Since everyone is able to engineer from home and their bedrooms, cheap plugins have been getting better end better. Even the basic versions of full plugins are becoming top-tier candidates for the quality sounds they provide. The Punish Lite from Heavyocity is one such plugin. While this saturator lacks detailed customizations, it brings a monster sound to the table. 

To hear it in action, check out this review of the Punish Lite.

Punish Lite Features

One Knob – the Punish Lite is the Lite version for a reason. It works great for beginners because of its simplicity. You can take the Punish Lite, throw it on any track and turn the knob until it sounds just right. 

Crunchy Saturation – Saturation is just another form of harmonic distortion. And the Punish Lite is an amazing saturator that can improve any metal track. Whether you use it on guitars, drums, bass, or even vocals this plugin adds a new edge to your track. 

Balance – When you crank the saturation it can be easy for the levels to get a little out of hand and start to peak. If that’s the case, you can start to use the in and out level controls. Now as long as you have monitored your levels properly up to this point, you shouldn’t have to touch anything on the “In” side of the plugin. All you may need to adjust is the “Out.” 

Compatibility

Compatibility is the most important thing that you need to consider. There is nothing worse than buying a plugin and realizing you didn’t check the compatibility and it doesn’t work with your computer. Most people will have their computers up to date but for beginners, this is not always an option. 

The only way it could be worse than the plugin not being compatible with your computer is if it is not compatible with your DAW. It has happened to many people where they do not look at the DAW requirements and find out after the fact that their DAW will not work with the plugin. Luckily, the Punish Lite is a plugin that can be enjoyed by users of all DAWs. From Pro Tools to FL Studio, anyone can use this in their session.

Pricing

As far as beginner plugins are concerned, the only way the price of the Punish Lite could be any better is if it was free. Now, this doesn’t mean that the Punish Lite should only be used by beginners. It has a great sound that you can use in your sessions. But it does not have the customization of the full Punish plugin from Heavyocity. 

FAQ’s

Are saturation knobs good?

Saturation knobs are a beautiful way to bring out the presence in a track. It is not always the best choice to use it heavily outside of a metal or rock song, but it can be used in every genre of music when mixed correctly. 

What does a saturation plugin do?

When originally recording on tape and through tubes, if you drove the track too hard, it would result in an overdriven sound and noise. This is how the first overdrive and distortion pedals were made, and saturation plugins are just emulating that effect. 

Does saturation go before or after compression?

Saturation is best used to add a certain flavor to a track so you want it to come after the compression stage in your signal chain. If you have the saturation before the compressor, it can muddy up the saturated sound in an undesirable way. 

Lite as a Feather But Heavy as a Rock

The Punish Lite is the perfect mix of simplicity and sound. You get a great plugin at an even better price and you can use it to complete the sound of any instrument. Heavyocity is a great company that usually works more on the instrumental and sample side of things, but their few effects plugins are not to be ignored. 

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