New Music Gear Monday: Sonimus Satson CS Channel Strip Plugin

We get new modern audio plugins all the time but no matter what, there are still tried and true sounds that just seem to work. Take for instance, the SSL G series buss compressor, or the E series EQ, two hardware modules that always had some sort of audio magic to them. When it comes to plugin emulations, some sound closer to the original than others, but that’s even more intriguing because of the different flavors that are available. Sonimus’ Satson CS channel strip plugin offers another variation on this theme, but with some new twists.

Although labeled as a channel strip, Satson CS is really more of a virtual rack since you can stack up to 8 modules in different combinations and orders. The main channel strip consists of a preamp module, compressor module and EQ module, each with their own additions that go beyond what the original hardware offers. The preamp module provides a fader, analog style VU meter, High and Low Cut filters, and a selection between either FAT or Normal saturation. There’s also a selection between Vintage and Modern Crosstalk to add to the sense of realism of the module.

The EQ module has a typical SSL style, with 4 bands, the middle two being fully parametric and the high and low frequency bands being switchable from a shelf to a bell curve. There are also an EQ In/Out selector, a Phase selector, and another set of high and low filters plus an output control on the bottom of the module.

The compressor section looks like a typical SSL buss compressor, with the same gain reduction meter and threshold, make-up gain, attack, release, and ratio controls with the familiar parameter presets. There’s also an additional Mix control and SC-HP (sidechain high pass filter) control, plus a stereo link control, so it’s a lot more flexible than the original compressor. Although we think of this module as strictly a buss compressor, this one differs from the original equipment in that it’s also well-suited for mono tracks in addition to the stereo mix bus

Satson CS is available in all plugin formats in both 32 and 64 bit versions for both Mac and PC. It’s $149, but there’s a trial version available that doesn’t have all the features available and you can’t save the automation or presets.

You can find out more here, or watch in overview video below for more details.

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