Free Tape Saturation Plugin
There’s a lot of confusion around tape saturation, much of which arises from word of mouth and miscommunication, producers that advocate being HUGE lovers of the ‘warmth’ that analogue brings often are the ones that dive in head first with tape saturation, without ever really understanding the specifics of what it is.
I’ve had plenty of hands-on experience with producers that hold their hands up and admit being guilty of doing exactly that (myself included). And that’s ok!
Grab the Best Free Saturator VST Plugins available from our free plugins library!
I understand the feeling of excitement, when you buy a new plugin and think it’s going to transform the game you’re playing, only after a few minutes of twisting knobs, you find out that it’s not as easy as plug and play.
Coming prepared with nothing but a keen interest to learn can make all the difference before using these kinds of plugins, and in result completely transform your sound and bring you closer to your desired outcome.
So before we get into the reason you’re here (Finding out the best tape saturation plugins EVER DEVELOPED! cheesy title but I had to rope you in somehow)
Let’s walk through what tape saturation is in its simplest form so that if you follow through and buy any of these plugins you’re armed to use them to their maximum potential.
What is Tape Saturation?
Historically, the magnetic recording had a tough row to hoe. After a period of 50 years, magnetic recording eventually arrived at what we call high fidelity. Iron compounds don’t want to magnetize smoothly and linearly on their own, but they can be forced to behave like a misbehaved child for a good first-generation recording.
The problems come when you try to make the signal loud enough to overcome the ever-present tape hiss, which builds up every time you make a copy, which is what happens in a modern multitrack studio recording. Every generation (a mixdown master for making LPs, for example– it’s another copy) gets noisier and the distortion that was lurking below audibility in the first generation starts to become audible.
Add in carelessness and you have a new distortion to add to the inherent distortion and the copy distortion: tape saturation is when the tape runs out of little magnetic particles to be magnetized!
You’ve run them dry!
You’ll get a sound that’s like hard amplifier clipping: lots of odd-order harmonics mitigated somewhat by a roll-off of the high frequencies plus some compression. Used carefully by a savvy engineer/producer, it adds funk/dirt/grit to the sound. Used carelessly, it sounds like dog shit.
Below is a great video from the Youtube channel Ledger Note giving excellent before and after examples of using tape saturation:
So if you understood any of that you’ll now get that tape saturation is a problem! but life is full of problems and we’re forced to deal with them.So here are 4 problems I hope you love!
Saturn is both a distortion and tape saturation plugin (including multiband capabilities if required) that can produce effects ranging from warm and subtle analogue saturation to full-on crunchy bit-crushed digital distortion.
Really, this plugin is a potential one-stop shop for saturation as it’s so flexible – the modulation, panning and even compression options are excellent (as always), the clickable spectrum analyzer field at the back is where you can visually set up the crossover points for your different frequency bands, that can then all be treated independently. Between this feature and the simple mix knob, you have so many options for how, and to what degree, you process your sounds.
Available for: Mac all formats; Windows VST, VST3, AAX and RTAS
PSP Vintage Warmer2
The PSP Vintage Warmer2 has a large drive knob it’s simple to set up and adds real sonic character to anything you apply it to. When you buy VintageWarmer2, you actually get 3 versions:
Free Tape Saturation Plugin
- MicroWarmer, a single-band, streamlined version; for using on individual parts;
- Vintage Warmer (LE), based on the CPU-friendly original;
- and VintageWarmer2, which uses double sampling for extra analogue fatness.
D16 Group Redopter
The D16 team have been getting a lot of grassroots praise from EDM producers for their range of awesome effects plugins, not to mention probably the best 808 and 909 classic drum machine emulations yet created. Redopter is a Vintage Tube Distortion unit, and just brilliant.
Helper Saturator
Free Tape Saturation Plugin For Mac
Helper Saturator is the cheapest on the list which you can buy from Plugin Boutique here.
Helper Saturator is not just a simple saturation plugin, equipped with 2 filter features, 2 different saturation modules and the ability to be able to process 5 different types of audio signal.
Saturation. Its one of those words we throw around a lot. But what does it mean?
Install marathi font. That is the good news. And the keyboard is natural in that if I type 'm', it converts it to 'ma' in Marathi.
Saturation
To me, I equate it with a sense of thickness in the sound. A slightly overdriven signal, usually in the low or low mid part of the frequency spectrum. We often use the term distortion to describe it as well. You know, the “pleasing” kind of distortion. In the analog world, we got it by driving a signal slightly too hot onto tape. It was quantifiable, deliberate, and had a definite quality and sound to it. Microsoft visio 2013 pro download. In the world of DAW plug-ins, there are lots of options. Some subtle, some not so subtle. Some pleasing, some deliberately nasty. There are as many flavors of saturation as there is ice cream. However you want to define it, attaining the mythical saturation sweet-spot is a bit of voodoo in our digital word.
