Stoke Saturator
by Vitric Audio · Saturation · Four-knob saturator
Not rated yet
Stoke is an analog-style saturator from Vitric Audio with Drive, Tone, Mix and Output, one continuous voice from warmth to upper harmonics, and input calibration.
It is on sale for $9 (regular $20) as VST3, AU and AAX for macOS and Windows.
Best for: Vocals, Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keys & Synths, Mix Bus. Genres: all genres.
Keywords: warm, bass, drums, vocals, auto-gain, electric guitar, keys, subtle, AAX, bus processing, clean, full mix, harmonic enhancer, kick, minimal controls, mix bus, mixing, perpetual licence, simple, single-band, subscription.
What it does
Stoke is a deliberately simple saturator with one tuned analog-style voice and careful level matching. The developer's line is "One sound. Four knobs. Measured."
- Drive: morphs the single voice continuously from 0 to 100%, mostly second-order warmth at low settings and controlled upper harmonics as it is pushed.
- Tone, Mix and Output: Tone tilts the processed signal, Mix sets how much of the harmonic content is added (0–100%), and Output sets the final level in dB.
- Auto: a calibrated level-compensation curve that holds loudness within ±0.5 LU across Drive settings, so the sound gets denser rather than louder.
- Input calibration: tracks program loudness with BS.1770 weighting and adapts the drive circuit to the source.
- Bias and transients: program-dependent bias lets sustained material bloom, while a transient-aware stage eases off on sharp hits.
- Clean dry path: the dry signal is a bit-exact delay line with the harmonics in a separate residual; Power off passes aligned dry and Mix at 0 nulls against the dry signal. Latency is 6 samples.
- Starting points: twelve source-named presets such as Kick Punch and Bass DI Warmth, plus saving your own.
The current version is 0.2.9. The developer has listed it on sale, and it is also in the Vitric Complete subscription (for all eleven plugins); it was free for a limited time at launch. Licenses are perpetual. A full-featured 3-day trial needs no card, and there is a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Source: Vitric Audio product page
When to use it
Stoke suits quick, controlled warmth where you want to hear density rather than a louder signal. Compared with Saturation Knob it has more control (Tone, Mix, Output and auto level matching) but still only one voice. Compared with Decapitator or Radiator it has no hardware-flavored styles and no aggressive distortion range, so it is a subtler tool. Its auto level matching and null-able dry path make it easy to judge what the saturation adds. It is very new, at version 0.x, and has no user reviews yet.
- Best for: subtle warmth and density on drums, bass, vocals, keys and guitars, judged at matched level.
- Genres: any.
- Look elsewhere if: you want several saturation styles, tape or tube character, or heavy distortion; Decapitator, Radiator or Saturn 2 give much more range.
Where to buy
- Vitric Audio: $9 (regular $20)
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