For $25, Sixth Sample is selling a very capable distortion plugin with a very effective, yet simple dynamic preservation effect, with a very clean UI that doesn't get in your way.

UI
Clean & simple with multiple themes to choose from if you care about that sort of thing. Nothing necessarily outstanding about it, but it gets out of your way, which is more than what some plugins from much larger brands can't boast of. It's freely scalable, which is always nice



Main functionality
At its most basic level, it's a sane multiband distortion plugin with many distortion types to choose from. Selectable crossover frequencies, band gain, crossover slope steepness, and a drive/mix combined into a bidirectional slider, with "up" being the mix and left/right being the drive amount. It's intuitive and works just as well as 2 separate controls/knobs. One thing that you'll either like or dislike is that some of the gain sliders don't display the exact DB. I like this as it makes you adjust it based on what your ears tell you sounds nicest, rather than what "seems" right for the value. There's a "band lock" toggle to apply the same adjustments across each band, which is useful.

Sonic quality
There's a lot of variety in terms of the distortion algorithms themselves. Rectifiers, Asymmetric distortion, Soft clipping, Wavefolding, ect. I think there's enough to please most people. There's a polarity invert mode, which can be nice for the low end. TDR VOS SlickEQ M does the same with the "low lag" switch.
There's up to 8x oversampling, so you don't have to worry about unintended aliasing.
Now one of its main claims to fame is its dynamic preservation effect. It seems to just be an optimized envelope follower tied to the "drive" amount. It's not the fanciest solution and I've heard better, but it's good enough to not squash a kick drum while still sounding natural. You can choose whether it decreases or increases on transients.



I think it's a great plugin especially for the price. I think it could do with a linear phase mode to prevent any unwanted phase rotation, but if that's not an issue for you I believe it'll suit your needs if you're in the market for a multiband distortion plugin.

 

There is another gold Multiband distortion plugin FIRE and it free! But more like Saturn from FF.

 

Sixth Sample is doing amazing work!

His free delay is probably the most feature packed free delay out there. All of the plug-ins also sound, and feel pretty much as professional as many other alternatives that can be 3-5x more expensive.

One aspect I truly appreciate about Sixth Sample is that he uses no protection. Together with the highly affordable pricing, buying and supporting this new dev is a no-brainer. At least for me it is