Cheap Distortion Plugins: 10 Great-Sounding Saturators For $50 Or Less

Do you want to make your mixes and productions sound warm, big, and analog? One of the secrets is to use saturation. When producing mainly in the box with soft synths like Serum or Vital, it’s important to process your sounds with distortion or saturation, otherwise, the final result can sound overly bright, sterile, lifeless, and dull. Saturation can solve all these issues by exciting the frequencies and harmonics of any sound in a way that replicates expensive hardware found in Hollywood studios. 

Need A Massive Library Of Free Plugins? We Got You… 

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on dedicated saturation plugins like Decapitator or Saturn 2 since there are countless cheaper alternatives that can give you equally good sound or even a unique sound to set you apart from the crowd. Unfortunately, some of these boutique distortion plugins are often overlooked due to the attention given to expensive ones. 

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of our favorite distortion plugins that cost $50 or less, so they can finally get the spotlight they deserve.

Need a quick rundown of WTF saturation can do to your mix? This video from the homies at The Hyperbits Masterclass can get you up to speed in 120 seconds

SampleX V3

SampleX Version 3 by Beatskillz is a dope plugin offering immersive functionality in vintage sampler emulation. It has features like new LP/HP ladder resonant filters, stereo width control, and Beatskillz Dynamic Convolution System, which samples authentic vintage samplers to achieve their exact sound at various levels. 

But what I dig the most is that this plugin goes beyond emulation, enabling you to design your sampler or vintage chip. SampleX Version 3 provides a standard variable sample rate, bit rate, and an aliasing control and introduces a width control for managing stereo expansion and a filter section equipped with two new sampler models.

You can hear this distortion in action on the hats and shaker group of my latest single, ‘Algebra of Contentedness.’ Sure, the coloration is super subtle and delicate. Still, the distortion helped round out the brightness of the overly-digital high percussions and helped warm them up in a pleasing and analog-style way! Just like expensive hardware, but at a tiny fraction of the price

SampleX Version 3’s X-Factors Are:

• Dynamic Convolution System: Beatskillz’s proprietary technology samples the sound of real vintage samplers at different levels. This unique feature allows users to reproduce the authentic sonic characteristics of vintage samplers with great detail, setting SampleX apart from other plugins.
• Versatility and Customization: SampleX Version 3 offers a wide array of controls such as a shift for aliasing sounds, a drive for saturation, and an A/D sample section for bit control. This array of customization options allows users to create their desired sound effects, making it an indispensable tool for innovative sound design and production.

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bx_subsynth

A modern-day rendition of dbx’s “Boom Box” from the 1970s, bx_subsynth creates synthesized subharmonic tones to add a powerful and clean bassline to tracks lacking in low-end intensity. The bx_subsynth leverages this historic subharmonic synthesis technology but goes beyond an exact imitation, infusing the plugin with unique features and enhanced functionality to stay relevant in today’s digital audio landscape.

The user interface of bx_subsynth may appear simple, but it’s got a lot going on under the hood that really opens up a ton of doors when it comes to coloration and tonal shaping. It features three main panels: Global, Sub, and Edge. The Global Panel manages the plugin’s input and output while offering unique features such as the synthesis input selector, gain controls, mix control, and mid/side controls. The Sub Panel forms the heart of the plugin, carrying out the essential subharmonic synthesis based on the incoming audio signal. Lastly, the Edge Panel enhances the audio output by adding compression and distortion, making your bass content cut through any mix effortlessly.

bx_subsynth’s X-Factors Are:

• Unparalleled Subharmonic Synthesis: bx_subsynth stands out due to its exceptional subharmonic synthesis capabilities, bringing the power of historic ‘Boom Box’ technology into a modern, user-friendly format. Generating synthesized subharmonic tones adds a clean, rich bassline to tracks, elevating them to a new level of sonic depth.
• Comprehensive Mix Control: Besides its powerful synthesis, another defining feature of bx_subsynth is its complete control over input, output, and mix elements. The combination of mid/side controls, gain adjustments, and the synthesis input selector offers an unprecedented level of control to users. This allows for a tailored sound experience, making the plugin a versatile tool for various audio projects.

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Little Foot

The plugin, a streamlined variant of the renowned Sasquatch 2 Kick, offers an ingenious way to amplify your acoustic or electric kick drums. Little Foot adapts a classic studio technique, marrying it with cutting-edge flexibility to equip your drum tracks with tunable low-frequency sine waves, enhancing their power and presence. A bonus is an ability to generate octave-up tunable waves, enabling your music to make a big impact regardless of the size of the speaker, a boon in the era of earbuds and phone speakers.

And while this is supposed to be mostly for kick drums, it really helps round out and warm up mid-range synths. I find myself automating it during the sparser sections of the arrangement to help reintroduce warmth that I’ve EQ’d away during the more dense sections of the songs.

The’ Oomph’ section sets Little Foot apart, providing many parameters to customize your kick drum. This section has tunable frequency, sustain-boosting tools that range from subtly enhancing to dramatically augmenting the drum’s power, a threshold gate control, and a resonance tool. These features allow you to strike an optimum balance between the clean and affected signals. Boz Digital Labs’ plugins, including Little Foot, streamline workflows and amplify creativity, delivering a seamless and intuitive front-end experience without compromising on the sophistication of the engineering on the backend.

