In the beginning there was analog and it was good. Then audio engineers developed digital and it was better. Wait, not so fast! The more we heard pure digital production, the more we started to miss the character – and yes, flaws – of analog. After all, grit, saturation, and distortion are synonymous with rock ‘n’ roll. And so, since the dawn of the digital era, many audio software developers have designed products to bring back some of that missing analog sound.
The character or color of analog is generally a function of saturation, which originally came about because of the physical medium of audio tape and electronics used to record and mix songs. Tubes, transformers, and tape introduced internal compression and frequency roll-offs, but most importantly, harmonic overtones. You could push the signal hard and get a certain amount of “warmth.” Push it past the limit and you’d get distortion, but not harsh clipping in the same way as digital signals.
Plug-in developers have sought to emulate the characteristics of analog through various types of emulation. Generally these take the form of a simple saturation or overdrive plug-in. The bulk of these feature very simple controls with a range from subtle warmth to complete distortion. Unfortunately, you don’t have many options to tailor the effect with most of them.
Enter FabFilter Saturn 2
If you really want the ultimate in saturation control, then one of the best tools on the market is FabFilter Saturn 2 from FabFilter Software Instruments. I’ve reviewed their Pro-L2 limiter and it’s since become my go-to limiter for any music mix that I do. It’s often a good idea to stick within a family of products when you find a top-notch developer. There’s a reason that FabFilter plug-ins are the preferred choice by many mixers.
First of all, if you want a plug-in that mimics the appearance and operational controls of some vintage piece of gear, then this isn’t it. All of the FabFilter products feature a similar, modern design aesthetic with easy-to-use controls. At first glance, FabFilter Saturn 2 appears deceptively simple. But, once you dive into the presets, options, and various controls, you’ll find that it can work as a simple saturation plug-in all the way up to a multi-band audio processing device.
The main set of controls are accessed from the bottom control bar. The style selector button covers a range of emulations, including vacuum tube, audio tape, guitar amps, saturation, transformers, and special effects (smudge, breakdown, foldback, rectify, and destroy). Each of these categories includes numerous options within. As you can see from these groups, the options cover not only a wide range of musical production possibilities, but also broadens into sound design. The central drive dial controls the strength of the saturation. Controls to the left and right let you further adjust the sound. At the top right, you can also select from a wide range of presets.
Click into the top area of the interactive display to change the plug-in into a multi-band processor. Each band has its own set of controls. You can also adjust the crossover position and slope between the bands. Each band can make use of different styles of emulation, along with different control adjustments.
Modulation
In the default mode, Saturn 2 looks pretty simple. But you can open the area below the control bar to further modulate any of the effects. There are numerous ways to modulate these and the interface uses a handy color scheme and visualization to give you a better idea of what’s being done.
There are also drag points. For example, click on the circle above an envelope setting and drag it to one of the controls on the control bar. In FabFilter’s description this now connects a modulation source to a modulation target. These are now linked and the action of one impacts the other.
Trying to explain how this works for a blog post would really get us in the weeds. It’s better handled by FabFilter’s user guide or their comprehensive YouTube tutorial.
In use
Saturn 2 installs on both Windows and macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon) systems in AU, VST/VST3, and AAX formats. Therefore, these plug-ins will work with most video editing and audio mixing applications. There is no right or wrong way to use Saturn 2. For example, you could apply it with a default setting to a vocal track, pick a warm tube selection, and dial in a bit of drive for character. Since it has four tone sliders, you can also use it for a bit of equalization.
Or add Saturn 2 to a guitar track and use one of the guitar amp emulations. If you’ve ever used Apple Logic Pro, then the options will be similar. The choices are listed by generic names, since actual brands haven’t been licensed. However, the selections are designed to sound similar to recognizable amp manufacturers, such as Fender, Vox, Marshall, and others.
You can certainly use Saturn 2 on an instrument stem or the final mix bus and dial in a more aggressive setting. This is where the presets help you to learn how the controls function. Apply the plug-in to the mix bus and you can radically add character to the complete mix. Of course, there’s no reason you couldn’t apply multiple instances of Saturn 2 at various stages to get the analog color you are looking for.
Aside from analog character for music, Saturn 2 can also be used for some pretty extreme effects. Need to pitch down a voice-over to sound like a monster? No sweat – Saturn 2 can do this. Special effects settings work for vocal processing, sci-fi sounds, and musical processing, like ping-pong and tremolo filtering.
I’m personally running this on mixes on a 2020 iMac in Logic Pro. Like FabFilter’s other filters, it performs well. Even when I have Saturn 2 applied to numerous tracks, there’s really no drag on the application. The filter has two high quality settings – good and superb. Even with all instances set to superb, my iMac had no issues. While you can definitely go crazy with the possibilities, a little goes a long way. When using Saturn 2, it’s best to start out with a subtle setting and dial in the various adjustments by ear.
There are plenty of other saturation filters on the market, but I have yet to find one with such a wide range of filtering options. This is especially helpful when your audio production needs cover more than just music mixes. It’s hard to tell from demos and blog posts whether a plug-in fits your needs, so be sure to check out FabFilter’s 30-day trial for this or any of their other outstanding plug-ins.
©2023 Oliver Peters
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