I compared 8 TOP Saturator Plugins and these are the results!  

I work about 90% in jazz and classical music, Kelvin on the masterbus get's it perfect most of the time. Strings and Guitars love the BlackBox, while Saturn2 works best for drums & percussion, because of it's versatility. For Bass and Low Winds I am using bx-subsynth for ages. The Decapitator with subtle settings is often used in a 2nd Saturation stage. And my secret weapon for the vocals is "Big Al" from NEOLD

Black Box HG2 is the best saturation I have ever used.....by a mile

WavesFactory SPECTRE is a really nice multiband parallel saturator-- 5 bands, each w/ 11 types of saturation and mid/side to stereo width. mix from 0-100%. well worth a look

most of the time I use Cubase stock plugins for distortion saturation purposes theses days. Channel Strip, Tape Saturation, Tube, Distortion, Magneto, Multiband Quadrafuzz II etc. - absolutely great sound. You don´t need thirdparty.

a review about P42 CLIMAX by Pulsar Modular it would be nice

every distortion and saturation is so different from each other… always a hard choice

P42 climax, Kelvin, Elevate Saturate, SSL native fusion for me on masters. For stems Saturn, Rift, spl vitaliser, ssl X saturate. Loved your video.

My vote goes to Black Box HG2 MS. I love this plugin and add it to all my track now.

P42 Climax is on nearly every track and great on master, it's easy to use all the features a bit pricy but well worth it.

I use several of these. Fab Filter is my multipurpose saturator, Decapitator is for parallel drum processing, Abbey Road is great for vocals, Black Box goes on the mix bus, and the Omega is magical on rock guitars.

I actually mix into a console emulation, Frontdaw, and then used the Vertigo VSM3 to saturate the mids of the middle and the highs of the sides. Sounds great.

True Iron is a true beast..you can kill the transient of a kick and still sound powerful and great,this Plugin is special :)

You missed Klanghelm SDRR. My favorite may be the HG plugin alliance one. Versatile. still, I‘m a big fan of SDRR. I‘ll have to try Saturn one day.

Black box

Found this video because of my disappointment with Decapitator. The unnessecary volume increase aside from the saturation makes it too cumbersome to use quickly. I am deciding between Kelvin and Saturn for this reason. Kelvin seems to try to match the perceived loudness more, while Saturn more adds rather than changes to the perceived loudness. The multiple use cases for Saturn's multiband options do intrigue me.

Cubase Stock Saturators, all the way....

So many new ones out there now ... LG1, BB Tubes, etc. The saturation market is saturated!

Saturation is the secret recipe of the pro's right Dom ? Well who'd know it better than you... Thanks millions for these showcasing with real world examples ...... Cheers mate !! :)

Im going to share something wtih you don, about Saturation that sounds Authenitc VS Pluginish... I disoverd....that using nebula's Pre Amp Plugin...in RND Silk Mode...with Acustica Audio and my own analog gear...witch included a Transformer Saturation "Add on" with the WA G Comp...which makes its "one the Best Rack G Comps" That combination of using, analog harmonic distortion, with RND Silk and Acustica Audio...(Espiciall their Vintage Gear) Gives that Combination gives your a More "Even and Geniune Saturation for the Whole Mix" Opposed to Unbalencing your EQing...with Digital Plugins to Saturation....Analog is always going to give you more Body, Eveness, Depth, and Balanced Warmth

Now that I can hear the Difference with Analog Saturation opposed to Digtial...man...Im never going back to Digital Saturation...you can get a "Pre Finished Mix" with Digital Saturation but Mastering your Music and final Masters after Vocals...digital saturation is a very bad Idea

elysia Phil's Cascade - honestly, the most versatile, tweakable, warm, rounded, harsh when you want it saturation out there... stupidly expensive (plugin alliance) but does crop up on sale from time to time. Love it.... then black box - amazing, decapitator - amazing and True Iron for that transformer vibe

I think you miss a really nice saturator in Cubase (magnetoII). I used it for my every vocal tracks just choose bring vocal to front preset the vocal becomes really nice in the mix❤

Magneto 2 in Cubase I find to be excellent. I’m learning to ignore the lure of 3rd party plugins although there are a few unique ones that I still use. But I don’t see what’s really unique about a 3rd party saturation module…..at least when stock versions like Magneto 2 seam to be so good.

