Saturator shoot-out

[_leras]

My favorites have been iZotope Trash 2 and Fabfilter Saturn 2. Both are really nice on the master for bringing out a little extra in the mids. Nice to see Vertigo VSM-3 getting some love, that'd be my runner up.

Agree with Morty on Blackbox. I never use it on account of liking my eardrums.

The generally fair soft and analog Blackbox damages your ears...

... but the raging digital distortion of Trash 2 goes on the master.

Okay... I'm intrigued.

[skarvika]

My favorites have been iZotope Trash 2 and Fabfilter Saturn 2. Both are really nice on the master for bringing out a little extra in the mids. Nice to see Vertigo VSM-3 getting some love, that'd be my runner up.

Agree with Morty on Blackbox. I never use it on account of liking my eardrums.

The generally fair soft and analog Blackbox damages your ears...

... but the raging digital distortion of Trash 2 goes on the master.

Okay... I'm intrigued.

Well, Trash 2 has a built in limiter for one. Blackbox on the other hand can get loud.

I did happen to read a comment on the video that ctrl+clicking when adjusting the pentode/triode on the M/S version provides gain compensation of sorts, and turns out that works well enough. Tested it in parallel on the master and it glued the mix together in a very subtle and pleasing way. I like it.

[Inversible]

I really like Blackbox, particularly in m/s mode. Rarely use on the master though.

I really like that one as well. I just don’t understand why they can’t add some auto gain compensation. It’s very tedious to have to keep adjusting all the dials with your mouse when you just want some more color without the added loudness.

Press "ALT" while moving the knob, then the auto gain works.

[ThoughtExperiment]

I really like Blackbox, particularly in m/s mode. Rarely use on the master though.

I really like that one as well. I just don’t understand why they can’t add some auto gain compensation. It’s very tedious to have to keep adjusting all the dials with your mouse when you just want some more color without the added loudness.

Press "ALT" while moving the knob, then the auto gain works.

It does, but it's still a bit hit-and-miss I find. Better than nothing though

[simon.a.billington]

For the master bus I’d go with Waves NLS. It adds crisp, clean analog bite without getting messy.

That's interesting. I never thought to use it like that. I also thing their Magma BB Tubes is also good to use in this role. Love the sound.

As with most others I thing The Black Box is a good unit, though I prefer to its mid-side functionality if its on a submit or a master. Many plugins will allow you to process either the mid or the side, but not both. That's alot harder to find. Saturator-X will do it. As would SA2Rate, VSM-3 and Ozone's Exciter.

Even the new SPL Vitalizer, IK's Quad Saturator and Arturia's Bus Exciter 104 don't do mid-side. Which is kind of a pity as I really think a little mid-side enhancing can help to really open up a mix.