Best saturation plugin for the sake of perceived loudness

Discussion in 'Mixing and Mastering' started by Swg Itsyo, May 16, 2023.

  1. Sinus Well

    Sinus Well Audiosexual

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    Well, it works well on snares... :dunno:
     
  2. itisntreal

    itisntreal Member

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    I only use the effect knob on 100% (for kicks) output -0.20
     
  3. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    Decapitator
     
  4. bravesounds

    bravesounds Kapellmeister

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    eq compressor
     
  5. naitguy

    naitguy Audiosexual

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    Newfangled Saturate tends to be my go to now.. or SoundToys Decapitator.
     
  6. No Avenger

    No Avenger Audiosexual

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    Clippers tend to do this, right.
     
  7. Sinus Well

    Sinus Well Audiosexual

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    Hard-
    :disco:
     
  8. Hazen

    Hazen Rock Star

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    Newfangled Saturate is a really good sounding clipper (more pristine than generic clippers), but adds tons of latency. So very unusable for mixing / tracking stage of production.
     
  9. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    i do not watch many YT videos and so on, but I do remember someone posting one here on the subject. Probably because it was using the Elysia Alpha master plugin in a somewhat unique way.

    the guy was using Elysia Alpha Master Compressor only for the soft-clip circuit (SC knobs both R+L), no/almost no compression from the Elysia, and then some regular limiter. The entire perceived loudness gain being accomplished with the SC parameter.
     
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  10. Snare Gel

    Snare Gel Kapellmeister

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    Limitless on Master and sometimes a touch of Softube Harmonics
    Tracks - SIR Audio Tools Standard and sometimes Soundtoys Devil loc for distortion + increased RMS
     
  11. BenniTheBlockbuster

    BenniTheBlockbuster Producer

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    Sonnox Inflator
    Newfangled Saturate
    Kazrog True Iron
    Tone Projects Kelvin
    K-Clip
     
  12. Barncore

    Barncore Platinum Record

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    Loving the ISM Aroma saturation plugin at the moment. It gives something appealing without getting to the distortion point. It's almost more of a tone shaper than a saturator. Similar to what you might use Spectre for imo.

    I just wish Aroma had some sorta auto-gain compensation functionality in it like Kelvin has. All of the "flavours" increase in gain as you boost them, so it's hard to know if you're getting perceived loudness or just literal loudness. As you're boosting the "flavours" you gotta keep attenuating the output, which is a bit clunky with 1 mouse pointer.
    Sounds surprisingly great though.
     
  13. anonymouse

    anonymouse Platinum Record

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    Acustica Audio Ash.
     
  14. patatern

    patatern Rock Star

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    apogee free tape soft limiter lately, very unique sound, it's a soft clipper but with its own behaviour
     
  15. triggerflipper

    triggerflipper Audiosexual

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    UrsaDSP - Boost
    Zynaptiq - Intensity

    Both these plugins have become staples in my mixing templates. Oftentimes I find little need to add anything else.

    I've also started to experiment with Yum Audio - Crispy Clip. I'm liking it for now.

    At the end of the chain usually sits Sonible - SmartLimit.
     
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  16. patatern

    patatern Rock Star

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    intensity on stereo buss or single tracks?
     
  17. triggerflipper

    triggerflipper Audiosexual

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    I've used it in every possible way. Mostly on master tracks to give a final push, but it shines even on single instruments like DI bass.
     
  18. franksq98

    franksq98 Member

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    What do you like about it?
     
  19. Martel

    Martel Platinum Record

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    The Arboreal Audio PiMax is doing incredible things for me at the moment. It gets that last few db's of that ''all up in your face'' right there and there's different options to tailor it to your needs. I'm very impressed by the output so far.
     
  20. Riddim Machine

    Riddim Machine Audiosexual

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    i think since it's been released it's my final stage on the snare channel. The harmonics generated are very "tape like" so i feel i clip the peaks while i tame harsh transients, very common on digital snares. But avoid using it on buses because i feel the distortion too much. There, for this task i use the good ol' StandardClip
     
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