Musicians on a tight budget should all be very familiar with the software by small Swiss company, Togu Audio Line or TAL Software as they are more commonly known. They’ve been around since 2000, creating instruments and effects that are known for being very user friendly. Fans of vintage sounds in particular have probably used their TAL-DUB delay plugin at some point. This plugin has gone through three versions already over the years and provided musicians with the ability to spice up their recordings with some vintage style feedback delay lines, ranging from clean to very distorted. However, for the most recent version, Tal-Dub-X, TAL Software has opted to release it as a commercial product instead of freeware.

TAL-Dub, TAL-Dub-2, as well as TAL-Dub-3 are all still available to download for free, although no longer supported by the developer. TAL-Dub-X has a price tag of about $25 and is available as either a PC VST AAX download or MAC VST/AU AAX download. For TAL-Dub-X, TAL Software appears to have combined some of the best features from the previous versions, while also making a few small improvements. Of course, this means that TAL-Dub-X feels more like a refresh of the software instead of an extensive upgrade, which might make some people leery of the new commercial price-tag that it sports. However, considering the reasonable price and what the software has to offer, it is definitely worth the investment.

TAL-Dub-X offers a noticeable upgrade in sound quality compared to previous versions, but it is also compatible with 64-bit hosts for both PC and Mac, which is going to make it a lot more appealing to Mac-based producers. As it is available as an Avid Audio Extension version, TAL-Dub-X is also Pro Tools compatible and offers a very intuitive interface to work with.

Although it isn’t based on any specific hardware model, TAL-Dub-X offers musicians a virtual tape delay effect with both left and right channels having their own separate Delay time and Feedback controls. Each par can also be locked together with convenient Link buttons. Both the high quality resonance filer and high pass filter can be placed pre or post feedback. The Drive knob controls the saturation intensity, which can offer full-on crunch if you dial it up far enough. Overall, both the low-pass filter and the saturation stage offered by the TAL-Dub-X sound better than in any previous versions.

Like most of their products the TAL-Dub-X is simple to use, but opens up some brilliant possibilities. The software itself is also well designed, so it won’t put a strain on your CPU, which is always a bonus. Anyone unsure whether this plugin is worth the investment compared to the free versions can check out the demo, which fades in a white noise sound every minute as a restriction. While not a game changer compared to the free versions, we recommend upgrading to TAL-Dub-X, especially Mac users who want to move over to a 64-bit version, or if you use Pro Tools. The previous versions of TAL-Dub is still available for free, so if you are really on a tight budget and don’t mind the lack of support they are viable options.