Little Foot’s X-Factors Are:

• Oomph Customization: Little Foot stands out for its extensive ‘Oomph’ section. This feature provides an expansive array of tweakable parameters allowing profound customization of your kick drum. From tunable frequency to a wet/dry blend, the Oomph section is designed to help you strike the perfect balance in your sound.
• Versatile Enhancements: One of Little Foot’s defining features is its ability to provide tunable low-frequency and octave-up sine waves, offering a dynamic range of enhancements to your kick drum. This feature ensures your music’s potency, regardless of the speaker size, making Little Foot a versatile tool in the modern music production.

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Degrader

Klevgrand’s Degrader plugin brings minimalism and ease of use to distortion and bit crushing. Available on Mac and PC in AU/VST/AAX formats, this plugin controls Bit Depth, Sample Rate, Jitter, Saturation, and more, all wrapped in an attractive GUI. The bit depth alteration between 3 and 24 bits resolution results in intriguing and sonically pleasing effects, from crispy noises to hairy sounds. The resampling capability between 250Hz and 96kHz and a low pass filter with pre and post-fader controls provides a wide range of tonal possibilities.

Degrader offers a crunchy sound reminiscent of desirable bit crushing on older hardware samplers. The plugin carries enough range to emulate everything from vintage AKAI sounds to outright computerized mutations. It excels in futzing, creating 8-bit effects, and even simulating a video game environment. Used in a musical context, it shines especially in drum processing and providing extra layers of texture to vocals, making it a highly versatile tool for various sound design tasks.

Degrader’s X-Factors Are:

• Ease of Use: The plugin’s minimalist interface and straightforward controls make it easily accessible for all skill levels. This intuitive design allows music producers to alter sounds swiftly and create unique tonal landscapes.
• Versatility: From emulating vintage hardware to designing complex sounds, Degrader provides a broad palette of sounds. Its ability to create various effects, such as futzing, 8-bit sounds, and video game environments, allows producers to use it in various musical and sound design contexts.

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RP-Distort 2

RP-Distort 2 builds on the success of its predecessor, introducing a vast array of features and enhancements that sets it apart in the realm of distortion plugins. This advanced plugin is centered around a principal Distortion module with 52 different distortion types, ranging from Overdrive and Fuzz to Amp and Cabinet models.

Adding a Wave Shaper function furthers customization, allowing users to craft unique distortions. Further enriching the creative possibilities, the plugin integrates Compressor, Filter, and Widen/Chorus sections, along with multiple parameter control through LFOs and a Modulation Matrix. What is mostly awesome with this distortion is the amount of features that it comes packed with without having to menu dive too much which gives you an insane amount of control over the coloration that the plugin gives to the sound. 

RP-Distort 2’s X-Factors Are:

• Innovative Disrupt-Sphere Function: Borrowed from their DelSane delay plugin, the Disrupt-Sphere function allows multiple parameters to be controlled from a single slider, fostering an intuitive, hands-on control scheme that enhances the creative process.
• Audio Follower Function: RP-Distort 2 features an Audio Follower function that modulates parameters based on input audio signals. This unique function creates an interactive sonic experience where the plugin directly responds to the audio input, offering an exciting, dynamic element to music production.

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CrushStation

Eventide Audio’s CrushStation offers an exceptional distortion and saturation plugin at a surprisingly affordable price point, under $50. Known for its range of sounds, from smooth saturation to fierce sonic devastation, CrushStation is based on the algorithm of Eventide’s acclaimed H9 Harmonizer pedal. But its capabilities go far beyond common distortion effects. It features a 3-band EQ, compression, octave mix, and a unique Sag control that emulates the distinctive sound of failing hardware. The user-friendly interface is designed to be accessible and straightforward to navigate, with input and output volumes, drive, 3-band EQ, and mix control for parallel processing, all clearly labeled.

One of the key attractions of CrushStation is its one-knob compressor/sustainer known as Sustain. It effectively modulates overall loudness and can be applied pre or post-distortion. The Sag control simulates dying tube circuits’ crumbling and broken sounds, making it ideal for creating tight, crunching sounds. The Octave effect is a handy tool that adds in pitch-shifted notes at one octave above, one octave below, or both, giving your sound a thicker texture. With its sound design capabilities, CrushStation is a versatile and comprehensive tool that packs a punch.

CrushStation’s X-Factors Are:

• Innovative Design Elements: CrushStation’s unique features, such as the Sag control and Octave effect, set it apart from other distortion plugins. The Sag control offers a novel way to simulate the sounds of dying tube circuits, while the Octave effect adds layers of depth to your sound by pitch-shifting notes up and down an octave.
• Versatile Sound Capabilities: Whether you’re after a smooth saturation or aggressive sonic destruction, CrushStation has you covered. Its one-knob compressor/sustainer, wide-ranging EQ, and clever use of pitch shifting make it a versatile tool well-suited to various musical styles and production needs.

