Urs Saturation Plug In ~REPACK~
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One of the downsides of virtually anyone being able to afford a DAW and recording interface is that the sound quality of such affordable setups is undeniably lacking. Most low-budget digital rigs leave vocals sounding cold, thin and lifeless. To combat this, I find myself using a variety of saturation/distortion plugins when mixing vocals. Here are my favorites:
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IVGI works both as a subtle analog-style saturation effect on the master bus and an aggressive distortion effect for sound design. It sounds excellent in both scenarios, delivering analog-style warmth and character in the comfort of your digital audio workstation.
SGA1566 is a freeware tube preamp simulation by Shattered Glass Audio. It uses high-performance circuit simulation to deliver the saturation characteristics of a single-channel vintage tube microphone preamp.
BPB Saturator is a free saturation plugin by Bedroom Producers Blog. It uses waveshaping to simulate tape and tube saturation. The result is a lightweight saturation tool that will add warmth and character to your audio without a massive CPU hit.
You can use BPB Saturator as a subtle coloration effect or a more aggressive distortion plugin. Experiment with adding modest amounts of tape and tube saturation while fine-tuning the input and output gain for best results.
BPB Saturator also features a pair of filters. Use the high-pass filter to remove excess bass frequencies and the low-pass filter to remove hiss and noise. You can also use the filters in tandem with tape saturation to simulate vintage tape recorders.
Although the plugin initially utilized a physical model of the Sony TC-260 tape recorder, the current algorithm can simulate various analog tape machines. It addresses the saturation behavior of tape recorders, as well as their lo-fi properties.
You can use CHOW Tape solely as a saturation plugin that adds harmonic distortion changes the dynamics. However, the plugin also excels at emulating the wow and flutter, noise, and other side-effects of vintage tape decks.
Voxengo Tube Amp works better as a tube overdrive and distortion effect than a gentle saturation tool. That said, you can still use it as a tube-style saturation plugin with the Drive parameter set to a lower value.
The user interface consists of three control parameters only. The Drive knob sets the amount of saturation, the Mix knob controls the relative levels of the dry and processed audio, and the Output knob sets the master volume.
It can deliver various saturation types, ranging from gentle tube-style warmth to overdrive and distortion. You can use it on individual channels like drums or virtual synths, as well as the master bus.
You can use Tape Cassette 2 as a lo-fi effect, but it also works quite well as a free saturation VST plugin. The latest version of the software features an improved saturation algorithm with oversampling and hysteresis.
XPressor is a free saturation plugin with dynamics processing and oversampling features. It features three processing modes (soft clipping, hard clipping, and a wavefolder algorithm), a pair of filters, and up to 8X oversampling.
The Drive knob sets the amount of saturation that is applied to the signal and the Dynamics knob controls the compression. The plugin also features a Dry/Wet knob for quick and easy parallel processing.
Audio Assault Head Crusher Free has one saturation mode. The $7 version has 5 modes and looks/functions almost exactly like Decapitator. I assume Decapitator sounds better, but Head Crusher is a useful budget alternative.
Beyond that, saturation gives us some of that dirtiness we love from classic recordings that digital technology took away. Plugins that emulate tape or tube saturation are perfect for this type of thing.
Saturn is one of the most versatile plugins on this list. It can do everything from super subtle harmonic enhancement to pure screaming destruction. As far as desert island plugins go, this would be at the top of the list in the saturation category.
The Studer A800 tape machine is easily one of the most famous of all time. Everyone from Jeff Buckley to A Tribe Called Quest made records on this thing. The 900-pound beast was groundbreaking in more than just its heft, and UAD faithfully (like always) captured that magic in software form. As far as tape saturation goes, this is going to give you instant musicality and tone that digital recordings often lack. It can be quite subtle on a mix bus, or you can really drive it hard for natural tape saturation and compression.
Down in Hollywood"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@id":"https:\/\/theproaudiofiles.com\/saturation-plugins\/#arve-youtube-d4lmmbhlas465658ed139358873998002","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/d4lmMBHlAS4?feature=oembed&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=1&enablejsapi=1","name":"Down in Hollywood","thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/d4lmMBHlAS4\/hqdefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2021-01-16T07:36:55+00:00","author":"Ry Cooder - Topic","description":"Saturation is one of the most versatile (and fun) tools that we as engineers have to add character and color to tracks. To \"saturate\" analog equipment means to feed more signal into them than they were designed to handle. While this sounds somewhat reckless or even dangerous, interesting sonic thing"
So as you can see, one of the things we can accomplish with saturation is making sounds more harmonically dense and complex, and different saturators add harmonics differently. There are too many high-quality saturators on the market to cover in a single roundup, but here are 13 of my favorite saturation plugins and how I use them.
Firstly, rest in peace to Rupert Neve, designer of some of the most beautiful and widely used audio recording technology ever, who passed away not too long ago. Out of all the UAD plugins that unleash their innovative Unison Technology (which emulate the mic impedance, gain stage sweet spots, and circuit behaviors of actual hardware), I reach for one of these two Neve EQ & preamp combos the most often. The saturation that these hardware units (and corresponding plugins) create can go from subtly warm and clear to absolutely filthy. Not to mention, the 1073 and 1084 are some of the most musical-sounding equalizers ever created. Utilize these two recording studio staples when recording or mixing individual drums such as kick and snare, vocals, DI guitar or bass.
The process of reamping, or sending signal out of the DAW and into a variety of equipment (generally including a guitar amplifier) is a great way to add character, grit and dimension to otherwise sterile-sounding tracks. That said, the process tends to be a bit time consuming and involved. Stockholm, Sweden based plugin makers Klevgrand have developed a fast and fun tool if you want to impart the characteristics of analog gear without the complexities of setup and routing. Reamp features 7 separate analog gear models including cassette deck, 1/4 tape, preamp tube (clean & drive), guitar tube amp (clean & drive) as well as tube bass amp. What sets Reamp apart is the four band spectral drive that allows users to further refine the timbre and attitude of their reamped signals.
The Altec 1567A preamplifier was released in the early 1960s as a rack-mounted tube mixer that featured a simple two-knob EQ and a lots of gain on tap. It went on to be one of the most widely used pieces of gear by Motown engineers, who loved its gritty saturated character on brass, drums, bass, piano, vocals and more. Fortunately, you can now harness the tubey goodness of this legendary unit within the comfort of your own DAW thanks to German plugin makers Black Rooster Audio, who not only created a stunning plugin version of the classic Altec preamp, but tacked on several features that make it great for modern music mixing workflows.
The OmniTec-67A has three distinct tube flavors, with each type offering a different frequency response, output gain and harmonic range. It also features a line/mic switch for gain staging suited to your source and a gorgeous three-band equalizer (up from two bands found on the original). Lastly, it sports 2 voltage bias options, which influences how the tubes are driven. This allows the user to perfectly tailor just how much saturation is applied, along with a dry/wet blend control.
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