Do any of you know of a distortion plugin that ONLY distorts the audio that passes a certain dB threshold? Much like a compressor which only compresses the part of a signal that crosses your desired threshold, I am looking for a distortion that only distorts if the audio level dB hits a certain threshold, and also has attack and release settings..

Been looking for this type of plugin for years. Does it even exist?

Thanks in advance!

 

Fabfilter Saturn 2 (PDF Manual)

Vertigo VSM-3 (PDF Manual)

Voxengo Shineshilla (PDF Manual)

Less expensive :
D16 Devastator 2 (PDF Manual)

In fact almost all the distortion units have that control. They almost all have a threshold in input to distort only the signal which is beyond the threshold .

Those I recommend above are some of my preferred.

 

Modulate the drive of the plugin with the audio input signal. done.

 

The Logic Compressor offers Soft, Hard and Clip Distortion options for all circuit types.

You should check out Klevgrand Squashit! Not for your specific request, but for similar distortion opportunities . Odd multi band distortion plugin.

 

If distortion only happens at a certain threshold ... it is called "clipping".
Being hard or soft.
BUT setting attack/release is a compressor setting, not distortion.

Try freeware Audio Damage RoughRider 3 (it distort at high level):
https://www.audiodamage.com/pages/free-downloads

 

I've been programming something like that using Kilohearts multipass, not only using a threshold but also different bands, with different distortions.
I made it while looking for a specific sound I wanted for an electric bass and I ended creating an Amp sim lol ...
That's not as easy as one think.

But if you're looking to obtain something simple, with Kilohearts you can use the relatively recent dynamic detector called "Audio Follower" to control any parameter, so it's not so hard to create a basic preset. You can use their free Snap Heap and distortion to do it.

 

Wow, been using Saturn for years and didnt realize it had the transient option, when the hell did they sneak that in there!? lol.. Geez! Thanks for opening my eyes and even taking the time to link to PDF manuals! I appreciate you!

 

ableton suite has a built in envelope follower max device which can accomplish the same sorts of things

 

McDSP Analog Channel AC101 has attack and release settings, gain reduction meter and it's not a brickwall clipper. I think it's the closest thing for what you're looking for. TR5 clipper also has attack and release settings, but it's more aggressive (BC it's a clipper)

 

Cableguy Shaperbox 3 (the Drive module) can do a lot more fancy stuff with its Envelope. Another option is Devious Machine Infiltrator.

 

I would actually... clone your track, distort the entire thing how you want and then switch between where you like.

Sometimes the lo tech approach is faster and gets you closer to what you want than spending time figuring out techy in the box solutions. In this case of course I don't know.

 

I love this approach and would use it over any other kind of fancy stuff. It's the best way to give the "wrongness" and "nastiness" of distortion over a signal with total control of what's happening. And if i want transients or the attack and release of the distorted signal i just grab any comp and eq and put it before the distortion to enhance those characteristics.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies. Seems I had a plugin the whole time that did exactly what I needed but I never new. FabFilter Saturn does exactly what I was looking for, start distortion when a sound hits a user-created threshold, and stop distorting when it goes back under the threshold, with a mix knob, and attack and release settings. Thanks again @BlackWinny