

SEE MORE: Soundtoys Decapitator | Grade A Saturation.Then they narrowed down the pieces of gear they felt had the most distinctive sound and had unique character when used both subtly and at extremes.įinally, Soundtoys took their 5 favorite hardware pieces and packaged them up in Decapitator. In creating Decapitator, Soundtoys collected and analyzed vintage and modern hardware - consoles, preamps, input channels, EQs, compressors, and studio distortion units. You can do anything from giving an instrument a bit of analog character to ‘punishing’ the signal with extreme distortion. That’s because it gives mixers a lot of control in an easy-to-use plugin. Related: 5 Quick Saturation Mixing Tricksĭecapitator is super popular.These are some of our favorites, but the best saturation plugins are really whichever ones you’ve come to like! It’s always hard to label something the ‘best,’ because ultimately it’s a subjective thing. Plugins that emulate tape or tube saturation are perfect for this type of thing. Pretty amazing stuff!īeyond that, saturation gives us some of that dirtiness we love from classic recordings that digital technology took away. This is because the plugin is squashing those really loud transient peaks while adding fullness to the overall signal. But if you check your peak values, they can be quieter than they were without saturation. You’ll most definitely hear what appears to be an increase in overall level. Grab your favorite saturation plugin, load it up, and turn up the drive. It can actually control peak levels on something like, say, a snare drum - a loud instrument with really aggressive transients.

One of the less obvious things saturation does is it allows us to increase the perceived loudness of a sound. Best Saturation Plugins: What do they do?
