Log In
Free gifts available with your purchase
Versatile Analogue Distortion Circuit Emulation
Saturation is a mix engineer’s secret weapon. Add a little to a vocal, and it pops right out of a mix. Sprinkle some on a snare, and suddenly it’s cracky and full of life. Pile it on drum overheads for an aggressive sound that will grab your listeners by their ears. X-Saturator tackles all these tasks and more with aplomb.
Choose from second-order valve-style distortion, third-order transistor distortion, or blend the two for a perfect combination of tube warmth and transistor iron. Use X-Saturator with a light touch or drive it into grotesque, mangled distortion, which can be tucked back with the Shape control or folded underneath a mix with the Wet/Dry knob. Creamy and warm or biting and fierce, you’ve never heard a saturation plug-in quite like the SSL X-Saturator.
Features
- Saturation plug-in with a huge range of distortion characteristics
- Adds pleasing analog-style even- and odd-order harmonics
- Choose from valve saturation or transistor saturation or blend the two
- Control the edge of the distortion, ranging from smooth to hard
- Wet/Dry knob for processing in parallel
System Requirements
Mac
- macOS 11 Big Sur - macOS 13 Ventura (64-bit only) (M1 Mac supported)
- Intel Dual-Core Mac running at 2.4GHz or higher
- 4 GB of RAM minimum (8 GB of RAM recommended)
- AU, VST2, VST3, AAX Native
Windows
- Windows 10 - Windows 11 (64-bit only)
- Intel Core 2 (or comparable) CPU running at 2.4GHz or higher
- 4 GB of RAM minimum (8 GB of RAM recommended)
- VST 2, VST3, AAX Native
Please Note: A FREE iLok Account is required for the authorisation of this software.
Reviews Summary
While it aims to provide a helpful overview, it may not capture every perspective or detail. We encourage you to read individual reviews to make an informed decision.
The SSL Native X-Saturator is widely praised for its high-quality analog warmth, versatility, and intuitive controls, making it a favorite for drums, vocals, bass, and mix buses. Users appreciate its clean sound and the ability to seamlessly blend 2nd (tube/even) and 3rd (transistor/odd) order harmonics for subtle glue or aggressive distortion. While considered a great value—especially when on sale—a few reviewers noted drawbacks such as the lack of oversampling, minimal presets, high CPU usage, and occasional harshness when pushed too hard.
