I'm surprised that the original poster has not yet been bloodgeoned to death by some of the people around this forum, since the debates on analog and digital can get really feisty around here
in any case, back to topic:
there are software plug-ins that emulate tape saturation, some to a quite extensive degree. here are some pages where you can get more info:
http://www.protoolerblog.com/2007/05/01 ... emulators/
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/printview ... 4&start=15
There are also tape machines around for sale on eBAY.
yesterday I saw this on a music store display (although it's not quite the same thing)...
http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_pro ... egory_id=3
It has been reported here in the forums that getting a studio-quality analogue tape recorder is a serious investment of time and money.
So consider it carefully.
However, I think you might be making a mistake in searching for tape saturation as the "holy grail" that will save your tune.
The reason why people love analog recordings is mostly due to the recording techniques that were used in the recording of the albums.
Having some tape saturation was just an icing on the cake.
If you record everything in a digital mindset, and then apply tape saturation, it will all sound a bit fake.
Basically, these days, digital recordings sound too slick and artificial, mostly because the microphone placements that are commonplace nowadays, isolate the sounds too much, to the point where we can't even feel the sound of the room anymore.
Old recording techniques favoured the element of "performance" as opposed to "manipulation of sound after being recorded", or, in other words, "fixing it in the mix".
With analog recordings, you can feel the human element more, because the recording techniques focused on that.
These days, in the digital realm, the most common mistakes are...
...performances edited ad-nauseum with plug-ins, including pitch/tempo correction, to the point that the recordings sound mechanical, lifeless, and too perfect for its own good.
...The excessive use of eq in consoles in too much tracks introduces phase shift that deteriorates overall sound quality (unless, that is, people enjoy the sound of phase shift, which can occur). Spending as much time as possible getting the best sound from the microphones, and applying only minimal eq, helps a lot.
...excessive use of overdubbing, as opposed to recording as many things "live" as possible. This creates a recording that is often very distant from the exciting "live" sound that bands have at concerts.
When hearing the recording, we often lose the notion that these are human beings playing in the same room. This might be a bad thing (unless, of course, it was intended in the first place)...
...the myth of "radio-ready" mixes, over-compressed, with no dynamic range, and audible (digital) distortion, that suck the life out of the recording.
...much more could be mentioned, but I think these are good points to start addressing in your recordings.
Tape saturation can come later.
