I came to recommend Reaktor’s VHS Audio Degradation Suite. one of the most revered Reaktor effects for very good reason.
Reels is specifically trying to emulate lo-fi tape, maybe this would be better than plugins emulating higher quality tape such as Satin or Reelbus? https://www.audiothing.net/effects/reels/
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Very cool.
I’ve found that throwing things like Satin, Smacko etc on the master bus has definitely helped, but this idea of having white noise kind of float around, morphing and ducking in and out of the mix is more what I’m going for. Coincidentally I’ve been listening to a lot of Chain Reaction related projects as well (Hallucinator, Shinichi Atobe, R&S) and it’s super inspiring. I might just make a dedicated “white noise” track in Ableton full of this stuff being fed in to a filter and auto pan.
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Yeah, it’s great fun and pretty much endless potential for experimentation. I know noise-filled tracks are not everybody’s cup of tea, but I love it (also, no coincidence that every room in my house has a white noise machine!).
I like to throw Satin on most tracks/groups and use its Group feature to control different instances at once. Its Hiss parameter can add some nice noise as well. I guess I like Satin for saturation mostly, most of my white noise tends to come from analog sources and field recordings. Not that I find one is better than the other but multiple modulated sources keep my ears/brain interested longer.
I also like to try side-chaining noise, using vocoders, layering noise on various drum hits, etc. I have on my to-do list to try recording some things (MS-20 noise) at very low volume, drop in Simpler, and boost volume to bring out the noise-floor details. Can’t wait to try some of the other tools mentioned in this thread as well.
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No idea if it’s any good, but this was just being promoted via Sonicstate at 75% discount: https://sonicstate.com/news/2019/04/29/hardware-audio-artefacts-recreated-in-software/
I use this for delays, reverbs and other random effects. Has a VHS preset which sounds great.
Anyone here using WavesFactory Cassette? I just found it and am considering buying it:
Edit: bought it a week later 
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This sounds really cool! I mostly use my Fostex 4-track (the pitch wheel is so awesome) and lately the RC-20 Retro Color plugin but this one might be a nice addition. Thanks for bringing it up!
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I was just about to post that, it’s amazing. Easily the best plug in of it’s type. I have all their stuff now. There’s a second panel with a ton more settings as well.
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The Wavefactory one is my fave for sure.
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I bought it fresh when it came out and I’m in love with it. Very good tape emulation from subtle to total destruction.
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Nothing like just adding a layer of dirt. But this one works pretty well for dust, weird filtering, and noise.
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For a moment I thought it was hardware.
Would have bought it, I believe 
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For plugin
RC 20 Retro is good
https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addictive_fx/effect/rc-20_retro_color
Hardware:
Generation Loss by Cooper Fx is my go to
He also did a collaboration version with Chase Bliss
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I just picked it up during the sale as people really speak highly of it. I haven’t had a chance to put it through the paces yet.
I love tape plugins and have a bunch.
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Having a tape deck is more fun though 
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You can do a not bad knackered old tape emulation in Abletons sampler. I made one a few years back. Fun.
It has all the ingredients, lfos for wow and flutter, filters, noise source, etc. Drop your entire mix into and boom, fake tape!
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was just about to post this one. Is the best one I think.
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You should check that Waves factory one, it’s ridiculously good.
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