In this article, I will review Dada Life’s Sausage Fattener Plugin which is one of the best saturation plugins in the world.
When I see the interface of Sausage Fattener it reminds me of the legendary LA2A compressor.
Nop,
It’s not a compressor plugin like LA2A. Actually, I love those plugins which do not have too many confusing knobs. Just like LA2A, Sausage Fattener has only three knobs with unlimited possibilities.
Sausage Fattener is the first plugin released by Dada Life and since this magic plugin was released it is used by thousands of music producers around the world.
Are you wondering what is Sausage Fattener?
Okay,
It’s an artificial saturation plugin which adds analog saturation in digital recordings. I know there are tons of saturation plugins available on the market.
But the way its different from the other is it has only three knobs which are enough to do magic on your soundtracks.
However, there are a collection of effects which helps it to bring a fat and colourful push that you need in your tracks to take it to the next level of mixing.
But I bet, once you start using this plugin you will use it the process again and again whenever your tracks suffer lack of saturation.
Especially for newbies who don’t know exactly how to apply saturation in their tracks correctly, this plugin becomes a great alternative to other complex saturation plugins. With only three knobs it allows you reaching a wide variety of results.
Thanks to Dada Life who created this great saturation plugin.
So, enough intro.
Let’s begin the review,
Pros
- Simple three knobs design – Great for newbies who are struggling with the complexity of other saturation plugins.
- Crisp-clear sound – The algorithm that works behind this plugin make it sound more crisp and clear than other same range saturation plugins.
- Not a CPU hog – Sausage Fattener is a lightweight plugin so you don’t have to worry about the CPU performance.
- Experiment friendly – You can experiment with the collection of effects given.
- Automatable knobs – You can use its knobs in automation.
- Subs Distortion – Its a great plugin for the distortion you want to create for your subs.
- Low Price – Only $39
Cons
- If not properly used, it can distort your track.
- Make you lazy by limiting your knowledge of getting crisp saturated sound without using this plugin. That means when you become familiar with this plugin you would be dependent on this plugin.
- With only three knobs it limits the flexibility in achieving the sound you want.
Sausage Fattener Features
- Three Knobs Fatness, Color and Gain
- Fatness Knob: saturates the given sound by adding harmonics.
- Color: This knob controls the amount of color on the track.
- Gain: Controls the clipping.
- Clipping LED: To watch if the clipping occurs.
- Simple, sleek, and easy to operate design make it newbie-friendly. If you are a newbie you can easily operate it.
How Sausage Fattener VST Plugin Works
Sausage fattener might look simple at first glance as it has only three knobs and one button but when you start to use it you will see its ability to transform your tracks to a higher level.
There are countless top producers who are using it including Tiësto, Zedd, and Diplo.
With the name of these producers, you can imagine how useful this plugin is? If you want a serious punch and impact in your tracks then you should use this Sausage Fattener from today.
Let us dig some deep into how we can use it effectively?
The user interface is very simple. There are only three knobs FATNESS, COLOR, and GAIN. When you start to adjust these knobs you can feel the significant difference in the sound simultaneously.
Fatness Knob:
This knob boosts the initial signal up to 30dB as well as adds the saturation on the tracks. Saturation is subtle distortions which take place when upper harmonics introduce the fundamental tone.
Color Knob:
This knob adjusts the harmonic distortion within the saturation. When you increase its value, the amplitude or volume of the uppermost harmonics begins to increase. Due to this, you get a brighter color in the track.
Gain Knob:
The gain knob is used to adjust the overall volume of the signal as well a CLIPPING INDICATOR is provided with the gain knob to see and control the clipping. The gain knob is very important as a higher degree of saturation can ruin the track so you need to adjust it to the right level. Gain knob helps in this.
Wandering,
What is Saturation and why do you need it?
In digital recording, the harmonics of the sound signal goes dry and what you get at the end is a colourless sound. This happens due to the algorithm of the digital domain.
In analogue signals, you get these type of waves which contains all the characteristics of a natural sound wave.
But in the digital domain, the waves become like that shown below. In digital systems, all the processing is done with 1 and 0. So, when the sound is recorded in digital systems it loses the natural colour.
To recover the original characteristics we use saturation plugins. Dada Life’s Sausage Fattener is one of them. It re-saturates the characteristics of the sound and makes it more colourful.
See it in action.
How to Use Sausage Fattener
Using the Sausage Fattener plugin is simple. there are only two knobs, one for fatness and the other for color.
Here is the process you can follow to use this plugin with different instruments.
- With Drums: To use this plugin with drums you have to put this on the drum bus, then turn the FATNESS up and listen to the subtle changes. Do not overdo it or you will lose punch due to too much compression.
- With Chords: Add this plugin to the Chord track and turn the fatness knob up until it starts to distort. Then you can play with the COLOR knob until the sound is brighter.
- With Bass: To use bass you should start by turning the FATNESS knob up until the bass sounds huge. Do your experiment with the COLOR knobs until you get a deep and rich bass sound. Then sync the bass with kicks to get the best out of it.
- With Mix Bus: First turn the FATNESS up slightly. Do not turn the knob immediately. Increase the amount of fatness slowly and stop there you will get a slight distrotion.
At The Work
Now you know how Sausage Fattener works its time to take a look at some real-life examples that you could apply on your tacks.
Saturation improves primary voice of your track so that it could through the most impact and presence to the listener. Especially for bass lines and lead lines, we need it.
Here is a video which can help you in implementing this great plugin on your tracks.
Compatibility & System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems
Windows (XP SP2,Vista, Windows 7, including native 64-bit version) on Pentium 4 (or equivalent) or higher
Mac OS X 10.5 or later (Intel 32/64-bit. Not Universal Binary.)
Available Formats
- VST and Audio Units
Should You Buy Sausage Fattener or Not
Definitely,
Where all the recordists, music producers and mix engineers are dying to get analog feel in their tracks you should definitely buy this “easy to use” plugin which adds that taste without any hustle.
The best part of this is you don’t need to invest much more like UAD plugin accelerators or original saturation hardware to get the impact. Its available with just $39 which I think is not much more for an average music producer/engineer.
Do you want to try Sausage Fattener?
Do share this review on your social circle and help them choose a better saturation plugin. If you are already using this plugin then share your experience with us in the comment section below.
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