Multiband Saturation or Distortion

[Dark Fiber]

First off: what's your favorite multiband saturation/distortion plugin?

My CPU (intel i7-7700) (non-k version) is running hot lately. Just before finishing a song it's running higher than 90%, so I had to look for some heavy plugins and try to find less CPU intensive alternatives. Of course, using stock plugins is the best alternative most of the time. For single band or broad band saturation I have a perfect alternative to what I was using. In FL Studio it's called Distructor. But there is no alternative for multiband distortion. I was using iZotope's Trash 2 and Ozone 9's Exciter in the past, but they are really heavy on the CPU, especially when using multiple instances. And then I saw a promo deal on the MDistortionMB of Melda and started to do some tests. Also had an eye on Wavesfactory Spectre.

Results CPU test with no oversampling engaged (the higher ranked, the heavier on the CPU):
1. Ozone 9 Exciter (2.5 seconds CPU time)
2. Neutron 3 Standard (2s)
3. iZotope Trash 2 (1.9s)
4. Soundspot Halcyon (1.2s)
5. Wavesfactory Spectre (0.5s)
6. MSaturatorMB (0.5s)
7. MDistortionMB (0.3s)

Of course I set them all up the same way, using the middle of three bands to saturate those frequencies. Next test is with oversampling. Two plugins do not have any oversampling options: Halcyon and Neutron 3.

Results CPU test with oversampling engaged:
1. iZotope Trash 2 (7.5s)
2. Ozone 9 Exciter (5.9s)
3. Wavesfactory Spectre (best, 16x) (4.7s)
4. Wavesfactory Spectre (good, 4x) (2.5s)
5. MDistortionMB (4x) (2.3s)
6. MSaturatorMB (4x) (1.8s)

For me it was a battle between Spectre and one of the Melda plugins. I can make all three plugins sound good, so it's not about the sound. The Melda plugins are really awesome. For instance, you can set an offline rendering oversampling mode, up to 1024x. Of course, 16x is more than most people need, but Spectre does not offer any offline rendering options. Spectre's advantage is that everything is visible on 1 screen. With the Melda plugins you have to edit in a different screen and also have 1 screen per band. So I just went with MDistortionMB because it was on sale for €19. MSaturationMB is €49 and Spectre €99.

[xx JPRacer xx]

Minimal Audio just released Rift 2.0 with multi-band options. I think it has the potential to become of the the best distortion plug-in.

[heavymetalmixer]

Have you tried Fire? It's free

https://github.com/jerryuhoo/Fire

[kidslow]

D16 Devastor 2 is multiband.

[Dark Fiber]

D16 Devastor 2 is multiband.

Have to correct you here. It's not a multiband distortion in strict sense. Only a single type of distortion can be routed in a variety of ways.

https://d16.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=54 ... b5263645d2

[MogwaiBoy]

Is Spectre technically "multiband"?

I know what it is though, the best damn saturator on the market.

[Dark Fiber]

Is Spectre technically "multiband"?

I know what it is though, the best damn saturator on the market.

Well, maybe it's a little arbitrary, but my expectation of multiband saturation is being able to set up a saturation type per band.

[Ploki]

No FabFilter Saturn2 in the mix?

And no, Spectre isn't technically multi-band i think.
Last time i guessed what it was: kind of like Tone-Projects Kelvin "tone shaper" but in parallel. So the "EQ boost" is emphasis for the saturation algo.

[LeVzi]

Saturn 2 is where i'd be going with this tbh.

Or Ohmcide.

[Plugintester]

I dig Ozone Exciter

[donkey tugger]

In FL Studio it's called Distructor. But there is no alternative for multiband distortion. I was using

If you're using FL remember you have the frequency splitter plug-in. Dead easy to set up (in patcher) separate effects for each band.

[TIMT]

Spectre is parametric like Voxengo's HarmoniEQ

My favourite Multiband plugin to date is FXPansion's Maul. Tad ironic choice though since the crossovers are implemented poorly

[crickey13]

Maybe check out LVC-Audio's Preamp-MAX too, it's on a sale right now.

[LoveEnigma18]

I recently bought a used copy FXpansion Maul (multiband saturator) and looks like I am going to enjoy it a lot. I wonder why such a gem of plugin is discontinued. Glad I got it. Excellent sounding plugin which can be quick or as detailed as you want. Lots of saturation modes too.

[Vortifex]

Edited