Blog
Saturation, distortion and the bands between.
How harmonic processing works, how to use it on real mixes, and which plugins do it well, ours and everyone else's.
- Buyer’s guideThe best saturation plugins in 2026, and what each one is forTape, tube, transformer and multiband saturation plugins compared: what each does to your sound, where it shines, and the free ones worth installing.12 min read
- Buyer’s guideThe best multiband saturation plugins, and when you need oneMultiband saturators compared on what matters: crossovers that sum flat, a dry path that lines up, character per band, honest level. Free options too.13 min read
- Buyer’s guideThe best distortion plugins for sound design, bass and drumsDistortion plugins compared by what they do to a sound: clipping, folding, crushing, feedback and filters, with settings for bass, drums, synths and vocals.11 min read
- How-toHow to use multiband saturation on drums, bass, vocals and the master busWhere to put the crossovers, how hard to drive each band and when to blend in parallel: multiband saturation starting points for every source.12 min read
- ExplainerSaturation vs distortion: what harmonics, clipping and aliasing actually doSaturation, overdrive, distortion and clipping are one process at different strengths. How the curve sets the harmonics, and why oversampling matters.14 min read
- How-toHow to saturate 808s so they hit on phones without losing the subWhy 808s vanish on phones, where the harmonics have to come from, and three ways to saturate an 808 while keeping its sub clean and its pitch in tune.9 min read
- How-toParallel saturation: thickness without losing the punchWhy blending a saturated copy keeps transients, when a mix knob beats an aux bus, and parallel saturation settings for drums, vocals, bass and the mix bus.9 min read
- How-toHow to saturate vocals: warmth, presence and grit without harshnessWhere saturation goes in a vocal chain, settings for warmth, presence, air and grit, and how to keep sibilance and the low-mids from turning harsh or muddy.9 min read