Grit Blender — 12 saturation types, 3 blend modes (Triangle / 12-Way / Dual Stage) (CLAP/VST3/AU | Win/Mac/Linux)

[Ben UBDSP]

Saturn 2 has 6 saturation modes. Decapitator has 5. Both make you pick one. Grit Blender works differently. You place three algorithms at the corners of a triangle, and the interior becomes a continuous tonal space you can automate like any other parameter.

What it is:
Grit Blender is a saturation plugin with three blend modes. Triangle mode: assign any algorithm to each corner of the triangle and drag the blend point across the surface. The sound changes continuously as you move. 12-Way mode: 12 independent sliders, one per algorithm, full parallel control. Dual Stage: two blend panels in series with inter-stage filtering, for stacked and layered textures.

Key features:

• 12 saturation types: tape, tube, transistor, digital, diode, fuzz, desk, ribbon, pentode, rectifier, wavefolder, asymmetric
• 3 blend modes: Triangle (3-way barycentric), 12-Way (12 independent sliders), Dual Stage (cascaded stages)
• M/S processing — separate drive, mix, and blend for mid and side channels
• Punch (transient shaper) and Smooth (harshness taming) post-saturation controls
• 5 tone curves: tilt, warm, air, smile, presence
• MIDI key track: crossover frequency follows incoming MIDI pitch in real time
• Real-time transfer curve + delta spectrum analyzer
• 39 factory presets, A/B comparison
• Loudness Match for honest bypass comparison
• CLAP parameter modulation (Bitwig, REAPER, FL Studio). VST3 and AU also available.
• No subscription. No iLok. Offline license. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Technical specs:

• Formats: CLAP (primary) / VST3 / AU
• Platforms: macOS 10.13+ (Universal Binary), Windows 10+ (64-bit), Linux 64-bit (community-tested)
• Oversampling: up to 8x

Link:
Product page + trial: https://ubdsp.com/grit-blender.html
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/grit-blender-by-ub-dsp

Price: $29 intro until April 3, then $58. Trial available with periodic silence. No feature restrictions.

I'll be in this thread. DSP questions, blend algorithm design, whatever, just ask.

Ben / UB DSP

[pekbro]

Interesting, checking out the demo now thx. Seems pretty cool

*It would be cool if the blender actually controlled something, just sayin

*I like it, probably pick it up.

Wavefolder is not really doing much for me (so far), liking the rest tho. No need for DC block here?

[Ben UBDSP]

Thanks for checking it out, glad you're enjoying it!

Blender visual: Yeah I thought about making it interactive but ended up liking it as a visual element. I'm open to ideas though. If you have a cool concept for what it could control, I'm all ears.

Wavefolder: Totally fair. Wavefolding is definitely a love-it-or-leave-it thing. It comes from Don Buchla's West Coast synthesis world, where the whole point was to create sounds that had never been heard before, not to sound "nice" in a conventional way. Buchla didn't even like the word "synthesizer. He didn't want his instruments to imitate existing sounds. So yeah, the wavefolder is kind of the odd one out in a saturation plugin, and it's not for everyone. The "(so far)" gives me hope though!

DC block: Already in there! There are actually two: an adaptive one (10-30 Hz) right after the saturation stage that ramps up for algorithms that produce more DC offset, and a fixed 5 Hz one in the analog emulation path. So you're covered.

[pekbro]

Hmm, well you've got that nifty xy controller in there, if it were me, turning on the blender would rotate it between them, like a blender. heh.

Regarding the wave folder, I guess for me there's not enough control over it. Of course, I'm looking at it on it's own and not from the position of applying it to the other modes. Dunno if you ever used apShaper from apulsoft, or others actually, where you get far more control of the shape of the transfer graph, via custom break points or whatever.

Anyway, perhaps that's beyond the scope of it here...

[Ben UBDSP]

The rotation idea is fun. I could see an auto-blend mode cycling through the triangle down the line. For now, randomizing the blender position on button click would do the job, quick way to find sweet spots without thinking. If there's demand for internal modulation I'll look into it. Being on Bitwig I just reach for the DAW modulators for that kind of thing, but yeah, not everyone has that option.

