The Not So Secret Ingredient to a Great Mix: Saturation

Today, I give you one of my favorite tools and…

…The Not So Secret Ingredient to a Great Mix: Saturation

With all of the sales hype and marketing shoved in our faces on a daily basis, it can be difficult to determine what is and isn’t necessary to achieve a “great” mix.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy gear. But recently, I decided to take the Studio Detox NAMM Challenge offered up by Graham Cochrane of The Recording Revolution. This was long overdue and I’m way more focused as a result of limiting my plugin options when mixing. I recommend you give it a try for yourself.

Saturation is one of the tools I enjoy using the most so it was hard for me to only pick a few to keep in my arsenal of plugins. There’s just something exciting about showing some harmonic love to everything from the individual tracks all the way through to the stereo buss.

The Not So Secret Ingredient to a Great Mix (Free Plugin List Included)

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What is Saturation?

In the world of plugins, saturation generally refers to “saturating” magnetic tape and tube-type distortion.

By running an audio signal through various types of equipment that utilize analog valves “tubes” or tape we can achieve ear pleasing side effects (especially when pushed harder for a more dramatic effect).

How does Saturation Help Me in the Mixing Process?

Color. Warmth. And my personal favorite: Mmmph!

A few ways that I use saturation when mixing include:
  1. Preamp emulated drive added to dry/digital tracks
  2. Analog console emulations across the tracks in my DAW
  3. Tape Machines on busses for things like drums, bass, and vocals
  4. Tape Machine Effects (Check out the FX-Cassette Deck preset on the UAD Studer)
  5. Guitar amp effects (I love using amps on all things, not just guitars)
Free Saturation Plugins:
  • TDR VOS Slick EQ (One of my new faves!)
  • Softube Saturation Knob
  • Plug and Mix Analoger (Free if you like their Facebook Page)
  • Avid D-Fi (Stock in Pro Tools)
  • Massey Plugins- Tapehead (free version resets parameters each load)
  • Sansamp (Stock in Pro Tools)

Now for some of my go to paid plugs. There are so many…

…But these are the ones you will find in my mix sessions.

Paid Plugin Recommendations:

While these are some of my faves, I want to hear from you! What are your go to plugins to add saturation or color to your tracks? Let me know in the comments below.

Comments 21

  1. Sigurdor Gudmundsson / Skonrokk Studios

    I whole heartily agree with you on:

    FabFilter Saturn
    Sound Toys Decapitator
    UAD Studer A800 Tape Recorder (and the Ampex ATR-102)
    iZotope Alloy 2

    I guess I should check out TDR VOS Slick EQ (Gentlemen’s Edition)
    then! ;)

    Other saturation effects I also really like and use frequently are Vintage Warmer, Vertigo Sound VSM-3 Mix Satellite, bx_saturator V2 and bx_limiter from Brainworx / Plugin Alliance, MDynamicLimiter from MeldaProduction, Tape Head from Massey, Twin Tube from SPL … all the subtle analog emulation goodies from UAD and Slate… am I forgetting something? … Do I have a problem?

    Reply
    1. Post
      Author
      David Glenn

      Haha! It sounds like we both have a problem friend! Lol

      Which is why I’m taking to Graham’s challenge. I hope to remove some of my obsession with gear in the box this year and focus on the music more. So many toys!

      Definitely give the Slick EQ a try and let me know what you think.

      Cheers!

      David

      Reply
  2. Cross Bone T

    Ozone’s Tube setting, and the BBE’s d82 & H82 are used on pretty much every session I work on (even during tracking sessions to help build the vibe). I’m keen to re-try the VOS (Tokiyo Dawn) again after reading this post though.

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      Author
      David Glenn

      Love the iZotope saturations. I find myself using the module in Alloy 2 quite a bit. I like to drag the control around to feel it out on any given track.

      Thanks for chiming in Cross Bone T!

      Reply
  3. Maxx Evans

    A few of my absolute saturators are

    NLS Channel - Waves (My favorite)

    ReelBus - ToneBoosters (Because its low on CPU and still good)

    VTP Virtual Tube Preamp - Studio Devil

    Softube Saturation Knob - Softube

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      David Glenn

      Haha. I didn’t want to believe it at first because of how free it was. Lol. They definitely have a sweet marketing strategy in releasing an unrestricted free version of the Slick EQ.

      Reply
  5. Quincy Jones

    Klanghelm SDRR has some great textures.

    Magnetic 2 on every mix.

    Sonimus Satson on every mix.

    Already mentioned: Reel Bus, Analoger and Alloy 2.

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  6. Anthony

    You can’t beat the Softube Saturation Knob for its sound (and price), the Alloy 2 has a nice - but different tone to it also. The TDR boys make good stuff, I havent played with the VOS Slick EQ much … yet, but their compressors are way cool!
    Thanks!
    see ya

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  7. Frank Wolf

    Ferric TDS from Variety Of Sound ! Unfortunately only Win32/VST, but free.
    I highly recommend Satson!

    Thanks for the tip on Slick EQ. Have to try it out.

    Cheers
    Frank

    Reply
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  8. Martijn Stienstra

    Kush UBK-1 compressor for saturation and for more distortion type sounds UBK Pusher Magnetic DSP Colorbox and iZotope Trash 2.

    Still working on the concept of pre-mixing tracks to inject some life into poorly recorded, sterile tracks. Recently tried the (hardware) UBK Fatso and was pleasantly surprised. Next buy will be a simple graphic equalizer to hook up to its sidechain. Tweaking with knobs! ;-)

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  9. Jeffrey King

    The use of analog console and tape emulations has dramatically changed my mixes. They provide a glue that just makes the mix more pro…..something I sorely needed. I also love the Softube Saturation plugin when I need something to stick out a little more in the mix. Also really want to say thanks for all the cool tips and ideas you’ve flung our way - keep up the good work. You and Graham haver been invaluable.

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  10. Jason

    Can someone post some before/after of some great examples of uses for saturation? I’m a noob with sat, and feel like I’m using either too much or it has no noticeable effect

    It would be neat to hear it across multiple instruments and vocals…..future blog post idea? ;)

    Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Zeph

    Thanks for the article. Using Satin by U-He…. Beautiful palette of tape machines. also Slates VTM on master buss is a kind of instant ahhhh. I’m using Heat with protools HDX … My suggestion there is to keep that low while pushing the tape machine,,,also agree on the saturators mentioned here.

    Also a warmer is the good ol VEQ3 by waves.

    Reply
  12. Ethan Finley

    Thanks as always for this great info David! I’m increasingly using tasteful, limited amounts of saturation in my mixing, and loving it. I learned a lot of this from you, thanks to your tutorials (e.g. in the Mixing Vocals course, which I just completed, and which is excellent). So, much credit to you for the insight!

    I, too, have taken up Graham’s plugin detox challenge, and what I’m left with that I like in this category are: Softube Saturation Knob (so simple but brilliant), the Manny M distortion from Waves (very good vibe), CamelCrusher (a great little unit, though more aggressive), and the multiband beast that is Saturn.

    I also want to note that I am in love with the variety of saturation types in Ozone 6, and their quality!

    Thanks for all you do to help us improve our music David, I know I speak for many others when I say I’m truly grateful to you!

    Reply

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