Sonible has just put out a brand new saturation plugin that packages high-end audio algorithms into a fun, character-driven interface, and it’s totally free!

If you want a simple way to get warmth, grit, or presence into your sounds and mixes, without a traditional menu-style workflow, puffer:fish might be the plugin for you.

Key features

Instead of opting for traditional meters and menus, puffer:fish centres on a single main knob called “Puffiness”. As you increase the parameter for more harmonic distortion, the animated pufferfish on screen inflates and moves to the intensity of the saturation applied.

The plugin has 3 saturation modes, each represented by a different aquatic character:

  • Tinyfin: This mode adds subtle warmth and gentle harmonics. Adds perceived loudness and “glue” to vocals, pads and buses without dramatically altering your original tone.
  • Twitchgill: A dynamic middle-ground mode that, when pushed, can introduce unpredictable, complex harmonics that are great for loops and sound design.
  • Spikeskin: The aggressive mode. Delivering high-gain distortion and heavy grit. Perfect for helping drums, heavy basslines, or synths cut through a dense mix.

Under that cartoon interface, what you’ll find are the same professional-grade processing algorithms found in Sonible’s premium AI-assisted mixing tools.

System requirements & availability

puffer:fish is available in VST, VST3, AU, and AAX formats for both macOS and Windows.

You can grab it for free right now by registering with your email on the Sonible website.

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