Using Saturation
Re: Using Saturation
I'm with Wonks, I've always thought of it as 'tape saturation'. Probably because, until your post above, I've never understood what transformer saturation actually was.
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Re: Using Saturation
Few do. "They" don't even really mean "saturation" on tape, really somewhere around 4-6% THD I would guess. Most machines were lined up for ~3% THD at +4dBu but then we would have to delve into the history of tape flux levels!
Actually saturating a tape would sound 'king awful!
Ooo! Have a look at "saturable reactors".
Dave.
Re: Using Saturation
If we think how this would be done in DSP ...
We need a non-linear function. Inverse tan would do it :

The saturation is that at a certain point increasing the input doesn't increase the output.
We need a non-linear function. Inverse tan would do it :

The saturation is that at a certain point increasing the input doesn't increase the output.
It ain't what you don't know. It's what you know that ain't so.
Re: Using Saturation
Re: Using Saturation
Here's a typical B-H curve showing how a magnetic material behaves under different field strengths.

If we are talking about tape then there are all kinds of other effects involved - notably bias levels. Under-biasing can produce some interesting distortion effects.
(Diagram taken from https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/el ... resis.html)

If we are talking about tape then there are all kinds of other effects involved - notably bias levels. Under-biasing can produce some interesting distortion effects.
(Diagram taken from https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/el ... resis.html)
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Re: Using Saturation
That's clipping, surely?
Many engineering terms have become corrupted in popular usage.
To most, 'saturation' means a benign and moderate level of musical distortion, well below that introduced by more severe forms of distortion like clipping or A-D overload.
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Re: Using Saturation
Yes, same thing because the transformer/valve/transistor/tape cannot supply any more signal.
Dave.
Re: Using Saturation
I still chuckle at a loudspeaker review I read many years ago in a 'hi-fi' magazine, that referred to its power rating in Watts WFT.
When asked to elaborate on this unfamiliar term, the reviewer replied that it stood for 'WishFul Thinking'

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Re: Using Saturation
More like WTF.
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Re: Using Saturation
As an effect, tape and transformer saturation are very similar. Fundamentally it's the same magnetic behaviour, although the tape curve is 'fatter'.
You can also get a very approximate saturation effect with two germanium diodes back-to-back fed via a fairly high value resistor - although there is no hysteresis at all of course, so it's never going to be quite right.
You can also get a very approximate saturation effect with two germanium diodes back-to-back fed via a fairly high value resistor - although there is no hysteresis at all of course, so it's never going to be quite right.
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Re: Using Saturation
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Re: Using Saturation
To return to the OP for a moment, typically I'd only apply noticeable levels of distortion or saturation to electronic instruments such as synths and drum machines, the occasional weedy-sounding bass drum, and hand percussion such as shakers and tambourines. Distorted vocals have become a bit of a cliché to my mind. When I do use saturation I'll usually also roll off a lot of top end to stop something becoming too harsh (especially on a tambourine).
I often use a clean tape emulator on the master bus, but I think of that as a form of compression and tone shaping rather than saturation really.
I often use a clean tape emulator on the master bus, but I think of that as a form of compression and tone shaping rather than saturation really.
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- Sam Inglis
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Re: Using Saturation
I look at saturation as how much I want to dunk my biscuit in tea.
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