I love the sound of the Analog Heat but to be perfectly honest, I couldn’t justify paying for it as I’m only interested in some of the more subtle, warming effects. I really like the saturation setting on there but is there a similar plug in alternative? I already use D16 Redopter but it doesn’t sound close, to my ears.
If I didn’t had the Analog 
already I would probably have bought the soundtoys decapitator during this black Friday.
It compares quite favorably against some hardware gear in this video:
Fabfilter Saturn sounds pretty good also.
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it’s an invaluable tool like a midi sync box, it’s cost regarding brands between 500 et 1000 € it keep everything in sync and you have no headache with sync again… exactly the same it’s on your desk it doesn’t produce sounds it’s expensive … you watch it and you say hey if I sell it I regain those for something else… and then you regret it and you buy it again (with the fact you loose 200€ in the story for sure…)
no advise there, but I know that for a fact for me.
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Soundtoys Decapitator is probably what you’re after.
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I Have Two Favorite as a VST… (the HEAT with OB) and :
A lot of people are going directly to Native Instruments… But, I can say FXpansion have done some of the best plugins to me… DCAM Synthquad (especially Strobe) and Strobe 2 are awesome, GEIST is Awesome, TREMOR is Awesome, MAUL is awesome, BLOOM is awesome, ETCH is crazy 
without to mention BFD3
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Thanks to all for the advice and recommendations. I have spent the last half hour going through links and demos! Decapitator is sounding pretty sweet. It’s currently on sale for $99 too!
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Might want to consider going for the whole bundle during their Black Friday sale. It’s all good imo.
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I just grabbed the Soundtoys bundle and have been experimenting with an AH processing chain that consists of Decapitator (circuit type) -> Radiator (dirt) -> Filter Freak II -> Sie-Q. Been getting very close to some of the AH sounds, i’ll post comparisons soon!
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Yes, please. And then the preset for St. Nicolas. 
Excellent!
I understood you asked for a plugin , but if its just the saturation you’re after , for half the price of an analog heat , you can have something like a Strymon Deco . Does that job just fine .
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For the more subtle side of things, the Kush Audio Omega transformers are pretty awesome and on sale for 50% until tomorrow.
Same for Black Box HG-2 which is also hugely discounted right now:
If I didn’t have Analog Heat those plus ST Decapitator would be my go to’s in various combinations. I still use the Kush ones for a variety of things, but I sub to their monthly subscription. I don’t own the others, but demo’d them before ultimately succumbing and getting a Heat. 
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Boss ds2 turbo disto is a great gear I need
I haven’t used the Heat, but for saturation and warming the The Airwindows plugins (there are a lit of different ones) are the best sounding I have ever used at any price point, and they are free. Minimalist, one function per plugin philosophy so don’t be put off by the apparent simplicity, they are world class. Klanghelm SDRR is fantastic, too. no idea if these will sound like the Heat but they sound very good.
In 2017 there is rarely if ever any need to spend more than $50 on a plugin IMHO.
I have all 3 of the Omegas, they are great. The 458a tube is probably my favorite of the bunch.
Still, I prefer the Fielding DSP Reviver for stereo sources, busses, mastering, etc. Far more control for dialing things in.
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I’ll have to try this Fielding DSP Reviver – never ran across it before. Can’t beat the price!
I discovered Reviver when my Oxford Inflator VST was broken by an OS update.
Can’t remember which, maybe Mavericks (?) , but it surprised me as all my other plug-ins had available updates except that one. I’m not much of an early adopter when it comes to OS updates. I’ve been on Mavericks for my studio tower ever since.
Anyway, I found Reviver and ended up preferring it, so was able to sell/transfer the Inflator license on GS and ended up ahead on the whole deal. Have used it on every project since.
It’s very light on CPU and it only adds 1.7ms of latency at 44.1khz.
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