Has anybody given it a try?
Has anybody compared it to Analog Heat?
I dig it. Has lots of options to knarl things up. However I canāt really make any comparisons to my Heat Mk2. Iām not technically or audiotistically gifted enough for that. However, as is the case with lots of VST fx options, it provides a lot more options than the Heat in terms of mangaling and crushing sounds.
I will say that it sounds pretty convincing. The dual destortion engines can allow for some complete annihilation, or subtle warmth. All 11 of the distortion types are characterful enough to not be redundant. The processing options is well thought out, and the crossfade ability is another layer of dry/wet control. Yeah itās pretty cool. Not sure if I like it more than Ohmicide, but I think thatās just down to me having used Ohmnicide so much that itās obtained a bit of legendary status.
I will say that I like it more as well as find it to offer much more than Heavylocityās Fury, although Fury sounds really good itself.
Alright after I posted the above I went and messed around with the two. The Heat just has that certain thing. I guess you can call it presence or character. While the Coldfire isnāt a slouch, it sounds a bit more ācleanā. With the Heat you notice a bit more color and earthly tones. Ah shit, now it sounds like Iām compairing wines.
10 Likes
It made me buy the whole FX collection 3 for a really good price. But I have used their Culture Vulture emulation more. That plugin is truly amazing and I will compare it to my Heat.
1 Like
I did as Arturia sent it to me in advance ! Itās very fun and powerfull and sound very good, itās a bit CPU hungry tho.
Here is a video I did about it:
2 Likes
Is cold fire even in FX Collection 3? Iām not seeing it
1 Like
It was a launch sale where you could buy Dist Coldfire + FX Collection 3.
1 Like
Dist Coldfire seems good to me, itās as deep as a distortion plug-in can get.
Comparing it to the Analog Heat is tough though. In theory, Iām sure Dist Coldfire can do what the AH does, and go way beyond itā¦ but it hasnāt got the hands-on real world capability of the AH.
To give a synth analogy, itās like comparing a (hardware) Prophet 5 to Arturiaās Pigmentsā¦ Pigments can do ANYTHING a P5 can, and a lot more, but the experience and interaction is completely different (Iāll leave the difference in sound factor alone).
1 Like
I downloaded the demo of Coldfire today funnily enough. Wanted to compare it to Trash 2.
Coldfire is absolutely awesome, love the modulation options and blending between the dual distortion engines. The visualiser is trippy but actually pretty clever. Whoever is behind Arturiaās recent interfaces deserves a medal, theyāre really quite captivating and logical.
I think I prefer Coldfire to Trash 2, it sounds less āroughā in a good way. Though itās not quite as deep as Trash 2 in terms of sheer variety of options (at least on the brief go I had on it) I think itās going to be mine very soon.
Bravo Arturia!
2 Likes
I may add that the modulation section of the plug is VERY crazy !
1 Like
I really like Coldfire. Anything that gets close to all the possibilities in a hardware box?
Probably only the Analog Heat come close of the same idea.
1 Like
Does it have to be analog?
If not then something like the Boss OD-200 has lots of options.
The Source Audio Multiwave also had a bunch of weird algorithms, but itās discontinued
EDIT: Seems they do the Ultrawave now
1 Like
Line 6 HX Effects does.
So Iām looking for a replacement for Trash 2 (end of life) and I totally missed Coldfire until today.
Was about to pull the trigger on FabFilter Saturn 2 for this, but now Iām curious.
Anyway: Anybody using Coldfire on something resembling a 2020 iMac i5 6-core Intel (or 2021 M1 Macbook Pro) [these machines behave nearly identically for me, performance-wise]?
Iām curious as to how CPU-heavy Coldfire is, a year on. Itās specs look great, and very Trash-like. But if I canāt get 3-4 on a project, as I could easily do with Trash 2, itās less-interesting.
Not sure about Saturn 2ās CPU usage either.
Can people please speak to how good Coldfire is a few years on. Iāve got a good offer to upgrade my Arturia FX and itās one of the only things that seems useful to me. Iāve got Ableton 12, Fab Filter and a number of other tools for saturation, so if itās not great, I donāt know that I want to invest in the upgrade for now.
1 Like
Itās pretty good if you donāt have a good set of tools already, but as someone who has Soundtoys and Fabfilter I donāt use it as much as I thought I would.
1 Like
I donāt have Live 12 or other plugins but I really enjoy Coldfire (and the FX bundle in general). Honestly itās a really fun plugin, really can do it all. You can get really creative with the LFOs and sequencers which can be transformative on the sound.
Itās also really fun to put it on the master bus and destroy everything but perhaps Iām just a caveman lol
1 Like
Donāt they offer time restricted demos of their plugins ?
Peopleās opinions are fine but making your own opinion via a demo is much better.
3 Likes
Yup, and Coldfire has one as well.
1 Like
Iām a distortion junkie and itās my favorite distortion VST outside of Reaktor Blocks, which is something else entirely. Coldfire is powerful and the large number of distortions is great. Other comparable plugins are Roar (Ableton native only) and Thermal, both of which are also very good but I prefer Coldfire. Roar is better for multiband distortion though.
4 Likes