Pre tty m uch th e b e st saturator in th e gam e . Som e sub tle drive on th e EMI se tting is am azing for vocals, and pre tty m uch e ve ryth ing e lse . It can produce a h uge varie ty of analogue -style saturation and drive tone s, plus, th e am azing ‘punish ’ b utton m ak e s th is th ing an ab soluth ing an ab solute favorite .

Som e re ally, re ally pow e rful pre se ts e m ulating am ps, tape saturators, e tc. Ne xt le ve l for th ose crunch y tone s. And did I m e ntion it is a m ulti-b and saturator? Just one of th ose plugins you can't use e nough of, and m an doe s th e Fab Filte r stuff look pre tty.

For m id-range distorte d b asse s, I've ye t to nd anyth ing b e tte r for adde d color and w e igh t. Ab solute ly love th e b ass am ps in th e re (Bonus: try th e Wave s CLA am ps as w e ll).

Pote ntially th e m ost pow e rful distortion on th is list, I love am plifying b asse s w ith th is ab solute b e ast of a plugin. If you are look ing to ach ie ve a w ow factor in sh e e r color, de pth and w e igh t – look no fur-th e r.

Cam e l Audio se e m s to h ave falle n off th e m ap, b ut at one point, th is w as a fre e plugin, so if you do som e digging you can nd it on th e inte r-w e b . No e xcuse not to try th is. Re ally dirty sounds, love to use it in m ode ration.

Anoth e r plugin th at isn't JUST a saturator, b ut m an is th is th ing b e autiful. Apply lib e rally to anyth ing and e ve ryth ing. (Bonus: try th e Nove lte ch Vocal Enh ance r also for a sligh tly b righ te r color!)

Th is vintage tub e distortion w on't b e for e ve ryone . It's got a ve ry spe ci c analogue sound th at I love , b ut it's k ind of w e ird. I can't ge t e nough of it late ly w h e n I w ant som e th ing to stick out in th e m ix.

Anoth e r fre e b ie , th is th ing is gre at. Anoth e r e xtre m e ly pow e rful one -k nob saturation tool and a gre at alte rnative to th e Sausage Fatte ne r, th e Wave s one Knob , or e ve n th e De capitator.

It's actually part saturator, part com pre ssor, part lim ite r, b ut stop crank ing th e fatne ss k nob too far and it can b e ve ry use ful to th ick e n up a sound and sq uash it just righ t.

I th ink th e k e yw ord h e re is ve rsatile . Housing tons of drive algorith m s, pre /post lte rs, custom w ave -sh aping, visualization, plus, th e dry-w e t k nob give s you ultim ate control, no m atte r h ow far you push your sounds w ith Trash .