When and why would I use a saturation plug in?

[DJErmac]

Beware of this generic confusion that I’ve seen somewhere in this thread.

Distortion = creation of new harmonics
Saturation = going over the limit of the maximum volume

Saturation can create distortion, but saturation isn’t strictly distortion.

[Ploki]

Saturation plugins, and particularly saturation as just one part of analog modeled plugins, has a cumulative effect that contributes realism to the mix.

Real audio equipment is high quality. It has harmonic distortion, but it tends to be minimal. But with many different components contributing several different types of harmonic distortion, it adds up.

If you want to sound like you mixed with real gear on a real console to real tape, then you’re going to want plugins that add accurately modeled harmonic distortion. But maybe you don’t want that, and that’s ok too.

I would recommend avoiding plugins that do nothing else but add “saturation.” If it’s not emulating a particular piece of kit that you would use for a real-world particular purpose, then why would you use it in a real-world mix setting? No engineer in the analog days ever said “let’s throw some hiss and noise on it just for the hell of it.”

The problem with using “saturation” plugins just for the sake of saturation is they sound overdone, fake, and lead to ear fatigue. They ruin otherwise good albums once the novelty wears off. Saturation should be something incorporated in almost imperceptible amounts in many layers across your individual audio tracks. Not shoved in your master bus like a fuzz box.

Sorry but this is silly.
First of all, if audio gear is high quality it DOESN'T distort.
Second, plugins are just as REAL audio equipment as hardware is in 2021. It's pointless gatekeeping to call hardware "real".

There's plenty of great saturation plugins that are subtle, and there's plenty of creative things you can do that don't emulate some stupid vintage piece of gear. I love using saturators that aren't modelled (i.e. Kelvin or Saturn). I also love using some that are.

Hardware doesn't contribute to realism, a good engineer does...

Beware of this generic confusion that I’ve seen somewhere in this thread.

Distortion = creation of new harmonics
Saturation = going over the limit of the maximum volume

Saturation can create distortion, but saturation isn’t strictly distortion.

What's the difference then?
There's a reaaaalllyy small amount of saturators that don't generate harmonics by waveshaping (which is literally waveform distortion)

[Unaspected]

Beware of this generic confusion that I’ve seen somewhere in this thread.

Distortion = creation of new harmonics
Saturation = going over the limit of the maximum volume

Saturation can create distortion, but saturation isn’t strictly distortion.

Compression is distortion. Saturation is distortion. Both/either can produce additional harmonics.

[MadDogE134]

THD (total harmonic distortion).. what some call saturation is nothing but additional harmonic spikes based on the fundamental tone (source). it can make thin sounds fuller and it can add bite to some source also. the added low level harmonics across a bus or main can give as was stated a gluing effect making all parts sound as a whole. i wouldn't really use a 'saturation' effect for distortion except maybe Trash 2 or Saturn 2. most are very low level distortion of emulated preamps and such which when added to a source can give a more analog-ish sound to the dry sterile digital sound we get from computers.

also as was stated you will get to hear it if you can't note it now. my advice is to put it on and listen for a while and while it is playing bypass (turn off) the saturation plug and listen for the difference in the output. it is easier to note it NOT there than it BEING there imo.

[DJErmac]

Well, it’s two different words, simply. Saturating is not distorting. Saturating can produce distortion. Saturation is only the fact of going over the maximum volume.
Distortion is the fact of hearing new harmonics.
It’s like you’re confusing preparing a recipe with cooking it. True, you get your meal done, but cutting your ingredients hasn’t the same meaning as putting the meal in the oven.

[MadDogE134]

a compressor is not distortion. some may add distortion but a comp is nothing but an automated gain control... nothing more. but i will say that 99% of most comps out there DO impart a bit of distortion because that was the way it was coded or is an emulation of a real piece of hardware. let's not confuse folk

a true compressor may raise the noise floor to a level that can be heard but that 'noise' or distortion was there in the first place and not added by the compressor unless it was 'meant' to

cheers

p.s. saturation is distortion by definition...

