What the best tube emulator VST?

Not necessarily heavy distortion, but I love many of the 60s tones on guitar and bass... just that roundness of tubes. I've tried Neural and wasn't happy with any of the amps (maybe using them wrong).

 

little radiator

 

acustica does best tube, everyone already knows that

 

saturation is not something acustica is good at.

 

Kush Audio Omega 458A and massey tape good combo

 

Just go analog, cheapest go under 50 €
https://www.thomann.de/fi/art_tube_mp.htm

 

assuming you are asking about something that has to do with guitar/bass, I suggest you try the Softube Marshalls. I love the 1959 and the Bluesbreaker and been playing them everyday. It feels like an amp!

Neural DSP feels like mic'ed amp. I didn't find any joy in them too, you aren't alone.

 

Wave Arts Tube Saturator 2, Babelson FDN plugins, PA black box, phil`s cascade and as someone mentioned Kush stuff as well.

 

The Neural DSP amps sound pretty modern. If you're looking for something more traditional I'd go for PA's bx_rockrack for gits (has a nice round sound) and Kuassa's Cerberus for basses. The latter I found a bit more upfront that PA's bx_bassdude.
But I haven't tested any Softube stuff, so maybe you should try them too.

 

I was gonna mention Wave Arts Tube Saturator. Great tube emulation. Voxengo Tube Amp oversampled is also one of my favourites. It's also free.

However, when it comes to tubes, man there's nothing like the real thing. The cheapest non-starving plate designed device [Art MP is starved plate] is Art Pro MPA II. That thing is worth every penny, trust me. You can connect line output from your audio interface through it. Art Pro VLA II is also great if you need analogue compressor/limiter.

These devices are cheap, but made well enough to deserve the name "pro", but I'm not saying I wouldn't part with my nowadays even harder earned monies for something more expensive like SPL. Art can do more than fine, though.

I'm sorry for going off-topic with some hardware when the OP is asking about VST plugins, but I thought it deserves to be mentioned.

p.s. starving plate designed tube design doesn't use enough voltage to drive the tube, but drives it with low voltage, and then mixes the audio with the dry signal. It doesn't sound as great as when you're driving the tube with high voltage like 100V up.

 

Last edited: Feb 8, 2021

Wavearst tube saturator breaks down very realistically.
Obviously analog is the way to go if you can afford it.
Babelson stuff sounds good as well.

 

My inbox fav (along with Kush Audio tools)

VCult P6 | VCult L (RCA 6AS6)



A very simple program for Nebula. Only Drive and Bias parameters. It does magic!

from dev:
VCult is based on a unique distortion/coloring box: The Culture Vulture.



It can range from subtle distortion to more obvious color and character. The distortion is derivative of multiple tubes including
6AS6 as the main source. This library will give the flexibility between adding weight and color or obvious
tone shaping.
Both presets, on all settings, will create “fullness.”
P6 ‐ Preset “P6” is inherently darker, rounder, warmer, and even fuller than preset “T”. Use P6 for solid
and thick vibe with obvious tone right off the start.


T ‐ is more subtle but also has the potential to be more obvious but differing from P6 in that it maintains
certain "fidelity". Here, fidelity is a loose term and a relative one at that because generally warming
things up sometimes means rounding off high‐end fidelity and accuracy and accenting the track
elsewhere. It’s not just a frequency thing however! Frequency, harmonic, dynamic, and phase
interactions change the perception of what something sounds like.
Tips.
Something to remember about “saturation” is that it physically behaves in a certain way that’s
important for signal control. It’s naturally a consequence in analog systems when a signal is run through
coloring or distortion units or simply driven for a certain character. Although Nebula has come a long
way for signal compression, especially our compressors which are sounding great now and are really
useable, it’s still not 100% in the area where small amounts of relatively transparent compression or soft
limiting of peaks occurs in saturation units such as in their hardware counterparts. Therefore, this type
of preset shines with a limiter or compressor of your choice right after it on transparent ettings such that
only the peaks are occasionally affected so as to increase a few DB of headroom and the tame hyped or
excited transients. You can further enjoy a closer analog experience not only through the tone aspect
which Nebula is amazing for, but also the
physical consequences of signal peaks.
P6 is more straightforward in use. Simply use the Nebula Drive parameter to increase or decrease
harmonic distortion. Even at the lowest harmonic distortion settings, P6 is still of obvious character. T
possesses a ‘Bias’ parameter as well as a separate ‘Drive’ parameter. The lower the ‘Bias’ value in the T
preset the more subtlety the signal is processed. This will give more or less a polished, hi‐fi sound,
relative to other settings, especially relative to the P6 Program. The higher Bias values you can clearly
hear how more and more of the signal is being enhanced, especially transients. They can get sizzling hot!
Just like the hardware counterpart, the presets can add a lot of gain. Be mindful of gain staging. Utilize
Nebula Input and Output knobs accordingly.

 

not many people know this. uses little cpu too

 

Besides the already mentioned Wave Arts Tube Saturator 2 (the previous vintage version one is free btw) and Soundtoys Radiator I would also add Antares Avox Warm and perhaps Slate Digital Revival (which is also free).

 

i give you my favs

the "normal" ones
WaveArts, Kush,Soundtoys and Softube + FabFilter

the difficult ones
SPL, BBE
dif. because sweetspot is tiny imo

for my money, Special are
EMI-AbbyRoad
not only the Softube ones,
the old bundle! there is a way to make them sing

in the classic style:
"There are two rules for success in life.
One: Never reveal everything you know."
-The Riddler


.ps
DDMF