Hey Dom, great video! Have you tried Wavesfactory Spectre? Its my go-to lately, i love it on vocals and guitars

Your ears are not an objective measurement-comparison tool!

Hey Dom, please do a video on how to setup cubase for recording and another for mixing. Please approach it in a way that someone who has never opened a DAW would be able to understand. From setting up tempo, buffer size to exporting stems for mixing /mastering

The Kelvin Tone Shaper sounds really good realy warm and analog Would love to so a tutorial of this Plugin :) Great video's man Keep it up :) !!

man, in my headphones they all sound the fkng same, what´s going wrong hahaahha

Admire your work man! Thumbs up! How do you record such a good quality in your videos? From the camera, to audio, to screencapture and editing? This would be so much useful. Thanks man, keep inspiring!

Could you do a video on your Saturn 2 Mastering technique? It sounded Amazing!!!

BlackBox is on *everything* I record. It sounds incredible on a Drum Bus. It's truly a plug-in you can put on every track, on every Bus and every Master. I even use it as a software preamp for my Voice Over business. I retired a handwired Tube Preamp after I found BlackBox. It really is that good!

+1 on P42 Climax. I also like Kelvin and FF Saturn 2

I know, it's only about Plug Ins, and i have a lot of Saturation Plugs. But the most one i use is my Hardware. I use my Looptrotter Sa2trate 2 Hardware. To me, it's a beast.

Dom Sigalas, The Cubase's Expert ! Hi Dom,

For me the black Box is the best saturator.Thanks for this video.

Saturn 2 sounds better than Blackbox on the entire mix. Unfortunately I have the latter and not the former.

Magneto II 🙂 great tool!

PA has a deal one get two for $48

Do give Izotope’s Trash 2 a try. It’s primarily a distortion plug in, but it does do Tape Saturation as well.

Saturn and Magneto is pretty much all you need. Since I have outboard gear I do not need a load of saturation plugins.

Kelvin has replaced all my other saturators because it is incredibly versatile and sounds simply amazing. My only (slight) criticism is that it is deceptively difficult to use and has taken me quite a long time to really get to the point where I can dial in the sounds I want. Luckily it comes with a bucket load of superb presets to help you as you're going up the learning curve. But very much worth the time and effort to get to grips with it because imho you don't need any other saturator once you have it. It really is that good.

I’ve found Quadrafuzz v2 to be one of the most versatile distortion/saturation plugins of all. Being able to have tube saturation on one band and straight distortion on another works wonders for bass and brass.

NeOld should be in that test.

what is your opinion on mosfet saturators like vertigo vsm3?

Hello Dom, Im your biggest fan, I have watched all your videos and love the way you explain things and more importantly you share you knowledge! Thank you on behalf of all producers. I use Cubase 12 pro. And I watched your video on how to connect keyboard to a PC in cubase. In the video cubase showed your exact keyboard picture when you were on the midi cintrol view. I have a Roland Fantom-8, I use presonus 1824c as my audio interface. I run both midi out to my Audio interface. How come my mindo control does not show my keyboard on the screen like it did in your video, in the video you said watch as I plud in the connection and cubase instally knows then boom your keyboard is now showing inside the daw with keys and all. Mine just says connected and shows 4 big ass black circles [ i guess these can be assigned to control expressions from keyboard or w/e, but How come mine doesnt show a keyboard in the midi control tab at the bottom where you can click on console in Cuabse. Please for the love of god can you help me figure out why I get a box with 4 circles which look like a black dial. I want to see my keyboard like yours showed. What am I doing wrong. I will pay you for your time through your channel if you are able to respond. I'm spent and have spent hours trying to figure this out. Already put flash drive in the FA-8 to update it to connect with PC. In cubase 12 pro it says under " studio tab, midi device it shows connected.

I actually use the Magneto2, Quadrafuzz2 and Virtual Tape Machine from Slate the most. I would LOVE to have the Decapitator from Soundtoys when I can afford it. It sounds SOOO good! Sadly none of the plugins from Plugin Alliance work on my pc. Neither di Serum synth. The GUI is just white 😪

Acustica Jam, Kazrog True Iron, Tone Projects Kelvin, Softube Harmonic Saturation Processor, and U-he Satin. 💯 EDIT: Oh and how could I forget Newfangled Saturate, and IK Multimedia Saturator X.

love the HG BB and Abbey Road one a lot. the Abbey Road's default setup is nice for many instruments, I don't even tweak it. good for vox, bass, guitars and keyboards.

