Here's the deal with analog tape: it had two things going against it:
1. Right up until the end of analog tape machines, all tape machines exhibited a low-end playback "head bump" in frequency response. It wasn't until the last generation, around 1990, that a manufacturer beat that.
2. From the moment you recorded on analog tape, it was in the process of what is called "High-end relaxation." That meant from the moment a signal was recorded on the tape, the high-end was going away. You could record on the tape today and come back and ask, "Why on earth was I marveling about my high-end yesterday?" Once it was documented, high-budget albums were mixed, and their mixes were rushed across town to the mastering engineer before they relaxed too far. Each copy generation of the album exaggerated both the high-end loss and the low end bump. There was also increase distortion with every generation. You could tell the difference if you got the first pressing and the second by the loss of high-end, increased low-end, and increased distortion, especially if they used a safety copy for the album master rather than the cutting master.
That, rounded off high-end, increased low end, and a bit of gentle distortion, is the effect that is being emulated with tape emulators. There are really good emulators like the Ampex ATR-102. I spent years mixing and mastering to that tape deck. It is good, but it isn't cheap.
Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' "
Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring
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