Cheap saturation plugin

[yzcoruhT]

ChowTape or IVGI

You can't go wrong with these. Top notch plugins even both are free. Don't be fooled, that they cost zero.

[donkey tugger]

Weirdly see no luuurve for this;

https://senderspike.wordpress.com/2019/ ... -recorder/

Which is a great freebie tape sim, ultra low CPU too. In fact, all the Sender Spike effects are great.

[crickey13]

While we're on the topic of nice free saturation plugins, be sure to check out Nick Crow TubeDriver as well.

[nIGhT-SoN]

Weirdly see no luuurve for this;

https://senderspike.wordpress.com/2019/ ... -recorder/

Which is a great freebie tape sim, ultra low CPU too. In fact, all the Sender Spike effects are great.

I gotta give this a try. Thank you very much for your suggestions!

[SHall1000]

I am a big fan of D16 Devastor2 and Redoptor2 depending on the flavour your after. Often on sale. Their bit crusher Decimort2 is also great. I often just flick through the presets till I find something I like and then tweak the mix knob.

[crickey13]

Decimort is a great bitcrusher, seconded.

[AC222]

I think narrowing it down to the type of saturation you are looking to achieve will help you in your tone quest. Having said that, here are some kd my recommendations:

Best at any price: SDRR (relatively inexpensive), Fab Filter Saturn 2 (expensive and flexible), maybe Decapitator if you're with that specific sound. It's less flexible than the other two but if you like that grimey, plasticy sound, there are a few variations of it with the controls.

Best Free: IVGI (similar to Klanghelm in SDRR desk mode)
Airwindows To Tape 6 (donationware and flexible sound)
Chow Tape (lauded flexible tape saturation)

SDRR would be my best all around, especially for the price. Saturn can be a Jack of all trades but expensive. SDRR can do Tube, Digital, Fuzz, and Desk saturation. You won't get tape saturation, however. But AirWindows and Chow Tape could fill the gap for next to nothing.

[chk071]

I'd throw Native Instruments Dirt in. The Crush Pack doesn't break the bank, and Dirt is easily my favorite saturation/distortion. It just sounds "right".

[morelia]

I'm a fan of these free options.

https://www.voxengo.com/product/tubeamp/
https://www.voxengo.com/product/boogex/

[imrae]

Reelbus 4 is also one of my favourite saturators; it has a useful emphasis/de-emphasis EQ section that lets you really target the saturation without shifting the overall tone too much.

[SonicDimension]

Softube Harmonics is on sale for $59 this month. Also, Softube Tape is on sale for $49. What do you all think of these two? I've been thinking of getting Harmonics as an alternative to Soundtoys Decapitator.

[ramseysounds]

Surprised nobody has mentioned this: https://www.softube.com/saturationknob

[bagpipe200]

I was just about to post the same thing. I really like the Softube Saturation knob.

Surprised nobody has mentioned this: https://www.softube.com/saturationknob

[Steve Bolivar]

You can get CableGuys DriveShaper for free now with any purchase from
www.pluginboutique.com
Just buy whatever cheap saturation plugin you like, get DriveShaper for free and that way you get two saturation plugins.
This also has the added benefit of activating the GAS pathway since DriveShaper runs within ShaperBox2 and gets you a discount to upgrade to the whole ShaperBox2 package which gets you six more effects. You can get the ShaperBox upgrade at PluginBoutique as well and get DubStation2 for free with that purchase. So now instead of just one saturation plugin you have ShaperBox2(7 plugins), paid for cheap saturation plugin, and DubStation2.

[The Noodlist]

Freeware/Donation below.
PhreePhuzz
https://lvcaudio.com/plugins/phreephuzz/
Saturate
https://bluelab-plugs.com/plugins/bluel ... o-plugins/
SonEQ has a drive knob
https://sonimus.com/products/soneq
RS-W2395C has a drive knob
https://fuseaudiolabs.de/#/pages/product?id=300965965
BPB Saturator
https://bedroomproducersblog.com/free-v ... post-39448
Analog Obsession
https://www.patreon.com/analogobsession