Launched back in 2012, FabFilter’s Saturn is a multiband saturation and distortion plugin with a flexible modulation routing system. It’s won numerous accolades and awards in its lifetime, so hopes are high for version 2.
Long-time users will immediately notice the new interface, which looks nicer and promises a faster workflow. The darker colour scheme has been introduced with the aim of making Saturn easier to look at for extended sessions, while there are four interface size options and you can also use a full-screen mode. Modulation options have been ‘visualised’, too, with colour coding and indicators on controls and bands.
Under the hood, there are now many more distortion types - 28 as opposed to 16 in version 1 - and there’s now pretty much no limit on the combination of 16-step XLFOs, Envelope Generators, Envelope Followers, XY Controllers and MIDI sources that can be used in a preset. There are new saturation types, too, plus a High Quality mode that offers 32x oversampling to almost completely eliminate aliasing.
Find out more on the FabFilter website, where the Saturn 2 saturation plugin can be purchased for $154/£114/€129. It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats, and a demo is available.
