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Dist TUBE-CULTURE
Vivid harmonic saturator
Dist TUBE-CULTURE is an enhanced software version of a modern distortion classic, bringing authentic valve-powered warmth and harmonic character to your DAW production. Crank the heat in your mixes with studio-grade saturation and crunch in a few clicks.
Tube distortion mastered
Saturate your mix bus with responsive analog heat; scorch your instruments and stems with destructive distortion; enjoy the unmistakable character of tube-drive studio hardware in your DAW like never before. This is Dist TUBE-CULTURE.
Channeling tube character
Nothing saturates, colors, distorts, or breathes harmonic life into a sound quite like heated vacuum valves. Dist TUBE-CULTURE meticulously emulates this behavior for the most authentic virtual valve sound you could wish for.
Choose your temperature
Enjoy warm mix-gluing saturation, white-hot fuzz, and everything in between. Dist TUBE-CULTURE will respond to your projects with whatever heat you need.
For any sound
Enrich your guitar tracks, fatten your topline vocals, crush your drum transients, or roast your mix bus to serving temperature. This faithful emulation might just be the finishing touch that your production is looking for.
Tastefully enhanced
Overcome the limitations of studio hardware and go beyond analog circuitry with modernized features like gain compensation, post-drive EQ and expanded stereo processing. Old distortion, new tricks.
The sound of heat
Many of music’s most legendary guitar riffs, iconic vocal lines, and soul-stirring mixes simply wouldn’t have been possible without the humble vacuum tube.
These decades-old components are temperamental in their behavior, fragile in their operation, and limited in their lifespan. Yet their ability to produce a beautifully even harmonic response gives any valve-processed sound a rich, warm, smooth character that’s hard to match.
Couple this with their unique ability to dynamically distort incoming sounds with varying levels of grit and aggression, and you’ve got a formula that remains irresistible to musicians, producers, and audio trailblazers to this day.
Whether it's a vocal line in need of some extra color, a drum bus that needs some crunch, or your guitar & synth tracks begging for some edgy crunch, Dist TUBE-CULTURE puts this sought-after sonic attitude in your hands. Experience the stunning sound of a modern studio classic reimagined in virtual form.
Authentic studio immersion
Emulating the sound, circuitry behavior, and straightforward layout of its hardware predecessor, Dist TUBE-CULTURE makes you feel like you’re working with a genuine bit of studio hardware.
But Dist TUBE-CULTURE doesn’t stop at authenticity; we’ve retrofitted this distortion workhorse with a selection of useful and creative features designed to work seamlessly with your workflow.
Here’s a closer look at its feature set.
Overview
Dist TUBE-CULTURE
1
Drive
Set the amount of distortion applied to your signal, from crisp transparent harmonics at counter-clockwise to sizzling crunch at clockwise. Don’t be afraid to crank.
2
Bias
Limit the amount of current going through Dist TUBE-CULTURE’s virtual tubes for a variety of distortion flavors. Go from full-bodied grit to dead-battery fizz in a single sweep.
3
Function selector
Select from 4 configurations of tube operation: Triode, Pentode 1, Pentode 2, or Pentode 3. Triode mode tends to offer a warmer, more natural sound, while the 3 Pentode modes bring higher power output and more varied dynamics - the choice is yours.
4
Presence
Add a slight boost to the upper midrange or high frequencies with the Presence and Air switch, great for sprinkling extra detail onto vocals, percussion, stringed instruments, and more.
5
Ammeter
A classic visualizer for real-time feedback on Dist TUBE-CULTURE’s virtual tube current. When you engage the Advanced panel, the VU meter changes to a digital display for a more detailed overview of your sound.
6
Dry/wet
Use Dist TUBE-CULTURE for parallel distortion processing without the need for aux tracks or complex configuration - simply blend the processed signal with the original sound and find your perfect crunchy balance.
7
Stereo mode selector
Explore valve distortion in full width by selecting how Dist TUBE-CULTURE affects your stereo field: process the left and right, only the center of the mix, or only the sides.
