It doesnвЂ™t have the side effect of add pumping the way traditional compression does. The nice trick of the Sonnox Inflator is that it uses harmonics to add to the apparent loudness, without making it actually louder in the traditional way of adding gain. Need to add a вЂњsaturationвЂќ or вЂњanalog warmingвЂќ to a specific track, this could be the trick for you. I prefer to use it before that, and it can even be used on individual tracks. They claim it can be used even after compressions and limiting. The answer, Sony OxfordвЂ™s Sonnox Inflator.

You may find that driving the input and reducing the output actually gives you the clear perception of a louder signal, but the meter for that channel will clearly show you that the signal is lower than it was before processing through Inflator.In todayвЂ™s loudness wars, what tricks can you use to make your mix louder. With the clip button left out, the plugin is able to process information above the digital maximum, giving you a different flavour of saturation, more reminiscent of analogue tape than that of the digitally clipped signal which is more like the clipping of a high end analogue to digital converter.Д«oth these effects seem to suit percussive instruments like drums and guitars, but in reality, there wasnвЂ™t very much that didnвЂ™t sound more alive and transparent - especially when it came to samples and virtual instrumentation. The first button is the clip which, when engaged, clips the signal at the digital maximum. The interface comprises four sliders and three buttons. The following description of the InflatorвЂ™s control interface refers to the legacy version, and gives you an overview of what everything does, and the type and nature of the resulting sound. I even used it to enhance harmonica and saxophone, with quite dazzling results. But I have since used it on vocals to bring them to the forefront across a drumbuss on a bass and on acoustic and electric guitars. Traditionally, I just used it on the master bus when the mix just needed that something extra to bring it forward and help it gel together. In fact, having rediscovered it, I find myself making the difficult decision of what not to put it on. And although there are many tape saturation and harmonic distortion FX plugins, none does such a smooth and refined job across the board for such a small investment as the Oxford Inflator. The Inflator is neither a compressor nor a limiter, so you wonвЂ™t get any of the pumping effects associated with compression. The third thing it does extremely well is increase the harmonic density of a sound or instrument, making it seem larger or more aggressive.ДЄll of this is achieved through the clever introduction of harmonic distortion and, if you drive the input, that leads to saturation. Inflator is one of those plugins that does multiple things and represents amazing value for money: The obvious is that of a saturation loudness enhancer, but itвЂ™s also extremely good at creating depth within a mix, and by that I donвЂ™t just mean more low end EQ IвЂ™m talking about the perception of distance that a particular instrument or voice is away from you. IвЂ™ve used Inflator for ages on the mix bus, but I only recently put it on an individual channel - and that was kind of by accident. I remember a decade ago buying a Skrillex CD and marvelling at how big and dynamic it sounded, but noticing how the meters sat at the same position pretty much throughout every song. While the objective is to grab the listenerвЂ™s attention, I think itвЂ™s the combination of volume and dynamics which is important, not to mention the quality of the music itself. Loudness is, therefore, a combination of perception and level. In these times of short attention spans and beat-oriented hooks, your work needs every edge it can possibly gain to reach an audience. ThereвЂ™s much debate about whether the quest for вЂloudnessвЂ™ is damaging the production of real dynamic music, but like everything that is consumed, we have little choice but to pander to market forces or be left on the sidelines. In todayвЂ™s climate of вЂeverything louder than everything elseвЂ™ thereвЂ™s a limit to how far you can go with this quest before science literally stops you in your tracks.

But there is another great Sonnox plugin which has been around for as long as I remember which IвЂ™ve seriously underestimated - the Oxford Inflator.

There are a few I use regularly - mainly the Oxford Limiter and SuprEsser DS - both of which I use for podcast editing as well as music production.

Sonnox is well respected for its sonically superior plugins.

Sonnox oxford inflator review