Crucible: 3-band saturation for bass, drums and buses
Crucible splits your signal into low, mid and high and saturates each band on its own, with five types per band: Hard Clip, Wavefolder, Tube, Diode and Tape. Tim Borchert built it under Code Chaos Audio for psytrance production. The same split solves a classic metal problem: a bass that needs grind in the mids while the lowest octave stays clean and solid.
Hear it: Crucible
A · Dry: a 190 BPM loop without Crucible (10 s)
B · Crucible: the same loop with Crucible (10 s)
The same 190 BPM psy loop without and with Crucible. Both files measure about -16.5 LUFS integrated, so you hear density and tone, not just volume.
Split-band saturation for a metal bass
Distorting a whole bass signal is the quickest way to lose the low end: the lowest notes turn into fuzz, and the mix gets muddy under the guitars. With three bands you can treat each register for what it has to do.
- Low band: little or no drive. Keep it clean and steady, so kick and bass still work together. Check it with the free Kick/Bass Scope.
- Mid band: this is where the grind lives that cuts through rhythm guitars on small speakers. Diode or Hard Clip add bite, Tube is rounder.
- High band: Tape softens string noise and fret clank, more drive brings it forward.
The two crossovers are adjustable, and every band has its own Drive, Mix, Gain, Mute and Solo. For heavy settings, raise the oversampling (Off, 2x, 4x or 8x) to keep aliasing down.
Saturation on the mix bus before mastering?
Saturation lowers the difference between peaks and average level. Once it is printed into the mix, it cannot be undone in mastering, and an over-squashed premaster leaves the master with less room to work. If you like Crucible on your mix bus, send two versions to mastering: one with it and one without, and say which one you prefer. The audit at Polished flags over-limited and over-saturated premasters before anything is processed.
At a glance
| Detail | Crucible |
|---|---|
| Price | €19 on Gumroad, free demo available |
| Format | VST3 + Standalone |
| Windows | Windows 10/11: VST3 + Standalone |
| macOS | No macOS build at the moment. |
| Bands | 3 (Linkwitz-Riley crossover), two adjustable crossover points |
| Saturation types | Hard Clip, Wavefolder, Tube, Diode, Tape, selectable per band |
| Per band | Drive, Mix, Gain, Mute, Solo |
| Oversampling | Off, 2x, 4x or 8x |
| License | Single-user, perpetual |
| Demo | The free demo is the complete plugin; it plays a short noise burst every 45 seconds. |
Checkout, payment and any applicable taxes are handled by Gumroad. Polished only links to it.
Tool, mix or master?
Crucible helps you shape single instruments and buses. A balanced, loud and consistent release is still the job of a mastering pass. Polished starts every master with a written audio audit, so you know whether the saturation in your mix helps or costs headroom.
Mastering at Polished starts at €79 per track, all prices incl. 19% VAT, pay after delivery if you like. Request an audio audit.
Crucible FAQ
Does Crucible run on a Mac?
Is there a free trial?
Should I put Crucible on my master bus before sending the mix to mastering?
More tools
Try Crucible free.
The free demo is the complete plugin; it plays a short noise burst every 45 seconds. Buying and downloading happens on Gumroad, under Code Chaos Audio.