In Summary

Although loudness and saturation can go hand-in hand, fewer processors offer both in the same window. Setting out to unify the two for pumped-up mixes is Soundtheory’s Kraftur. See and hear it for yourself as we take our first look…

Going Deeper

Loudness, Saturation, Or Both?

With the need to keep mixes hitting at a given loudness, the ways engineers can get there are varied. With just a basic limiter, quite often all that is needed is tiny amounts taken off the very top with a bit of auto makeup. More analogue-like soft clipping can give more forgiving results, especially when a lot is needed. Using saturation can be a third way to increase perceived loudness. Rather than just slicing the tops off peaks and turning up the result, saturation does more. The tops get rounded off, yes, but the extra harmonic content it brings can fill sounds out with a pleasing sense of increased ‘size’ and complexity.

Across whole mixes or masters, using one of these processes or any combination of them can help engineers hit on target. There are plenty of processors out there that can be strung together for multi-stage treatments, but far fewer bring loudness enhancement and saturation together in the same window.

Using Soundtheory Kraftur

Known for Gullfoss, the intelligent dynamic EQ, Soundtheory have now put their original thinking to Kraftur, which is billed as a “saturating loudness enhancer”. Taking in the developer’s trademark clean lines that manage to deliver lots of visual feedback, Kraftur has been engineered to increase the loudness of the mix while preserving much of its dynamics. Sounds can be pushed further to imbue sounds with “colour and warmth” by inducing subtle but pleasing harmonic distortion.

In the video we take full advantage of Kraftur across a mix. We also use the level-matching chops of its Match button to keep saturation seduction at arm’s length. We highlight Kraftur’s innovative triangular mix control that allows engineers to blend between three states(!), as well as its multiband functionality to tune saturation to happen exactly where needed.

Especially useful is Kraftur’s Match control for unbiased tweaks. This matches to the output level to the input level. I can see the rationale for not doing it the other way around, but just make sure you turn down your monitoring before you switch Match off.

It’s safe to say that the industry has plenty of limiters, soft clippers, and saturators. That said, stringing them together in chains can be clunky. The way things saturate and how that can affect audio is highly subjective, and for those times when you want to inflate your sounds with a little extra complexity that is more controllable than some other solutions, Kraftur should be on your list of ones to try. There’s no doubt that Kraftur’s action can be slightly enigmatic, but in keeping with Soundtheory’s other creations, its only real instructions are to use your ears.