Saturator
Stoke Saturator
One sound. Four knobs. Measured.
A saturator built around one deeply tuned analog-style voice and four knobs. Its weight, punch and loudness behaviour ship as measured contracts: each one is a test that fails the build the moment the number moves. No modes, no styles, nothing to choose.
Signal path
Why it exists
Most saturators make you pay for density twice: the low end thins as the harmonics arrive, and the track gets louder, so you stop trusting your ears. Stoke keeps the dry path as a bit-exact delay line and generates every harmonic in a separate residual, which is why the low end cannot thin and the nulls are exact. Auto holds loudness within plus or minus 0.5 LU across the whole Drive range and across a 24 dB input-level window, so thicker never quietly means louder. Input calibration tracks program loudness and normalizes the drive operating point, so the character follows the knob, not the fader. Every one of those sentences is a test that fails the build if it stops being true.
The coal
The measured contracts are the feature list.
01 · Face
Four knobs. Nothing to choose.
Drive, Tone, Mix and Output, with Auto and Power. No modes and no styles: Drive morphs one continuous voice, mostly second-order warmth low on the dial, controlled upper harmonics arriving as you push, and a spectral ceiling that darkens slightly as drive rises so cranked stays musical.
02 · Drive
The low end stays. The punch stays.
With Drive at working level the coal lights and the contracts hold: energy from 20 to 120 Hz within plus or minus 0.5 dB at nominal drive, measured at 0.06 dB or less of movement on 808, kick and bass material; drums keep their attack crest, measured at plus 0.2 dB, bounded within 4 dB even at full drive. A transient-aware ease protects the first milliseconds of every hit.
03 · Level
Thicker, not louder. At any level.
Auto holds loudness within plus or minus 0.5 LU across the whole Drive range and across a 24 dB input window, worst measured case plus 0.39 LU. Input calibration tracks program loudness with BS.1770 weighting, so the sweet spot is the same whether the track comes in at minus 24 or minus 6 dBFS. Power off passes the input bit-exactly; Drive 0 and Mix 0 are bit-exact nulls at the reported latency of 6 samples.
Where it earns its keep
Built for the jobs you actually have.
Drums and drum buses
Density without losing the hit: drums keep their attack crest at nominal drive, bounded within 4 dB even at full drive.
808s, kick and bass
Weight that does not thin: energy from 20 to 120 Hz holds within plus or minus 0.5 dB at nominal drive, measured at 0.06 dB or less of movement.
Vocals, keys and guitars
Push the Drive for density and let Auto hold the level within half an LU, so the decision is about tone, not loudness.
Everywhere at once
One voice and seven parameters, the same at any input level, so the same instance can sit on every track without a style menu to revisit.
What's in the unit
Real pixels, not promises.
The resting face
Drive, Tone, Mix and Output on a matte black plate. No modes and no styles: one continuous voice.
Drive at working level
The coal lights as the harmonics arrive. Every added harmonic lives in a separately generated residual; the dry path is a bit-exact delay line.
The same voice at the largest size
Seven parameters, nothing hidden at any size. Auto and Power sit beside the coal, the license chip beneath.
The contracts: each one a test that fails the build
| Claim | Measured | The test |
|---|---|---|
| Low end stays | 20 to 120 Hz within plus or minus 0.5 dB at nominal drive; 0.06 dB or less of movement on 808, kick and bass | ContractTests low-end |
| Punch stays | Attack crest kept at nominal drive (plus 0.2 dB); bounded within 4 dB at full drive | ContractTests transient |
| Never harsh | Aliasing floor minus 131 dBFS at full drive; contract below minus 90 | ContractTests alias |
| Thicker, not louder | Auto holds plus or minus 0.5 LU across Drive and a 24 dB input window; worst plus 0.39 LU | ContractTests equal-loudness grid |
| Honest bypass | Power off bit-exact; Drive 0 and Mix 0 bit-exact nulls at the reported latency | EngineTests null family |
| Tiny latency, reported exactly | 6 samples, 0.125 ms at 48 kHz, verified by impulse cross-correlation | EngineTests latency |
Everything in the box
- One deeply tuned analog-style voice; Drive morphs it continuously
- Four knobs: Drive, Tone, Mix, Output; Auto and Power; seven parameters in all
- Dry path is a bit-exact delay line; every harmonic lives in a separately generated residual
- Low end: 20 to 120 Hz within plus or minus 0.5 dB at nominal drive
- Punch: attack crest kept at nominal drive, bounded within 4 dB at full drive
- Aliasing floor measured at minus 131 dBFS at full drive; pre-emphasis and de-emphasis keep the added top gentle
- Auto holds loudness within plus or minus 0.5 LU across the whole Drive range
- Auto holds the same window across a 24 dB input-level window, minus 24 to minus 6 dBFS
- Input calibration tracks program loudness with BS.1770 weighting and normalizes the drive operating point
- Program-dependent bias gives sustained material a slight bloom
- Transient-aware ease protects the first milliseconds of every hit
- Power off passes the input bit-exactly; Drive 0 and Mix 0 are bit-exact nulls
- Fixed latency of 6 samples, 0.125 ms at 48 kHz, reported exactly and compensated by every host
- 12 source-named starting points
- VST3, AU and AAX on Windows 10+ and macOS, Intel and Apple Silicon
Specifications
Questions engineers ask
Does Drive change the low end?
No. Energy from 20 to 120 Hz holds within plus or minus 0.5 dB at nominal drive, measured at 0.06 dB or less of movement on 808, kick and bass material. The dry path is a bit-exact delay line and the harmonics live in a separate residual.
Does it get louder as I push it?
Auto holds loudness within plus or minus 0.5 LU across the whole Drive range and across a 24 dB input-level window, so the knob changes density, not level.
How much latency does it add?
6 samples, 0.125 ms at 48 kHz, reported exactly to the host and compensated by every host. Verified by impulse cross-correlation against the host report.
Are there modes or styles to choose?
No. Drive morphs one continuous voice: mostly second-order warmth low on the dial, controlled upper harmonics arriving as you push, with a spectral ceiling that darkens slightly as drive rises.
Which formats and platforms?
VST3, AU and AAX on Windows 10+ and macOS, Intel and Apple Silicon. That covers Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, FL Studio, REAPER and every other major host.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every released Vitric plugin has a free 3 day trial with every feature available during the trial window. Get the installer and your machine-bound trial license from the downloads page. At the signed expiry, audio processing and generated MIDI lock until you install a purchased license or a valid subscription grant. The plugin can still load so projects and saved settings are not deleted.
More from the line
Stoke Saturator
Weight, punch and loudness, guaranteed by measurement.
One voice, four knobs, and a null test you are invited to run.