape (VHS and BETAMAX). New or worn tape, wow, flutter, dropouts, hiss and hum, and a deck's automatic level control as one SQUASH knob.

Download free
VHS3R plugin interface
Two measured
video decks
Wow, flutter
and dropouts
SQUASH:
one-knob ALC
100% free
Instant retro|video tape sound! close-up

How it degrades

Retro 90s
VHS sound

Tape transport instability, magnetic tape degradation, machine noise, and automatic level control — reconstructed as an instrument for sound design.

VHS3R reconstructs the signal path stage by stage — from the record preamp and magnetic tape to transport instability and playback circuitry. Every stage can be independently enabled or bypassed, letting you isolate individual characteristics or combine them into the complete sound of a worn VHS recording.

SQUASH
a VCR's level control
  • PREAMP
    drive the record stage
  • WOW and FLUTTER
    the transport
  • DROPOUT and NOISE
    the tape itself
BETAMAX
or VHS deck
New or
old tape
Hum or
hiss bed
Dropouts
you can dose
Input, output
and mix

VHS3R

What is
inside the hood

Transport / Wow, flutter, dropouts
WOW is the slow drift of the capstan, FLUTTER the fast shiver on top, DROPOUT sets how often the tape sheds, from a few dips to full mutes. TAPE AGE picks a new tape or an old one, with its darker top end and its own noise.
  • Wow
  • Flutter
  • Dropout
  • Tape age
Deck / Preamp, noise, machine
MACHINE switches between the two decks, BETAMAX and VHS. PREAMP drives the record stage the way the deck's own knob did. NOISE adds the bed of a real machine, HUM (mains and motor) or HISS (broadband, brighter), and TONE is an additional playback effect, on or off.
  • Machine
  • Preamp
  • Noise
  • Hum / Hiss
Squash / Automatic level control
Home decks rode the level for you, and SQUASH is an additional 'compression' automatic level control as one knob. Low settings glue, high settings pump like a tape recorded off the air.
  • Squash

The LEDs above the knobs are the switches. Turn a section off and it is a clean wire, so you can hear exactly what each stage adds. INPUT and OUTPUT trim in dB, MIX blends the dry signal back in, delay compensated.

Specifications

  • Formats: VST3, AU and standalone app (64-bit)
  • Windows and macOS (universal: Intel and Apple Silicon, macOS 10.15 or later)
  • Mono or stereo. Every section switch is an exact bypass, every control is smoothed
  • Completely free to download and use forever
Download free