Recording Studio Analog Music Production & Saturation
Audio Saturators – the pro audio market is flooded with them. From big boys like Waves to small independent software manufaturers like Sonimus – who havn’t designed a saturator per se – but have always embedded saturation into their channel strips & recording studio equalisers. To Klanghelm – who have a very nice freebie HERE. There’s a lot of choice out there folks & some of those choices are quite expensive so tread mighty careful ! – just because so & so producer might use this or that bit of kit doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.
Maybe we can shed some light on the subject.
Thence – what exactly does saturation do? & Why are people so infatuated with it?
In short – it’s all about how audio is affected by analog devices sch as mixing desks, equalisers, compressors – & other assorted bits & pieces of the analog recording studio chain.
Such as microphones, mic preamps etc.
Recording Studio Hardware Saturation in Audio Production
Running audio into analog hardware in a recording studio generates distortion (in a nice way) & thus harmonics. This adds sparkle, energy & a form of compression to said audio – which helps to bed it into the mix & makes the music or audio sound much more finished & pleasing to the ear.
In our recording studio we have a veritable plethora of mixers & various other analog devices both solid state, valve (tube) & tape.
All do their jobs beautifully – the solid state or transistor based equipment adds the most subtle and pretty overdrive so we use those devices mainly on vocals or percussion / drum overheads where clarity is vital. The valve gear has much more pronounced or coloured flavours wich we have to use to taste – you may want your vocals & guitars dazzled with tube overdrive – you may not. & tape – well … it may be expensive but Lordy it makes Everything sound amazing! Vocals especially are a thing of wonder!
We are lucky to own all this equipment – but it all cost a fortune – & continues to do so due to maintenance & component replacement costs.
Not everyone can afford to come spend time in our lovely recording studio – so we decided to build a little part of it in to a very portable box full of analog components you can use in your own home or project studio.
Analog Saturation Hardware Effect Unit
Analog Saturator for the Home & Pro Recording Studio
Our Supra Saturator is a spec built device designed to fit right into your in-the-box workflow.
It simply plugs into your audio soundcard using your daw i/o widget (see here).
Then you can run your audio through it to taste – easiest way to get mixing desk type analog saturation into your studio, & the only device like it available. (See it in action in the video below.)
Or you can use it inline whilst recording to add depth, energy & shine to your drums, vocals, guitar, synth etc.
1. plug your mic into a preamp.
2. Plug your preamp into the Supra – & adjust the output of the preamp til you get just the right amount of analog saturation.
3. Prepare to be amazed at how lovely your audio sounds!
You can purchase units from us Here.