Rave Distortion 2: Multi-Stage Distortion and Filter Plugin by Rave Generation

The plugin has two distortion stages, each running from 0 to 60 dB with its own dry/wet mix and post-gain control. You can use them for subtle harmonic layering or for heavy, destructive sounds, with parallel blending to keep some of the original signal.

Each stage can use one of seven saturation characters. Tube adds warm even harmonics, Diode produces asymmetric odd harmonics, and Transistor mixes soft and hard clipping. Soft provides gentle compression, Digital gives a hybrid clipping sound, Vintage aims for a smooth analog-style curve, and Modern offers clean, controlled clipping. The Symmetry control and DC Bias shape the harmonic profile of each character, which Rave Generation says allows tube-like asymmetric distortion.

A 4-pole Moog-style ladder filter offers a 24 dB/octave low-pass response with resonance. Its LFO can be tempo-synced and offers six waveforms (Sine, Triangle, Saw Up, Saw Down, Square and Random), with adjustable rate and bipolar depth. This covers classic filter sweeps as well as rhythmic gating.

The Pultec EQP-1A low-frequency section is modeled with Wave Digital Filter technology and allows simultaneous boost and attenuation at 30 Hz, 60 Hz or 100 Hz, which enables the Pultec Trick for adding low-end weight with clarity. Two mid-band peak EQs, one from 45 Hz to 3 kHz and one from 300 Hz to 18 kHz, sit between the distortion stages with bandwidths from 3 octaves down to 1/12 octave and ±18 dB of gain. A feedback loop routes signal from the post-Distortion 1 stage back to the pre-saturation stage, with a 100 Hz to 4 kHz bandpass and built-in decay for sustained, complex harmonic interaction.