Lead vocal
Marc Almond
Microphone
Neumann U 87
VerifiedMicrophone on Marc Almond's vocal when the song was recorded.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Input chain
Plate reverb used alongside the U87 when recording Almond's vocal; the model is not given.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Close match
Universal Audio EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverberator
reverb
The 140 is the EMT plate most studios have; the source does not name the model.
Also worth a look: Waves Abbey Road Reverb Plates (Models the EMT 140 plates at Abbey Road).
Compressor on the vocal as it was recorded; it was pinned during the run-through take that became the final vocal, and Thorne chose to leave it.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Drum machine and percussion sounds
Dave Ball
Instrument
Borrowed from singer Kit Hain because the band's own machine was broken; it supplied the drum sounds, with kick and snare on separate tracks.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Covers this kind of unit
Roland Roland Cloud
instrument
Roland's own plugin versions of its TR drum machines, including the TR-808 and TR-909. The source does not name the model, so this stands for the maker's family of units: it is not a model of the one on the record.
Used by Thorne to make the snare-like noise that became the repeated "bink bink" sound.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Covers this kind of unit
u-he Diva
instrument
A general analogue-style synthesiser that can make the same oscillator, noise and filter-sweep drum sounds. It is not a model of the Synare, and the source does not say which Synare was used.
Input chain
Used by the engineer to split the one-output drum machine into a kick track and a snare track, so each could be balanced separately.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Delta Labs DL4
VerifiedDelay line the snare-like noise was fed through, with feedback to build the metallic ringing that became the "bink bink" hook.
- Settings
- Fast delay time with feedback turned fully up; the delay time was swept.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Covers this kind of unit
Soundtoys PrimalTap
delay
An early digital delay like the original, with the same grainy, band-limited repeats; it is not a model of this unit.
Synclavier and ribbon controller
Mike Thorne and Dave Ball
Instrument
New England Digital Synclavier
VerifiedThorne generated the overall piano sound, the orchestral swells and the long horn sound before the transition into the Supremes medley on it.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Emulation of this unit
Arturia Synclavier V
instrument
An emulation of the Synclavier, made with one of its original developers.
Dave Ball pulled the descending sound into "Where Did Our Love Go" using his thumb on this controller.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Advision control room
Input chain
Quad Eight Console (32 channels)
ReportedConsole that the producer and engineer sat behind in Advision Studio Two when the song was recorded.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Close match
MixWave Quad Eight MM-310
preamp and EQ
Models Quad Eight's MM-310 preamp and three-band EQ module, made with Quad Eight; the source does not say this desk carried that module.
Multitrack machine housed in the Advision control room where the song was recorded.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Approximate
Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines
tape
Models two Studer machines, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape.
Also worth a look: Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape).
Sources
- Classic Tracks: Soft Cell 'Tainted Love', Sound On Sound, 2012-04. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
- Classic Tracks: Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”, Mix, 2019-11. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
- Recording Cruelty Without Beauty (Soft Cell: Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk), Sound On Sound, 2002-12. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.
Stated by a reputable secondary source.
An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.
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