In the Old Days
Logic Pro users have had some tools in the past to create this kind of thickening effect. Many, myself included, often use the Distortion plug-in. Driving the signal, and then reducing the output by the same amount, results in a noticeably pleasing thickening effect. The Tape Delay has been used for years to create a subtle tape saturation effect. Running an audio signal through the plug-in, with no delay or feedback time, emulates the tape saturation effect nicely.
Now, a New Tool!
Logic Pro X 10.4 has brought us the old Camel Audio Phat FX multi-effects plug-in. At first glance, this is a spectacular sounding multi-effects plug-in, loaded with nice modulation facilities and several FX modules. But it’s got a hidden secret weapon. A three-stage distortion unit with a variety of algorithms ranging from subtle to aggressive. My new favorite mixing tool is to turn off all the modules in Phat FX and then enable only the Distortion module. The Soft Saturation and Vari-Drive algorithms in particular sound to me like the perfect saturation tools to thicken up almost any signal running through it. Add to that the tuneable Bass Enhancer module, and this moves Phat FX into the realm of master bus mix tool extraordinaire!
Signal Flow
I also love that you can modify Phat FX's signal flow, so the three components can be placed in any order. Maybe you want the bass enhancer feeding into one or both of the distortion/saturation stages. Or perhaps you want the bass enhancer after both of them? Each combination results in subtle variations.
The mix control in the Output section allows you to further control the effect, by blending the amount you want into the summed signal at the output stage. Maybe you want to drive some heavy saturation into the signal but only use a little bit of it. Or perhaps some subtle amounts, but higher up in the blend with the dry signal. Again, all the permutations and variations yield exciting results, depending on how aggressive you want the effect to be.
Delicate Enhancement
Let's listen to some examples.
The first two have Phat FX on the mix bus. First, you will hear the mix unprocessed by Phat FX. That is followed by the same musical segment with a subtle amount of soft saturation and vari drive, combined with a bit of bass enhancer. The bass enhancer is placed between the two saturation stages, and the output section is set to subtly fatten up the signal with minimal volume changes. All stages are used conservatively. The result is a delicate yet noticeable cohesiveness (dare I use the word glue!) to the summed elements. Listen either with headphones or good monitors to get the full effect.
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-01-A-Without-Phat-FX.mp3'][/audio]
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-01-B-With-Phat-FX.mp3'][/audio]
Assertive Enhancement
These same modules can be used as a volume enhancer as well. In this next example, the same values are used in each of the three stages. The bass enhancer is placed after the two saturation modules though instead of in between them as in the previous example. Here the output and mix levels are full up. There is a noticeable increase in volume. The soft limiting algorithm is still used at the Output stage. This is a great way to add some fullness not only to a mix but individual tracks or busses as well. I wouldn’t suggest these settings on every track in the mix, but it makes a profound impact on the master bus here, and would probably be great on an aggressive parallel drum bus. The first example is with Phat FX disabled. The second has it enabled on the master bus with the settings shown in the image below:
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-02-A-Without-Phat-FX.mp3'][/audio]
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-02-B-With-Phat-FX.mp3'][/audio]
Distortion
To be fair, let’s not throw out our old tools just yet. Although not all shiny and new, they still pack a nice punch. Here is the same musical example but with Logic Pro’s venerable Distortion plug-in replacing Phat FX. Again, it is on the master bus. It is bypassed in the first example and enabled in the second. 6 dB of drive is added to the signal, while 6 dB is attenuated at the output stage of the plug-in.
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-03-A-No-Distortion.mp3'][/audio]
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-03-B-With-Distortion.mp3'][/audio]
Tape Delay
No article of this nature would be complete without including Logic’s Tape Delay. Here the same example is used. First dry and then wet. The delay and feedback time are completely off. The frequency range is wide open. A nice warm blending of the signal results when the wet tape delay signal is added. Because the dry level is completely off, only the saturated part of the signal is heard. Of course, blending the dry and wet together yields perfectly useable and interesting results. But this example illustrates the tape delay saturation on its own.
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-04-A-No-Tape-Delay.mp3'][/audio]
[audio mp3='http://logic-pro-expert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phat-FX-Favorite-Secret-Saturation-Tool-04-B-With-Tape-Delay.mp3'][/audio]
Conclusion
They are all interesting in their own way. I for one though am thrilled to have these new Camel Audio based algorithms available to add to the collection of useful master bus “glue” style processors. It’s fabulous as a general multi-effects processor, especially with its deep modulation capabilities. But these saturation elements are fantastic on their own as well.
Never before has Logic Pro had as comprehensive a set of internal mix bus style plug-ins available without third-party add-ons.