Saturation / measured
IK Multimedia · VST3
Tonal shaping
±1.48 dB
moderate · character, by design
Harmonic character
26.227%
strong · character, by design
Noise
10.0/10
−221 dBFS · scored
Level dependence
-36 dB
notable · character, by design
Latency
387 smp
factual · not scored
Output level vs. frequency.
It shapes your tone by up to ±1.5 dB on purpose — that built-in curve is part of its sound.
─ THD ┄ THD+N. THD is the trustworthy figure; THD+N is method-floor-limited at low levels.
It adds heavy harmonic color (26% at full level) — strong, deliberate character.
Background hiss sits at -221 dBFS — far quieter than anything you would hear in a mix.
How hard you push it changes what it does (a -36 dB gap between levels) — expected for a saturator, which reacts to input level.
It delays the audio by 387 samples (8.1 ms at 48 kHz) and reports that delay, so your DAW lines it back up.
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 ±1.5 dB on purpose — that built-in curve is part of its sound. It adds heavy harmonic color (26% at full level) — strong, deliberate character. Background hiss sits at -221 dBFS — far quieter than anything you would hear in a mix. How hard you push it changes what it does (a -36 dB gap between levels) — expected for a saturator, which reacts to input level. It delays the audio by 387 samples (8.1 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.
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.
| 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 |
This lane is separate from measured results
No promoted plugins here. Anything in this lane is labeled and never affects the bench numbers or the order plugins appear in.