How to Use Saturation Plugins

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[@theelaveaux]

This is the best audio engineering channel on KZbin EASILY. Thank you!

[@sageaudio]

That's great! Thanks for watching! SageAudio.com

[@Jisooee]

OmG! This is a right timing!❤ ThankU sageeeeeaudio!♠ Its amazing that u talked about saturation so well right now!

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching Rion! And thanks for your tip about the descriptions! ☺️ SageAudio.com

[@535_anshuj9]

My man, I gotta say! This channel is just something else! They choose the right topic EVERYTIME! It is way too underrated!

[@sageaudio]

Glad you're liking the channel! Thanks for watching! SageAudio.com

[@PharaohLawLess1]

The new HG Black Box 2 MS from Plugin Alliance is a saturating beast! Wow!

[@sageaudio]

Awesome I'll have to check it out! SageAudio.com

[@Keroser1983]

AWESOME!! Saturn 2 is actually something else. It is hard to categorize it as a saturator. It is more than that. Anyways great video!

[@sageaudio]

I agree! For all intents and purposes it's easy to call it a saturator, but it's also an amp modeler, stereo imager, analog emulator, modulator and more! SageAudio.com

[@sid3tears]

Always a win watching your videos 😍

[@sageaudio]

Awesome! Thanks for watching! SageAudio.com

[@wagnergarcia2011]

Brazil love´s Sage Audio!

[@ChristianYunes]

Verdade!!!

[@sageaudio]

Awesome! Thanks Wagner! SageAudio.com

[@persona83]

É bão!

[@MontyCraig]

Great work as always! Agreed with other comments on here. I'd love to see some more comparisons and a discussion about the differences between odd and even harmonic formations.

[@sageaudio]

Hey Monty! Thanks for watching - I'll add some description of that in the future! SageAudio.com

[@sammiller9855]

My favorite saturation plugin currently is Krazog's True Iron, a multi-transformer emulation. I generally prefer to add saturation to individual tracks and/or group busses not the mixing/mastering bus. Often when I apply blanket saturation (e.g., tape saturation) to the total mix there is something I like about it and something I don't. However, with True Iron, it often sounds great on both tracks and the mix/master bus, throughout the frequency spectrum.

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching Sam! I'll have to check that one out! SageAudio.com

[@niclasnightflame]

Thank you for the nice overview giving comparison. What kind of saturator would you recommend for orchestral soundtracks to give them a bit more hype/drive and make them sound more cinematic and less "classical"?

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! A tape saturation plugin with a crosstalk function would work well! I like Satin by U-he, but CHOW Tape is a good free option.

[@NoNameEagle1]

I love these guys!!!! keep on

[@sageaudio]

Awesome! Thanks for watching Bridge! SageAudio.com

[@notthecreator_ty]

Ngl.... Most of the time I was listening to how beautifully mixed that song in the background was lol

[@djdawnofficial2490]

Best Channel ....!

[@sageaudio]

Thanks Dj! SageAudio.com

[@sompronokubico5872]

Thank you, You´re the best!

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching SomPro! SageAudio.com

[@workoutsontwitch1687]

Amazing video. two questions popped up in my head and would appreciate any input from you guys. 1) When you see VU meters on plugins like the second plugin you demonstrated, are you shooting for an incoming signal to be reading close to 0 prior to adding saturation within the plugin? 2) I just learned about even and odd harmonics when it comes to saturation. Do you have a preference of when you generally prefer to use even or odd harmonics on sounds/mixes/masters?

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! 1) Nope! Not shooting for anything like that. 2) Not much of a preference - it'll depend on the mix. It is nice to have the 2nd order harmonic though, which sounds warm and has a doubling effect. This is present in tube saturation. SageAudio.com

[@en3970]

Good video. You bring good content, thanks. In this video I would like to hear the comparison on the same part of the song. Now I hear 3 very different parts of the song that have a different quality and depth of their own so I wonder; what part of the difference in sound is the plugin?

