Hi Folks,

I realise that there are a few threads about the "best" saturation plug-in however I'm wondering about which saturation plug-ins have low enough CPU requirements so that they can be used across an entire mix (i.e. on multiple channels/busses).

At the moment I'm using MH Character, IVGI2, SatKnob, and SDRR2 for this task. Others that I like, e.g. VSM-3, HG-2, use to much CPU for this role.

What else are people using for this?

Elysia Karacter? Hornet Analog Stage? Anything else?

What about preamps? Or something like the Lindell 80 Buss section which has a THD control?

Cheers,

Chris

Lindell 80 is nice, but heavy on CPU.

TDR Molot (has saturation stage that can be used alone) is super-nice, but heavy too.

Klanghelm DC8C (has saturation stage too) is less hungry.

Nick Crow TubeDriver is very nice and not so heavy. And free.

Ignite Amps TPA-1 is very nice and not so heavy. Free.

Venn Audio V-Clip is awesome and light (no need to use higher than 8x oversampling).

Kush Transformer series are awesome, not so heavy.

All of them has good antialiasing, which is a must in nonlinear processing.

For 2nd order, try Airwindows Single ended triode. It’s 0.1-0.3% on my machine iirc.

Several other good ones are listed here.

I just use the free Softube Saturation Knob most of the time.

I'll second the Airwindows recommendation. Channel 9, Busscolors 4, DrumSlam, Mojo, and ToTape 5 are all fantastic and low CPU. I usually chose these over my paid plug-ins.

I love the Lindell 80 Channel - the bus, not so much. I stopped using it once Airwindows Console 7 Cascade came out. Both are heavy on CPU, though.

The Lindell 6X-500 pre is fantastic. Rumor is PA is having one of their site-wide sales in the next few days, usually the 6X-500 drops to $10.

I actually have the 6X-500 (got it for nothing in one of the sales) but haven't used it much - think I'll try it out on something.

Cheers!

Well, a lot of mentioned plugins are not so nice, as they do not implement any measures to get rid of aliasing, so you shall use them only for a very subtle saturation and at the higher than 48k sample rates.

Why it is important? Aliasing manifests itself as a lot of inharmonic tones, which can make your mix dirty and feel more “flat”, “metallic”... think of a DX-7 bells type of sounds which are basically all aliasing (which is OK as a musical source)... so, it is OK to have it as a part of a character, but putting it on every sound in every mix?...

Just curious what would be your goto’s?

Check post #2

Thx

Yeap, post#2, plus:

TDR SlickEQ GE for subtle nonlinearities, when used on a lot if tracks (it has nonlinear section);

TDR Slick M for unique complex nonlinearities on HF and LF (it has “exciters”). It is heavy on CPU, so for busses only;

TDR Limiter6 clipper section. It has knee control - from hard to pretty soft;

Slick EQ M is underrated for saturation. Third order on the lows and second order on the highs... both very nice and smooth. And yes, likely busses only in the OP’s example.

Valentin, So is your MolotGE saturation. It has a texture that is works so well so often. Heavy at times, but that’s why we blend just a little in! At others times the source just eats up the saturation and I wonder if it’s ever going to be “too much”.

The Lindel and Satson stuff sounds great - even the freebees from each from computer music mag.

... and it is modeled on hardware. Vlad of TDR was the first user of an actual device (for 2 years now) and so he decided to model it.
Funny thing is i was in R&D of this hardware saturation for a year, looking exactly for this character, when “too much” is not obvious, and moderate levels are invisible yet very fattening.
SW version came pretty close, but some details are omitted because of complexity, so it is more static.

Softube harmonics or tape are really good and not too taxing on the CPU, Tape is a less versatile but the B mode on 15ips gives you an amazing low end on any genre.

It’s hilarious that one post will mention specifically that these plugins are cool with aliasing and another guy comes along talking the opposite...

F*ck all of this aliasing talk... Jesus

Use what sounds good

+1000 re:TDR plugins. A dedicated saturator would be absolutely incredible.
TrackComp 2 is also an amazing warmifier if set accordingly. Dave mentioned on Facebook TrackWarmth is being developed, what a marvelous bit of news !

True iron

Of course you could also look at PSP's Infinistrip - a full channel strip with multiple pres, EQs and compressors which are very CPU friendly - I have had one running on every channel of a 50 channel mix no probs - hardly noticed it was there CPU wise. The gate is excellent as a bonus - very musical for sidechain.

PS (Edit) as well as the drive options on the pre-amps Infinistrip has a dedicated saturation module as well - and it sounds really warm to my ears.

Aliasing is largely program dependent, so this is not a useful observation at all. Don't read if it makes you upset.

That something is prone to aliasing might still be useful info, also when using what sounds good. Did you stop to reflect on that aliasing concerns might be best addressed before you buy the plug-in and invest time into it?

I still use Waves NLS, that aliases quite heavily. But I tend to send -18 LUFS Momentary going in, so means it's tolerable in at least some mixes. Others might try -9 and not filter the top end. I wouldn't do that.

What about VCC? It always sounds good and low on cpu....

Kazrog true iron works well for this. I usually insert that and the uad studer 800 on every track when starting a mix, then render all of them before I do anything else.

Sound very interesting, hope it's not just a rumour

Can't link to FB it seems so here's a screenshot

Thanks nil hartman .... and awesome :-)

As an experiment I tried some tape, EQ, channel and saturation plugins on every channel of a Cubase demo song. Any favourites pop out? There are some well known plugins, freebees and one from a Gearslutz member! I also noted CPU use which will come out in the reveal. Levels have not been matched so don't be fooled by volume!


PS @1:22 would be a good time to set the playback to as it is the loud bit. (should have trimmed the project there - too late hey ho!)

Have you tried PA's new Big Al saturator? It really has something different to all the others listed (most of which I already own. Lol.)

I think it's the best saturator on the market at the moment. Not particularly heavy on the cpu. Sounds best on more subtle settings, to my ears; can get kinda ugly, cranked up.

Saturn 2. Zero latency, low cpu, and once you want to render you can oversample. And it’s still super efficient. Insane plugin

No I haven't - I'm a bit - er saturated with saturation options! - probably have 40 or 50 to choose from!

I don't know why I don't own Saturn because everytime I've tried it, I love it! I think way back when I got Izotope Trash for next to nothing which stopped me buying Saturn which was over £150 at the time. The irony is I hardly ever use Trash! Then Cubase came with Quadrafuzz 2 (multiband distortion) which is surprisingly good but it's no Saturn.