I have always been a huge fan of anything saturation. The P&M Analoger is a great tool that gives a vast variety of options, from tube to tape saturation.
Saturation on my drum bus has been a part of my process for years, so I decided to start with that. I started with the plugin at stock levels, mix 100% and selected the tape mode. One of the best features of this unit for me is the mix knob, specifically on tape mode since the saturation is a bit more intense. The result was a nice, warm, full-bodied drum sound. I felt this plugin really helped bring out the body of the drums, but not overkill the transients. The low and high features were great to help sweeten or thicken the sound to taste, great additional feature. On Tube mode, I found this to be less subtle than the tape mode, not as aggressive, but great for drums that are a bit more delicate. The tube mode found to work best with the mix knob was near 100% since it’s not so aggressive. I really enjoyed the sweetness that I got out of it.
The second area I tried this out was on the mix bus. Again, I love saturation, so I was anxious to give this a try on the mix bus. The mix knob is a huge asset when dealing with the mix bus since I felt the tape mode had a better result than the tube, so having the ability to blend the two was great. Starting with tape mode, I felt my mix come to life. I found the low knob to have a significant effect on the mix, thickening it up and giving it a perceived loudness. The tube mode I really enjoyed as well, as it gave it a nice smooth touch to the mix from what I heard. It added a bit of character, just enough to have an impact, but not too much to where it changed the mix.
Overall, great plugin and one I was glad to try out. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a solid saturation plugin that is musical. With it being so user-friendly, anyone can develop a great sound, so many options.
Josh Colby – Mix Engineer and Producer