[vurt]

i use to know the answer to this, before i read this thread, now im confused.

[MogwaiBoy]

Subtle high-quality saturation, particularly level-dependent and blended in parallel, is my 'glue'. Tiny amounts at each step (instrument / bus / aux / master) really adds up.

Distortion is a whole other thing. The best example is what distortion does for guitar, making it 'sing' in the right hands.

[vurt]

Distortion is a whole other thing. The best example is what distortion does for guitar, making it 'sing' in the right hands.

pfft, gimme fuzz or overdrive!
or even better, fuzz and overdrive

[Maykie]

I downloaded a freebie plug in called IVGI2 by Klangheim. It's one of these. I'm sure it's useful but when I apply it I can't really hear any difference unless it's too much at which point it's too distorted.

That's because IVGI2 is very specific. I would not recommend this plugin. It chokes out the sound completely when driven harder. I don't have it installed anymore even tho its a freebie. It may work for some people but for my workflow its unusable.

Try demo of PSP Saturator https://www.pspaudioware.com/products/psp-saturator - it does magic on any source and it sounds nice almost on any settings.

[Ploki]

a compressor is not distortion. some may add distortion but a comp is nothing but an automated gain control... nothing more. but i will say that 99% of most comps out there DO impart a bit of distortion because that was the way it was coded or is an emulation of a real piece of hardware. let's not confuse folk

a true compressor may raise the noise floor to a level that can be heard but that 'noise' or distortion was there in the first place and not added by the compressor.

cheers

p.s. saturation is distortion by definition...

Not true about compressors - because its a non linear transfer function it causes harmonics. Even automating a fader quickly causes harmonics (albeit very low in level) because it alters waveform.
Rare compressor dont cause harmonics.

True about saturation.


@djermac:

Saturation is literally adding harmonics

[NinjaToon]

I'm sorry but all this pedantry is not gonna help OP hear anything more clearly.

Dude/Dudette can't hear any changes because:

A. monitoring is poor (stop using your apple ear buds OP).
B. hearing is faulty (get your hearing checked OP, I can't hear over 16k and have other dips in my audible spectrum it doesn't mean I can't produce good quality mixes, but tinnitus is a problem).
C. OP is not experienced enough to know what to listen for (this will solve itself OP).

Stop confusing the issue with hair splitting nonsense and Big-Brain insights on distortion.

[Unaspected]

a compressor is not distortion. some may add distortion but a comp is nothing but an automated gain control... nothing more.

Change to the shape of a waveform is distortion. We can observe that, as the waveform changes/distorts, harmonics are typically added. You can use distortion in place of compression - especially for parallel processing - which sounds great. And if you compress or limit a sine wave, as it saturates it will both audibly and visibly distort.

Well, it’s two different words, simply. Saturating is not distorting. Saturating can produce distortion. Saturation is only the fact of going over the maximum volume.
Distortion is the fact of hearing new harmonics.
It’s like you’re confusing preparing a recipe with cooking it. True, you get your meal done, but cutting your ingredients hasn’t the same meaning as putting the meal in the oven.

I do get where you are coming from. The more you drive a signal the more you increase its saturation within whichever processor you are using - and this process, in distorting the signal, generates harmonics relative to the input.

I'm sorry but all this pedantry is not gonna help OP hear anything more clearly.

Very much agree there.

[DJErmac]

Developpers make saturation AND distortion plugins. So that’s NOT the same thing.
Saturation means volume non-linearities. It can produce distortion (most of the time it does).
Distortion means harmonics creation.
It’s simply a matter or using the right word at the right moment. If your volume is too high, you’re saturating, you’re not distorting. But you can probably hear a bit of distorsion.

[MadDogE134]

i agree ploki for the most part... anything by definition can be 'distortion' of the source. but i was trying to simplify. many terms can be confusing when folk are just starting out.. a lot of terms overlap. cheers