Vocal saturation

menamestom

I’ve been adding a bit of saturation / distortion to vocals on the project I’m working on, which suits the style.  However I’ve been using ‘Da Tube’ cubase plugin, which is passable, but I’d like to try something a but more tweakable and specific for the purpose.
Guess I want tape saturation / distortion, like the deci, in plugin format.

I can’t really spend much, so inexpensive or free preferred.

octatonic

Sound Toys Decapitator or Plugin Alliance Black Box.

Cirrus

Klanghelm's SDRR is a poor man's Decapitator, and actually quite good.

PolarityMan

Gain reduction deluxe is freaking awesome on vocals.

guitarfishbay

Decapitator is the first one I try

Stuckfast

Am I the only one who's really sick of hearing distorted vocals on rock records? "Yeah man we multed the vocal on the SSL and patched it through a rare fuzz pedal from 1867 and then rolled off the top on a vintage Neve EQ and sent it out to a Marshall stack..." And it still basically sounds like distorted vocals always do, ie. vaguely impressive for about 10 seconds and subsequently just annoying.

octatonic

Stuckfast said:

Am I the only one who's really sick of hearing distorted vocals on rock records? "Yeah man we multed the vocal on the SSL and patched it through a rare fuzz pedal from 1867 and then rolled off the top on a vintage Neve EQ and sent it out to a Marshall stack..." And it still basically sounds like distorted vocals always do, ie. vaguely impressive for about 10 seconds and subsequently just annoying.

It is easy to overdo, I agree.

I largely prefer 'distorted things' set against 'clean things'- they make the other seem more clean/distorted.

ChrisCox1994

try the softube saturation knob, its free, simple and works wonders on vocals (and snares, overheads, bass high end......)

WiresDreamDisasters

Stuckfast said:

Am I the only one who's really sick of hearing distorted vocals on rock records? "Yeah man we multed the vocal on the SSL and patched it through a rare fuzz pedal from 1867 and then rolled off the top on a vintage Neve EQ and sent it out to a Marshall stack..." And it still basically sounds like distorted vocals always do, ie. vaguely impressive for about 10 seconds and subsequently just annoying.

A lot of singers wouldn't get by without it, that's the truth.

menamestom

Stuckfast said:

Am I the only one who's really sick of hearing distorted vocals on rock records? "Yeah man we multed the vocal on the SSL and patched it through a rare fuzz pedal from 1867 and then rolled off the top on a vintage Neve EQ and sent it out to a Marshall stack..." And it still basically sounds like distorted vocals always do, ie. vaguely impressive for about 10 seconds and subsequently just annoying.

Yeah it can be tiresome. I don’t need particularly distorted and it isn’t rock,  just more of a saturated warm sound.  I think when you’re recording via mics direct into interfaces even the best singers can sound a little clinical, and not all tracks suit accuracy.

mike257

If you're looking for a freebie, I've used the BPB Saturator on a few mixes and it's simple but useable. High pass and low pass filters, input and output gain, and two saturation controls - tube and tape.  I've only really used the lower end of the range on the saturation controls for a subtle breakup but it's not bad for a free VST. 

https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2020/12/23/bpb-saturator-release/

Danny1969

I like Massey Tape head for that but it's PT only I think, shame he doesn't do plugins for other platforms because they sound superb and the demo's are basically the same as the purchased but with the automation disabled. 

stratology

Cirrus said:

Klanghelm's SDRR is a poor man's Decapitator, and actually quite good.

All the Klanghelm plugins are excellent. They are inexpensive, but in terms of sound and quality, they compete with the best and most expensive on the market.

Using distortion on vocals can be done either in a very subtle way - to increase harmonic content, without obviously noticeable distortion - or as more obvious effect, like a fuzz pedal on a voice. 
Using a bus to add some parallel distortion is also useful on occasion.

For tape distortion, Goodhertz Wow Control is excellent. From subtle tape saturation to extreme tape effects.



One thing I do frequently to bring out vocals in a mix is to use a mid-side plugin: vocals are in the middle, instruments that could get in the way go to a mid-side plugin, with the mid channel turned down a little - 0.5 to 2dB makes all the difference.

I use Goodhertz Midside for that, but it can be done with the simpler, free version of the plugin: Midside Matrix.

jamesguitar

I’m suprised no one has mentioned Soundtoys Radiator yet. It’s based on the saturation from a preamp used a lot on Motown records - it warms the vocals a bit and makes them cut through a mix more without needing to EQ and boost the volume. I don’t use it for anything hugely noticeable or extreme.

The saturation built into the Empirical Labs Arouser compressor plug-in is awesome too - I use it all the tone for rock vocals. The compression is based on the Empirical Labs Distressor rack units, which is a staple on most rock records since the nineties. The guy that designed / built those started out making software for Eventide back in the 80’s, so really knows his stuff in the digital realm and did a great job with the plug-in versions of the Distressor.

stratology

Forgot to mention in my post above - most DAWs come with amp and pedal sims. Those are definitely worth trying out on vocals as well. More flexible than many dedicated saturation plugins...

Cirrus

jamesguitar said:

I’m suprised no one has mentioned Soundtoys Radiator yet. It’s based on the saturation from a preamp used a lot on Motown records - it warms the vocals a bit and makes them cut through a mix more without needing to EQ and boost the volume. I don’t use it for anything hugely noticeable or extreme.

I like radiator a lot. Actually, it and Black Rooster V-Pre 73 are the ones I use most often at the moment - though I rarely do properly blown out distortion, it's usually about getting a bit of an edge on the loud bits.

thecolourbox

stratology said:

Forgot to mention in my post above - most DAWs come with amp and pedal sims. Those are definitely worth trying out on vocals as well. More flexible than many dedicated saturation plugins...

That's what I normally use to be honest, with the eq, cab sim options, gain settings etc they are actually pretty good and usually quite middy which is what you need for distorted vocals I think?

fretmeister

Butch Vig plugin is good for that.