Abbey Road Saturator

Saturation chain with the unique and rare “compansion” effect

Classic Tube & Solid-State Console
Saturation: Subtle to Extreme

From light saturation for an exquisite vocal or synth edge, to heavier saturation that gives bass and drums palpable punch, to industrial-grade mayhem and everything in between—this isn’t about ordinary saturation. It’s about the color and power unleashed by Abbey Road’s saturation signal chain.

Choose the REDD console’s tube sound, or the TG12345’s round, solid-state tone. Add pre- and post-saturation EQ, and then excite it all through the ultra-rare TG12321 “secret weapon” compander—nothing sounds like this.

Designed and calibrated with Abbey Road Studios
Choose from tube and solid-state console saturation characters
Excite your signal with the rare EMI TG12321 Compander
Shape saturation character with detailed pre- and post-gain EQ
Dramatically alter the distortion sound with the Phase control
Sculpt your saturation effects with M/S processing
Mix/Dry control to blend the saturated and original signal
Artist presets by top mixers Joe Barresi, Dave Pensado, Lu Diaz

Watch It in Action

react-product-video-gallery-box

What Top Pros Are Saying

[{"itemID":2634,"itemGUID":"7f5cd067-e7f3-4b47-84f5-36b4066d8c34","artistName":"Lu Diaz","artistTitle":"Mixing Engineer \u0026 Producer","credits":"DJ Khaled, Pitbull, Beyonc\u00E9, Jay Z","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/lu-diaz.png","quote":"This is a fantastic saturation plugin with amazing textures. My included presets \u2018Its Britney\u2019 and \u2018Hate Me Now Lead\u2019 are a cool way to distort a vocal. I also like using this plugin in M/S on the master bus \u2013 my preset \u2018Shiny Gloss Sides\u2019 is how I do it.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":1},{"itemID":2635,"itemGUID":"335c3840-0eee-4286-bbfa-58a12cab5373","artistName":"Dave Pensado","artistTitle":"Mixing Engineer","credits":" Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Pink","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/dave-pensado.png","quote":"Saturation and distortion are vital in today\u2019s audio engineer world. Abbey Road Saturator \u2013 as well as Waves\u2019 other distortion tools, MDMX and Berzerk \u2013 are quickly becoming my favorite tools to fulfill this need.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":2},{"itemID":2636,"itemGUID":"1bb24dfe-677a-4501-b604-7f6344d99a8d","artistName":"Joe Barresi","artistTitle":"Producer, Mixer, Recording Engineer","credits":"QOTSA, Tool, Soundgarden","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/joe-barresi.png","quote":"The new suite of Waves distortions \u2013 Abbey Road Saturator, Berzerk, MDMX \u2013 go beyond the typical distortion plugins out there. The many layers of control and the filtering especially makes them way more usable than most.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":3},{"itemID":2637,"itemGUID":"06a5e7af-4537-4715-b25f-2920dc8d8c54","artistName":"Tom Lord-Alge","artistTitle":"Producer, Mixing Engineer","credits":"Blink-182, Weezer, Live, Dave Matthews Band","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/tom-lord-alge.png","quote":"Try out my presets: \u2018Brighten My Bass\u2019 adds top-end bite. \u2018DI Grind My Bass\u2019 adds nice, round mid-range distortion. \u2018DI Gtr Barking Mid Range Width\u2019 is great on distorted stereo guitars.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":4},{"itemID":2638,"itemGUID":"cbf5027b-aa8d-41c7-8391-e5d11627d1d7","artistName":"Guy Massey","artistTitle":"Recording, Mixing, Mastering \u0026 Remastering Engineer","credits":"The Beatles, Ed Sheeran, Manic Street Preachers","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/guy-massey.png","quote":"This plugin does not disappoint. The Abbey Road Saturator is great for everything from very subtle mix bus processing to full-on motherlode grit. Very intuitive to use, and a great addition to Waves\u2019 Abbey Road range.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":5},{"itemID":2639,"itemGUID":"1813d906-d21a-4cea-b50f-7731a1e60fe3","artistName":"Richard Chycki","artistTitle":"Guitarist, Engineer","credits":"Dream Theater, Aerosmith, Rush","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/richard-chycki.png","quote":"The Abbey Road Saturator adds drive and breathes life into tracks. The TG and REDD modes offer two distinct harmonic structures that can be applied mono, stereo or M/S \u2013 a proven way to get \u0027hair\u2019 where there was none before.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":6},{"itemID":2640,"itemGUID":"b2b2bc1f-0011-48b2-a667-b843ea709934","artistName":"Mark Ralph","artistTitle":"Producer, Songwriter, Mixing Engineer","credits":"Clean Bandit, Years \u0026 Years, Jax Jones, TIEKS","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/mark-ralph.png","quote":"Great saturation. The dynamics section, mid-side controls, and comprehensive pre- and post-saturation EQ create tones from a gentle growl to an angry bark.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":7},{"itemID":2641,"itemGUID":"7cc4a644-7d60-4094-bd24-2e26040bb3c3","artistName":"Kevin Churko","artistTitle":"Producer, Engineer, Mixer \u0026 Songwriter","credits":"Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch, Shania Twain","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/kevin-churko.png","quote":"The Abbey Road Saturator sounds classic right away. It adds a nice musical bite to any source.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":8},{"itemID":2642,"itemGUID":"a540ff2a-153a-46ec-9491-bde1b7d7442f","artistName":"Seige Monstracity","artistTitle":"Music Producer, Sound Designer","credits":"Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tyrese, Busta Rhymes ","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/seige-monstracity.png","quote":"Abbey Road Saturator does wonders if you want some top end on a kick to punch through.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":9},{"itemID":2643,"itemGUID":"c2a21b38-e4bb-4493-be06-ea723300174d","artistName":"Elio Debets","artistTitle":"Recording \u0026 Mixing Engineer","credits":"Afrojack, David Guetta, Snoop Dogg, Luis Fonsi","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/avatar-male.png","quote":"Abbey Road Saturator is a great tool to get clarity in your vocals or give it that little edge so it stands out in the mix.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":10},{"itemID":2644,"itemGUID":"4967c839-58f7-492e-ba06-a9d000b769c4","artistName":"Emre Ramazanoglu","artistTitle":"Mix Engineer, Drummer","credits":"Noel Gallagher, Sia","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/emre-ramazanoglu.png","quote":"Abbey Road Saturator offers incredible control over two beautifully musical and complementary flavors of thick, biting saturation. It\u2019s simple to go from subtle enhancement to deep pillowy, expansive warmth to snappy, aggressive, toothy grit. This is going to be a mainstay in my toolbox!","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":11},{"itemID":2698,"itemGUID":"254c3d8b-9f2a-4897-8ccf-bd55078c4244","artistName":"Cable Head","artistTitle":"Performing Artist, Activist","credits":"","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/cable-head.png","quote":"This plugin lets me give vintage coloration to modern productions. I like using the REDD setting to add aggressive character to MIDI instruments, and I love how I can select the frequencies I want to saturate.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":12},{"itemID":2913,"itemGUID":"a7dc6c43-53b0-410d-8ed5-eccab1a41e56","artistName":"Joseph Holiday","artistTitle":"Artist/Producer","credits":"Snakes of Russia","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/joseph-holiday.png","quote":"The Waves Abbey Road collection has really been useful in all my work. Both the REDD 17 and Abbey Road Saturator have proven to be such great tools on the drum buss, from subtle vintage saturation to all out destruction.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":13}]