8
Dynamics
Target your distortion on signals below or above a threshold for a more focused sound; turn the Dynamics control left for the former (Gate), and right for the latter (Comp).
9
Output EQ
To further tame Dist TUBE-CULTURE’s gritty output signal, we added a post-distortion EQ, with low pass, high pass, and a +/-12dB tilt centered on 630Hz.
Artists corner
Stan Greene
Producer / Rihanna, Big Sean, Snoop Dogg, O.T. Genasis
“The Dist TUBE-CULTURE is a BEAST. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a plugin that breaks up your sound as beautifully. A little bit added into your 808’s or completely crushing a synth, breaking it apart bit by bit, then gently adding it back in, goes a long way.”
Steve Levine
Producer / Engineer (Culture Club / Beach Boys)
“Turn the drive up and then the creamy magic kick is in on the stems and the mix”
Thiago Baggio
Recording & Mixing Engineer
“These plugins are amazing. The results that I’d achieve with the combination of two or even three different distortion plugins can now be done with only Dist Tube-Culture.”
A modern crunch classic
In an age of digital precision and demanding hi-def audio, sometimes you just want good old fashioned analog fatness.
In the late '90s, as the music production world was becoming ever more focused on the flexibility of working with computers and the DAW was beginning to dominate, some manufacturers sought to buck the trend.
Enter UK-based Thermionic Culture, a small company committed to the belief that valve-driven gear couldn't be beaten on sound. In 1998, they released The Culture Vulture, an all-valve stereo distortion rack unit, designed to counter the increasingly sterile world of digital music production.
Offering up a proverbial rainbow of saturation, coloration, and distortion applications, this unassuming piece of handwired gear ultimately became one of the world’s most coveted bits of studio hardware, used by everyone from Deadmau5 to Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme. Now you too can explore this modern classic, faithfully emulated and tastefully enhanced.
Included in FX collection
Effects you'll actually use
This effect is part of FX Collection, a suite of essential audio effect plugins empowering musicians, producers, and artists to get creative with their production. From iconic recording gear modeled with breathtaking accuracy, to cutting-edge contemporary effects, the collection includes the most sought-after studio tools, rare guitar pedals, modern mix enhancers, and beyond. Elevate your production and add color to your mix like never before.
The features you need
However you use these plugins; for the amazing tone of their reverb, for the gritty preamps, or for their incredible sound design abilities, you'll be safe in the knowledge that they are fully compatible with your setup. These plugins work with all major DAWs, and on both Windows and MacOS.
TAE® Powered
The exclusive analog modeling technology that makes our emulations indistinguishable from the originals.
By accurately mimicking the characteristics of analog oscillators, filters, and soft clipping, we can provide astonishing component-accurate detail and authentic analog charm in equal measure.
Main Features
- Stereo distortion and saturation effect with emulated vacuum tube character
- 4 modes of tube configuration: Triode 1, Pentode 1, Pentode 2, Pentode 3
- Drive and Bias controls for customizing your distortion character
- 2-mode Presence switch
- Analog ammeter (switches to digital when Advanced controls are in use)
- Stereo mode selector: L-R, Mid, Side
- Added Dry/Wet control for parallel processing
- Dynamics control to add Gate/Compression to incoming signal
- Input & output filters module with Tilt EQ
- 2 Oversampling modes for supreme audio quality or lower CPU usage
- A/B comparison
- NKS-ready
Platforms specifications
Windows
- Win 8.1+ (64bit)
- 4 GB RAM
- 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost)
- 6GB free hard disk space
- OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
Required configuration
- VST, AAX, Audio Unit, NKS (64-bit DAWs only).
Apple
- Mac OS 10.13+
- 4 GB RAM
- 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost) or M1 CPU
- 6GB free hard disk space
- OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
Work with ASC
- An elegant and simple solution to help you install, activate, and update your Arturia software.
All manufacturer and product names mentioned on this page are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Arturia. The trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose features and sound were studied during the development. All names of equipment, inventors, and manufacturers have been included for illustrative and educational purposes only, and do not suggest any affiliation or endorsement by any equipment inventor or manufacturer.
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