KVR Audio

db3 · Post by **db3** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:01 am

New from PSP. $69 intro (until Nov 14th), $99 normal.
https://www.pspaudioware.com/products/psp-saturator
First impression: sounds good, plenty of flexibility, low latency.

https://youtu.be/VwVNFP5ckgk

dblock · Post by **dblock** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:45 pm

Demoing now. I don't usually glow about new stuff like this but I had been was hoping a saturator plugin would come along and knock my IK Tape off it's cpu hogging high horse for some time now and I have finally found it. I have Kelvin and most of the others but I was specifically looking for something that rivaled the IK Tape sound. To be honest, I didn't expect it to come from PSP (no offense PSP) but I'm floored by this plugin.The sound to my ears is at "least" as good as IK and the more I play with it the more I'm thinking "better" because of all the options it comes with and with only a fraction of the cpu usage IK Tapes. Why couldn't IK do that? This plugin proves while a quality plugin can take up a lot of cpu, it doesn't always have to if you do it right.Whatever. I'm buying this as soon as I'm done typing this. No more "which plugin do I kick off my master bus so I can use the IK Tape too?" situations on my master bus because of the huge cpu usage. I can finally use my Softube EQ1 (another hog) and Softube DS1 WITH PSP Saturator together on my master bus. PSP knocked it out of the park with this one.jmo!

Dombaeb · Post by **Dombaeb** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:58 pm

How do you feel it comparing with Kelvin? I don’t use soft saturators much except Saturn 2 so I’m not so experienced for comparing. Saturn is good though. I’m demoing PSP Saturator now but can’t hear much difference. Can you advice me how to test it properly or just give your subjective opinion related to Kelvin, please?

Now I hear that Kelvin can do subtle saturation very good. PSP Saturator makes the same thing. Saturn 2 can do total destruction but I’m in search of something that can beautifully overdrive my music with a pinch of pleasing dirtness. So far I can’t find anything proper outside my hardware synths and internal Falcon saturators.

dblock · Post by **dblock** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:12 pm

Dombaeb wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:58 pm How do you feel it comparing with Kelvin? I don’t use soft saturators much except Saturn 2 so I’m not so experienced for comparing. Saturn is good though. I’m demoing PSP Saturator now but can’t hear much difference. Can you advice me how to test it properly or just give your subjective opinion related to Kelvin, please?

Now I hear that Kelvin can do subtle saturation very good. PSP Saturator makes the same thing. Saturn 2 can do total destruction but I’m in search of something that can beautifully overdrive my music with a pinch of pleasing dirtness. So far I can’t find anything proper outside my hardware synths and internal Falcon saturators.

I have Kelvin, Saturn and a bunch others.They are all good. Just different and I don't think there is a "proper" way to test it. I play with controls and presets on material and let my ears decide what I like.No one else has to hear or like it the way I do really. It's subjective.
Kelvin may be more "right" for a different song than Saturn. PSP more right on yet another different song. The problem I was having was that IK Tape which I personally considered the best sounding to my ears didn't give me much option because of the cpu it requires. That's why I'm giddy about this new PSP one. More taste less filling.

Dombaeb · Post by **Dombaeb** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:31 pm

Thank you for the response. I agree - each tool can be good in different situations. There is a lot of saturators on the market... I respect PSP plugins for sure, but I don’t want to buy every new one so I would base on someone experienced opinion

Now I hear that PSP Saturator really beef up the low end in the right way. Anyone feel the same? Is it “exclusively good”?

I’m very biased because of hardware synths saturation and overdrive (for example, on Peak synthesizer) which I find very good sounding without tweaking. It’s just one knob on the front panel and it sounds extremely pleasing. One move and sound become full, beefy, powerful and dirty in the very good way. I can’t accept that software can’t model this behavior in 2021. For example, full digital synths like Hydrasynth and Virus TI has extremely pleasing saturation on board too. Did someone meet so good and simple saturators in software form?

escalona · Post by **escalona** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:43 pm

I can see myself putting 5 or 6 different saturators for sale here in the forum after trying out the PSP one. I won´t say more.

dblock · Post by **dblock** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:50 pm

Dombaeb wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:31 pm Thank you for the response. I agree - each tool can be good in different situations. There is a lot of saturators on the market... I respect PSP plugins for sure, but I don’t want to buy every new one so I would base on someone experienced opinion Now I hear that PSP Saturator really beef up the low end in the right way. Anyone feel the same? Is it “exclusively good”?

I’m very biased because of hardware synths saturation and overdrive (for example, on Peak synthesizer) which I find very good sounding without tweaking. It’s just one knob on the front panel and it sounds extremely pleasing. One move and sound become full, beefy, powerful and dirty in the very good way. I can’t accept that software can’t model this behavior in 2021. For example, full digital synths like Hydrasynth and Virus TI has extremely pleasing saturation on board too. Did someone meet so good and simple saturators in software form?

Definitely agree about the "beefed up" low end. It's fat! The best part is you're not stuck with it if you don't want so much low end. This plugin shines in it's options.

recursive one · Post by **recursive one** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:54 pm

As a Mixpack owner I've got a nice uprgade offer ...

but ilok

Dombaeb wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:31 pm For example, full digital synths like Hydrasynth and Virus TI has extremely pleasing saturation on board too. Did someone meet so good and simple saturators in software form?

Actgually the old PSP Mixsaturator in combination with Mixpressor can do good job at emulating that heavily saturated Virus TI sound. I used this combo on Viper, Spire, Hive to close the gap between them and Virus.

This is not always needed in a mix context tho.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:09 pm

Looks and sounds great, but that's to be expected with PSP. Nice intro price, too. My only (very minor) gripe is that I wish the Shape was a dropdown window, rather than a knob. I usually think of knobs for continuous values, not discrete values, and the selected value is sorta hidden in the faux shadows of the knob. I'd rather see it in a window with a clear display. But, again, a minor complaint.

Dombaeb · Post by **Dombaeb** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:13 pm

So yeah. I bought it. It can be beautifully aggressive as I like with a simple EQ resonance cuts down the chain. Good stuff. Thank's all to force me to try it more one time this evening

db3 · Post by **db3** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 8:49 pm

Didn't take long for me to cave in either. $62 in cart at AudioDeluxe helped.

audiouser720 · Post by **audiouser720** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:12 pm

Does it oversample? Is FAT mode actually oversampling?

db3 · Post by **db3** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:29 pm

audiouser720 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:12 pm Does it oversample? Is FAT mode actually oversampling?

From the manual "FAT: Engages Frequency Authentication Technique which is a quadruple oversampling for the High algorithm and the main Saturation algorithm. Engaging the FAT strongly reduces the aliasing effect which results in pleasant saturation results. The FAT mode is recommended for usage on major tracks in the mix or whenever strong saturation settings are used – especially in low sample rates. Engaging the FAT mode increases the CPU usage."

Vortifex · Post by **Vortifex** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:31 pm

audiouser720 · Post by **audiouser720** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:15 pm

Cheers!