Saturation is a process that has its roots firmly in the analog domain. Mix engineers using tape would print ‘hot’ levels to create a type of compression, which is known as tape saturation. When tape is driven in this way and the level meets 0db (and a fair way beyond) the level clips, but in the analog realm this is known as ‘soft. Size 4.36 MB / 4.56 MB / 12.2 MB / 12.2 MB Tape Simulator is a sampledvintage reel to reel tape machine. It can be used to simulate your track running on a tape machine, by adding the authentic noise types found when recording to tape.

When coupled with the expense of purchasing quality hardware for saturation, it’s clear why more and more producers are turning to saturation and analog emulation to create some of the classic tones people love. With that in mind, we sought out to find some of the best free saturation plugins for any engineer on a budget. Mac/PC VST/AU/AAX €129. More of a tape saturation toolkit than a model of one specific deck, Satin is the most fully-featured of the models in this list. You have the freedom to tweak everything, and even set things up badly ‘wrong’ if required. It feels a bit like driving a Ferrari: powerful, but easy to crash!

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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:

1. Soundtoys Decapitator

I love the Decapitator on virtually everything, but to me it always shines on warming up digital-sounding vocals. From adding subtle analog smoothness, to giving your vocals blistering bite, there’s very little the Decapitator can’t do.

Soundtoys Decapitator vocal mix tip from PureMix

/diezel-vh4-vst-free.html. 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 saturati

One of the best free plug ins of this type are made by the Variety of Sound. They have TeslaPRO, NastyVCS and FerricTDS, all of which will add tape saturation to your mix in a different way. FerricTDS is probably the most neutral of the bunch. It allows you to control and shape dynamics, saturation and limiting of the signal. Best used for: All-around organic tube saturation for instruments, groups, mixing and mastering. Thermionic Culture Vulture from Universal Audio ($299) Whenever I’m comparing plugins, some of UAD’s tools almost always end up toward the top of my list. Without a doubt, distortion and saturation VST plugins will for the foreseeable future remain essential in sound production. It’s almost obvious, but as it turns out- there isn’t a better way to add musical warmth and cohesion to your mixes than using these effects.

Mix Tip:

I do find that the Decapitator (and many other saturators) can make esses sound harsh and noisy. Part of my ever-evolving vocal mixing method now involves using clip gain to bring down each and every “s” before I touch the vocals with processing. If this technique still doesn’t work, it’s not uncommon for me to bring all of the esses to their own audio track and process them separately from the rest of the vocals.

2. Avid SansAmp PSA-1

Although the Decapitator does a great job at adding juicy analog goodness to your material, sometimes I need my vocals to sound like they’ve been re-amped, and the Decapitator isn’t quite built for that purpose. When I need that thin, brash, distorted vocal sound, I look no further than the SansAmp, which actually comes loaded as a stock Pro Tools plugin.

Mix Tip:

The SansAmp is a solid “megaphone” substitute. For howling rock vocals meant to sound like they’re being sung through a megaphone into a crowd of mosh-pitters, this is the plugin I reach for, especially if you pair it with a short, slap delay.

3. UAD Studer A800

The Studer was such a game-changer plugin when it come out. It’s still so much deeper, more flexible and more vibey than most saturator plugins that have been released since. In the cold, brittle world of low-budget digital audio, I am very thankful to have tools like this. The A800 has a “multiple-plugins-in-one” vibe happening, and sort of behaves like an equalizer and a compressor when used a certain way. It definitely imparts a pleasing tonal color onto vocals, but also does a great job of taming harsh, out of control passages.

Mix Tip:

As I said, there are so many controls and therefore tonal options on this plugin, it’s hard to pick one technique that stands out more than the others. Sometimes I drive the input super hard for a fat, crunchy distortion. Sometimes I tweak the bias setting to achieve a crackly, special-effect, broken vocal sound. Sometimes I simply turn down the IPS to give my vocals a vintage vibe. The Studer A800 is of the most versatile plugins on the market, regardless of what you’re using it on.

5-Minute UAD Tips: Magnetic Tape Plug-In Bundle

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 saturati

4. FabFilter Saturn

Best Free Tube Saturation Vst

It took me years of using this incredible FabFilter plugin to realize that it was named Saturn because (Saturation, Saturn…get it?) Anyway, it’s a standout plugin and perhaps the most versatile on this list when it comes to achieving different types of distortion. Tubes, tape, amps … Saturn does them all, and well.

Mix Tip:

Most of the other plugins on this list, even when pushed to their extremes, still leave you with something that is recognizable as the human voice. For when I want to crush and mangle vocals beyond oblivion, Saturn is an expressive and fun sound design tool. This is in part because the modulation section. For when I need to make my vocals sound more “alien”, which is pretty often when producing modern pop music, Saturn is what I reach for.

FabFilter Saturn distortion / saturation tutorial

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 saturati

5. Waves Kramer Master Tape

Best Free Tape Vst

I love the very-few-frills approach to the Kramer Master Tape from Waves. For adding subtle warmth and analog color to vocals, this plugin is one of the quickest fixes available. The Wow & Flutter control is also a lot of fun when you need to achieve that specific effect.

Mix Tip:

While this is a list of saturators, the delay on the Kramer Master Tape needs to be mentioned. It can do the short slap-back thing really well and is also a lot of fun when you try to push it into howling feedback territory. While I generally use the Kramer Master Tape as a saturator exclusively. There have been times when I’ve used it only for its delay.

Tape Plugin – Eddie Kramer About the Kramer Master Tape

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 saturati

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