Most Analog Heat demos are on drums and such, a few synths but no actual pads that I’ve seen
So the question is… what is Analog Heat like on synth pads?
I have a feeling it could be GREAT. Although I just don’t know. Would it help bring them to life? Bring out little details?
Not intending using it for out and out distortion. I would like to use it subtly but noticeably - coloration, warmth, girth… but also to add movement/sparkle if possible? - the automation part of it could be the key I think for that.
Clean boost has my attention, but I would use the other modes too, dialed in much more lightly.
What would the Heat do to smoother FM or sine wave pads versus really fizzy saw pads?
I have to say that my AH just colours any kind of sound source. I really dig the sound, it’s on the master out and used on everything. Sometimes I plug it to a SEND/RTN on the mixer to try on different synths, there is nothing yet that it doesn’t make sound better to my ears.
To be honest, the least used mode for me is Clean Boost but I usually like grit on my sounds. Clean Boost just sounds like a little bit of amplification and a tiny sliver of warmth, all the other modes are much more interesting to sculpt sounds.
Shameless self promotion, but the last 30 seconds of this track is 2 pads on the digitone with a buttload of delay on them and running through the saturation circuit of the Heat with a fair amount of low boost and a little off the highs.
I’ve got the drive setting about the middle, just where things start breaking up and the dry/wet at about +16. It really saturates very nicely and works wonders on pads.
It doesn’t have to be distorted or highly driven to sound good. There’s several sweetspots in the first 3 circuits for that analogue “sparkle” everyone seems to like, but, for me, it’s the way the different circuits sound once you drive them a bit that really gets the juices flowing.
I’ll continue the shameless self-promotion, but I have Heat all over my pads. Here is an example of one where it ‘warms’ up some otherwise cold pad rather nicely (Rev2 > Bastl Thyme >reverb > Heat)
