What is your favourite plugin for 'analog' style saturation?

[Junkyard Sam]

Previously I called The Hot Summer + The Analog Molecule Deluxe the most “real” console emulation/analog summing system. That’s just my opinion!

Airwindows Console is impressive, no question. But the requirement to keep DAW faders at zero is a dealbreaker for a lot of people. For that reason alone, I rank TAMD + THS higher.

Beyond that, TAMD + THS feels more “alive” to me. The mix breathes and responds to fader moves in a way that feels like it's working with me. There also seems to be more inter-plugin communication, though Doc Shadrach would have to confirm that.

TAMD also includes an SSL-style channel strip with 4 compressor options(!), and that processing is part of the cross-plugin interaction... So it’s not just extra, it’s integral. Plus, it has a proper GUI, which helps when mixing. Airwindows’ slider-based UI is functional, but not as enjoyable to work with.

To my ears, TAMD + THS is an evolution beyond Airwindows Console. The fact it builds on some of Chris’s ideas is a good thing. That’s how progress happens. Maybe TAMD+THS will inspire Chris to take Airwindows Console in a similar direction, and solve the DAW fader limitation.

[legendCNCD]

So, the question has landed: has anyone measured these (TAMD or THS), I am interested in aliasing and such, how much it imparts harmonics etc. ?
It seems the highend of spectrum is being dropped a bit, but thats how far I got.

Oversampling THS (at least the summing bus) in Reaper makes a difference.
Give it a try!

Can't make music in Reaper, using Ableton but yeah thats what I heard from a friend too, needs OS in some parts.

[stippenstoh]

Definitely, any distortion can sound very different and probably better with higher sample rates.

[TechHaus]

I know I'm way behind the times but I am trying the u-he Satin on every track thing. Can't decide if it should be last on every track in the production phase, or first-ish on every track in the mixing phase.

[simon.a.billington]

I know I'm way behind the times but I am trying the u-he Satin on every track thing. Can't decide if it should be last on every track in the production phase, or first-ish on every track in the mixing phase.

It really comes down to freeing up the CPU, if you're the kind who bounces out your projects before mixing, versus having the most amount of options and control during the mix phase.

One one hand it may sound like a great idea to commit to your choices and bounce it all out, but what if those choices end up getting in your way?? What if you were left washing you didn't distort this track so much or cut out too many of these frequencies on another track, things that can't be undone.

It's a tough choice, but often working on the side of caution leaves you free to add more processing if you need it. Sometimes decisions are more important to make in the context of a whole mix and using a pair of fresh ears because shooting yourself in the foot can be very problematic.

You can always take advantage of freeze functionality to get your CPU resources back.

[simon.a.billington]

Culture Vulture. I find it has something I can't get from blackbox or decapitator

That's another good one. Actually, I just found out recently that Arturia's Bus Force, as it turns out, seems to be an emulation of the Overstayer.

Running your signal through a guitar amp emulation, with or without the cab is another good option. My top 3 choices here are Amplitude, Guitar Rig or PRS Supermodels/Voltage. The latter of the 3 is more straightforward and lacks all the unnecessary overkill found in Guitar Rig or Amplitude.

Though there are times when having access to additional distortion pedals also pose an advantage.

I haven't doodled with the UAD version but I'm curious if the differences are super obvious.

Yeah I haven't used UAD's Culture Vulture either, bit I do like the Arturia one. I ave plenty of analogy style saturation plugins, all with their own distinct sounding they're all very good at what they do, given the right context. I do work at 96k though, so that does tend to open up how these plugins handle high frequencies just a little.

Other than higher sample rates and oversampling, one technique that also helps avoid aliasing is turning down the high frequencies prior to distortion/saturation, then bring back the high frequencies after. Some plugins even make this process a bit simpler.

If you look at the Waves Abbey Road Saturator it has a Pre EQ and a Post EQ built in to it. So it's just a matter of turning down the high shelf before the saturation process, then jacking it back up using the high shelf in the post eq. Where if you look at the aforementioned Arturia Tube Culture plugin it only offers HP and LP filters in the input and output section, so you'd have to sandwich it between two thirds part eqs to achieve the same effect.