Saturation -what do you use ?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Effects Discussion
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Looking for warmth, velvet, silkyness, all those bywords, but something that actually delivers on those promises, and glues mixes in a plaeasant musical way.
Not looking for specific tape emulations, or harsh distortion, but something to add subtle warmth

Why start another thread ? Because i'm interested in what people actually use today, and there's so many options out there,...I'm demoing lots and comparing but the choices are many.
Wavesfactory Specter seems to be a strong contender, but I keep coming across more and more options.

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Airwindows. Lotsa different things in Consolidated. ToTape. The Saturation and Subtlety folder has good stuff for that.
ABX is enemy to GAS

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Depends, if it's high saturation.
THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED LOUD SO TURN IT UP

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Cassiopeia, lyra:mb, kazrog true iron, The Voltour 2 and Toneboosters Reelbus.
Reelbus is just lovely 😍
software is a tool that allows us to complete a given task.
social media is full of tools that distract us from a given task.

myfeebleeffort
https://paulroach2.bandcamp.com/
https://hearthis.at/83hdtrvm/

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Tone Projects Kelvin

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Variety of Sound FerricTDS is great for this, but it looks like they've temporarily taken the download offline as they rework some of their plugins. Worth keeping an eye on if you're a Windows user, though.

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I use very little to no "saturation". Saturation = distortion and I dont like adding extra distortion to my work. But I will use a light pre-amp on the master buss that imparts a more interesting sound stage. That's it.

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hotmitts wrote: Sun Apr 13, 2025 8:31 pm Wavesfactory Specter
I use Spectre a lot, but mostly as a substitute for boosting a specific frequency with an EQ.

For analog warming type saturation, Kazrog True Iron is very hard to beat. I'd describe the algorithms as being more 'fuzzy' than 'gritty' or 'crunchy' and work great on instrument busses, full mixes, and masters.

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The thread like this was just 3 weeks ago.

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Klanghelm IVGI

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Topos by Forever 89 is the best saturation plugin I've ever used.
Duality without regard to physicality

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Tone Projects Kelvin is the most close to my overdrive, distortion hardware
It can be warmth, subtle and agressive on demand.
Last edited by Gam456 on Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Wavesfactory Spectre or FabFilter Saturn 2, if I want to target specific band(s). Usually just for adding harmonics to a low bass part. (I don't like getting a crunchy tape saturation sound in the mid-high to high ranges, usually.)

NI Supercharger GT or Noveltech Character to generally heat things up, depending on the material.

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Kelvin or Michaelangelo, depending on the material

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Voxengo's toolset.

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