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Wave Box

Wave Box, a plugin by AudioThing, sets the bar high with its dual waveshaper feature that promises to provide an unprecedented range of sounds for music producers. Housing a library of six unique waveshapes – sine, hyperbolic sine and tangent, floor- and ceiling-rounded square waves, and a linear function, it enables the user to manipulate the sound characteristics seamlessly. The plugin’s operation depends on its modes: Symmetrical or Asymmetrical, which can be easily toggled to shape the signal and offer an immense palette of sound alterations.

Moreover, Wave Box’s waveshaping significantly shines when modulated by the onboard envelope follower and two LFOs. These modulation sources facilitate input-driven and rhythmic distortion design, aiding in creating a wide range of sounds, from gentle to hard-hitting distortion which isn’t something commonly seen in these types of plugins and can be an amazing way to add extra movement and subtly to your sounds (especially when you’re flipping samples and want to add more movement to the audio but don’t have access to the same parameters you do normally in synths and samplers). 

Wave Box’s X-Factors Are:

• Dual Waveshaper Design: The core of Wave Box lies in its dual waveshaper feature. It provides an extraordinary breadth of sound shaping capabilities, with a library of six waveshapes combined in either Symmetrical or Asymmetrical mode, making it stand out in the market of distortion plugins.
• Versatile Modulation Sources: Wave Box incorporates an envelope follower and two LFOs to modulate the waveshaping process. This design element allows dynamic and rhythmically interesting distortions, opening up many creative possibilities.

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Corrosion v2

This second iteration of the plugin not only keeps the unique features of the original, such as 4x oversampled distortion and an array of innovative algorithms, but it also comes packed with a more powerful DSP engine and additional features that further enhance its capabilities. Corrosion v2 flaunts a redesigned user interface that offers up to 200% size scaling, proving a welcome feature for those working on high-resolution screens. Furthermore, the plugin now supports VST3, with soon-to-follow AAX compatibility.

The updates to the engine of Corrosion v2 are awesome. It introduces four compelling distortion algorithms, a built-in noise gate, simultaneous cutoff frequency, and a new stereo tilt control for the distortion gain. Additionally, the plugin features an enhanced oversampling engine which supports a higher maximum input gain level, elevating the sound quality to a smoother, richer level. It also showcases support for any buffer size requested by the plugin host, ensuring maximum flexibility and compatibility across different platforms.

Corrosion v2’s X-Factors Are:

• Extended Distortion Algorithms: This plugin stands out for its 15 unique distortion algorithms, including new additions such as parabolic, sine clip, sine bend, and symmetric warp. These options allow users to create various distinct, rich, and complex sounds, opening up a world of creative possibilities.
• Versatile Compatibility and Flexibility: Corrosion v2 supports various formats, including VST3, and soon, AAX. Its ability to adapt to any buffer size requested by the plugin host offers unparalleled flexibility, making it a reliable and versatile tool for any music producer’s toolbox.

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Overdrive 5

With its five high-quality distortion options, users can effortlessly dial in everything from subtle, mellifluous overtones to dark, intense growls. But what truly sets Overdrive 5 apart is its post-distortion features, including a four-band EQ and a compressor. 

These tools empower producers to meticulously shape their sound, allowing for precise control over tone, whether enhancing the crispy highs or enveloping the mix with lush, deeper textures. By overdriving the compressor, you can also achieve an additional layer of warmth and thickness that adds character to any production. The visual representation that this device gives on your sounds makes shaping the sounds super easy and more fun than simply having to “trust your ears.” Having these visual queues can really help train your ears to hear the subtle variations that analog emulation plugins introduce to a sound as well. 

Overdrive 5’s X-Factors Are:

• Seamless Automation: Overdrive 5 stands head and shoulders above the rest with its complete automation of all parameters. This feature unleashes the creative genius in producers, as they can now weave intricate and dynamic changes in the sound over time, making tracks truly come alive.
• Versatile Preset Saving and Sharing: The ability to save presets and share them with other Stagecraft users online sets Overdrive 5 apart. This enhances productivity by allowing for quick recall of favorite settings and fosters a community where producers can inspire and learn from each other by exchanging presets.

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CrushShaper 2

CrushShaper by CableGuys is a versatile bit crusher plugin that surpasses the standard offerings in most DAWs, bringing in a fresh take on digital distortion. This powerful tool provides the usual bit-crushing capabilities and expands creative options by harnessing the power of customizable modulation tools in the Shaper family. Users can draw upon a central grid to shape their custom LFO/envelope, driving the depth of the effect. 

This innovative approach is complemented by an array of shaping tools, including pens, curve generators, and various editing tools, allowing for a deep yet easy refinement of the automation curve.

CrushShaper’s X-Factors Are:

• Multi-Frequency Band Application: A standout feature of CrushShaper is its ability to apply effects separately across three distinct frequency bands – low, mid, and high. This gives music producers finer control over their audio, facilitating a nuanced and precise application of the bit crusher effect.
• Performance-Oriented Design: CrushShaper boasts a unique performance aspect with its ability to trigger modulation curves via MIDI. The User Wave bar allows storing multiple custom modulation curves, offering a unique opportunity for live performance effects and dynamic music production.

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