I asked for a short email interview with Steve Massey and as always he took the time to answer the questions despite being tied up in a lot of work. Here’s what came out of it.

Any idea when the Tape delay will be out?

Not exactly. If I could work on it non-stop, it could be completed in a few weeks. But, unfortunately, I have all these pesky obligations that get in the way — like answering support emails and addressing issues with the current plug-ins. In any case, I’m working on it this very moment. So, it is progressing!

Have you decided what your next plug-in will be? If so, what?

I’ve gotten a ton of requests for a de-esser, so that seems like a promising product to tackle. Honestly, I’ve never been overly disappointed with ITB results for the limited instances where I’ve used de-essing in mixing. But, evidently, there’s a lot of discontent with the current offerings. It’s going to take some investigation on my part to get a good sense for what people are seeking.

Everyone not currently using Pro Tools wants to know, will you port your plug-ins to VST or AU?

I do want to port. The first release will probably be Tape-Head for AU. I hired a contract programmer recently to help out with that work, but it turned out they just didn’t have the availability to squeeze it in anytime soon. In any case, I am actively working on it.

Which of your plug-ins are most happy with?

I’m pretty happy with them all in retrospect. Near the time of release, I always feel a tad disappointed, as if I’m a couple percent off from what I really wanted to achieve. But, I think I’m most happy with the CT4, because it sounds unique compared to everything else out there software-wise and does it effortlessly from the user’s perspective. A lot of engineers with credibility have said it’s perhaps the best software compressor yet. I guess the sense that I’m truly improving the sonic palette for modern ITB recording is satisfying. The L2007 was over a year and a half in the making, so that was a pretty significant achievement personally. But, its impact on the market doesn’t feel as broad because people had already been destroying music with the L2 for quite a while now

Have you come across any limitations when programming plug-ins that you couldn’t work around? For instance, have you tried to emulate something that didn’t turn out well?

So far, not too much. I think the biggest limitation in general has been processing power. For example, the DSPs on a MIX card couldn’t handle THC. But, I think we’re on the cusp of a new era of mixing in the box. Intel has finally gotten off their ass after a long hiatus and started giving us CPUs with genuinely increased processing power instead of meaningless rocketing megahertz numbers. Also, the rapidly increasing core count, while useless for the average user, is great for audio production. Modeling the tiny subtleties of analog gear requires a lot of cycles and we’re finally just now getting them.

Any last words/thoughts?

Back to work!

Steven M Massey is a former employee of Digidesign and, more recently, was part of Trillium Lane Labs. Some of the products he have developed or helped develop include: TL Aggro, TL Space, TL Drum Rehab. Lately he have developed plug-ins of his own which are well regarded, great sounding and incredibly cheap.