Space Echo Battle: Is the old Hardware really superior to cheap plugins? 

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One of my friends let me borrow his vintage Roland RE-201 Space Echo for over a year so before I gave it back, I wanted to compare it to the AudioThing Outer Space emulation as well as the UAD Galaxy Tape plugin to see which is the superior tape echo plugin.
Why these two? I knew that I wouldn’t want to give up the tape echo sound because it really is special and in my search for a software replacement, these two kept coming up over and over.
Hearing all three of them next to each other, they’re all a little different. And they’re all great overall. It’s tough to do a truly objective comparison because the hardware unit I was using is going to react differently than the units used to model the other two plugins.
That said, here are some general observations:
-The hardware generally gets the wildest distortion and modulation sounds when you push it hard into self oscillation. You also have the added advantage of being able to open the box and physically touch the tape while this happens for extra weirdness
-The UAD version distorted more heavily than the AudioThing, but in a “flatter” way. The AudioThing didn’t distort as easily unless you play with certain settings.
-The UAD reverb has more ‘springy’ smack than either the AudioThing or the Hardware unit I was using. It feels wetter.
- The AudioThing designers appeared to have taken more creative liberties. You have a ton more control over timing and the ability to automate just about any parameter you want.
Now finally, lets consider price and which one I liked the most
-A hardware space echo or the modern EchoFix Recreation is around $2000. And you have to deal with the headache and expense of maintaining it. You also can’t automate anything, but you do get a cool device to play with. If you’re really obsessed with the sound of overdriven, heavy modulated tape echo, I wasn’t really able to recreate the vibe in the box. The software sounds great, but its not the same sound.
-The AudioThing Tape Echo is $69. Especially considering how great it sounds, that’s incredible. I’m most likely going to purchase this one because despite not having the same vibe as the hardware, I have some other analog outboard gear I can use to juice up some of the sound if I want some of the “out of the box sound”
- The UAD plugin had some redeeming qualities, but overall I liked this one the least. I have other plugins that get the super springy reverb and its more expensive than the AudioThing with less automation at $199. You also need a UAD card or interface to run it, which might add an additional layer of expenses if you’re not already using UAD hardware.