Good point on the wavefolder. Blend it with the other algorithms, that's where it actually clicks. On its own it's a pretty specific flavor, but push it into some tube or tape and it adds a nice edge. That's the whole idea behind the triangle.

Fair point on transfer curve control, and thanks for the apulSoft reference (Hadn't come across apShaper, interesting approach).
As you said though, a bit out of scope here. I wanted Grit Blender to stay simple, something you can pick up in two minutes and actually enjoy using. Doesn't mean I won't add more control later. But every new knob has to earn its place.

[DCrown]

Homepage says plugin developed by one person only. Is this correct?

[Ben UBDSP]

Yes, sole developer for now. A few people helped with testing and bug reports before launch, which made a real difference.

[pekbro]

Definitely plan to pick this up, great stuff.

[AsPeeXXXVIII]

I'm intrigued. Will make a note of giving this a spin.

[pekbro]

So yeah, I liked this and picked it up today. Thanks for the intro pricing Ben, it helps a lot.
Anyway, great stuff

[Ben UBDSP]

Happy it helped. And thanks for sticking with it through the initial doubts.
That kind of feedback early on is genuinely useful. Enjoy it.

[audiojunkie]

Saturn 2 has 6 saturation modes. Decapitator has 5. Both make you pick one. Grit Blender works differently. You place three algorithms at the corners of a triangle, and the interior becomes a continuous tonal space you can automate like any other parameter.

What it is:
Grit Blender is a saturation plugin with three blend modes. Triangle mode: assign any algorithm to each corner of the triangle and drag the blend point across the surface. The sound changes continuously as you move. 12-Way mode: 12 independent sliders, one per algorithm, full parallel control. Dual Stage: two blend panels in series with inter-stage filtering, for stacked and layered textures.

Key features:

• 12 saturation types: tape, tube, transistor, digital, diode, fuzz, desk, ribbon, pentode, rectifier, wavefolder, asymmetric
• 3 blend modes: Triangle (3-way barycentric), 12-Way (12 independent sliders), Dual Stage (cascaded stages)
• M/S processing — separate drive, mix, and blend for mid and side channels
• Punch (transient shaper) and Smooth (harshness taming) post-saturation controls
• 5 tone curves: tilt, warm, air, smile, presence
• MIDI key track: crossover frequency follows incoming MIDI pitch in real time
• Real-time transfer curve + delta spectrum analyzer
• 39 factory presets, A/B comparison
• Loudness Match for honest bypass comparison
• CLAP parameter modulation (Bitwig, REAPER, FL Studio). VST3 and AU also available.
• No subscription. No iLok. Offline license. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Technical specs:

• Formats: CLAP (primary) / VST3 / AU
• Platforms: macOS 10.13+ (Universal Binary), Windows 10+ (64-bit), Linux 64-bit (community-tested)
• Oversampling: up to 8x

Link:
Product page + trial: https://ubdsp.com/grit-blender.html
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/grit-blender-by-ub-dsp

Price: $29 intro until April 3, then $58. Trial available with periodic silence. No feature restrictions.

I'll be in this thread. DSP questions, blend algorithm design, whatever, just ask.

Ben / UB DSP

I just discovered this. Thanks for supporting Linux and using no challenge / response copy protection!!

[Ben UBDSP]

First independent review is up, by Audio Linea Studio (French, ~12 min).

He goes through all 12 saturation types, the 3-way and 12-way blending, Dual Stage, M/S mode, PUNCH, SMOOTH, and spends some time on Key Track for bass processing. That last one got the strongest reaction: keeping the fundamental clean via MIDI pitch tracking while saturating the harmonics above.

Final score: 8/10.

Suggestions for future updates: continuous PUNCH control (instead of on/off) and L/R decorrelation on the ANALOG stage. Both noted.

[audiojunkie]

Nice!

[pekbro]

Yup congrats on the pos review. I use it a lot, on drums. Mostly I use everything on drums.