product-quote-gallery-app

Musical Analog Saturation
from Abbey Road Studios

Tube or Solid-State Saturation? Yes.
Choose from the famous tube crunch of Abbey Road’s REDD consoles, and the modern solid-state edge of the TG12345—both in one plugin. Go from subtle to extreme, with the sophisticated input, gain, and output stages of both consoles calibrated to perfection together with Abbey Road’s engineers.
Excite Your Saturation with the TG12321 Compander
Abbey Road’s engineers hacked the EMI TG12321 compander, originally designed in 1964 as a noise reduction unit, to excite tracks and help them cut through the mix. Now you have access to this effect. Control the compander’s crossover frequencies to excite specific frequency ranges: lower settings are ideal for bass and kick—or dial it up to help vocals shine.
Sculpt Your Saturation Tone Abbey Road-Style
For tonal transformation, adjust the pre- and post-saturation EQ, with high and low shelf, and parametric midrange. Emphasize or reduce frequencies to be distorted, then shape the final tonal character.
Mid-Side Saturation & More Modern Additions
Choose your processing mode: stereo, mid, or sides. Crunch the kick and bass in mid, spread the image with light saturation in the sides, or lift an entire stereo bus with the saturation character that’s ideal for your music. Other modern additions include the phase knob, which alters the character of the distortion harmonics.
Legendary Analog Sound
Like all Waves Abbey Road plugins, Abbey Road Saturator is based on decades of research and experimentation in audio, led by the golden ears and genius of legendary Abbey Road engineers such as Geoff Emerick and Peter Bown, who helped shaped the sound of modern music to this very day.

Abbey Road Studios, EMI, TG, REDD and its associated logos are trademarks of EMI (IP) Limited.