[@sageaudio]

I see what you mean! I'll try to make the demonstration a little more consistent in future videos. SageAudio.com

[@en3970]

@@sageaudio Great, thank you.

[@shaynsnyolo]

Nice guide :D

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for the comment! SageAudio.com

[@user-wv5gv3dw5u]

God I love this channel

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! Great to hear you're enjoying the channel! SageAudio.com

[@kaykintero8018]

thanks fo the tips! but man i need this song tho. is it out? can i stream it?

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! It's called Habits by Johnny Knox! SageAudio.com

[@chike1866]

Can you review izotope trash 2 distortion and saturation plugin and how to use it on kick, bass, synths and vocals. Thanks

[@workoutsontwitch1687]

Been trying to find useful info on this too. Its a powerful plugin but have no clue how to unlock its potential

[@bismuthmusic]

@@workoutsontwitch1687 There is an Izotope Trash 2 Cookbook with a bunch of suggested uses, highly recommend looking at that!

[@sageaudio]

That's a cool plugin! We covered it in this video if you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZC7gYGYftp2o7M

[@chike1866]

@@sageaudio checking it out right awa

[@flamersss]

Is it okay to use the SoftTube in my mixing chain? If I want to use a saturator first in my chain? Or is it for mastering?

[@fritzvegaph1252]

Now I know what saturation is

[@sageaudio]

Awesome! Thanks for watching! SageAudio.com

[@toekay7996]

Is the Saturn something you use as on the master or more on a bus for vocals???

[@sageaudio]

It works for both! SageAudio.com

[@GW-bb6tl]

What is the song?? please

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! It's called Habits by Johnny Knox! SageAudio.com

[@snaredrum954]

🎯

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! SageAudio.com

[@samir4924]

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! SageAudio.com

[@blaqmix7146]

Sage University

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching Joshua! SageAudio.com

[@heavymetalmixer91]

I wonder why Softube after all these years still doesn't put an output gain control to Saturation Knob.

[@heavymetalmixer91]

@jef An output knob is the most basica feature any plugin can have and tbh it's the main reason why many people don't use this plugin (making our life harder).

[@sageaudio]

I agree! I think it would be easy and really helpful to include one. SageAudio.com

[@diantem8235]

@@sageaudio but they have a plug in right there with an input and output knob that was not used in the example. If it did would you have used it in the example for a more fair comparison?

[@hendrix5757]

Sometimes it depends on whether adding another gain stage on an fx chain is conducive to the signal's current level, and/or also what the initial intentions are to begin with. While I completely understand the benefits of including one, I just choose to kind of look at it like an analog channel strip, which typically don't feature output level controls going from module to module. It's just that we've become so acclimated to the general ubiquity of Gain Compensation/Matching, along with all the emphasis concerning gain staging, that it's easy to lose sight of the fact that these are characteristics primarily applicable to the digital world.

[@ssemujjubaweesi6315]

🤗🤗🧐🧐🤔🤔

[@sageaudio]

Thanks for watching! SageAudio.com

[@flyoverfredusa]

Saturn adds way too much hiss, needs a button to turn that off

[@heavymetalmixer91]

Did you try using the High Quality button?

[@MIDNIGHTCVLT]

Probably you don't know how to use it properly, never had that issue with it. Also some eq pre saturn and post saturn can make it way way better

[@flyoverfredusa]

@@heavymetalmixer91 yes, it's worse on some settings so always requires a tweak here and there

[@flyoverfredusa]

@@MIDNIGHTCVLT google saturn and reddit - it's clearly been an issue for lots of people. Maybe they have fixed it now

[@MIDNIGHTCVLT]

@@flyoverfredusa i will! But yeah i normally treat highs with warm tape or with hard saturation, then i raise the band to recover the lost high end and it always tends to sound softer and easier to hear