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

[kernaudioio]

the key track feature is a genuinely smart idea. keeping the fundamental clean while saturating above it is essentially what multiband saturation tries to do, but driven by pitch rather than a static crossover frequency. way more musical on bass especially, because the crossover tracks the note instead of fighting it.

[Ben UBDSP]

Thanks! And yeah, the crossover clamps at 80 Hz minimum. I tested without the clamp early on and it was not pretty. Letting the crossover track down into sub-bass territory just feeds rumble and sub-harmonics into the saturation stage. 80 Hz sits right at the sub-bass/bass boundary, so even on a deep 808 or a low B on a 5-string, the fundamental stays clean and the sub stays tight.

[billinder33]

Trying not to buy more plugins. Only ones I've been entertaining lately are novel saturation devices. I've tested a few of them lately and am mostly underwhelmed. Was hoping I wouldn't like this one either, but I'm really digging it.

Sounds great and the interface is a lot fun to work with. Especially just hitting random against the 12-way mode, mid-side, with punch and smooth activated on stereo instruments.

Grit Blender's sweet spot is that it generates very ballsy, obvious saturations, while remaining restrained enough that it doesn't easily launch itself into full-on distortion. It just easily stays somewhere between overly subtle like Kazrog True Iron and face ripping distortion like Minimal Audio Rift. Definitely has a vibe and utility that my other saturation devices don't.

I bought it. Looking forward to seeing more cool plugins from this developer.

[Ben UBDSP]

Really glad to read this.

Wanted to mention that v1.1.0 just shipped (free update for all owners).
The main addition is the Advanced Panel (behind the new ADV button in the bottom bar):

Frequency crossovers to define the exact frequency range where saturation is applied. Everything outside passes through clean. Each channel (mid/side or L/R) gets independent crossover handles, so you can saturate different bands on each.
Effect intensity — PUNCH, SMOOTH, and ANALOG now have 0–200% knobs instead of just on/off. Dial them back to 40% or push them to 180%.
L/R stereo mode — alternative to M/S. Different saturation on left and right independently. Works well for creative stereo effects.

Full writeup: ubdsp.com/blog/grit-blender-1-1-advanced-panel.html

Thanks for picking it up. Happy to answer any questions about the new stuff.

Ben

[Ben UBDSP]

New video on Grit Blender by wil maker. Full review and demo.

[Funky40]

Had a demo go, bought it.


After some bigger midi CC mapping* testing do i have a Panorama problem.
i might have deadjusted something.....i definitly have. Since i mapped CC control to to me/GUI unvisible parameters.
-> Panorama / when i slide my Mix fader to full wet is the drive going from left to right or middle to right. Sometzhing like that.

Which are the possible parameters i need to check ?
Seems there is not everything on the GUI that has CC mapping* capabilities ( * host automation)


i like the feature set. Gives me good live jam capabilities.

[Ben UBDSP]

Hey Funky40!
Hope you're happy with the plugin.

Two things that could explain your pan issue:

1. Accidental CC mapping to stereo parameters
Grit Blender exposes most parameters to host automation, including some that are only visible on the GUI when stereo mode is active. If you accidentally mapped a CC to one of these, it could cause a panning shift:
- M/S (midSide) : enables stereo processing. Check it's OFF in the bottom bar if you don't need it.
- Side Drive (sideDrive) / Side Mix (sideMix) : only visible when M/S or L/R mode is on, but always automatable.
Quickest fix: load the Init preset to reset everything, then redo your CC mappings.

2. DC offset from asymmetric saturation curves
Some saturation types (Asymmetric, Tube, Diode, Fuzz) generate a signal-dependent DC offset that could differ between left and right channels, causing a subtle stereo shift. This is fixed in v1.1.1 (just uploaded on the server): the DC block filter has been raised from 10 Hz to a fixed 30 Hz, which eliminates this. Make sure you're on the latest version!

[Funky40]

Hey Funky40!
Hope you're happy with the plugin.

Two things that could explain your pan issue:

Thank you ! I`ll have a look later tonight.
....downloaded the 1.1.1

Yes, i like it.
I get a good use out of it for my usecase, which is the creation of live play patches.
The parameter set allows for nice realtime interaction over HW controls.

[Ben UBDSP]

Here is a review from Folia Soundstudio.
Note that the DC trouble he is talking about has been fixed in V1.1.1.

[Ben UBDSP]

v1.2 is out. Main addition: AAX support for Pro Tools.

Grit Blender is now available as:
- macOS: AU, VST3, CLAP, AAX (Universal Binary)
- Windows: VST3, CLAP, AAX
- Linux: VST3, CLAP

[noahrbc]

How does this differ from Soundtheory's Kraftur?

[pekbro]

Kraftur is a multi-band clipper, this is not a multi-band clipper.

[noahrbc]

Kraftur is a multi-band clipper, this is not a multi-band clipper.

Right, it's a saturator.

[pekbro]

Kraftur is a multi-band clipper, this is not a multi-band clipper.

Right, it's a saturator.

Blend-able Sat, distortion, dynamics. It's really quite a different thing than Kraftur, definitely worth trying the demo.

[noahrbc]

Kraftur is a multi-band clipper, this is not a multi-band clipper.

Right, it's a saturator.

Blend-able Sat, distortion, dynamics. It's really quite a different thing than Kraftur, definitely worth trying the demo.

Wow! Definitely enjoying the demo. Lots of stuff going on under the hood.