Agree with most of what you said except for a couple things: Harmonic Saturation on every track is exactly what happens when you record through a console. Nothing wrong with that as a general rule. Problem is most “saturation” plugins use the same algorithms, and don’t sound like the hardware they are supposedly emulating. This goes for Waves, SoundToys, FabFilter, etc. Specifically, I found the curves of the Decapitator, and most others like it, add way too much bass, scoop the midrange, and then shelf and cut the high-end very mathematically. Sure you get “warmth” but the ratio of low-end compared to a musical amount of midrange and high-end harmonics makes them useless. If you compare nearly every “Neve” style saturation plugin out there they almost all look the same. And that is not what a Neve console produces…
Okay Guys, we've got to protect Andrew at all cost. He knows what he's doing, and he does it well. Andy, I got a question, I see from your precious videos you use Ableton, but recently you have transitioned to Logic Pro. I have used Ableton in the past but haven't really used FL studio. What's your preference? am I missing out by not using FL?
I agreed until you pulled out Decapitator. Soundtoys has made no movement towards addressing our even acknowledging anti-alasing.... Which it does completely audibly. I know it's been accepted to a large degree in modern music, but it doesn't behave like analog gear. I know it does a cool thing but newer plugins are addressing foldback distortion and sound way more analog. It's not too obvious on bass or a kick. Yeah it does sound cool on those. You might not mind using more subtle saturation, especially on instruments that teach into the highest registers if you try out some modern Saturators that address aliasing.
Interesting, I hadn’t heard that before! I also use Saturn 2 a lot, and then in general I use a lot of modeled compressors and stuff that inherently have saturation in them. What do you use that doesn’t have anti-aliasing issues?
I concur. Soundtoys have some neat products and creative GUIs, but they have been notoriously behind on keeping up with things like the anti-aliasing filter movement. None of their gear has oversampling built in, or as an option. And you’re right, you can totally hear the aliasing artifacts in decapitator especially. In that bass example, it’s the hard clicking or crackling that doesn’t sound related to the actual bass signal. Saturn 2 is a great alternative, you can achieve pretty much all of the exact same sounds, but with way more clarity and less digital noise-as long as you turn over-sampling on! But that being said, soundtoys guis make a lot of sense, and sometimes, a bit of digital harshness might be what you want for your gritty punk bass or crazy edm synth lead. Aliasing is a type of distortion, the problem isn’t that it exists, it’s that you get it when you didn’t ask for it, or even realize it was there. For clean saturation, like console, preamp or tape simulation for a recording of say, a vintage jazz guitar, or a whole mix, you might want to be sure oversampling is involved, and that’s when you want to reach for plugins like Saturn, saturator x by IK multimedia, or my personal favorite, True iron by Kazrog, which sounds more analog than anything else I’ve heard, in part thanks to their faithful transformer modeling, and partly thanks to their high quality oversampling anti-aliasing filters. And it’s cheap, do yourself a favor and grab one!
@@Wurldz totes. All about what you’re looking to do to the signal. If you like the tone and character of decapatator more than alternatives you’re trying out, then aliasing be damned, it’s the right choice for you in that moment. Just like any other mix move, sometimes all this knowledge about what plugins are actually doing can hurt more than help if it’s not aiding your production in a useful way. The two hours you spend downloading saturation plug-in trials and A/B comparing them is two hours you could have been dialing decapatator and moving on to other elements of your mix while creative energy is still high. This is music we’re talking about, not the stability of rocket fuel. Lead with feel, not with numbers and facts. That said, I think it’s still useful to be able to identify aliasing when you hear it so you’re totally in control
Good video, topic is important and well highlighted. Small comment on your background music which is a bit busy and loud in headphones.
Great topic man ! Loved it.
Agree with most of what you said except for a couple things:
Harmonic Saturation on every track is exactly what happens when you record through a console. Nothing wrong with that as a general rule.
Problem is most “saturation” plugins use the same algorithms, and don’t sound like the hardware they are supposedly emulating. This goes for Waves, SoundToys, FabFilter, etc.
Specifically, I found the curves of the Decapitator, and most others like it, add way too much bass, scoop the midrange, and then shelf and cut the high-end very mathematically. Sure you get “warmth” but the ratio of low-end compared to a musical amount of midrange and high-end harmonics makes them useless.
If you compare nearly every “Neve” style saturation plugin out there they almost all look the same. And that is not what a Neve console produces…
Great
curious what reverb was used
because you never payed it true raw we heard a reverb ?
Can you create me a logic pro template for vocals ?
Okay Guys, we've got to protect Andrew at all cost. He knows what he's doing, and he does it well. Andy, I got a question, I see from your precious videos you use Ableton, but recently you have transitioned to Logic Pro. I have used Ableton in the past but haven't really used FL studio. What's your preference? am I missing out by not using FL?
The background Music is excessive high…
I agreed until you pulled out Decapitator. Soundtoys has made no movement towards addressing our even acknowledging anti-alasing.... Which it does completely audibly. I know it's been accepted to a large degree in modern music, but it doesn't behave like analog gear. I know it does a cool thing but newer plugins are addressing foldback distortion and sound way more analog. It's not too obvious on bass or a kick. Yeah it does sound cool on those. You might not mind using more subtle saturation, especially on instruments that teach into the highest registers if you try out some modern Saturators that address aliasing.
Interesting, I hadn’t heard that before! I also use Saturn 2 a lot, and then in general I use a lot of modeled compressors and stuff that inherently have saturation in them. What do you use that doesn’t have anti-aliasing issues?
I concur. Soundtoys have some neat products and creative GUIs, but they have been notoriously behind on keeping up with things like the anti-aliasing filter movement. None of their gear has oversampling built in, or as an option. And you’re right, you can totally hear the aliasing artifacts in decapitator especially. In that bass example, it’s the hard clicking or crackling that doesn’t sound related to the actual bass signal. Saturn 2 is a great alternative, you can achieve pretty much all of the exact same sounds, but with way more clarity and less digital noise-as long as you turn over-sampling on! But that being said, soundtoys guis make a lot of sense, and sometimes, a bit of digital harshness might be what you want for your gritty punk bass or crazy edm synth lead. Aliasing is a type of distortion, the problem isn’t that it exists, it’s that you get it when you didn’t ask for it, or even realize it was there. For clean saturation, like console, preamp or tape simulation for a recording of say, a vintage jazz guitar, or a whole mix, you might want to be sure oversampling is involved, and that’s when you want to reach for plugins like Saturn, saturator x by IK multimedia, or my personal favorite, True iron by Kazrog, which sounds more analog than anything else I’ve heard, in part thanks to their faithful transformer modeling, and partly thanks to their high quality oversampling anti-aliasing filters. And it’s cheap, do yourself a favor and grab one!
@@Wurldz totes. All about what you’re looking to do to the signal. If you like the tone and character of decapatator more than alternatives you’re trying out, then aliasing be damned, it’s the right choice for you in that moment. Just like any other mix move, sometimes all this knowledge about what plugins are actually doing can hurt more than help if it’s not aiding your production in a useful way. The two hours you spend downloading saturation plug-in trials and A/B comparing them is two hours you could have been dialing decapatator and moving on to other elements of your mix while creative energy is still high. This is music we’re talking about, not the stability of rocket fuel. Lead with feel, not with numbers and facts. That said, I think it’s still useful to be able to identify aliasing when you hear it so you’re totally in control
saturation off 0:11
saturation on 0:21
Pro mix engineers saturate every channels, even fx reverb channels
Thank you
Ngl, I enjoyed the non-saturated loop more 😂
Too much talking, needs more technical saturation stuff!