Soundspear – Supertube 1.0.0 VST, VST3 x64
Vacuum tubes are the Holy Grail of audio processing. Why rely on custom emulations when you can create your own tube circuit? Supertube is a variable gain compressor that uses a triode amplifier with fully customizable characteristics.
From tube geometry to electrical characteristics, you can choose how it behaves. These features affect tube color, distortion and clipping, compression scaling, recovery, and punch.
Authentic Tube Emulation: Uses advanced algorithms to replicate the behavior of a triode tube amplifier, delivering authentic analog warmth and harmonic richness.
Comprehensive Parameter Control: Adjust six internal tube characteristics – plate voltage, charging capacitor, conductance, tube geometry, output impedance, and grid resistor – to shape compression and tonal response.
Variable Gain Compression: Uses variable-gain compression techniques, delivering smooth and musical dynamic control.
User-Friendly Interface: Features an intuitive layout with real-time gain metering and real-time tube visualization.
Preset Library: Comes with 13 factory presets to speed up the sound design process.
In the Supertube, the audio signal passes through the tube triode from cathode to plate (gain). The same rectified signal is sent to the triode grid to dynamically limit the output gain (vari-mu compression).
Thus, the gain stage provides the warm coloration of the tube, while the additional compression stage provides organic compression of the tube.
Many of the internal characteristics of the tube can be modified. No electronic background is required, as the effect of each of them can be easily heard by ear. In addition, 13 presets will help you get started.
Plate Voltage: Tube distortion occurs due to the non-linear relationship between their input and output. Increasing the tube plate voltage will increase the load on the plate and make the non-linearities steeper, as well as lead to earlier distortion.
Charge Capacitor: The voltage in the tube can completely drop, leading to blocking distortion. A larger charge capacitor will increase the recovery time of the drop, making distortion more noticeable. This setting also increases the cathode bias, making voltage drops more frequent.
Transconductance: Transconductance will increase the gain reduction caused by the grid, making the compression more intense.
Tube Geometry: Various physical characteristics of the tube change the way it heats the sound: glass geometry, gas type, grille spires… This setting allows you to blend two tube circuits that sound radically different.
Output Impedance: The grid stop resistance increases the grid gain rejection time, resulting in sharper compression.
Grid Resistor: The grid resistor globally changes how the grid will react to the input signal, scaling its attack with release time and increasing the compression release.
The standard knobs allow you to change the digital behavior of the plug-in:
Dry Wet lets you mix the original signal with the signal at the end of the processing chain.
The Gain and Out Gain parameters adjust the input and output gain respectively.
Threshold lets you trigger the compressor, forcing it to react below the gain threshold.
