Best or Cheapest Analog Saturation/Drive for Digital Synths

[_leras]

Well if talking about NI then Driver is also very good, though it can take some taming.

Of course decapitator is still an excellent saturator, and radiator and devil-loc from sound toys are both great

UAD have some excellent options, plus some more hidden ones e.g. you can push their channel strips that have pre amps very nicely, also the Moog Filter they have has an amazing distortion in its drive.

The ole Trash 2 can sometimes work wonders.

Then there are mix saturation plug ins from tone projects, voxengo, newfangled audio.

Plus newer things like Coldfire, Rift or Spectre

There's no shortage of ITB saturation, and if you e.g. add it in parallel with compression and EQ, there are many many tonal options....

Really it just comes down to learning how these things sound, how they can enhance sounds and mixes, and then finally using your taste to apply them.

[cryophonik]

Why the hell are we talking about software on the hardware forum? If you don’t know the difference between the two, you should just stay in the Instruments and Effects forums and you’ll be fine.

[Uncle E]

Try opening the effect version of the DSP56300 in Plugin Doctor. I bet you won't see a flat frequency response.

Measured. There is a steep filter right before 20K that causes a resonance bump (less than 1dB) starting at around 12K. It is completely flat before that. This explains why the Virus doesn't have issues with aliasing. However, it does not explain the Virus's overall sound quality.

[Synthman2000]

I am thinking of a cassette deck being the answer to this one.

[Uncle E]

Or cheap reel-to-reel. Roberts and Akai reel-to-reels can be found for under $200. Some can be used as tape echoes, too (just use a delay plugin on the send).

[vitocorleone123]

For software: check out Korneff stuff, then Kush

For hardware: EHX Overlord is supposed to be good and available I stereo I preferred the Acidbox 3 to the Heat… cheaper, too. Also stereo.

[egbert101]

Try opening the effect version of the DSP56300 in Plugin Doctor. I bet you won't see a flat frequency response.

Measured. There is a steep filter right before 20K that causes a resonance bump (less than 1dB) starting at around 12K. It is completely flat before that. This explains why the Virus doesn't have issues with aliasing. However, it does not explain the Virus's overall sound quality.

Maybe that's all it takes but I can't hear above 15K anyway.

[Uncle E]

Maybe that's all it takes but I can't hear above 15K anyway.

You would still hear aliasing even if you can't hear above 15K (sorry if you already know). So that's at least part of what you're liking about it. As others said, the rest is the good coding.

[Constructed Identity]

I am thinking of a cassette deck being the answer to this one.

Yes.
And according to Junkie XL the Tascam fourtrack is the best. (source Youtube video)

[_leras]

Why the hell are we talking about software on the hardware forum? If you don’t know the difference between the two, you should just stay in the Instruments and Effects forums and you’ll be fine.

Well, I suggested some pedals first of all. I have quite a few and they can be great sometimes as you can tweak them alongside tweaking the synth.

The fact is though, that any analog solution will likely have a limited choice of tones. Do you want it for guitar, synths, bass, drums, for general sound enhancement, for mixing, mastering... Nothing really covers it all.

So many good ITB saturation choices these days. There's no one size fits all and any analog solution won't work for everything.

[egbert101]

Another idea so far is to use a mixer that adds clean boost and distortion. For example this thing called Bestie does the job of a stereo mixer but adds boost via a NE5532 op-amp (whatever that is!). It's about £200 so not too bad.

https://bastl-instruments.com/instruments/bestie

https://youtu.be/KB7C3ATBCc0

[Uncle E]

Another idea so far is to use a mixer that adds clean boost and distortion. For example this thing called Bestie does the job of a stereo mixer but adds boost via a NE5532 op-amp (whatever that is!). It's about £200 so not too bad.

https://bastl-instruments.com/instruments/bestie

https://youtu.be/KB7C3ATBCc0

5532 is a dual opamp found in SSL 4000 consoles, as well as high fidelity pedals like the Love Pedal version of the Zendrive.

[egbert101]

5532 is a dual opamp found in SSL 4000 consoles, as well as high fidelity pedals like the Love Pedal version of the Zendrive.

It actually saturates and distorts over 12, according to the video, and its pretty damn nice. Pretty much a good option.

[Uncle E]

Yes, that sounds fantastic. The feedback is a cool feature, too.

[whyterabbyt]

Another idea so far is to use a mixer that adds clean boost and distortion. For example this thing called Bestie does the job of a stereo mixer but adds boost via a NE5532 op-amp (whatever that is!). It's about £200 so not too bad.

https://bastl-instruments.com/instruments/bestie

https://youtu.be/KB7C3ATBCc0

5532 is a dual opamp found in SSL 4000 consoles, as well as high fidelity pedals like the Love Pedal version of the Zendrive.

They're nearly 50 pence each, as well!