I have tried almost all the saturators in the market, including the ones in this video. But I use CLA Mixhub saturation stage. It fits better in the mix all the f. time plus you have all the options of the channel strip. Maybe decapitator comes close or perhaps black box although is complicated to configure.

to me and by far: Plugin Alliance Black Box HG2-MS, I believe this one is kind of like Gulffoss, it does saturates while modifying the feeling to a more plesant and "Analogue" or "alive".....

all of them are great in their own way. my current favorite is the new culture vulture from Arturia.

I like what I'm hearing from Kelvin.

kelvin is the king the most versatile it really sounds analog

Im going to go through this very helpful video a few times as i have 2 plugins from here shown so i can experiment with

You forgot to include Softube Harmonics.

Looptrotter SA2RATE 2 by Plugin Allinace Taupe by Acustica Audio Nebula AX102 Tim P J37 and Tape And Alex B Nebula Pre Satuartion Suite..... these hands down blow all other plugins away.......LOL These sound like plastic...compared to those....no offense...still a good review bro..... And the Hadware Looptrotter SA2RATE...blows Drawmer, Black Box, and Fusion away....LOL......

Check out Antares Warm. Antares Warm in my personal opinion has one of the best sounds 👍.

You are the best my dude thank you so much for your wonderful help.

Im discovering now that im mixing more in Analog....seems like IK Media's Saturator X on Masterbus ...seems to be the Warmest but the Most Cleanest and Roundest....to me on a final Mix...seems like Saturator X...saturates without messing up the vibe of the mix the best Right now on Masterbus I think Saturator X Nebula's AX102 Apex Tape and Silver Bullet....those three on Masterbus hands down the best on analog mixes

Man I cant believe your dont have SA2URATE by Plugin Allinace and Acustica Audio Tape....or Tim P J37 in this line up.........

Hg2 is cool but generaly plugins aren t good for saturation. For example my Overstayer svc comp has an harmonic function that s great. The looptrotter sa2rate 2 also good, much better than plugins. I tested a lot, just hg2 usable

Hey Dom any Dark plugin? To color the backround really dark behind the instruments.. like Dark Side if the Moon

I haven't used all of them, but I think the Overstayer MAS is the best one I've used. The presets on the one you showed are useful, but you really have to use the other one that comes with it to fine tune and see what is possible. I'll probably check the other ones you have on here in demo form. Personally, I would have liked it if you spent less time w/distortion on vocals. I'm looking for a saturator to make it thick and loud (like analog tape or a good console), not distorted. But I do agree that some of them produced a more pleasing distortion sound than others. If I want a vocal to be distorted, I'm probably going to use an amp emulation, or a distortion plug in specifically. (I guess technically saturation is distortion, but I mean more what you were calling 'breaking up') Thanks for the info!

Sorry Dom, I had to skip the "vocal" part of the video, but those weren't vocals. Found the first and last part better. Even just for sheer demonstration purposes, I wish you stayed in the Synthwave domain! :But that's me. I am personally a big fan of the Cubase saturators and also the Slate Console and tape saturators. And even the free Klanghelm IVGI is very good!

The ozone saturator is pretty awesome too

Great video- absolutely horrible “vocal” though lol

Kelvin sounds like PA SA2URATE....BUT Looptrotter gives you more frequency options of the Saturation itself for the Mix or Master

Hey Dom, I am a cinematic hybrid orchestral & trailer composer and I already have blackbox. Do I still need soundtoys decapitator? It's on sale now on Jrrshop! Can you please give me your opinion quickly before the sale ends? I normally use my saturation on trailer hits, braams and on anything that I need it to stand out in the mix.

great video! The second example is so distracting. Hard to focus with all the autotune and distortion.

