Tube Saturator 2 is a super accurate circuit simulation of a tube pre-amp with analog EQ, which can be overdriven gently for warming effects, or cranked for fat distortion. Like its predecessor, Tube Saturator Vintage, TS-2 is based on circuit simulation technology to capture every nuance of an analog circuit. The circuit consisting of the individual tubes, resistors, and capacitors is converted into a mathematical system of equations which is numerically solved to produce the exact same sound as a real circuit. But while the original consumed large amounts of CPU power to compute the solutions in real-time, TS-2 uses large tables of pre-computed solutions. The Saturation section of TS-2 runs about 7x faster than the original and yet the modelling is even more accurate. TS-2 includes the original circuit simulation of the three band Baxandall type EQ as found in many guitar amplifiers.
TS-2 has many other features. You can switch between 12AX7 and 12AU7 tubes for different harmonic characteristics. The EQ can be switched to run pre or post saturation. Saturation and EQ are separately switchable. Also there is a 2x oversampling mode using a very high quality resampling algorithm. Use 2x mode to attenuate aliased distortion harmonics. Use the mix control to blend the processed sound with the original. And finally, TS-2 has a gorgeous interface.
Features
Accurate tube preamp simulator using circuit simulation technology
Not bad but needs time spent to get the most out of it.
Much of the default samples are very thin and I get that it's based on the original hardware though some options in the plugin would have been nice but not necessary. General operation is good both as plug in and stand alone with some excellent features. Auto fills work nicely. Looking forward to spending some more time with it to get the most out of it.