FireCharger — measured — Pro Audio Plugins

On the bench

48 kHz · 512-block · offline · same procedure for every plugin

Magnitude responsestepped sine, −12 dBFS

Output level vs. frequency.

It shapes your tone by up to ±2.1 dB on purpose — that built-in curve is part of its sound.

Distortion vs level1 kHz, THD / THD+N

─ THD ┄ THD+N. THD is the trustworthy figure; THD+N is method-floor-limited at low levels.

It adds clear harmonic color (1.6% at full level) — the grit and warmth this design is meant to give.

Latency, reported

8192 smp

Latency, measured

8192 smp (matches)

Onset

8188 smp

Noise floor

below measurement floor

Linearity residual

-22.1 dB (1000 Hz, -12/-18 dBFS)

Processing cost

not measured

Its own background hiss is below what the bench can even measure, so it adds no noise you would hear.

How hard you push it changes what it does (a -22 dB gap between levels) — expected for a saturator, which reacts to input level.

It delays the audio by 8192 samples (170.7 ms at 48 kHz) and reports that delay, so your DAW lines it back up.

What these measurements mean

read from the numbers above · character / coloring design

On the bench it behaves like a coloring tool, scoring 10.0/10 on how clean its signal path is; its tone-shaping and harmonics are reported as character, not graded as faults. It shapes your tone by up to ±2.1 dB on purpose — that built-in curve is part of its sound. It adds clear harmonic color (1.6% at full level) — the grit and warmth this design is meant to give. Its own background hiss is below what the bench can even measure, so it adds no noise you would hear. How hard you push it changes what it does (a -22 dB gap between levels) — expected for a saturator, which reacts to input level. It delays the audio by 8192 samples (170.7 ms at 48 kHz) and reports that delay, so your DAW lines it back up.

Measured score 10.0/10 — signal-path noise floor (the shaping and harmonics are the design's intent, shown as character, not graded). How scoring works.

What people report

sourced sentiment · in our words, not a bench measurement

8.0/10 review & blog coverage, 3 sources · a separate figure from the measured score

Consistently praised

Operates as a parallel processor: a dry/wet blend feeds a spectral-dynamics stage (Charge) that analyzes the input and treats frequency regions independently, which the Sound on Sound reviewer found versatile for both restrained mastering passes and more aggressive track-level treatment.
The named controls each do a distinct job that reviewers heard clearly: Magnetize's tube/tape saturation thickens bass and drums well, the Tone exciter adds top-end brightness, and Anodize sets how hard the spectral compression works.
Reviewers highlight a quick, low-friction workflow: dropping it on a dull acoustic guitar or tired vocal and nudging a couple of knobs reportedly brings the sound forward fast, helped by a clean resizable interface with input/output metering and built-in A/B compare.
Practical setup with 64-bit processing up to 192 kHz, high-resolution graphics, and a simple license-file activation with no iLok or dongle.

Common criticism

Both the review and the blog warn it is easy to overdo, since the processing piles on density across the whole spectrum; getting the wet/dry balance right and not pushing Tone too far is the main discipline required.
Sound on Sound is explicit that it is not a fix-anything tool; it adds energy and weight rather than correcting problem material, and results depend on the user agreeing with the maker's notion of an ideal tonal target.

Sources — Sound on Sound ↗ Bedroom Producers Blog ↗ United Plugins (maker) ↗

A review score is shown only when at least two independent sources — published reviews or genuine user discussion — return usable text. Launch or announcement coverage alone does not qualify, so some plugins read N/A here while still carrying a full measured score above.

How it sits in saturation

measured score + bench figures, then the sourced review score (separate, N/A if unscored) · alphabetical · not ranked

Plugin	Measured /10	Mag dev	Max THD	Latency	Noise	Review /10
Black Box HG-2	10.0	±1.5 dB	4.986%	32 smp	−182	8.9
Channel G Console	10.0	±0.1 dB	0.000%	0 smp	<floor	8.5
Decapitator	10.0	±5.4 dB	7.929%	63 smp	−163	8.9
Dist COLDFIRE	10.0	±6.5 dB	39.830%	143 smp	<floor	8.8
Dist OPAMP-21	10.0	—	—	0 smp	<floor	7.5
Dist TUBE-CULTURE	9.9	±3.8 dB	51.955%	112 smp	−154	N/A
Escalator	10.0	±0.2 dB	6.177%	0 smp	<floor	7.6
FireCharger	10.0	±2.1 dB	1.585%	8192 smp	<floor	8.0
Lurssen Mastering Console	10.0	±6.4 dB	1.705%	419 smp	−223	7.4
Quad Saturator	9.2	±0.1 dB	2.706%	4 smp	−117	N/A
Saturator X	10.0	±1.5 dB	26.227%	387 smp	−221	8.4
Super VHS	10.0	±3.9 dB	7.124%	1024 smp	<floor	7.9
TAIP	10.0	±2.5 dB	25.546%	63 smp	−165	8.4
Tape MELLO-FI	4.5	±65.8 dB	2.569%	248 smp	−70	7.6