The title says it all. I'm considering it. Inflator has lots of love and hate around forums. Some people swear by it, and others can't stand the phasey thing it apparently does. However, no one can out a finger on what it exactly does to enhance loudness and there's apparently no substitute for its sound.

Two questions:

1. Actual users, how much does it help you to achieve results?
2. Does anyone know a cheaper alternative that's fallen off my radar?

Thank you for your time on this.

Peace

 

From what I've used of it, I thought it was pretty good. If you're interested in it, for $75, I say go for it.

When it comes to alternatives...I can't think of many that are cheaper than this discount, unfortunately. iZotope's Ozone exciter is godly IMO but it's absurdly expensive if all you want is the exciter. Fabfilter Saturn could probably achieve roughly the same results if you know what you're doing, but that's priced at US$154 currently. Waves Aphex Vintage Exciter isn't too bad, either; a bit too extreme for my tastes, though.

 

It's not an exciter. It's a saturator with soft limiter AFAIK. I just posted about Klanghelm plugins and his SDRR should do the same thing with better quality for less money and with more options.

https://klanghelm.com/contents/products/SDRR/SDRR.php

Just my 2p. Maybe Inflator's simplicity is something you find appealing, though. ;)

 

For me, it was one of those plugins that I thought I liked at first. But as time passed and my ears rested and I started to revisit mixes that I had used it on, I found myself preferring the mix without it and eventually stopped using it.

 

I too get better results without it. I DO however recommend the Sonnox Limiter. It is my goto one!


I think I need to explain the above comment!

When I master a track. The quality of finished article is better (for me anyway) using the Sonnox Limiter (end of chain), with Cytomic (The Glue) at the beginning of the Mastering Chain to glue things together and add bulk, as opposed to using the Sonnox Inflator to any tracks in the mixdown stage!


Here is what I mean:-

 

Last edited: Nov 14, 2017

I made a short comparison for you with your favourite instrument.
As you can hear it sounds more like a compressor and has much more subtle saturation than the SDRR can have.
The "treatment meters" have an average level of ~ 65%.
The peak levels are of course equal in both versions.
Ah, almost forgotten it's v1.51

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2017

guess it sort of depends what "flavor" of sound you are going for in the mix ..
but the "inf" sounds more expansive and present for me, I prefer that as the stand alone clip.

SDRR only € 23 too but the inflator does sound better imo

nice comparison @No Avenger

sounds like you got a winner there @mercurysoto

check this for a few mins..

 

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 13, 2017

You will get even better deals if you sign in and buy it from Audiodeluxe or JRRShop and places alike... Be sure to check them.

 

Thank you, people, for reaching out. I really appreciate your insight. @No Avenger, thank you a ton for taking the time to do that A/B for me. I've just installed the demo and last night I started giving it a joyride. So far, I like what I've tried. Although it's only a few slider bars, it offers lots of tone flexibility. Of course, I'm just getting started. I've got till the end of this month to make a decision, which is how long the Sonnox offer will last. I'll report on the experience and what I finally decide to do.

I tried both sites and Plugin Boutique, but everyone has about the same price, $77 or $78 dollars. If anybody knows how to get a coupon or something, I'd really appreciate it. Like we say in Spanish, El que pide poco es un loco. -roughly understood as "asking for little is like not asking at all."

Thank you again. Lots of love.

 

Last edited: Nov 14, 2017

Did you actually redo the song by yourself or just mastered it? It's a great song and a great work there. You got it, bud. Kudos.

 

You're welcome.

One thing I forgot: at least in v1.51 you should avoid an input level above the zero mark. Infiltrator responds with aliasing at this point. I would check this in v3 with a sine wave to be on the safe side.

P.S. According to your avatar your favourite instrument seems to the bass guitar. Sorry for the inadvertency, not meant offending.

 

Of course Cheers buddy

 

I just wanted to say thanks once more for your support. In the end, I find it that Inflators is really useful. I'm all for it. I was doing a mix where all tracks started to fit in but one got buried. Inflator put it back to the right balance without whacking the mix. That alone saved time and a heartache.

Once again, thank you.

 

..is it just me or anyone else too have this feeling.. it's like Sonnox Oxford is among those plugins which gives you some artistry kind of feelings when mixing.. it's like painting.. a must have plugins.. 50% I'd say yes..

 

It's currently available for $25.00/£19.99

 

Last edited: Jul 16, 2024

If you have a so called "unique promo code"......

 

Anybody on the mailing list can get it.

 

Exactly..... thats how you get the unique promo code!!

 

Is it unique to the recipient or a generic code?

 

Dont know. This is what I got from Sonnox the other day on a mail:

To claim your discounted copy of Limiter, simply follow in the instructions below:
1. Go to www.sonnox.com/store
2. Select Limiter
3. Enter your unique Promo Code before clicking 'Checkout'
4. Click 'Checkout' to proceed with the purchase.

Your unique promo code: Nope Im not sharing the code