YOu forgot Vertigo sound VSM4 , it's near perfect emulation of their mastering unit VSM2 Its funny to see Fabfilter Saturn 2 in this list , I will get flamed for this but their non linear-dist algoritms sound pretty cheap

Hi brother make tutorial how to mix in classes 12 from scratch to finish

Hallo Mr. Dom, Please please Help me, i am in trouble. I have recieved a Cubase project from a client to finalize it for him. However, when I open the project, one plugin in particular (bx_dynEQ) does not load automatically and hence can't really know the settings which were used on different channels where this plugin was used. I own this plugin, What can I do to fix this issue so that when I open the project the settings the client used open up automatically? Please help!! I need this so badly and couldn't think anyone better to answer this than you> I appreciate it very much Much love and Blessings, xJan

That BlackBox sounds really good, I can hear why you love it. Love it on bass, most especially. I don't like Fabfilter stuff. Their plugins all "have a sound" to them, consistently, that I just don't like. Feature-wise, they are nothing short of badass, though. That Decapitator and Transformer seem awfully subtle, but Decapitator is pretty transparent. Makes me wonder if either one is doing anything beyond conpressing the sound a bit? I guess I should blame yourube? And then the vocals with Transformer got treble boost from the plugin. i'm definitely more interested in Soundtoys plugins. I like the Kelvin and Abbey Road plugins, too. Definitely the Kelvin or Abbey Road for vocals. Awesome video, man.

Am I using a diff version of decapitator to everyone else? Really not a fan. Far to heavy handed and muddy. Diff between that and the black box is night and day.

You missed QuadraFuzz 2 😉

Abby road not the best imo saturn over rated - kelvin sounds amazing never heard of it

its a not so subtle shill when you ignore fan favourites XLN Retro and the very FREE range ( boot EQ II, Tesla and Ferric

Kush stuff sounds great, I use the Omega N and TWK in every mix, both are inexpensive and very easy to use. PSP Saturator and Kelvin sound fantastic too. I have Saturn 2 and HG-2MS black box and use them too for different flavours of saturation. My Go-to saturator in Pro Tools is Phoenix 2 by Dave Hill (Crane Song) it only comes in AAX sadly, and I haven't heard a saturation plugin that sounds like this before. It's very simple to use and allows different colours of saturation to be dialed in easily. Another one I love is the UAD Distressor, yes it's a compressor, but wow, this thing when pushed a little, sounds so good .... Lots of choices out there.

Saturn is still the best, all around. I was never a fan of Decapitator, although it is just my personal thing, Bunch of my colleagues add it to every single channel.

the omega is bananas!!!! love the 4 of them. wonder if they can have a mix knob. Psp Saturator also: Try P42 Climax MOD is amazing (quite expensive) and has mid side choices and of course the Thermionic Culture from UAD

will there ever be a build in oversampling option in cubase like in reaper..? as we all know saturators can generate lots of aliasing..

Hey everyone, I feel disappointed in myself for tNice tutorials having to be the case, but I feel the need to be honest. Life stuff got down hard

Please do a Unisum video. I still don't understand all the options ( I own it), maybe you can explain it to my feeble mind :)

Neold's Big AL by PA. The hardware unit was created solely for the sake of modeling the unit into a plugin.

In conclusion...Get all saturation plugins available ASAP hahaha! Yes!

Hi Dom. Could you please make a video explaining the cubase supervision VU METER (perhaps as compared to the control room meters)? And more specific, how to use these tools for gain staging. Thanks!

Hi there Dom. Why does you BlackBox looks like that (aside from being the HG-2MS)? 🤔 Because I also have the "MS" but mine doesn't look like this (I currently have the 1.2.1 version)

Slam was awesome but they discontinued...

Amazing video, thank you!

Softube harmonics and spectre, also oxygen for that sparkle…

Great video and topic Dom!!! I have a question that I want to ask you. Can I use cubase 12 to modify my presonus fadeport response and use its knob and make it a "whatever mouse pointer is hovering on" controller?

Help mix bass sound tight, sticky, not bloated.

Nice video! Keep up the good work. It would be nice to have a tutorial video for Black Box.

good good as always Dom never stops learning something new every day that I see you From your point of view, which one would you give to Arturia's Pigments 3? I would like to give it a slight analog color that needs it a little

Kazrog true iron is also very good!

Thanks for the video, I would say for the sub base black box is my choice and for overall master bus I think each one works pretty good but again Black box was great, also liked a lot waves abbey road for master bus

Give Pulsar Modular P42 a try. Sounds really good and it's quite light on CPU.

For mids and highs I prefere Saturn 2. But for lows I would change my tool to bx_subsynth and bx_subfilter. But to keep in mind. This only matters, if you have PA, that can output this kind of sub noise. It's nothing for HIFI. It's for the club sound.

P42 Climax from Pulsar Modular is of course in its own class as far as plugin saturators go - but the price is also pretty salty.

How to mix in cubase 12 please bro