I think I figured out the right gear to destroy sound.
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So, this is a perfect example of how relevant the Analog Heat isā¦
While its great at saturation and overdrive and all thatā¦ the raw power baked into the Malevolent outclasses the bespoke and controlled nature of the AHā¦ it just is tame in comparisonā¦ but it does change the tone if you use it, so even though it doesnāt destroy it more than the PWM can on its ownā¦ it still has usesā¦
for exampleā¦ in the pic above, i patched the Malevolent filter to band passā¦ put up the resonance and put it in DRIVEā¦ but it was a specific band it would pass through, and even sweeping in, it wasnāt very broad of a paletteā¦
So i ran it with just the regular filter, then let the analog heat filter it through notch and bandpassā¦ adjusting the resonance on the Ah which changes the nuance of the filter in such a better degreeā¦
And even adding a saturation circuit to it, didnāt make as much of a difference as the filter didā¦
add some LFO to slowly sweep through the bands, and it made the malevolent really nuanced and ambient instead of just ON growl/OFF growl.
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It held its own in this test I think, Ian liked it on his track too:
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ā¦me again, repeating the same points again, whenever it comes to swedish heatā¦
itās timelessā¦itās the most underrated elektron device of them allā¦it can morph any thin plastic sound into a sonic monsta with full analog warmth and graceā¦it filters anything in all possible ways of filtering with truu analog fashionā¦warms and glues and thickens and boosts anything u wantā¦can spent all the magic of old big analog studio consoles to all sorts of final stemsā¦can give rhythmical breath to anything and last but not least can tweak and or destroy any signal from warm fuzzy hendrix flavour all the way to harsh 'n brutal ninā¦
and besides all that, it also worx as a hw plugin or an audio interfaceā¦itās beyond all relevance.
the only thing it does not do, is bitcrushingā¦so, if ur looking for a naked sound destroyer that delivers āmodernā digitalis moralis crush, nope, thatās just not what it isā¦
itās all in for timeless, classic analog vibes āonlyāā¦
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Yeah, bit crushing and sample rate reduction would be great too. I actually have the Heat in the same chain as the Meris Ottobit Jr.
It really does make stuff sound better. It almost feels like cheating to just sprinkle some magic saturation dust on everything
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Crazy that I didnāt tried this on the AH before but the input circuit itself has a usable nice tone itself when slightly pushed! When you set the input sensitivity to the higher side and adjust the gain coming from the instrument thatās feeding the line in to the AH into the virtual āredā area on and slightly over the max indicator clipping will occur like in analog mixers. Since you can bring down the output level you can keep the final outputlevel below 0db. The sound reminds me slightly of a single channel
Of an old Boss mixer.
As bonus you can blend some circuits in with the wed/dry too.
Just shimming in to share a current joy: using Analag Heat via Overbridge (which I donāt care about for my Digitakt) is so fun!
Just feels like a plugin. Easy to shape a sound, envelope follower, LFO etcā¦
I never understood why signal flow canāt be adjusted. It would be so more useful if you can place the filter before distortion circuits. Could this be done with a firmware update?
As you can see from the diagram above, it would take more than a OS update to change this path.
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Iām not sure I fully understand the appeal of using Elektron devices as a plug in?
Can you help elaborate on what the process and advantage is?
The advantage is that my sound is processed by the AH and I can set/restore settings with my document in the computer, I can drza automation for parameters, I find it also practical to have a good view on the waveform for setting the envelope follower.
The other advantage is that I havenāt got to send the signal first through my mixer where the AH is plugged as an insert, nor to unplug/replug cables. Less noise, less mess.
BTW, the noise floor of the AH isnāt tiny. -70 to -60dB in my experience. Doesnāt bother me too much but Iāve been a bit bitten when recording stems through it at a too shy level.
I mostly use it without the computer, but when needed, Iām happy.
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i think the draw is being able to add imperfect nonlinearities to the sound which is difficult to fully emulate digitally.
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Thanks for that thorough explanation. That really helps. 
I think I need to explore using OB as a plug in. I donāt have AH, but am curious to see what using OB as a plug in would add to my workflow with DT and DNK.
(With those, I think, perhaps it actually negates the advantage of working with hardware)
ATM Iāve only experimented a little with using OB to multitrack into my DAW, which was the big drawcard of OB for me.
I never found interest in OB for my DT, and neither for the DN while I had it. Too complex, too fun-sucking for my taste.
With the AH though, just one effect box, itās useful to me.
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I agree. The synth+sequencer boxes are better without OB in my opinion as well. But having analog distortion inside a computer? Thatās dope. There are great digital distortion/saturation plugs these days, but itās cool to use the real deal right inside your DAW
I see that weāre of the same opinion. Iām sure others love OB for the other boxes and thatās great!
As well as for distortion, I equally love some in the box solutions, just different flavors.
For me the point is that I can use the Ah as one of these flavors in the box and thatās grand. So, also because it induces me to tweak it while processing gets printed, I come to love live tweaking / printing to audio no question asked 
When in need of more very subtile non-linearity try activating one of the 2 cv inputs to drive, filter or whatever and stick in a bare jackplug with a piece of soldered wire to pick up environmental noise and play with the voltage range settings until you readout some fluctuations in incoming voltages. or connect a old transistor radio tuned to a noisy fm or am band. Or just a noise output from a analog synth or euroracknmodule.
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Aw lawd not another ārelevancyā thread
Here a questionnaire to handle this moving forward from now until the sun explodes no matter what the gear and no matter what the year:
*Do you like the sound of it?*
Yes? āābuy it.
No? āā do not buy it.
Iām not sure? āālisten to lots of demos of it and repeat the questionnaire.
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Is it possible to have the AH take 2 mono inputs and sum them?
I must admit that I used to be quite hesitant about the AH. Then I found one (MKII) in mint condition for 500 euros and descited to pull the trigger. Now it sits at the end of my signal chain (DB-01 > DT > OT + DN > DD-200 > Eventide Space > OT) and does wonders to the sound. Couldn`t be happier!
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