NEW GEAR
Softube Harmonics Analog Saturation
A GREAT TOOL TO ADD TO YOUR ARSENAL!
Softube, in recent times, has flown quite under the radar.
They’ve quietly put out some amazing emulations like the
Weiss limiter which is undoubtedly one of the best so far.
This time they’ve taken what they’ve learned over ten years
of taking up legendary hardware units to bring a plugin
that delivers a varied selection of harmonics in one place.
Right off the bat, the UI looks quite different from a lot of
distortion boxes. It obviously shows the 5 different types
that you can use. On the right, input and output levels are
balanced using the so-named faders, each with its own peak
level meter. RMS metering is provided by a responsive pair of
VUs, which, rather cleverly, can also be switched to monitor
THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) - handy indeed when using
Harmonics on the mix bus. The five red buttons select the
saturation type, between them dishing up a broad range of
coloration. Solid emulates the solid-state studio hardware of
the 70s and is ideal for adding definition and presence to pretty
much any source signal, but seems particularly at home on
vocals. Transformer mimics an American console transformer
and the master is a bit ambiguous but is intended for use on
busses and is quite a subtle colour. Tube models a boutique
valve circuit from the 60s, its quite coloured and works really
well on stuff like guitars. Lastly, Modern is an English all-
valve triode unit and the most aggressive and destructive of
the lot by a margin. The drive knob, which increases input
gain on the saturation circuit, is fairly straightforward.
However, the Character control is a fair bit more complex
and has filters configured for each distortion type. It does
change by a large margin and allows incredible versatility.
Turning it increasingly emphasizes high frequencies prior
to distortion clockwise, and kicks up the low frequencies
anticlockwise. The Low (10-400Hz) and High Cut (200Hz-20kHz)
filters can be placed pre or post distortion, and each offer
three slopes - 6, 12 and 18dB/octave. While all of this would’ve
been more than enough to make one amazing saturation box
there’s a little control called The Dynamic Transient Control
(DTC) knob and it really sets it apart from other saturation
plugins. Distortion inevitably has a destructive effect on
the transients in a signal, flattening them out as they hit
the dynamic ‘ceiling’. While Harmonics features a Dry/Wet
mix control for doing just that, Dynamic Transient Control
makes for a vastly preferable option. With DTC activated,
Harmonics constantly analyses the dynamic profile of the
input signal. The further the DTC knob is turned clockwise
from center, the more that profile is reimposed on the post-
distortion output signal to increasingly dial the transients
back in. Alternatively, twisting it anticlockwise pulls the
transients down even further, effectively over-compressing
the signal, and making it weightier and less dynamic.
This is probably one of the best harmonics/saturation plugins
to come out in recent times. Not just the amazing analog like
the sound it offers, but also the sheer versatility of it. The
only thing we missed is automatic gain control while we
moved through presets and different drive and DTC settings.
Other than that, it's a great tool to add to your arsenal.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
45