How do you emulate the sound and feel of analog distortion with digital tools and techniques?

2 What are the benefits of digital distortion?

Digital distortion is the result of exceeding the maximum level of a digital system, such as a converter, a plugin, or a DAW. It creates aliasing, quantization, and clipping which can negatively affect the quality, resolution, and fidelity of your audio. Although it is usually undesirable and harsh, digital distortion can be used creatively for special effects like bitcrushing, glitching, or lo-fi. Digital distortion has some advantages over analog distortion too. It is cheaper and easier to access and control with plugins and software. It is more consistent and predictable as it does not depend on the age, condition, or temperature of the analog components. Plus, it is more flexible and versatile as it can emulate different types of analog distortion or create new and unique sounds.

3 What are the drawbacks of digital distortion?

Digital distortion has some drawbacks compared to analog distortion, such as being less natural and musical, as it does not produce the same harmonic richness, dynamic response, and noise floor. Additionally, it is more prone to artifacts and errors, like aliasing, quantization, and clipping, which can introduce unwanted noise and distortion. Moreover, it is more difficult to achieve the same warmth, depth, and character as analog distortion because it requires more careful tweaking and processing.

4 How to emulate analog distortion with plugins?

One of the most common and convenient ways to emulate analog distortion with digital tools is to use plugins that simulate the behavior and sound of analog circuits. For instance, Decapitator by Soundtoys offers five modes of analog distortion, from subtle to extreme, with tone and drive controls, a low-cut filter, a wet/dry mix knob, and a punish button for extra gain. FabFilter's Saturn 2 is another multiband distortion plugin that offers six types of analog distortion, from tube to tape to guitar amp, with frequency and dynamics controls, modulation options, a linear phase mode, and a blend slider. Softube's Tape plugin provides three different types of tape machines, from vintage to modern, with speed and bias controls, a high-frequency trim knob, a wet/dry mix knob, and a crosstalk switch.

5 How to emulate analog distortion with hardware?

Digital tools can be used to emulate analog distortion by utilizing hardware devices that can process digital signals with analog circuits. For example, Elektron's Analog Heat offers eight types of analog distortion, from clean boost to fuzz, with filter and envelope controls, a wet/dry mix knob, and MIDI and CV connectivity. Thermionic Culture's Culture Vulture has dual-channel tube distortion with three types of tube distortion, input and output gain controls, a bias switch, and a filter switch. Lastly, Empirical Labs' Distressor is a compressor/limiter that can also produce analog distortion with its distortion modes, from opto to nuke, with input and output gain controls, a ratio switch, a detector switch, and a wet/dry mix knob.

6 How to emulate analog distortion with creative processing?

A third way to emulate analog distortion with digital tools is to use creative processing techniques that can alter your digital signals in ways that resemble analog distortion. Parallel processing, EQ and filtering, and compression and limiting are all methods that can create analog-like distortion effects. Blending a distorted signal with a clean one is an example of parallel processing, which can create a balanced and controlled sound while still retaining warmth and character. Boosting or cutting certain frequencies to shape the tone and harmonics of the distortion is another technique, as is using low-pass or high-pass filters to simulate the frequency response of analog circuits. Compression or limiting can be applied to reduce the dynamic range and increase the perceived loudness of the distortion, or sidechain compression or ducking can be used to create dynamic interactions between the distorted signal and another signal.